Massimo Girotti Movies

Young married couple Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and Filippo (Filippo Nigro) have been married long enough to have become almost completely jaded by their lots in life, with most of their individual aspirations having been set aside some time ago. As their marriage begins to fall apart, the two encounter a strange old man (Massimo Girotti) who calls himself Simone since he can't seem to recall his real name or much about his past history. Filippo brings the man home to stay with them, which initially irritates Giovanna. Over time, she gradually befriends the confused old man and eventually notices a tattoo on his arm indicative of his being a WWII Holocaust survivor. Taking "Simone" to an old Roman ghetto, she helps him remember his name (Davide) and his time spent in that very ghetto -- which includes recalling the very painful memory of his lover Simone's capture and murder at the hands of the Nazis. Meanwhile, Giovanna has been spending her free time impulsively peeping across the street at her attractive neighbor Lorenzo (Raoul Bova) -- who in turn has been spying on her. Giovanna is thus forced to decide between Filippo and Lorenzo, as well as possibly realizing a long dormant professional dream that her new friend Davide may be able to help her undertake. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

In the salad days of his youth, Aureliano lived and worked in Africa, and the romance and exotic quality of those days remains with him still. These days, he lives a predictable existence, fending off the efforts of his female friend and former lover from those days to infuse some zest into his life. When he is approached by two anxious natives from the Ivory Coast looking for assistance, his stolid existence is shattered. The woman is on the run from the Italian underworld prostitution ring she worked for after stealing their drug stash, and the unsophisticated man is her Senegalese protector, whose family maintains some connections with Aureliano. When the gang kills the Senegalese, the former African's hand is forced into a relationship with the prostitute, and he gradually gains a fresh purpose in life. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Director Luigi Comencini resists all efforts to make his filmization of the classic Puccini opera La Boheme self-consciously cinematic. As a result, his version of the opera may find itself out of favor with some film fans, but much treasured by Puccini purists. The principal roles of the tragic Mimi and headstrong aspiring artist Rodolfo are sung by Barbara Hendricks and Luca Canonici. Hendricks seems a tad too healthy for the frail Mimi, but this is a common shortcoming with singers who play this part: if one is too sickly, one can't attain those crystal-clear high notes. James Conlon conducts the National Orchestra of France on the La Boheme soundtrack. As in most other adaptations of this piece, the 1989 La Boheme draws its inspiration as much from the Henri Muger novel Scenes of Bohemian Life as it does from the Puccini opera. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This umpteenth film version of Henryk Sienkewicz's warhorse novel Quo Vadis? was produced for Italian Television. Francesco Quinn (son of Anthony) stars as the arrogant Roman legionnaire whose brutish, libertine outlook on life is softened by the love of early Christian girl Cristina Raines. Even allowing for the overproduced 1951 MGM version, this Quo Vadis? is a 200-minute wallow in excess. Accordingly, Klaus Maria Brandauer overplays Nero in an unbridled manner that hasn't been seen since the heyday of Bela Lugosi; at times, we shudder in fear that Brandauer's histrionics may level the papier-mache sets. Quo Vadis? debuted in the US on cable TV in 1986, where it was telecast in two parts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Professional soldier Bernard Giraudeau is enmeshed in an affair with the beautiful but very much married Laura Antonelli. Transferred to a remote outpost, Giraudeau discovers to his chagrin that the only woman in the region (Valeria D'Obici) is about as appealing as a plate of pickles. Even so, Giraudeau falls madly in love with the woman, utterly forgetting Antonelli. He also forgets that he's a human being at fade-out time, metamorphosing into an epileptic bear! Perhaps Passion of Love made more sense in its original French-language version, Passione D'Amore. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alain Delon plays Mr. Klein, a French-Catholic art dealer during the Nazi occupation. Strapped for cash, Klein takes financial advantage of his Jewish neighbors, knowing that they have no legal recourse. Ironically, Klein is himself mistaken for a missing Jew, a man who has been using Mr. Klein's name as a cover for his secret operations. As he desperately seeks out that man, he learns a bitter lesson about life in the other man's shoes. Star Delon is one of the four producers of this French feature. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This epic drama profiles the life of the 18th-century scientist Cagliostro (Bekim Fehmiu) who founded the mysterious Masons in Europe just prior to the French Revolution. He based the secret fraternal order on a philosophy comprised of his ideas on reincarnation, ESP, and alchemy. It was his defiant answer to the domination of the Catholic church. Unfortunately, the Church was stronger and he was captured and sentenced to death by the Inquisition. A new pope reduced his sentence to life in prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This above-average horror film concerns a young couple (Antonio Cantafora, Elke Sommer) who manage to revive a cruel sorceror-Baron (Joseph Cotten) from the 1500s. Posing as a cripple, the Baron assimilates back into society and buys back his old castle, where he begins torturing and murdering innocent locals in his dungeon. Veteran filmmaker Mario Bava's direction is assured, and Euro-horror buffs will enjoy the cast, which includes Massimo Girotti ("Terence Hill" of spaghetti western fame), Luciano Pigozzi, Umberto Raho, and young Nicoletta Elmi (Profondo Rosso). ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Put in the coldest possible terms, Medea is the story of a woman who gets sore at her husband and kills her children to get even. Greek opera diva Maria Callas is certainly in her element as Medea in this 1970 film version of the venerable theatrical piece, with Giuseppe Gentili as her husband Jason and Massimo Girotti as her father, King Creon. When Jason announces that he's prepared to bigamously marry princess Glauce (Margareth Clementi), she exacts her bloody revenge. Despite the excess verbiage and his notoriously loquacious leading lady, director Pier Paolo Pasolini conveys most of Medea's plotline visually. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The true story of a tragic 1928 arctic expedition provides the basis for this adventure drama that was a joint Italian and Russian co-production. Peter Finch stars as General Umberto Nobile, who is visited in Rome by the ghosts of those whose lives were taken in his ill-fated mission forty years earlier. In flashback, Nobile recalls the attempt to cross the North Pole by flying dirigible, the Italia. When the airship crashes, Nobile and his crew are scattered across the ice, left to struggle against the freezing cold elements and local polar bears, among other hazards. In an effort to save the expedition, the great explorer Roald Amundsen (Sean Connery), the first man to reach the South Pole, is dispatched to rescue Nobile. When Amundsen disappears (never to be heard from again), an icebreaker is launched to bring national hero Nobile home, but at the expense of his crewmates. Although The Red Tent (1971) was considered a costly box office failure, the film did win a Golden Globe for Best English Language Foreign Film. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Terence Stamp is known only as "The Visitor" in Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema. The mysterious stranger insinuates himself into the home of a wealthy Italian family, where he exerts a curious, sensual spirituality over everyone in the household. He then proceeds to seduce everyone in the family (male and female) including the maid, which gives each person some sort of unique epiphany. Because he reveals so little about his innermost thoughts, "The Visitor" becomes all things to all people. What it boils down to is this: Is the enigmatic visitor Christ, or is he the Devil? Matching Terence Stamp's multi-textured performance every step of the way is Laura Betti as the family's maid; Betti, in fact, won the "Best Actress Award" at the 1968 Venice Film Festival. Director Pasolini adapted the screenplay of Teorema from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Dino De Laurentiis production from 1965 is actually an anthology of five different directors' work, each telling their own stories about witches. The five stories are "The Witch Burned Alive," "Civic Sense," "The Earth As Seen From The Moon," "The Girl From Sicily," and "A Night Like Any Other." Silvia Mangano appears in all five, with Clint Eastwood starring in the last featured vignette. Like many gang-directed projects, this film is also plagued by a lack of continuity and by the pretentiousness of the individual directors. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Though a slave, Lacer (Jeffrey Hunter) is well respected as a talented architect. After falling for Pennelope (Mylene Demongeot), the amorous slave of proconsul Maximus (Massimo Girotti), Lacer runs into trouble. He is soon sent off on search for gold, but finds that his orders are intended to get rid of him. He must think fast if he is to stay alive. Arnold Perl adapted this sword and sandal feature from Florence A. Seward's novel. Perl would go on to write the screenplay for Spike Lee's 1992 drama, Malcom X. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi