Giovannella Grifea Movies
- 1984
Enhanced by a good musical score and good cinematography, this first-time directorial effort by Francesca Comencini is an engrossing, partially autobiographical story of a drug-addicted couple who heroically try to break their destructive habit. Maria (Giulia Boschi) and Paolo (François Siener) agree to live apart and not reunite until they are heroin-free. Their scheme works, and to celebrate they take a vacation in Sri Lanka together -- but it was ill-timed. The two lapse in their resolve and soon they are shooting up as before. Paolo despairs of being normal again, and Maria devotes herself to playing her grand piano as a consolation and inspiration in her fight against her drug habit. The couple's differing attitudes toward their addiction soon reach dramatic and tragic proportions, as the film nears the closing credits. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giulia Boschi, Giovannella Grifea, (more)
- 1978
An old townhouse has a room to let, and a young man moves into it. It was previously occupied by an actor, and it contains most of his belongings and memorabilia. Naturally, the new tenant is curious and explores all these things, including the man's movie stills. Among the possessions is a gun, and the boy finds that the actor killed himself with it. At some point in his review of the actor's life, he notices a beautiful woman in a building across the way from his room. Becoming obsessed with her, he stops going to work and seeing his girlfriend. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Federico Pacifici, Clara Colosimo, (more)
- 1977
Italian actor/director Nino Manfredi gives an award-calibre performance in In the Name of the Pope-King. He plays a magistrate in a small region under the realm of Papal rule. Manfredi faces the legal battle of his life when his own son is accused of being a terrorist. Justice, mercy, and love become oil-and-water elements in this wrenching drama. Originally titled In Nome del Papa Re, the film was released in the US nearly nine years after its 1977 European debut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Manfredi, Danilo Mattei, (more)
- 1976
In this crime thriller, Morelli (Mel Ferrer) is a writer whose books no longer sell well, at least in part because of his slavish worship of "the classics." His response to this insult to his pride is to kill young women in a horrific manner; he calls it "revolutionary disgust." Bossi (Klaus Kinski) is a newspaper reporter who convinces Morelli to write his memoirs, and he engineers certain of his own affairs to coincide with those of the murdering writer. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Ferrer, Klaus Kinski, (more)
