Mariella Li Sacchi Movies
- 2000
A young man finds that places as well as people can change with the years in this drama from Italy. Tobia (Federico Galante) is a young boy from a wealthy family who is fascinated with the Caffe Quattro Palme, a small, beautifully appointed cafe that caters to a small but loyal clientele of aging individualists. Tobia senses there's something special about the place, and he spends much of his time there, getting to know Giuseppe (Roberto Citran), the head waiter. A decade later, Tobia (now played by (Nicola Russo) still hangs out at the cafe, and he's made the acquaintance of another regular, a lovely young woman named Annetta (Candice Hugo). But with the passage of time, the cafe's old regulars have begun to drift away, and a crowd of young bohemians and vagrants begins to take over, changing the character of the place and leaving Tobia to wonder if he can still call it his own. Tobia Al Caffe was shown in competition at the 2000 Taormina Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roberto Citran, Nicola Russo, (more)
- 1999
In this period drama, romance and confusion rule the day in a 17th theatrical troupe. Giovanni Andreini (Peter Stormare) is a playwright who leads the Company of Faithful Comics, a group of performers dependant on the financial support of the Duke of Mantua; however, before he's willing to finance the Company's upcoming trip to Paris, he requests a special private performance featuring the beautful women of the troupe, without costumes. The actresses grudgingly agree, and Giovanni begins work on his latest play, Love In the Mirror. He intends the female lead to go to his wife Virginia (Anna Galiena), but when a lovely young woman named Lidia (Simona Cavallari) approaches Giovanni and tells him how much she enjoys his work, he's so smitten that he gives the role to her. Soon Lidia and Giovanni are having an steamy affair, and this turn of events so upsets Virginia that she leaves Giovanni and joins a convent; however, she comes up with a better idea for getting revenge on her husband by seducing Lidia herself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Galiena, Peter Stormare, (more)
- 1996
On convalescent leave on his birth-island off Dalmatia, Franco (Marco Leonardi), a Croatian-speaking soldier in the Italian army, sees things that cause him to question his loyalty to the Italian rulers in the area. Thus, he does not think too harshly of the local children's efforts to sabotage the Italian army, and he seeks the wisdom of his older mentor Simeone (Omero Antonutti). From him, he hears the story of another young man who, in the time of World War I, faced a similar dilemma. Emidio (Raoul Bova), the other young man, was a soldier in the Austrian army (Austria ruled the island at that time). Prompted perhaps by a love affair, he was killed while attempting to desert to the Italian side. This film is in Italian. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
