Asia Argento Movies
One of Italy's most popular actresses, Asia Argento has been labeled on more than one occasion in her native country as "the face of the new generation." The daughter of legendary horror director Dario Argento and stage actress Daria Nicolodi, Argento was born in Rome on September 20, 1975. She broke into film at the tender age of nine and has gone on to enjoy an illustrious and acclaimed career. Although the actress' early prospects were undoubtedly aided by her father's famous name -- she has appeared in a number of his films -- she has become known as an actress in her own right, winning two David di Donatello awards (the Italian Oscar) and two Ciacks (the Italian Golden Globe), among other honors. Argento has acted for a number of non-Italian directors, most notably Patrice Chéreau in La Reine Margot (1994) and Michael Radford in B. Monkey (1998). The latter film, which starred Argento as a master thief alongside Rupert Everett and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, succeeded in giving her an initial introduction to American art house audiences. In addition to acting, Argento is also a screenwriter and director with a growing number of credits to her name. The handover to then new millennium found the now-established actress following in the footsteps of her father with the release of her directorial debut, Scarlet Diva (2000). A semi-autobiographical tale that journied into the frenzied mind of an actress fueled by excess, Scarlet Diva combined the garish visuals of her father's cinematic heyday with the sensory overload that defined cinema of the millennial crossover.With B. Monkey and Abel Ferrara's New Rose Hotel failing to gain Argento as much stateside exposure as may have been anticipated and Scarlett Diva still not having found suitable distribution in the U.S., the release of numerous articles and photo spreads in such magazines as Bizarre, Maxim and Entertainment Weekly began to generate a substantial buzz surrounding the release of what would be her biggest American film to date, XXX. As the mysterious love interest of Vin Diesel, Argento seemed poised for the elusive international success that, though she had no doubt gained a reputation as a desirable dark goddess on the glossy pages of men's magazines nationwide, had yet to cement itself in celluliod form. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
A high-end apartment complex is the setting for demonic disaster in this like-minded splatter sequel to the 1986 cult hit Demons. A spoiled young woman named Sally (Coralina Cataldi Tassoni) is hosting her own birthday party in her apartment. Other characters in the building include a man (David Knight) and his pregnant wife (Nancy Brilli), a little boy who is alone for the evening, and a gym full of workout maniacs. In each apartment, televisions are all tuned to a horror film in which a group of young people find evidence of demons which precedes their becoming possessed. Upset that an ex-boyfriend is coming to her party, Sally goes into her room and turns on the film. A demon bursts through her television. Moments later, the possessed Sally enters the party and slaughters all of her guests, turning them into demons. The possession spreads throughout the building as tenant after tenant is transformed, leading to a furious battle between the exercise fanatics and a pack of demons. The young husband manages to stay alive and makes a desperate attempt to save his wife -- who is being tormented by the now-possessed little boy. He rescues her after the demon child gives "birth" to a Gremlins-style demon and the couple make a dangerous attempt to rappel down the outside of the tower with the raving, drooling Sally in hot pursuit. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, (more)
Originally intended as the third chapter in producer Dario Argento's Demons trilogy, La Chiesa stands alone as an effective horror film centering on a haunted cathedral with a violent past. The church's history begins in Medieval Italy, when the Knights Templar massacred an entire village of suspected Satanists and built the structure upon the site of the slain peasants' mass grave. Designed by an architect/alchemist (who was buried alive within his creation), the church is filled with elaborate machinery designed to seal off all entrances if ever the spirits of the entombed villagers were to rise again... which, of course, takes place in the present when the crypt's seal is removed. As demonic forces have their way with the church's occupants, it becomes the task of the parish priest (Hugh Quarshie) and a young girl (Asia Argento, daughter of Dario) to discover the builder's last line of defense before the evil is unleashed upon the outside world. Directed by Michele Soavi (who later gained critical acclaim with the inventive Dellamorte Dellamore), this is an imaginative Gothic horror film with startling imagery straight out of a Hieronymous Bosch painting and its own well-conceived mythology. Shots of the church's elaborate Medieval machines grinding to life are particularly memorable. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This humorous and peculiarly Italian movie is unlikely to have been released outside that country, largely because of the intricacies of its political references. Writer/producer/director/lead actor Nanni Moretti has filmed a semi-autobiographical story which combines the action in a rousing water polo championship game (the film's name, Palombella Rossa, refers to a water polo move) with the efforts of the team's amnesiac star player (Moretti) to remember his past. In particular, he wants to remember why he is a communist. As the story unfolds, references to well over 20 years of Italian communist history and infighting emerge. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nanni Moretti, Mariella Valentini, (more)
- 1992
Without any uncomfortably explicit scenes, this film clearly shows the toll that a fifteen-year-old girl's incestuous relationship with her outwardly serene father takes on her. When Sabrina goes on a date with a boy, she becomes violently ill when the unwary lad tries to kiss her. Her father is such a mild-acting man that no one would imagine what he's been up to. She has dropped out of high school, and progressing away from her claustrophobic relationship with her father seems nearly impossible, until she takes a job at a clothing store and genuinely falls in love with one of her co-workers. This seems to offer her a way beyond her current circumstances, until her jealous father gets wind of it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Michele Placido, (more)
In this suspenseful horror movie, a lovely runaway and a helpful hero go looking for the fearsome "Headhunter," the ghoulish hooded killer who sawed off the heads of her parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Rydell, Asia Argento, (more)
- 1993
In this fantasy comedy/drama, Roberto (Sergio Rubini) is a divorce lawyer who is very conflicted about what he does for a living. In fact, he has a great deal of difficulty sleeping at night. Most people simply toss and turn; Roberto literally splits in two. One Roberto is a fanatic advocate of marriage and an opponent of divorce. He goes on a campaign advocating that couples seek counseling and get back together. Ironically, he becomes so jealous of his wife (Margherita Buy) that she leaves him. The other Roberto is an inveterate ladies' man, one hundred percent against romance and commitment. The women he has relationships with eventually want a little of each, and he, too is left alone. Their mutual desolation eventually pushes the two Robertos back together into one slightly wiser man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergio Rubini, Margherita Buy, (more)
- 1994
A jaded TV host falls in love with a paraplegic in this Italian comedy. The romance begins after Gepy Fuxas, the host of a popular reality show, is attacked on the air by an irate audience member in a wheel chair. The attacker, Arianna, is upset that he so readily exploits the pain of others. Gepy, who tries to defend himself, draws scathing criticism from his fans. His show is immediately cancelled and he finds himself alone and friendless. His life no longer has meaning. Arianna, feeling guilty, meets with him to try and smooth things over. Thus begins their gradual friendship and eventual love affair. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlo Verdone, Asia Argento, (more)
The historical novel by Alexandre Dumas was adapted for the screen with this lavish French epic, winner of 5 Césars and a pair of awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Isabelle Adjani stars as Marguerite de Valois, better known as Margot, daughter of scheming Catholic power player Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi). Margot is an heiress to the throne during the late 16th century reign of the neurotic, hypochondriac King Charles IX (Jean-Hugues Anglade), a time when Protestants and Catholics are vying for political control of France. Catherine decides to make an overture of good will by offering up Margot in marriage to prominent Protestant Huguenot Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil), although she also schemes to bring about the notorious St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, when tens of thousands of Protestants are slaughtered. The marriage goes forward but Margot doesn't love Henri and takes a lover, the soldier La Mole (Vincent Perez), also a Protestant from a well-to-do family. Murders by poisoning follow, as court intrigues multiply and Catherine's villainous plotting to place her son Anjou (Pascal Greggory) on the throne threatens the lives of La Mole, Margot and Henri. The American release version was cut to 145 minutes. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, (more)
This is a movie about walls, no not physical walls of wood and stone, but the psychological walls that protect and ultimately imprison certain souls, effectively isolating them from the most teeming crowds. 19-year-old Cora's are walls of anger that keep her militantly aloof from the world around her. The much-older Cosimo's walls are harder to define. Suffering from debilitating bouts of forgetfulness, he lives in a whimsical world, wandering whenever the urge strikes him. His wanderlust greatly worries his daughter Ada, herself trying to surmount the fences erected between her husband and herself as they try to deal with Cosimo. She hires Cora to surreptitiously watch Cosimo and to keep him from harm. At first Cora is content to quietly trail the oblivious Cosimo on his daily jaunts around the city, but as time passes she finds herself drawing inexorably nearer to the old man. One day Cosimo just gets on a train and randomly visits numerous towns with Cora forced to follow. Eventually they end up in the country where Cora shows that she is not as hard and cynical as she seems. She then informs Ada of her father's latest escapades, but eventually Cora comes to accept the professor as he is and in so doing finds new insight about herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
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
The title affliction causes sufferers to react to paintings in extreme and bizarre ways. In the case of police detective Anna Manni, she swoons and feels herself entering hallucinatory versions of the artwork she sees. This Italian psychothriller contains dark elements of horror as Manni tries to capture a murderous serial rapist. The lady detective is first seen walking the art-filled hallways of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The great paintings have a terrible effect upon her and she ends up having one of her surreal visions after fainting in front of Brueghel's "The Flight of Icarus." She sees herself falling through the painting's deep ocean and is only saved by the hands of Alfredo, a stranger who saw her fall. She returns woozily to her hotel. Her memory has temporarily lapsed, and once in her room she finds herself similarly mesmerized by a painting on the wall, but eventually she remembers her assignment. Unfortunately, when she meets up with Alfredo again, he attacks and rapes her. He then forces her to watch while he rapes and murders another. She manages to escape and make it back to Rome where she begins seeing a psychiatrist. Her former lover Marco also makes sure she is guarded 24-hours a day. Unfortunately for Anna it is not enough, and Alfredo strikes again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1997
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Italian filmmaker Dario Argento has gained a well-deserved reputation among horror film buffs as one of the most distinctive and original directors working in the genre, creating visually stylized and emotionally complex nightmares filled with blood and menace. Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror is a documentary on the filmmaker's career that looks at his work of the past (and his relationship with former girlfriend Daria Nicolodi and daughter Asia Argento, both of whom are actresses who have appeared in several of his films) as well as his future as he works on his 2001 release Non Ho Sonno. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dario Argento
- 1998
In this Italian road comedy, three pals (Rocco Papaleo, Massimo Ceccherini, Valerio Mastandrea) all are attracted to miniskirted Viola (Asia Argento) and attempt to help her elude both the law and the gangsters out to nab her bag of rare coins. Asia Argento (B Monkey) is the daughter of horror director Dario Argento (Deep Red), and her mother, Daria Nicolodi, also has a role in this film. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Massimo Ceccherini, (more)
Abel Ferrara directed this erotic thriller adapted by Ferrara and Christ Zois from a short story by science fiction author William Gibson (in his Burning Chrome collection). Global corporations rule the world, and corporate raider Fox (Christopher Walken) and his deputy X (Willem Dafoe) could pocket $100 million if they can get top scientist Hiroshi (Yoshitaka Amano) to defect from one corporation to another. Fox offers singer Sandii (Asia Argento) $1 million to seduce Hiroshi away from his wife, family, and employer. An affair develops between Sandii and X, while she studies facts about Hiroshi's life. She departs on her assignment, but betrayals ensue, with Fox and X soon becoming targets themselves. With opening credits in three languages (English, German, Japanese), the soundtrack features the score-composition debut of hip-hopper Schoolly D, music which plays over a blank screen at the wrap-up (since the film has no closing credits). This Gibson short story was a property once in development by director Kathryn Bigelow. The title story of Gibson's Burning Chrome collection was planned as the second Heavy Metal movie, intended for live-action and scripted but never filmed. Shown in competition at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, (more)
In this witty romantic thriller, Alan (Jared Harris) is a London schoolteacher who leads a quiet, mildly stuffy life. As a hobby, he serves as a jazz disc jockey, spinning tunes for a hospital's public address system, but he craves danger and excitement. One night, Alan stops into a bar for a drink and sees Beatrice (Asia Argento), a beautiful woman who is arguing with two men. Alan is immediately enraptured by Beatrice and begins to pursue her. What Alan doesn't know is that Beatrice is an infamous thief known to the police as "B. Monkey" (named for her ability to break into anything), and the men she was quarreling with were Paul (Rupert Everett) and Bruno (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a gay couple who are her partners in crime. When Alan becomes aware of Beatrice's secret, he tries to lead her into a safer and more honest way of life, even as she lures him into the thrilling existence he's been dreaming of. Leading lady Asia Argento is the daughter of Italian horror auteur Dario Argento. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Jared Harris, (more)
In keeping with the his cult reputation, Italian filmmaker Dario Argento's take on Gaston Leroux's enduring Gothic tale of terror and obsession features plenty of sex and graphic, high-tech gore (although hard-core Argento purists may find the splatter scenes rather sparse). Unlike other renditions of the illustrious Phantom, Argento's version suffers no facial disfigurement and therefore remains unmasked. His creepiness, shown in the early parts of the story, comes from having been abandoned as a baby and raised by rats in the labyrinthine catacombs beneath the Paris Opera. Unaccustomed to humankind, the Phantom (Julian Sands) spends his days in the darkness playing an organ, murdering intruders, saving his rodent family members from the theater's exterminator and occasionally wandering about the opera house. His life changes when he falls in love with beautiful young singer Christine (Asia Argento), understudy to temperamental zaftig diva Carlotta (Nadia Rinaldi). Desperate to have her, the Phantom plays a haunting melody and lures her into the bowels of the great theater. There he will begin a macabre courtship destined to end in tragedy. Those who enjoy finding continuity mistakes will be delighted to discover that while the story is set in 1877, the theater is lighted with electricity, something that did not happen in real life until 1888. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Asia Argento, (more)
Shot on digital video, this no-holds-barred, semi-autobiographical film from Italian actress/model Asia Argento presents the bleak decent of a popular actress into a haze of drugs and overindulgence. Anna Battista (Argento) has seemingly everything anyone could ever want, yet sometimes everything is never enough. Fed up with going through the motions as an actor, Battista aspires to seek a career as a director so that she may truly explore her currently latent artistic talent. The queen of excess, Battista's attempts to realize her true talent are time and again shattered as the she is used and abused by everyone she comes into contact with. After a one-night fling with an emotionally distant and uncaring Australian rock star (Jean Sheperd) leaves the self-confessed whore a lovelorn mother-to-be, Battista's desperation to bring her story to the screen finds her dealing with a shady American producer (Joe Coleman), an agent reluctant to assist her in branching out, and a heroin-addicted former filmmaker who is as close to ending his life as Battista is to beginning hers. Her career in disarray and her uncertain future growing increasingly grim, Battista embarks on a numbing binge of sex and drugs that takes her from Europe to America and back again. Attempting to seek-out the father of her unborn child and find some sense of stability, Battista finds the truth about her one-time lover. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Herbert Fritsch, (more)
- 2000
Victor Hugo's classic story of one man's struggle to redeem himself -- and another man's efforts to bring him down -- is brought to the screen again (there have been at least 18 previous screen adaptations) in this epic-scale television production with a distinguished international cast. Jean Valjean (Gerard Depardieu) is a man forced by circumstance into a life of crime when he steals bread to ease his hunger, ending up behind bars for 19 years. Upon his release, the destitute Valjean attempts to rob the home of a bishop, but the bishop takes pity on him, and Valjean turns over a new leaf, becoming an honest and upright businessman and civic leader. But Javert (John Malkovich), a former guard at the prison where Valjean served time, is now the Chief of Police, and he's determined not to let Valjean live down his criminal past. Les Miserables also features Jeanne Moreau, Virginie Ledoyen, Christian Clavier, and Asia Argento; the miniseries was produced in two versions, a French-language version for European television that ran eight hours, and a four-hour English-language adaptation that was broadcast in a pair of two-hour installments on January 7 and 8, 2001, on the Fox Family Channel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, John Malkovich, (more)
Former French television star Antoine de Caunes turns his sights on the horror genre in his first feature in this goth comedy about trendy nightlife and new-millennium vogue. Antoine (Guillaume Canet is a layabout slacker who lives in a lounge at a health club where a friend lets him stay. After outsmarting a bouncer at an exclusive club in town, he gets a tip from another friend, Etienne (Gerard Lanvin), about a new party in the know. When Antoine attempts getting into the swanky soiree, he claims his friend "Jordan" has invited him. Though he cannot describe his fake friend's features, the staff agrees to let him in. He is then hauled away to meet the party's wealthy host Von Bulow (played by Jean-Marie Winling), who is extremely enticed by the prospect of meeting "Jordan" as he hears he only lives by night. Von Bulow offers Antoine one million francs, half on the spot, if he can be led to Jordan. Antoine must then buy information with his new money, leading him on all-night, violent odyssey that goes further into dark territory. The film also features Asia Argento, Vincent Perez, and Gilbert Melki. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guillaume Canet, Gérard Lanvin, (more)
Oliver Megaton's action thriller Red Siren, an adaptation of Maurice G. Dantec's La Sirene Rouge, concerns the unusual friendship that develops between a 12-year-old girl, Alice (Alexandra Negrao) and a jaded, 40-year-old hired killer, Hugo (Jean-Marc Barr), who finds, in her, a new lease on life. A group of bad guys are hunting the girl because of her evil mother - relentlessly trying to track her down. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Marc Barr, Alexandra Negrao, (more)
Arriving on the eponymous Sicilian island with his wife and child to investigate the murder of a would-be informant, FBI agent Matt Benson (Harvey Keitel) attempts to contact the only person who knows the truth behind the killing - the dead man's eleven-year-old son. As Benson races to reach the boy before the mafia, it's only a matter of time before the endangered boy meets the same fate as his father. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Stefano Dionisi, (more)
- 2002
- PG13
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The director (Rob Cohen) and star (Vin Diesel) of the previous summer's hit The Fast and the Furious (2001) are reunited for this spy thriller billed as a next-generation James Bond adventure. Diesel stars as Xander Cage, a nihilist extreme sports enthusiast nicknamed "Triple X" because of a large tattoo covering his back and neck. Cage's illegal stunts and poor attitude (he's given to spouting dialogue such as, "Have you ever been punched in the face for talking too much?") land him in jail, where he's recruited/blackmailed into government service by the National Security Agency's Augustus Gibbons, who likes Cage for his skills and expendability. The new secret agent is assigned to infiltrate a Russian crime ring called Anarchy 99, whose access to biochemical weaponry is making the United States extremely nervous. With the help of some high-tech gadgets from weapons master Toby Lee Shavers (Michael Roof), Cage is able to make his way into Anarchy 99, where he targets the group's leader Yorgi (Marton Csokas) and falls for the organization's second-in-command, Yelena (Asia Argento). XXX (2002) is the first in a hoped-for franchise of sequels for the film's producer, Revolution Studios. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, (more)
Deep within the soundproofed confines of his secluded country home, an upstanding police officer harbors a dark secret in director Paul Lynch's tense tale of unjust imprisonment and unhinged madness. On the surface, Lieutenant Krebs (Dennis Hopper) is a respected law enforcement officer with close ties to his community. A glance into Krebs' crippled psyche, however, reveals another, much more malevolent persona. Drifting exotic dancer named Gina (Asia Argento) has been brutally attacked in a near-fatal assault. Offered a ride to the local bus station by the outwardly amiable Lieutenant Krebs after issuing a statement to the local police force, Gina awakens to discover that she is being held captive in an escape-proof basement jail cell with all the discomforts of the county detention center. In the days and weeks that follow, world weary dancer Gina will be forced to wage mental warfare against her increasingly unstable captor if she ever hopes to escape the oppressive lockdown of his basement dungeon and live to tell the tale. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, (more)
