Roberto Citran Movies

Directed by Carlo Mazzacurati, A Cavallo Della Tigre (Riding the Tiger) is a remake of Luigi Comencini's 1961 film of the same name. It begins in a Milanese parking lot where protagonist Guido (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) falls for Antonella (Paola Cortellesi), who works for a television show. After forming a fast partnership, the two combine wits in order to steal 190,000 dollars in a holdup, but the plan goes horribly askew, and Guido is sent to prison. While in jail, Guido becomes the target of a mean-spirited Turkish convict known among prisoners only as "Tiger" (Tuncel Kurtiz) and his flunkie (Boubker Rafik). When Guido inadvertently finds out about their escape plan, Tiger finds it necessary to have him transferred to his cell, where he can monitor Guido closely enough to ensure that his plans aren't revealed. Due to unforeseen circumstances, however, Guido is forced to escape along with them. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Anna-Ambrogio grew up loving the sea and sailing, and nothing would please her more than being able to become a merchant seaman. However, it is the early 1960s, and women are not welcome either at sea or at the various marine academies that train youngsters for oceangoing careers. She has one supporter in her quest, a broad-minded and well-experienced sailor named Leo. With his encouragement, she batters down the men-only barriers at the merchant-marine academy, and through the force of her determination and persistence she manages to overcome the ingrained prejudices of her instructors and classmates to graduate. Afterwards, in Lisbon, she finds that even with her new credentials, overcoming the prejudices of potential employers is not simply a matter of determination and persistence, but then her old mentor comes to her assistance here, as well. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Marco is a stuffy young man, but he loves his ne'er-do-well brother. When he doesn't hear from him for some time, he begins to search for him and finds that he has disappeared from sight. He looks up his brother's equally unconventional girlfriend and enlists her aid in the search. Along the way, they meet plenty of unusual people, and the strait-laced brother slowly loosens up. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The small adventures of ordinary eight-year old boys living in an Italian village are followed with care in this unusual, critically well-received film. The three boys in the film have become friends. One of them, a newcomer, is the son of a hairdresser, another is the son of a farmer, and the third is the son of the village doctor. Together, they explore the mystery of the soap which has gone missing from the school bathroom, enjoy a visit to the circus, and get to know one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Enzo Monteleone's World War II drama El Alamein: The Line of Fire is concerned with the life of Italian soldiers. Lieutenant Fiore (Emilio Solfrizzi) leads a group of soldiers stationed in Egypt. The troops, including Sargent Rizzo (Pierfrancesco Favino) and newbie Serra (Paolo Briguglia), are constantly under attack from the British. Eventually the commands from the military hierarchy become indecipherable, and the madness and horror of war overtake the men. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A pair of teenage classmates known as "Chicken" and "Curry" for the fact that they are virtually inseparable attempt to cover for the fact that they both failed their high school finals by claiming that "Curry" is in the midst of an identity crisis that can only be solved by returning to his homeland of India with his Jewish best friend. While the ruse works wonderfully on the parents of both students, the impromptu journey of self-discovery takes an unexpected detour when "Curry" locates his sister and becomes captivated by the country he first despised, and "Chicken" falls for an older medic working for Doctors Without Borders after entering a synagogue for the first time in his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The English title of this complex Italian film is apt. Featuring 65 main characters and 130 speaking parts (famous faces abound and many of the actors appeared gratis), and ranging in tone from tartly humorous to darkly tragic, it presents 30 interwoven slices from the lives of modern day Romans during a single day. The lone, silent figure of a lone jogger provides a sort of continuity between the vignettes. Beginning at sunset of the previous day, the jogger is seen warming up on his apartment terrace, looking for all the world as if he would like to jump. The rest of the stories seem to be randomly presented. Stories include the robbery of a Chinese restaurant that causes a birthday celebrant to die of fright, two different newlyweds who find themselves attracted to each other, an opportunistic mechanic's plan to capitalize on the death of a rival, a sneaky, sadistic meter maid and others. One uniting feature of the stories is their underlying bitter assessment of modern humanity. People are seen as selfish and basically cruel, still the stories move quickly and the balance between humor and drama, affection and cynicism, and shallowness and complexity is carefully maintained. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sergio's great pal is Cena (Davide Torsello), a couple of years older, who is the leader of their gang of boys. They live in the small town of Vicenza in Northern Italy in the peaceful days of the 1930s. Though they know they are not wealthy, it is doubtful that they realize that they are poor, for their lives are full of so many adventures. When Don Gastone (Roberto Citran), a handsome, artistic new priest comes into town, he persuades Sergio (Massimo Santelia) to take part in a poetry recital. One benefit of this is that Immacolata (Adriana Asti), one of the parishioners (who is smitten with the priest), gives Sergio a new suit for the occasion. Up the street, the hooker Fedora (Jessica Forde) has just come into town from Venice, and has established her place of business not far from where Immacolata lives. So it doesn't escape Immacolata's attention that Don Gastone is passing through the neighborhood just a bit too often. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Fabio (Roberto Citran) has never wanted to be a grownup, and the fact that his wife Giulia (Violaine Ledoux) is nearing childbirth provokes him into a frenzy of childish acts. Rather than assist her in her doctor's visits, Fabio plays soccer with neighborhood kids, when he is not hanging out in the soothing quiet of the zoo's reptile house. As the time for the birth of his child grows nearer, he quits his reliable job to open a travel agency with a flighty friend. Giulia bears all this with some patience, but when he suggests that they celebrate the opening of the new agency by taking a vacation to the Maldive Islands (completely ignoring the fact that she is near to term with the baby) she completely blows her top. As usual, this sends him scuttering off to seek comfort somewhere else. However, the lovely woman he turns to for comfort insists that he return and take care of his wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this Swiss-Italian-French co-production, architect Luca (Roberto Citran) goes to the Jewish section of Venice to restore a house where reclusive novelist Elio (Omero Antonutti) lives. When Elio lets Luca read the manuscript of his current novel about a famous composer, Luca begins to imagine himself in the role of the composer. Music by Pino Donaggio who also wrote the film's operatic sequences. Shown at the 1997 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A young soldier is brutally raped and attempts to bring the culprit to justice in this Italian drama. The victim is 20-year-old Saro, a naïve young man who has left his tiny mountain village to join the Airborne Assault force. His first real friend is sergeant Tricarico who shows Saro around the local dance clubs. At first Saro doesn't realize that his sergeant is a homosexual, but when he figures it out he takes off and gets a ride back to the base with Scarpa, the owner of the town car dealership. Poor Saro doesn't realize that he is no safer with Scarpa who is in cahoots with the sadistic, bisexual Capt. Roatta who is concealed in the back of Scarpa's car. Sure enough it is during the ride that Saro is attacked and raped. He doesn't see the attacker's face, but he does recognize the man's watch. Roatta is slated to marry the town mayor's daughter so when Saro attempts to get him convicted of rape, he orders Tricarico to do all he can to break the young man's spirit. Saro's life becomes a living hell, but this does not stop him from pursuing the justice he deserves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This period drama is based on the real-life relationship of the great Irish novelist James Joyce and his longtime lover, Nora Barnacle. Aspiring writer James (Ewan McGregor) meets Nora (Susan Lynch) in Dublin in 1904. While she lacks James' interest in literature, she shares his frustrations about the limitations of life in Ireland, and she encourages him in both his work and in his desire to try his hand in Europe. Nora also shares James' potent sexual appetite, and James finds himself at once thrilled by her enthusiasm for lovemaking and troubled by suspicions that she may be unfaithful to him. When James decides to relocate to Trieste, Nora joins him, and they eventually have two children together, but their relationship is often stormy -- James angrily suspects that Nora is having affairs with his brother Stanislaus (Peter McDonald) and their close friend Roberto (Roberto Citran) as he struggles with his writing and battles censors over his masterwork, Ulysses. However, while they have troubles keeping their relationship together, they find that it's even harder for them to live apart from one another. Ewan McGregor served as both star and co-producer for Nora, which was backed in part by his production company, Natural Nylon Entertainment. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paolo (Sergio Castellitto) hasn't seen his actress girlfriend Francesca (Lina Sastri) in quite a while - not since she went on tour with a play. They broke up just as she was leaving on the tour, and he was expected to move out of their apartment while she was away. When the story opens, he is still in their apartment. Rather than moving out, he has been commiserating with his friends, Enrico (Nicola Pistola), an actor who has probably also been Francesca's boyfriend, and Giuliano (Roberto Citran). Giuliano is engaged to Sophie (Nancy Brilli), and is madly jealous of her. Why he consents to Paolo inviting Sophie along as his "date" for a dinner with his ex on the occasion of her return to Rome is difficult to understand. At any rate, she finally shows up with her boyfriend Piero (Pino Quartullo), and what began as an awkward reunion becomes a more passionate encounter. This film, which marks the directing debut of Ricky Tognazzi, the son of the famous director Ugo Tognazzi, is based on a popular play by Claudio Bigagli. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide