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
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
- 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)
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)
- 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)
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)
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)
