Mario Mazzarotto Movies
- 2007
When the heiress of a shoe manufacturing business returns to her home Italy after a trip to Tunisia and discovers an Arab teenager in her luggage, the makeshift family formed between the heiress, her faithful factory worker, and the runaway crumbles under the weight of the outside world. Heiress Anna and her lover Maria have just returned from a romantic getaway in Italy, and upon opening her suitcase Anna discovers that Arab teen Anis has stowed away for the ride to Europe. A stranger in a strange land, Anis is cared for by the motherly Anna despite Maria's initial objections. As the days go by the three gradually build a tenuous domestic rhythm - Anna is the caring mother, Maria the sisterly confidante, and Anis the wide-eyed child. But despite the fact that Maria soon warms to the idea of having Anis around, Anna's mother is vehement in her disapproval of the situation. Meanwhile, Mara suffers at the bedside of her ailing father while Anis grows increasingly comfortable with his new home life and attempts to figure out why Anna and her employee share the same bed. Now, as Anis and Mara grow increasingly closer, their common bond, and shared problems, with Anna slowly come into focus. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria de Medeiros, Antonia Liskova, (more)
- 2002
Italian director Marco S. Piccioni's Quello Che Cerchi (What Are You Looking For) takes a provate eye named Impero (Marcello Mazzarella) for a main character. He is burning out on life and his job when the wife of a married couple that used to be good friends with him hires Impero to spy on their son. The son has been having a difficult time ever sine his father successfully became a transsexual. While Impero and the son begin to develop a relationship, Impero begins to wonder if the young man might be his son. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcelo Mazzarella, Stefania Orsola Garello, (more)
- 1997
In 1995, Italian filmmakers Guido Chiesa and Davide Farrario contrasted today's left-wing youth with WW II Resistance fighters in their documentary Materiale Resistente. Continuing in the same vein, the duo was joined by three other documentarians for Partisans, a film exploration of WW II myths and memories. The quintet of filmmakers interviewed surviving partisans and their wives in the town of Correggio in Emilia Romagna. In one sequence, a survivor recalls a country road conflict between partisans and fascists, and this recollection is juxtaposed with a dramatized reenactment of the incident. Shown at the Turin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giuseppe Cederna, Gabriele Benedetti, (more)
- 1989
- R
In this off-beat wartime drama, a young Italian soldier stationed in Ethiopia gets into deep trouble after a toothache compels him to set off in search of a dentist. He pauses at a desert oasis and sees a beautiful young woman bathing there. He loses control and rapes her. Afterward he feels bad and spends the entire evening with her. Unfortunately, during that time he hears a wild animal and fires a shot which ricochets off of a rock and mortally wounds the hapless girl. Unable to help her, the soldier shoots her in the head and then buries her body. As the soldier resumes his journey, a little time passes and he and his buddies see two natives wearing strange white garments, just like the poor girl he ravaged and killed. They are obviously pariahs and suddenly he realizes why--they are lepers and so was the girl! Soon the soldier discovers an open sore on his hand that will not heal. Believing that he too has the dread degenerative disease he suddenly remembers his family and fiancee in Italy and wants to see them desperately. Unfortunately, he cannot get home and so ends up seeking solace and forgiveness in the dead girl's native village. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Ricky Tognazzi, (more)
