Giovanna Mezzogiorno

Die Toten Hosen front-man Campino headlines iconic German filmmaker Wim Wenders' drama about a world-renowned photographer who finds a new life and a new love while being targeted by a tenacious trigger-man. Finn (Campino) is a successful shutterbug who leads a hectic life, gets precious little sleep, and doesn't go anywhere without his trusty headphones. One day, when Finn's life begins to unravel, he leaves Düsseldorf behind to find peace in Palermo. Just as the seeds for a new life are planted, however, a mysterious assassin comes gunning for Finn with a vengeance. Inga Busch, Dennis Hopper, and Lou Reed co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A pair of teenage classmates known as "Chicken" and "Curry" for the fact that they are virtually inseparable attempt to cover for the fact that they both failed their high school finals by claiming that "Curry" is in the midst of an identity crisis that can only be solved by returning to his homeland of India with his Jewish best friend. While the ruse works wonderfully on the parents of both students, the impromptu journey of self-discovery takes an unexpected detour when "Curry" locates his sister and becomes captivated by the country he first despised, and "Chicken" falls for an older medic working for Doctors Without Borders after entering a synagogue for the first time in his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Not to be confused with Kiumars Poorahmad's 2007 Iranian feature of the same title, Davide Marengo's Italian-language crime comedy Night Bus (2007) concerns a microchip with potentially damning evidence against a Polish magnate. An ex-secret service agent, Carlo Matera (Ennio Fantastichini), receives an enormous sum of cash from the fellow to bring the chip home, but it falls into the mitts of a cutthroat nightclub owner, Andrea (Ivan Franek). He is hustled, in turn, by the femme fatale at the story's center, Leila (Giovanna Mezzogiorno). She walks off with the dough, and must subsequently evade a host of seedy goons and thugs all clamoring for the funds, meanwhile attempting to use a gullible, gambling-addicted bus driver, Franz (Valerio Mastandrea), for a convenient, cross-country getaway. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

While pursuing a story in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1994, Italian investigative reporter Ilaria Alpi and her cameraman Miran Hrovatin were brutally murdered for uncovering what was later discovered to be one of the largest governmental corruption scandals in European history. Director Ferdinando Vincentini Orgnani retells the journalists' final month prior to their murder in his 2003 drama Ilaria Alpi: Il Più Crudele Dei Giorni (The Cruelest Day). The younger and more career-driven Alpi (portrayed by Giovanna Mezzogiorno) has been incessantly investigating the money that Italian humanitarian organizations have been donating to Third World countries under the auspices of building roads and generally improving the beneficiary countries' infrastructure. Meeting Hrovatin (Rade Sherbedgia) after beginning her investigation, the two uncover the shocking truth: These "humanitarian organizations" are actually fronts for secret Italian governmental agencies who are shipping tons of toxic waste to these countries for surreptitious disposal. Just as Alpi and Hrovatin begin to dig deeper into their story, they are ambushed and killed -- but not before the truth had been revealed to an unsuspecting European populace. Ilaria Alpi: Il Più Crudele Dei Giorni was selected for inclusion into the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Parenthood stirs up a wealth of mixed emotions in this drama from Italy. Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) are a couple in their late twenties who realize they've crossed the final threshold into adulthood when Giulia discovers she's going to have a baby. Even though Carlo has already settled down, he sees parenthood as the first step towards becoming the sort of middle-class suburbanite he's never respected, and he's not happy about it. Carlo's friends are also having mixed feelings about the onset of maturity: Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti) can't decide if he should go through with his marriage to Livia (Sabrina Impacciatore), Paolo (Claudio Santamaria) is trying to find a way out of going into business with his father, and Alberto (Marco Cocci) seems to be waging a one-man war against monogamy by seducing as many women as possible. Meanwhile, Giulia is having her own misgivings about parenthood, and her mother Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) is torn between happiness for her daughter and dread that she's now old enough to be a grandmother; Anna's malaise isn't eased by the lack of compassion shown by her husband (Luigi Diberti). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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

Actor-turned-director Michele Placido directed this Italian political drama inspired by Liliana Rossi, a crusading woman from Puglia, Placido's hometown. Priest Don Gerardo (Placido), at age 50, reflects on his life, looking back to 1958, his childhood, and the discipline of his father (Fabrizio Bentivoglio). Outspoken leftist Liliana (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) is in her twenties when Gerardo takes an interest in her, but her leftist leanings generate resentment in the Catholic community. Liliana turns an abandoned stable into a school for local youths expelled from the state schools, but her teaching of progressive ideas on such subjects as sexual equality and birth control stirs up hostility. Becoming politically active, she runs for a local council seat. Torn between his emotional response to Liliana, community traditions, and his religious background, Gerardo learns of Liliana's affair with a married doctor (Enrico Lo Verso), and this leads him to join right-wingers who attack and destroy her school. Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide