Andrea Occhipinti

Italian director Salvatore Mereu (Three-Step Dance) steps behind the camera for a sophomore occasion - and unveils distinct influence by such predecessors as Ermanno Olmi and Francesco Rosi - with Sonetàula, a cinematic eclogue that unfolds on the landscape of Sardinia. Neophyte Francesco Falchetto stars as Zuanne, a Sardinian shepherd boy from the (apocryphal) village of Orgidas. As the picture opens in 1938, Zuanne is 13, growing up under the tutelage of father Egidio (Lazar Ristovsky) and grandfather Cicerone (Serafino Spiggia), both of whom he adores. The father-son closeness is short-lived, however, for in time Egidio suffers incarceration for a murder he didn't commit and then gets shuttled off to the Abyssinian war, where he is promptly killed - leaving the orphaned Zuanne to come of age under the warm and kindly Cicerone. Eventually, a tragic and complex series of events involving a stolen sheep forces Zuanne to go on the lam as a refugee - and the boy's desire for a young woman in his village, Maddalena (Manuela Martelli) becomes both his only tie to the hamlet of his youth and the one element that pulls him back to Orgidas. As all of this occurs, the long-cherished agrarian lifestyle in Italy - with the peasants' strong ties to the landscape - firmly and abruptly ends for the first time in centuries. The narrative of Mereu's picture spans 15 years, wrapping in 1953. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Director Jacob Thuesen takes a satirical look at the life of an aspiring filmmaker in this story of an emerging director who remains doggedly determined to realize his vision on the big screen despite the lofty pretension and swelling egos of his useless instructors and eccentric fellow students. Erik Nietzsche can't seem to grasp the unwritten rules of the film industry, and as a result he just doesn't seem to fit in. A calm observer to the chaos that swirls around him, Nietzsche falls in love, experiences the stress of union disputes, and struggles to deal with the absurdities of the entertainment industry before finally getting his one big shot at fame. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Lars von Trier's black comedy The Boss of It All (Direktøren for Det Hele) concerns an IT company owner who -- in need of a figurehead to "hide behind" when confronted with employee problems -- invented the personage of a CEO during the startup period for his corporation. The scheme worked for a surprisingly long period, but when the time arrives to sell the business, massive problems arise -- for the prospective buyers insist on only negotiating with the CEO, in person. Thus, the owner further extends the ruse, by hiring a down-and-out actor to impersonate the chief officer. With Direktøren for Det Hele, von Trier uses a new means of filmmaking for this film: Automavision, whereby filming is done with an "automatic randomized camera" that selects the shots. It became a means for Von Trier to "clean up" his approach to directorial work and reconnect with his own love of filmmaking. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Two lifelong friends set off on a remarkable adventure in this animated feature. Azur (Rayan Mahjoub) is an orphaned boy living in 18th Century France, where he's being raised by Jenane (Hiam Abbass), a nurse of Arab heritage who cares for the boy alongside her own son Asmar (Abdelsselem Ben Amar). Jenane regales the boys with tales of the mysterious Fairy Djinn, a magical creature with great powers but equally great protectors at her disposal. Azur is sent away to school, but when her returns home as a grown man (now voiced by Cyril Mourali), he finds Jenane and Asmar have gone. Convinced the Fairy Djinn is responsible, Azur hops a ride aboard a sailing ship and sets out to find the Djinn as well as his friends. However, in time Azur meets up with Asmar (now voiced by Karim M'Ribah) only to discover he and his mother are also searching for the powerful Djinn for their own purposes. Now that his best friend has become a competitor in the race to find the Djinn, Azur recruits a team of helpers to aid him as he tries to beat Asmar in their game. Azur and Asmar received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two of the most talented figures in contemporary Spanish cinema -- actor Javier Bardem and director Alejandro Amenábar -- collaborate for this powerful drama, based on a true story. Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) was a fisherman and part-time poet who, at the age of 26, suffered an accident while diving that left him a bedridden quadriplegic. Now 54, Ramón must depend on his family to survive -- his macho brother José (Celso Bugallo), José's wife, Manuela (Mabel Rivera), and their son, Javi (Tamar Novas). While grateful to his family and friends for their help, Ramón was always an active person, and as the years wore on, he has come to see his life as frustrating and pointless and wishes to die with what remains of his dignity. José, however, is bitterly opposed to the notion of assisted suicide, and Spanish laws would implicate anyone who helped Ramón end his own life, which is something Ramón does not want to do. Through Gené (Carla Segura), a friend who works with a "Right to Die" organization, Ramón is introduced to Julia (Belen Rueda), a lawyer he hopes will help him persuade the courts to let him end his own life. Julia is dealing with her own mortality issues since being diagnosed with a degenerative disease, and Ramón hopes her condition will make her arguments more persuasive. As Ramón and Julia work together on his case and help to prepare a book of his poems for publication, Ramón finds himself falling in love with his attorney, who happens to be married, but while his infatuation gives Julia second thoughts about the case, Ramón remains convinced that the greatest gift to him would be an end to his life. Javier Bardem's performance in The Sea Inside (aka Mar Adentro) earned him the Best Actor award at the 2004 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Directed by Salvatore Mereu, Ballo A Tre Passi (Three-Step Dance) takes place over the four seasons, emphasizing issues of tradition versus modern times and the resulting isolation and lack of proper communication. In the first season -- spring -- a group of young boys travels to the ocean for the first time, while summer follows Michele (Michele Carboni), a shepherd whose only non-work-related activity is frequenting a seaside restaurant, where he meets a French woman Caroline Ducey, who is intrigued by Michele's naïveté. Autumn centers around Francesca (Yael Abecassis), a nun who is leaving the security of convent life in order to attend her sisters wedding, while winter finds the elderly Giorgio (Giampaolo Loddo) at the same wedding, struck by the differences between town and country life. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by Paolo Genovese, Incantesimo Napoletano ("A Neopolitan Spell") is a fanciful tale of the horror felt by a fifth-generation Neopolitan couple whose first daughter's first words are in Milanese. By the time Assunta (Chiara Papa) is 10-years-old, she has rejected her mother's cooking in favor of traditional Milanese food, and hasn't adopted any Neopolitan slang. Desperate, Assunta's father (Gianni Aiello) sends her off to a Neopolitan slum, where the dialect is so thick that the residents have a reputation for not being able to understand one another. Things don't go as planned, however, and a 20-year-old Assunta (Serena Improta) not only comes back speaking Milanese exclusively, but is pregnant from one of many sexual encounters. The clashing father and daughter eventually come to terms with one another, as told in flashback through an 80-year-old Assunta's (Clelia Bernacchi) perspective. Incantesimo Napoletano also features Marina Confalone and Tonino Taiuti. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Italian filmmaker Giovanni Davide debuts with this subdued look at a relationship between Laura (Carolina Fresche) and Carlo (Denis Fasolo) who edge toward emotional maturity and toward moving in with each other. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Mario Martone (L'amore Molesto) wrote and directed this drama about the tragedy of war, beginning with acting exercises in a garage rehearsal area and then intercutting between the lives of Italian stage actors and scenes of their rehearsals on Seven Against Thebes. Director Leo (Andrea Renzi), in 1994, arranges to have his Italian company, as an act of solidarity, do a show in Sarajevo where theaters have remained open. With the support from actor Vittorio (Marco Baliani), Leo seeks a key to staging the Aeschylus play about a civil war and a city under siege. Theater in Sarajevo is shown in contrast to the mainstream theater in Naples with a lavish production of The Taming of the Shrew staged by pompous Franco Turco (Toni Servillo). Actress Luisella (Iaia Forte) leaves Leo's Greek drama for Turco's production. Even though the actors are going without pay to Seven Against Thebes, young talent Diego (Roberto De Francesco) and diva Sara Cataldi (Anna Bonaiuto) both turn away from Turco to work with Leo, while set designer (Sergio Tramonti) contributes to both. Outside the rehearsal space, Neapolitan life goes on with neighborhood disputes, drug deals, fights, a police round-up, and murder -- events drawing parallels with Sarajevo. Some street scenes are unstaged, adding a documentary authenticity. Martone spent several years on this project by filming the rehearsals of a Seven Against Thebes stage production he directed in 1995-96 (featuring the same cast). Martone wrote his screenplay around that material, and then he filmed in the infamous Spanish Quarter of Naples, shooting in 16mm with a blow-up to 35mm. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This comedy, set in Madrid, follows single nursery school teacher Esperanza (Loles Leon) on her quest for a man. She shares her problems with her gay friend Ramon (Andrea Occhipinti), a divorce lawyer, who devises a few matchmaking notions -- while Esperanza, at the same time, tries to get physical-education instructor Roberto (Armando del Rio) to take an interest in Ramon. But Esperanza continues to find heterosexual men in short supply. Shown at the 1997 San Sebastian Film Festival, the English title is Manly Love. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A woman goes to investigate the apparent suicide of her mother and ends up having to face the grim reality of her past in this Italian psychological thriller. It all begins when Amalia, the sixty-something mother of Delia, is found dead on the beach. She had been on her way to Bologna to celebrate her daughter's birthday. Delia, wanting to know why her mother killed herself, journeys back to Naples to discover the truth. There she encounters her mother's supposed lover, Caserta, and his son, Antonio. She also sees her estranged father, who alienated himself from his family with his violent temper. As she continues to explore, she must face the fact that her relationship with her mother was as based on jealousy and disgust as it was with love. She then must face up to a terrible lie she told as a child, one that questioned her mother's fidelity and ruined the lives of everyone around her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this evidently experimental, episodic film, moments in the lives of a disparate group of people who love or make love to one another are screened. Some of these scenes are filled with whimsey, others are tragic. In one of them, a girl develops an obsession with the transplant recipient of her dead lover's heart. In another, a woman struggles to break off an unhappy romance. In yet another, a mischievous wealthy woman helps a shoplifter escape from a store she has stolen from. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Jack Higgins, this WW-II thriller chronicles the daring rescue of a captured American officer who has vital information concerning the upcoming Normandy invasion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide