Vittorio Fanfoni Movies

A minimalist cinematic style is used in this film to tell the story of a young man who reacquaints himself with an old girlfriend after a chance meeting. He talks to a film director who wishes to make a feature about political change but is uninspired about the lack of real change in everyday life. The woman goes on a boat with an old friend before making love to her former boyfriend. The two rekindle their passions as the passage of time has them viewing each other in a more favorable light. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

The Decameron was the first of director Pier Paolo Pasolini's "trilogy of life." The film, based on the sexually supercharged tales of Boccaccio, is a patchwork of many of Pasolini's favorite themes. Pasolini himself plays the role of an aspiring fresco painter who is advised that his completed work will never be as satisfying as his dream of that work. The film is followed by Pasolini's The Canterbury Tales and The Arabian Nights. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this spaghetti western, a quick-drawing, hard-riding granite faced, steel-eyed ex-Confederate soldier (Lee VanCleef) rides into a Texas town with the small travelling circus he works for as a stunt rider and bumps into a man who owes him $5,000. Wanting the money back, the vet decides to stay in town and it isn't long before he ends up embroiled in corruption and double-crosses as he fights to simultaneously save the townsfolk from the greedy, corrupt politician who runs the town and forces the residents to pay cripplingly high taxes and steal the crook's fortune. This is the third Sabata film and the second time VanCleef essayed the character. In the second film Adios Sabata, the title character was played by Yul Brynner. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Well-known actor Gian Maria Volonte carries this Italian biographical film almost single-handedly in his role as the industrialist Enrico Mattei. Mattei gave Italian industry a much-needed shot in the arm in the postwar era and died under suspicious circumstances in 1962. However, like many larger-than-life figures, he was not without his flaws. He created a giant monopolistic industry, which he is thought to have maintained free from interference by the government through the application of generous bribes. When he set out to make Italy a power in the petroleum world, however, he ran into serious difficulties. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Bernardo Bertolucci's 255-minute 1900 was a gargantuan undertaking, requiring the resources of three European countries and a trio of American movie studios. Set in the Italian town of Parma, the film's continuity backtracks from Liberation Day in 1945 to the occasion of composer/patriot Giuseppe Verdi's death in 1901. We follow the lives of two men born on that day in 1901, who grow up to be Alfredo Berlinghieti (Robert De Niro) and Olmo Dalco (Gérard Depardieu). Wealthy Alfredo sinks into dissipation, while poverty-stricken Olmo becomes a firebrand labor leader and communist. After WWI, Alfredo is allowed to peacefully retain his land holdings by playing nice with the burgeoning fascists; Olmo, on the other hand, engages in a long-standing battle against the minions of Mussolini. The two protagonists are reunited when Alfredo returns to Parma to preside over Olmo's trial for "political crimes." Co-star Burt Lancaster is cast as Alfredo's wealthy grandfather, who hates to see the old values buried beneath the social travails of the 20th century. Many American prints of 1900 were shortened to 243 minutes, rendering the story hard to follow at times. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi