Umberto Orsini Movies

Primo Levi's harrowing memoir If This Is a Man appeared in the U.S. in 1959 as Survival in Auschwitz; historians now regard it as the most critically important written conveyance of the horrors within the Nazi concentration camps. But the account in that text only represents half of Levi's story. The other half began after his release from Auschwitz. Instead of simply returning to his native Turin, Levi and 600 others were forcibly shipped east -- thousands of miles away from their homes. Thus began a grueling, trans-national journey that Levi undertook, across war-ravaged Europe and back to Turin -- a journey that took all of 12 months to complete, and that filled him, alternately, with incredulity, anger, wonder, and astonishment -- as he reflected on the meaning of his own survival in the camps. Levi died in 1987; as a tribute to the belletrist and historian, acclaimed nonfiction filmmaker Davide Ferrario (Far from Rome, Borderline) retraces Levi's route with his cameras in his documentary Primo Levi's Journey. Ferrario travels through Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, Germany, and south to his native country, evaluating, at each stop, the sociological climate and the various ways in which Eastern Europe has alternately evolved and remained static over the prior 60 years. Ferrario touches on numerous issues relevant to the contemporary sociopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe, as the Russian satellite countries struggle to develop national identities, and concurrently reflects on the experiences of Levi's original trip. Celebrated Polish filmmaker Andrezj Wajda appears early on and serves as a "tour guide" for one of the first legs of the voyage. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Porzia, a beautiful and feisty aristocrat leaves her convent school when her wealthy, blue-blooded fiancé sends a small military regiment to bring her home for their wedding. Handsome Captain Palagano has been particularly charged with keeping the virginal lass safe and intact. The journey across the picturesque country starts off peacefully enough, but when brigands attack, only the girl and Bartolo, a humble coachman, are left alive. Determined to get her home, he and she make the rest of the trip on horseback. Though rude in manner and uneducated, Bartolo proves to be a loyal and courageous ally who sees Porzia through many adventures. This beautifully rendered costume drama offers chaste adventure and fun suitable for the entire family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This suspenseful French thriller examines the actions of a predatory woman who must eventually face the consequences of her actions. It is the final film of writer/director Christopher Frank, released after his death. Julien is a self-confident executive working at a Paris debt collection company. Julien impetuously invites Angela to dinner after his wife Anna and his son go on vacation. Angela is aggressive and wants to have sex with Julien. He does not rise to her bait. Angered, Angela leaves little reminders behind so that Anna will know she was there. Soon Angela moves into the same building as the couple. She becomes Anne's baby-sitter and begins doing everything she can to make it seem as if she and Julien are having an affair. The effect is not lost on Anne who begins to doubt her husband. Angela confronts Julien at the site of a building renovation. Julien hits Angela in the head with a shovel and kills her. He conceals her body in a hollow wall, then buys and moves into the apartment where it is hidden. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The most powerful officers of a bank are implicated in a financial scandal, despite their efforts to disassociate themselves from it. When the top brass fire Henri Rainier (Jean-Louis Trintignant) because one of his clients has been accused of fraud, he doesn't take it lying down. He knows that the man who actually approved the client's loans was the bank's director. He must expose these and other shady financial transactions by his superiors in order to avoid being framed by them. This straightforward drama, which depicts the anxious situation of a man without allies, caught, despite his best efforts, in the throes of a vast land fraud, is based on a true story and was inexplicably very popular in France. It won Césars for "Best Screenplay" and "Best Director," and the Prix Louis Delluc, a venerable annual prize given by French journalists for the best French film of the year. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A misguided attempt to dramatize the psychological triad formed by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (Erland Josephson), his Jewish friend Paul Rees (Robert Powell), and a Russian girl named Lou Von Salome (Dominique Sanda), this overbearing drama fails mightily. Nietzsche is portrayed as a jealous sociopath who drives Rees to suicide, and director Liliana Cavani cannot resist including a drug-hallucination ballet about Good and Evil which approaches the excesses of her controversial Il Portiere di Notte in its melodramatic sexual hysteria. Cavani's film is feverish where it should have been calculating and lurid where it should have been provocative. The result may be the first exploitation film aimed at philosophy students, and even deft supporting turns by Virna Lisi and Philippe Leroy cannot make the dialogue -- drawn hamfistedly from Nietzsche's own writings -- any less ridiculous. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This drama is set upon a Greek island and chronicles the struggles of a woman tortured by the memories of her family. During the war all of them were killed by Nazi invaders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others is a gentle character study of a group of friends who meet each weekend in the country for food, drink and conversation. Over the course of the film, the three main characters undergo a variety of personal and professional struggles, which are all vividly evoked by Claude Sautet's direction and the cast's stellar acting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

This film explores the events surrounding the assassination of Mussolini's chief political opponent, socialist Giacomo Matteotti (1885-1924). Matteotti (Franco Nero) was outspoken in his opposition to Mussolini and his principles. Because the investigation of the assassination by an honest judge (Vittorio De Sica) climbed up the rank and file of government officials and ultimately pointed directly to Mussolini himself, it made his political base very shaky, and he (Mario Adorf) moved from constitutional government to dictatorship. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

On a spiritual quest, a British scholar (John Steiner) travels to the beautiful and exotic island of Bali with a photographer and his wife. The scholar has two native wives and a native boyfriend, a sculptor. The photographer has a native mistress, and encounters a missionary with a nymphomaniac daughter. Filled with spectacular photography, the film's focus remains on the characters' problems and the quirks and joys of cross-cultural encounters, developing the native characters in unusual depth. This may frustrate those hoping for a more sexually explicit treatment of the characters' romantic difficulties, as in director Liberatore's previous film, the famously pornographic Bora Bora. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a beloved fashion model desires a real relationship with a loving man. Unfortunately, although she shares many beds, most of the men turn out to be creeps. She thinks she may at last have found Mr. Right with a wealthy businessman, but then he too, proves to be a creep. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide