John Francis Lane Movies
Luciano Odorisio's Italian-made exploitation film La Monaca di Monza travels into the deepest and darkest recesses of a Catholic convent, where a nobleman (Alessandro Gassman) and a nun (Myriem Roussel) engage in a passionate love affair. Little can they foresee the dangerous and calamitous consequences that this will yield -- consequences involving betrayal, vengeance, and homicide. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Myriem Roussel, Alessandro Gassman, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
The always innovative Taviani Brothers pay homage to another unique filmmaker, D. W. Griffith, in Good Morning, Babylon. Vincent Spano and Joaquim de Almeida star as Nicola and Andrea Bonnano, the latest in a long line of Tuscany-born cathedral builders. Emigrating to America, the brothers settle in Los Angeles in 1915, even as director Griffith (Charles Dance) is preparing his epic production Intolerance. The boys are hired to help construct the massive sets for the film's Babylonian sequence (hence the title), for no other reason than the fact that Griffith is impressed by Italian craftsmanship. As the film progresses, Nicola and Andrea assimilate to their new surroundings, even launching a romance with a pair of pretty movie extras. On the verge of continuing the family tradition, the boys' ambitions are cut short by events well beyond their control. Still, their past artistic accomplishments, like those of their forebears, survive the ages -- but only on the ethereal silver screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Spano, Joaquim de Almeida, (more)
- 1983
This story of a World War II romance in the Scottish highlands develops in a gradual but lyrical manner as Janie (Phyllis Logan), a Scottish woman married to a cold and remote man, starts an affair with Luigi (Giovanni Mauriello), an Italian confined to Janie's small community until the war is over. Luigi has two other compatriots to keep him company, but none of the Italians speak English, and life in exile is lonely. Although the townspeople continue to distrust the Italians, Luigi and Janie are kindred spirits, so when they meet, their mutual need is unconsciously acknowledged and sparks are ignited. Whether an illicit wartime romance will endure or not, that is another question entirely. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Logan, Giovanni Mauriello, (more)
Fellini's Roma is a virtually plotless autobiographical tribute to Rome, Italy, featuring narration by Fellini himself and a mixture of real-life footage and fictional set pieces. It flows from episode to episode, beginning with the director's early years arriving in Rome in 1931 during the time of Mussolini. Played by Stefano Mayore as a child, he visits the city with classmates and becomes infatuated. Played by Peter Gonzales at age 18, the young Fellini moves in to a tenement building and explores the wild characters living in neighborhood. The events that follow switch between the past and contemporary times, including a story line that involves a 1970s film crew making a movie about Rome. He also incorporates segments of Roman history and problems in the government, including an improvised speech from Gore Vidal. Throughout this journey there are visits to an outdoor restaurant, a movie theater, a music hall, and a brothel. In one famously surreal segment, groups of clergymen gather together for a Catholic fashion show spectacle. After a visit to a street festival and some on-camera interviews, the film concludes with shots of motorcycles driving by the Colosseum. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Britta Barnes, Federico Fellini, (more)
- 1971
- R
Italian director Pier Pasolini tells four of the Chaucer tales in this graphic and satirical picture that chronicles the 14th-century's social, sexual, and religious standards in England. In Pasolini's Trilogy of Life, this second entry follows The Decameron and precedes The Arabian Nights. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
Leonardo (Franco Nero) is a painter who retreats to a house in the country to regain his lost inspiration. He is plagued by the presence of an erotic apparition. The gorgeous ghost soon moves the painter to the point he wishes to carry on a relationship with her. Leonardo is several bristles shy of a brush as he sinks deeper into insanity. When his fiancé arrives for a visit, she is murdered and chopped into little pieces by the troubled artist. Vanessa Redgrave and Gabriella Grimaldi also star in this story of madness and horror. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
- 1966
For some reason, the elongated figures limned by the highly astigmatic painter El Greco (1541-1614) perfectly suited the grandees of Spain even though they were clearly anything but realistic, and they fascinate even today. The Greek (Cretan, actually) painter's life in Spain could have served as the basis for a fascinating biography, but the makers of this film chose to concentrate on the bad ol' Inquisition and portray the painter as being warned by his girlfriend that he is being watched; as a foreigner, he is suspected of heresy. Mel Ferrer plays the painter in this historical melodrama which is not nearly as bad as it could have been. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Ferrer, Rosanna Schiaffino, (more)
Maciste, here played by Kirk Morris, is instead a legendary Italian superhero of long standing. In this one, the mighty Mr. M journeys to seventeenth-century Scotland (this is Hell?) His foe is a fearsome Scottish witch who holds awesome power over the local wildlife, and for a while it looks like our hero will get killed. As with many other Maciste films, this Technicolor opus was bundled into the "Sons of Hercules" package syndicated to local TV stations in the mid-1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Morris
