Paolo Sorrentino Movies
Fifty-year-old retired goth rocker Cheyenne (Sean Penn) travels from London to New York to visit his dying father, and then journeys across the United States on a mission to seek revenge against the elusive ex-Nazi war criminal who persecuted his dad in Auschwitz. Despondent after two of his young fans commit suicide, Cheyenne retreats to his Dublin mansion and begins living off of his royalties alongside his down-to-earth wife Jane (Frances McDormand). Later, he receives word that his father is dying in New York City. Although they haven't spoken in 30 years, he boards the first available flight to bid his dad farewell. Unfortunately, Cheyenne arrives too late. Upon reconnecting with his cousin Richard (Liron Levo), however, the morose musician learns that his father, a Holocaust survivor, had been tracking Auschwitz guard Aloise Lange (Heinz Lieven) around America for decades. Filled with ennui yet determined not to let Lange escape unpunished, Cheyenne vows to pick up the mission his father left uncompleted. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Judd Hirsch, (more)
Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (The Family Friend) writes and directs this cinematic portrait of seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, whose controversial legacy peaked when he was tried for Mafia ties and subsequently acquitted. A leader with close ties to the Vatican, Andreotti was also tried and acquitted for the murder of an Italian journalist, and remains a senator for life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toni Servillo, Anna Bonaiuto, (more)
- 2006
In writer/director Paolo Sorrentino's second feature, The Family Friend (L'Amico di Famiglia), Giacomo Rizzo stars as Geremia de Geremei, a sixtysomething tailor who lives with his mother in a disgusting and decrepit flat. Though wealthy from the money that he has culled via loan-sharking, Geremia is a thoroughly miserable wretch, driven into the throes of destruction by his own incredible selfishness and his obsessive infatuation with a beautiful local girl, Rosalba (Laura Chiatta), whom he meets when asked to assist with her wedding. Geremia agrees, but takes the bride off alone and pressures her into sex, little realizing that he's sowing the seeds of his own downfall. Meanwhile, a bidet supplier attempts to goad Geremia into giving him a massive loan -- an amount that Geremia could never possibly fork over. Throughout the film, Sorrentino packs in numerous surrealistic touches, from the sight of a nun buried up to her neck in sand (accompanied by an aural assault on the soundtrack) to a grotesque glimpse of Rizzo with a potato poultice around his head to the jarring sight of Geremia's village, built by Mussolini on an Italian swampland. In the process, Sorrentino manages to create his own distinct world and thoroughly unforgettable characters. He also pulls off an incredibly difficult feat, by enabling the audience to care about a markedly unpleasant central figure. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Giacomo Rizzo, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, (more)
- 2006
- PG
Controversial Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berluscoi is just one of the targets of writer and director Nanni Moretti's satiric focus in this sharp comedy-drama. In the 1970's, Bruno (Silvio Orlando) was one of Italy's most daring and best-respected filmmakers, while his wife Paola (Margherita Buy) was a leading box-office star. However, come the new millennium, things are a whole lot different for Bruno -- Paola is divorcing him, his production company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and he can't get a new project off the ground. When Teresa (Jasmine Trinca), a young woman down on her luck, approaches Bruno with a script, he agrees to take on the project, even though he hasn't read it and doesn't know how he'll raise the money. Bruno discovers he's put himself in hot water when he reads the screenplay and discovers it's a frontal assault on Silvio Berluscoi that doesn't shy away from allegations of his connection to organized crime, tax evasion, bribery and influence peddling. While Italian firms won't dare touch the project, Bruno discovers a Polish financier (Jerzy Stuhr) who will put up the money, but under one condition -- Bruno has to persuade box-office idol Marco Pulici (Michele Placidio) to play Berluscoi. Il Caimano (aka The Caiman) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy, (more)
- 2004
A man, whose life is going nowhere, learns he had an attractive younger woman admirer in this drama from Italy. Titta Di Girolamo (Toni Servillo) is a middle-aged former stockbroker who now makes his living as a minor functionary with the Mafia. A few times a week, Di Girolamo handles bank deposits of large sums of money brought to Italy from the United States. When he's not occupied with that, Di Girolamo's life is barren, with only his occasional heroin use adding drama to his days. Divorced and cut off from his former wife and children, Di Girolamo lives in a hotel, and spends much of his day killing time in their cocktail lounge as he watches barmaid Sofia (Olivia Magnani) at work. When Di Girolamo's more outgoing brother Valerio (Adriano Giannini) stops by for a visit, he goads Di Girolamo into making small talk with Sofia, and soon he makes the unexpected discovery that Sophia has long had an infatuation with him. Le Conseguenze Dell'Amore was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toni Servillo, Olivia Magnani, (more)
- 2001
Two men learn firsthand about the cruel twists of fame and fortune in a drama from Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino. In the early '80s, Tony Pisapia (Toni Servillo) and his younger brother, Antonio (Andrea Renzi), have each risen to the peak of their chosen professions. Tony is a nightclub singer who after years of struggle has achieved nationwide fame, and Antonio is a soccer player who becomes a star after scoring the game-winning goal in the European championship match. However, a few years down the line both men are experiencing a sharp reversal of their good fortune. Tony has developed a devastating cocaine addiction, and after it's revealed he's become sexually involved with an underage girl, it doesn't seem likely that the public will ever forgive him. Meanwhile, a leg injury has put an end to Antonio's career as an athlete, and he finds himself starting from zero as he tries to launch a new career in coaching; he faces another personal crisis when his wife, frustrated by Antonio's career decline, leaves him. L'Uomo in Piu was loosely based on the true stories of two Italian celebrities, musician Franco Califano and football star Agostino Di Bartolomei. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Toni Servillo, Andrea Renzi, (more)
- 1998
In this anthology film with five episodes about modern-day Naples, director Antonio Capuano updates Vittorio De Sica's The Gold of Naples (1954): In Seven Part Scopa a young card-player gambles against local butchers; in Charlie and Jerry two sax players minus instruments entertain at a wedding by reviving old routines of Eduardo De Filippo and Toto); The Wedding tells the story of impoverished newlyweds; Fred follows Argentine tourists in Pompei; and in Richard Gere an aspiring actor has a vision of his hero. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gigio Morra, Antonio Iuorio, (more)
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