Norma Bengell Movies

This Brazilian drama chronicles the lives between three female roommates sharing an apartment in Vitoria, Brazil. Former music teacher Gertrudes is hiding from the world after her lover spurns her. Magdalena is a free spirit. By day she works in a mental hospital; at night she is out in search of men. Lucia is the third, and most troubled roommate. To get Gertrudes to mother her, Lucia pretends she is mentally ill. Her ploy works and she and the older woman frequently get involved in mother/daughter games. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

All three of the main female characters in this film were performed by Lucella Santos. The three women in question all live around a plaza in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, and none of them is aware of the others. Though their adult responses to deeply flawed childhoods are very different, each of them was abandoned in a very hurtful way by their fathers. One sleeps around incessantly, for no particular reason. Another has become the captive of her overzealous mother, and the last has become an extraordinarily jealous harpy, even though her kindly husband does nothing to provoke her in any way. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

When a wealthy Rio socialite takes a poor lad away from the slums to be her boy-toy, the result, far from being a Cinderella story, is a tragedy. The story is based on a novel by Carlos Diegues and Antonio Pitanga. Director Antonio Pitanga co-wrote the novel, produced, directed, wrote the screenplay, and plays the lead in this well-received Brazilian film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The down-at-the-heels aristocrats in this Brazilian film can barely keep their moral compasses on an even keel at the best of times. When one of the women of the family throws herself wholeheartedly into a life of passion and eroticism, they haven't a clue what to do. As they begin to find ways to attack her, her defenses are strengthened by a new alliance with a wily and resourceful transvestite. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

OSS 117 (Luc Merenda) is the French secret agent working for the CIA. His Brazilian vacation is interrupted when he kills a look alike villain stalking him. Soon he is pursued by international agents who believe he is the dead man. Elsa Martinelli provides his romantic interest in a film that patterns itself after the many James Bond features. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this spaghetti Western, Joseph Cotten stars as Jonas, an ex-Confederate soldier who robs a Union freight train in order to re-ignite the Civil War. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

This classic blend of science-fiction and horror belies its extremely low budget with buckets of atmosphere and some genuinely creepy setpieces. The story concerns the crews of two spaceships, who land on a foggy, seemingly deserted planet. What they don't know is that the planet was home to a race of vampiric aliens, who possess their minds, eventually rising from their strange, misty graves to seek human blood. Legendary director Mario Bava once again proves himself a master at atmospheric composition, using color, sound, and minimalistic sets in original and unnerving ways. Barry Sullivan stars with Angel Aranda and Brazilian actress Norma Bengell. The American version, running several minutes shorter than the original, was put together by Ib Melchior (The Angry Red Planet). ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This film has two segments exploring relationships subjected to sudden trauma. In the first, "Violence," a young wife is gang-raped while her husband is forced to watch. Afterwards, neither one even acknowledges what happened. In "Love," a wife is hospitalized after attempting suicide, and her husband flirts innocently with a pretty young nurse. When the wife dies, the husband is consumed with guilt over his perceived unfaithfulness. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

In this crime comedy with heavy neorealist influence, Antonio (Alberto Sordi) is a Sicilian auto plant worker who has almost completely forsaken his southern Italian roots by marrying a fair-haired girl from the north and conceiving two children with her. As the movie opens, Antonio prepares to round up the family and take them on a vacation to his native town of Calamo, Sicily. Before he leaves, however, his boss summons him in and asks him to pass along a little gift to Don Vincenzo, a mob boss in Calamo. Antonio agrees to the plan, tentatively at first, but as the family gets closer and closer to the isle of Antonio's childhood, and shares lodging with Antonio's eccentric family, Sicilian pride and enthusiasm well up inside of this family patriarch, and he is,ultimately confronted with a request to carry out a hit for Vincenzo. Dino DeLaurentiis produced and Alberto Lattuada directed. Though the film was long forgotten, it received a U.S. theatrical release by Rialto in 2007 and netted absolutely stunning reviews. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi