Marco Baliani Movies
- 2008
Elio Germano stars in this tense crime thriller as Giorgio, a law student with virtually impeccable behavior and a perfect record - until his path crosses with that of the shady Francesco (Michele Riondino). The latter is professional gambler who makes a practice of infiltrating casinos and cheating at poker. Francesco systematically lures Elio out of law school classrooms and into gambling halls, and soon Elio finds himself helplessly drawn into an unfamiliar and dangerous yet all too exciting realm. Director Daniele Vicari co-adapted the bestselling novel by Gianrico Carofiglio with the author and Francesco Carofiglio. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elio Germano, Michele Riondino, (more)
- 2007
A brilliant detective from Southern Italy investigates the death of a young girl found drowned in a remote lake in the mountains of Friuli in director Andrea Molaioli's dramatic mystery. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Toni Servillo, Nello Mascia, (more)
- 2006
Italian helmer Silverio Constanzo's gentle, understated coming-of-age drama In Memoria di Me (AKA In Memory of Myself, 2006) follows a life-changing period in the spiritual journey of twentysomething Andrea (Christo Jivkov), a young man who undergoes a personal crisis and decides to withdraw from the world by entering a monastic order. As he begins his novitiate, however (a period in which the senior monks observe his every doing, to deem him genuinely called to the monastic life) Andrea's illusions and preconceptions about becoming a monk begin to shatter. Instead of the silence, prayer and introversion that he initially anticipated, Andrea instead runs headfirst into suspicion, surveillance and distrust - as the fellow brethren seem almost eager to find a flaw in him, that will disqualify him from ordination. And gradually, Andrea begins to question if this world is even suited for him. Filippo Timi, Marco Baliani, André Hennicke and Fausto Russo Alesi co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christo Jivkov, Filippo Timi, (more)
- 2001
In a village rocked by an earthquake, one family struggles to make a new home for themselves while juggling a variety of personal crises. In a small town in Umbia, an earthquake devastates several neighborhoods, and Paolo Zerenghi (Marco Baliani), the city's deputy mayor, finds himself in charge when the mayor is discovered to be seriously injured. The Zerenghi home is also destroyed in the quake, and Paolo, his wife Stefania (Ornella Muti), and their two children are forced to live in a trailer until their house can be rebuilt -- a cramped situation made all the worse when the Zerenghis are forced to take in aging Mrs. Moccia (Ilaria Occhina) and her handsome son, Giovanni (Valerio Mastrandrea). Agostino (David Bracci), one of the Zerenghi siblings, notices that Stefania and Giovanni seem to be getting along unusually well, and with his parent's relationship showing the strain of Paolo's new responsibilities, he suspects his mother may be straying with the good-looking visitor. Young Agostino is also having romantic problems of his own, having developed a crush on two neighborhood girls, Vale (Margherita Porena) and Tina (Michela Moretti), and now having to choose between one or the other. While Domani is fictional, it was inspired by actual events after a massive earthquake hit the Umbia section of Italy in 1997. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marco Baliani, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1998
Mario Martone (L'amore Molesto) wrote and directed this drama about the tragedy of war, beginning with acting exercises in a garage rehearsal area and then intercutting between the lives of Italian stage actors and scenes of their rehearsals on Seven Against Thebes. Director Leo (Andrea Renzi), in 1994, arranges to have his Italian company, as an act of solidarity, do a show in Sarajevo where theaters have remained open. With the support from actor Vittorio (Marco Baliani), Leo seeks a key to staging the Aeschylus play about a civil war and a city under siege. Theater in Sarajevo is shown in contrast to the mainstream theater in Naples with a lavish production of The Taming of the Shrew staged by pompous Franco Turco (Toni Servillo). Actress Luisella (Iaia Forte) leaves Leo's Greek drama for Turco's production. Even though the actors are going without pay to Seven Against Thebes, young talent Diego (Roberto De Francesco) and diva Sara Cataldi (Anna Bonaiuto) both turn away from Turco to work with Leo, while set designer (Sergio Tramonti) contributes to both. Outside the rehearsal space, Neapolitan life goes on with neighborhood disputes, drug deals, fights, a police round-up, and murder -- events drawing parallels with Sarajevo. Some street scenes are unstaged, adding a documentary authenticity. Martone spent several years on this project by filming the rehearsals of a Seven Against Thebes stage production he directed in 1995-96 (featuring the same cast). Martone wrote his screenplay around that material, and then he filmed in the infamous Spanish Quarter of Naples, shooting in 16mm with a blow-up to 35mm. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrea Renzi, Anna Bonaiuto, (more)
