Silvana Jachino Movies
Juliet of the Spirits is a fantastical showcase for Federico Fellini's vibrant imagery, starring his wife, Giulietta Masina, as the titular leading character. Juliet is a wealthy housewife who constantly fears her husband, Giorgio (Mario Pisu), is cheating on her. While she yearns for a peaceful intimate evening on the night of their 15th anniversary, the egotistical Giorgio has forgotten about it and instead arrives home with his eccentric friends. After a trip to a séance, Juliet is haunted by images from the spirit world, including obsessions from her past involving religion and her late relatives. With her sisters and mother prying into her life, Juliet seems to be seeking an inner peace amidst all the sexual temptations surrounding her. She meets her neighbor, Suzy (Sandra Milo), a showy pleasure-seeker who lives in a sensual playhouse. It appears that all of Juliet's family, friends, and fantasies demand that she loosen up and embrace sexual freedom, yet she remains chaste and dowdy, lamenting over her unfaithful husband. The reasons for Juliet's repression are not clearly defined by the narrative, despite glimpses into her supposed imagination. Forced to endure the constant bombardment of sexually charged imaginings, the demure Juliet retreats on her own. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giulietta Masina, Mario Pisu, (more)
- 1947
Not every postwar Italian film was a slice of unadulterated neorealism. Proof of this can be found in the frothy, escapist musical I Live as I Please. Opera star Ferruccio Tagliavini heads the cast as a gullible peasant who is targeted for persecution by his practical-joking brother. Led to believe that he's landed a singing job, Tagliavini packs up his worldly possessions and heads to Rome. He eventually finds out he's been duped, but by this time he's found steady work as a singer, so who cares? The story comes full circle as Tagliavini finds happiness and romance in his own back yard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ferruccio Tagliavini, Silvana Jachino, (more)
- 1938
Lancieri di Savola (Savoy Lancers) is a ponderous costume drama, elevated somewhat by the performances of stars Elisa Cegani and Amedeo Nazari. Cegani plays Countess Speranza, who has never gotten over the fact that her family forbade her to marry the love of her life, dashing Lancer Lieutenant Solaro (Nazari). Circumstance and coincidence throw the Countess and the lieutenant back together from time to time, but since she is now the wife of a baron, the best she can hope for is a furtive, clandestine relationship. After Solaro is killed in WWI, the Countess remains forever faithful to the memory of her lost love. Top-heavy with symbolism, Lancieri di Savoia seems to go on for years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisa Cegani, Silvana Jachino, (more)
- 1937
Corsaro Nero (The Black Pirate) is a made-to-order vehicle for Italian Olympic fencing champion Ciro Verratti. The storyline is the usual Dumas-Sabatini melange concerning three virtuous brothers who are betrayed by a traitorous villain. One of the brothers is killed, and the other two swear revenge. Of these two, only one lives to see the bad guy get his just desserts -- and that one, of course, is The Black Pirate, who prides himself on being a "gentleman buccaneer." So impressive is Ciro Verratti in the dueling scenes that it hardly matters that he can't act his way out of a wet paper bag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvana Jachino
- 193z
This fantasy is a live-action dramatization of the enduringly popular fairy tale of the beautiful, good-hearted girl who rose from abused scullery maid to beloved princess with a little help from her magical fairy godmother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
