Alba Rohrwacher Movies
- 2009
In Italy circa 1966, four female friends meet regularly over a game of canasta, to discuss their hopes, fears and concerns. Frustrations also emerge - many tied to the women's histories of extinguishing personal dreams in exchange for the false promises advertised as nuptial bliss. Thus begins helmer Enzo Monteleone's intimate ensembler Due Partite. The setting then shifts to Italy in 1996, when the women's daughters begin meeting for canasta, reflect on their own lives, and ponder a tragedy that befell one of the mothers. The cast features Margherita Buy, Claudia Pandolfi, Isabella Ferrari and several other mainstays of the Italian screen. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margherita Buy, Isabella Ferrari, (more)
With Quiet Chaos (Caos Calmo), acclaimed Italian helmer Nanni Moretti steps away from his standard directorial role to essay the lead and co-author the script in a gentle psychological drama directed by Antonello Grimaldi. Moretti stars as Pietro, a film executive whose life takes an irreversible and devastating turn one fateful morning. During a trip to the beach with his brother, Pietro's path intersects with that of a woman, Eleonora (Isabella Ferrari), who is drowning in the ocean; horrified, Pietro rushes in to save her. He subsequently returns home only to discover that his wife, Lara, just died in a nasty falling accident; devastated to the core, this nascent widower must make the necessary psychological accommodations to adjust to life as a single parent, with sole responsibility for raising his ten-year-old daughter, Claudia (Blu Yoshimi). Almost instinctively, as a reaction to Lara's death, Pietro opts to sit and wait for his daughter to finish school each day (in a park across from the school), in lieu of abandoning her to his own priorities and commitments. This means that the fellow's colleagues in the film industry must, by necessity, come to do business with him in the park. Through it all, Pietro remains silently dumbfounded that the tragedy itself hasn't shaken him more, that the grief (the "quiet chaos" of the title) is subtly agonizing instead of grossly traumatizing and debilitating. Nevertheless, he ultimately begins to approach a full realization and acceptance of his loss, and gains an enhanced awareness of himself and others from the potentially crippling events thrust into his path. Valeria Golino (Rain Man) co-stars; Roman Polanski appears in a cameo as one of Pietro's industry colleagues. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nanni Moretti, Valeria Golino, (more)
- 2008
A father's love for his troubled daughter may be the only thing that can save her in this drama from writer and director Pupi Avanti. It's 1938, Benito Mussolini is the fascist ruler of Italy, and Michele (Silvio Orlando) is a high school teacher living in Bologna. Michele and his wife Delia (Francesca Neri) have a teenage daughter Giovanna (Alba Rohrwacher), and Giovanna is the most important thing in Michele's life -- so much so that Delia often finds herself wishing her husband was as devoted to her as he is to their child. As much as Michele indulges her, Giovanna is an unstable and disturbed young woman, and one day in a fit of anger Giovanna murders one of her friends. Sergio (Ezio Greggio), Michele and Delia's next door neighbor, is a police officer who uses his authority to help his friends, and he's fond enough of Delia to see that her family is well cared for, but Giovanna's crime is too severe for him to be able to help, and while the courts spare the girl's life, she's sent to a mental hospital where she receives only the most minimal care. Michele stands by Giovanna and tends to her in the hospital, leaving Delia at home to look after their home with the help of Sergio. Il Papa di Giovanna (aka Giovanna's Father) was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvio Orlando, Alba Rohrwacher, (more)
- 2008
A young couple readying for the birth of their first child agree to let a team of documentary filmmakers follow them on their journey as they go from being a perfect couple to a perfect family. The only problem is that as the pregnancy progresses, their relationship falls apart. Now, the experience is decidedly bittersweet as they embrace the joy of a new baby and the pain of breaking up, all while the ever more intimate gaze of the filmmakers' lens captures their every moment. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alba Rohrwacher, Marco Foschi, (more)
- 2008
An amateur theatrical troupe struggles to earn a living by day and bring the crowds to their feet every night in director Emanuele Barresi's madcap ensemble farce featuring Rocco Papaleo, Alba Rohrwacher, Raffaele Pisu, and Paolo Ruffini. Every night, the dedicated actors at a small theater put aside their daily concerns in order to deliver the best show possible. When a series of unfortunate events bring the future of the theater into question, each actor must consider a future with no creative outlet as they contend with issues of life, love, health, and employment. As the curtains rise on the opening night of their latest production, all of their problems are systematically brought out into the open and miraculously solved during a spectacular series of plot twists and cliffhangers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rocco Papaleo, Alba Rohrwacher, (more)
Growing up in small-town Italy during the '60s and '70s, brothers Accio (Elio Germano) and Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio) embody and celebrate opposing political stances, but share an impassioned love of the same woman that threatens to drive them to blows. Director Daniele Luchetti's political comedy Mio Fratello È Figlio Unico (aka My Brother Is an Only Child, 2007) observes the brothers over the course of 15 years, against the ever-shifting backdrop of tumultuous Italian sociopolitical history. During that time span, the siblings' loyalties will fluctuate; they will endure arguments and quarrels, and find themselves separated by the ravages of time and circumstance and reunited magnetically by the wisdom of age. In time, they will come to a firmer and clearer understanding of not only the differences but the similarities that they harbor. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, (more)
In Bread and Tulips, director Silvio Soldini detailed the journey of a discontented housewife who threw caution to the wind to find true happiness in Venice; in Days and Clouds, the same filmmaker explores the opposite side of the coin by telling the tale of a middle-class homemaker from Genoa who suddenly finds her life turned upside down. Elsa (Margherita Buy) is the picture of middle-class contentment: she's happily married, well adjusted, and spends most of her spare time developing her skills as an amateur historian specializing in restoration. Recently, Elsa even decided to return to school in order to earn her degree. One day, after gently scraping the ceiling of a local chapel to reveal hidden angels that hadn't seen the light of day in decades, Elsa is informed by her husband, Michele (Antonio Albanese), that the couple will have to give up their posh apartment. Michele was formerly a partner in a successful shipping firm, but now that his partner has forced him out of the business, the happy husband and wife won't be able to maintain their current lifestyle. In the aftermath of that disheartening revelation, Elsa and Michele both try to find work while dealing with the predicament in directly opposing ways. Later, after moving into a much smaller apartment, the cracks in Elsa and Michele's now fragile marriage gradually begin to widen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margherita Buy, Antonio Albanese, (more)
- 2007
A romance starts on a dangerous note in this drama from Italy. Teo (Marco Foschi) is a Jewish college student pursuing a graduate degree in astrophysics while trying to keep up with his girlfriend. One day, Teo is crossing the street when he's struck by a car driven by Mavi (Kasia Smutniak), a beautiful but flighty young woman from Croatia. When Mavi takes Teo to the hospital, he's immediately smitten with her, and while she warns him that she's poor material for a relationship, Teo isn't deterred in the least. Several years later, Teo and Mavi are married and the parents of a new baby, and while his folks are miffed that his bride isn't a Jew, they clearly love their grandchild. However, the demands of supporting the baby forces Teo to give up his career in science and become a textbook salesman; his new work means lots of travel, and a difficult relationship becomes all the more unstable as Mavi imagines Teo is chronically unfaithful while on the road. Nelle Tue Mani (aka In Your Hands) was the first feature film in seven years from writer and director Peter Del Monte. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kasia Smutniak, Marco Foschi, (more)
