Maria Grazia Cucinotta Movies

Inspired by author Matt Baglio's nonfiction book of the same name, director Mikael Håfström's supernatural thriller traces the experiences of a young seminary student who discovers the true power of faith after being drafted into the Vatican's Exorcism School and confronted by the forces of darkness. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Omnibus films attained renewed popularity during the 1990s and 2000s; this particular seven-episode film-a-sketch arrived during that period, and involved several top-tiered international filmmakers including John Woo, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Emir Kusturica and three others. Each helmer was asked to shoot a segment of between 16-18 minutes in length, for UNICEF, on the subject of exploited and/or underprivileged children around the world. The package opens with "Tanza," helmed by Algerian novelist-cum-filmmaker Mehdi Charef and shot in Burkina Faso. It concerns the 12-year-old female title character - an adolescent freedom fighter - who trollops through the countryside accompanied by young male guerilla fighters who spout off deliberately nonsensical English-language dialogue. Kusturica takes the reins for the second segment, "Blue Gypsy," an overtly comical episode in the vein of Time of the Gypsies about a precocious young boy who makes the split from his alcoholic father and thieving family and goes to live in a juvenile detention center, finding it preferable to home. The third episode, helmed by co-producer Stefano Veneruso and entitled "Ciro," recalls neorealismo with its Naples-set tale of a young boy unloved and systematically neglected by his mother, who resorts to spending time with other neglected children and stealing watches, and then gets caught in the direst of ways. The fourth segment, Spike Lee's delicately-handled "Jesus Children of America," stars Hannah Hodson as Blanca, a young Brooklynite ostracized by her peers because her parents are junkies; when she learns of her HIV-positive status, her world crumbles. For the 5th episode, "Bilu and Joao," Brazilian director Katia Lund casts child actors Francisco Anawake de Freitas and Vera Fernandes as two impoverished tykes whose days involve walking around the outskirts of Sao Paulo and pulling a wooden cart, into which they pile aluminum and paper - but do so joyously, with the courage and grace of two individuals delighting in subhuman work despite the direst of circumstances. For the sixth segment, "Jonathan," Ridley Scott teams up to co-direct with daughter Jordan Scott; the episode stars David Thewlis (Naked) as an emotionally-traumatized war photographer who encounters a band of Eastern European orphans. And the closer, John Woo's "Song Song and Little Cat," studies the contrast between the lives of two young Asian girls from polar opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum: Oi Ruyi is Little Cat, an abjectly impoverished child discovered in the garbage, during infancy, by a homeless man; she grows up helping her discoverer forage for victuals until he dies, leaving her aimless and bereft. Woo cuts between her story and that of Song Song, a wealthy and pampered little girl whose story is equally tragic in its own way, as her parents are undergoing a bitter divorce. Though this film, as indicated, enlisted the support of at least two major Hollywood directors (Scott and Lee) it did encounter extreme difficulty securing U.S. theatrical and ancillary distribution, which effectively kept it out of North America in the years that immediately followed its global release. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This drama was the ninth in a series of made-for-TV features dramatizing famous stories from the Bible. Solomon (Ben Cross), the son of David (Max Von Sydow), inherits his father's kingdom and becomes the ruler of Israel. While Solomon consolidates power through his marriages, it is his intelligence, sense of justice, and desire to see his people live in peace that earns him the respect and admiration of his subjects. Solomon also stars Vivica A. Fox as the Queen of Saba, Anouk Aimee as Bethsabea, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta as Abishag. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A groom-to-be wanting to put his best foot forward finds that's not so simple in this updated screwball comedy. Isaac Adler (Timothy Hutton) is a straight-laced college professor who is invited to give a lecture in San Francisco on the day before his wedding. Adler accepts the invitation, certain he has plenty of time to get back home in time for the nuptials, but he makes the mistake of leaving his shoes out to be shined -- and only one of the shoes returns. Adler sets out to find his missing shoes, or obtain a new pair of dress shoes before he reaches the altar, but that proves to be a lot more complicated than he expected; along the way, he meets a lovely and free-spirited woman named Aurora (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) who offers to help him, but Aurora's "helpful" ideas include visiting several nightspots, getting tattoos, and eventually spending the night in jail. Is there any hope for Adler -- or his shoes? Just One Night also features Udo Kier and Seymour Cassel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Playwright Ugo Chiti directed this Italian romantic drama set in the summer of 1957. Single mother Anna (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) marries truckdriver Fosco (Lazar Ristovski) and moves with her infant daughter Santina (Jessica Auriemma) to a rural Tuscan coastal community where Fosco lives with his son, sensitive teen Livio (Giorgio Noe). Fosco, who moonlights by robbing Etruscan graves of relics valued by art dealers, is jailed for theft and thrown in prison, a situation which draws Anna and Livio together into a passionate romance. Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival (Perspectives). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In this sexy comedy, four modern couples try to sort through the hubub of their lives and make time for making love. The story's main couple, Dario and Maddalena are so busy with their children, managing finances (Dario's ex-wife demands a larger alimony payment) and their two very different jobs (he's a nightwatchman at a bedroom furniture showroom and she's a nurse) that they only see each other for short periods in the morning and evening. Then there is Sandro, the showroom's bookkeeper who tries to rekindle a relationship with his Russian ex-lover. Dario's young nephew Lorenzo is frustrated because he is too broke to rent a love nest for himself and lovely Luisa. Fabrizio and Margherita are actors who find that their tempestuous personal relationship is interfering with their rehearsals. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Set in a non-descript Midwestern town during the 1950s, this fable chronicles the last days in the life of local Mafioso Don Antonio Barracano (Anthony Quinn). During preparations for his 75th birthday celebration, he muses upon his life. While he thinks, his wife Armida continues her campaign to keep her eldest son from entering the family business. Trouble brews for Don Antonio when he learns that his stubborn colleague Arturo is refusing to help out his own financially strapped, estranged son who is trying to do right by his pregnant girlfriend. Don Antonio tries to restore family harmony by intervening, but his plans backfire and a tragedy ensues. The plot is adapted from Eduardo de Filippo's drama Il Sindaco del Rione Sanita (1960). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Spanish filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia followed his outlandish sci-fi/horror debut, Accion Mutante, with this colorful apocalypse fantasy about Father Angel (Alex Angulo), a scholarly priest whose intensive research into cabalistic "Bible Code" prophecies leads to a horrific discovery: the exact birthdate of the Antichrist. Convinced that Satan's spawn will be born somewhere in Madrid on Christmas Day, Father Angel embarks on a bizarre journey down the path of sin, committing the foulest possible acts against God and humanity in order to worm his way into the Devil's inner circle and face the ultimate foe on his own turf. Comprised of equal parts high-concept horror and scathing social satire (in the mode of the director's peer and former collaborator Pedro Almodovar), this ambitious horror film has garnered a sizable cult following. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Stefania (Margherita Buy) is having her own troubles with her marriage, and the troubled romance between Marilu (Barbara Jane Ricassa), her Filipina nanny, and a local plumber (Raoul Bova) only highlights her own concerns. Her husband (Massimo Ghini) used to be full of the fire of political convictions, but has lost his belief in much of anything. Perhaps this is an occupational hazard for political journalists, but it doesn't help Stefania much. She has a job dubbing an Argentine soap opera into Italian for television, so if she had to she could set out on her own. Somehow, she and her husband struggle through their difficulties, and are able to smooth the way for Marilu as well. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi