Marisa Berenson Movies

With ornate imagery reminiscent of paintings from the story's 18th century period, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel depicts the rise and fall of a sensitive rogue in the British aristocracy. Young Irishman Redmond Barry (Ryan O'Neal) leaves home to seek his fortune after apparently killing an English officer in a duel. Through a series of mishaps and accidents, Barry winds up fighting with the Prussian army in the Seven Years' War under the command of Capt. Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger); at war's end, Potzdorf enlists Barry to spy on a shady Chevalier (Patrick Magee). Instead, Barry joins up with the Irish Chevalier to flee Prussia and live as gamblers among Europe's elite. Wishing to climb even higher, Barry soon meets the beautiful Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson), marrying her for her fortune after her older titled husband dies. Her son Lord Bullingdon (Leon Vitali), however, despises the upstart Barry, and, regardless of how his mother may feel, sees to it that the re-named Barry Lyndon will never be able to stake his claim to the entrenched aristocracy. Coming after Kubrick's esteemed hits 2001 (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon opened with high expectations and met with decidedly mixed responses to its restrained tone. Even with Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director (and wins for Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes, and Adapted Score), Barry Lyndon was a box office failure, as mid-'70s audiences increasingly turned away from such narrative challenges as its epic length and muffled emotions. Since then, Barry Lyndon has gained in stature, taking its place among the formidable artistic achievements of Kubrick's career. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

In the mid-'90s, an Englishman by the name of Alan Conway (John Malkovich) conned many people into believing that he was the reclusive American director Stanley Kubrick, despite the fact that Conway was openly gay, bore no physical resemblance to Kubrick, and knew little about the director's work. Conway's story has been loosely adapted into the comedic feature Colour Me Kubrick. Anthony Frewin, who worked as Kubrick's personal assistance for many years, wrote the script, and Brian Cook, who served as Kubrick's assistant director on several films, including Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut, marks his directorial debut with the film. Colour Me Kubrick follows Conway on a number of adventures, wherein he cadges drinks, cash, sex, and more from unsuspecting victims, ranging from a heavy metal band to a wine bar owner (Richard E. Grant) to a British lounge singer (British television comic Jim Davidson making his feature-film debut), who are awestruck by his purported fame and fortune, and willing to overlook Conway's genuinely bizarre behavior in the hopes of impressing the great director. Conway's act reached its pinnacle when he temporarily pulled the wool over the eyes of then-New York Times theater critic Frank Rich (William Hootkins). Colour Me Kubrick features cameos by Ken Russell, Honor Blackman, Peter Sallis, and Marc Warren. The French production had its international premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

The shockwaves that followed the violent murder of fashion giant Gianni Versace were so powerful that they broke through the hallowed halls of the fashion elite to make headlines across the globe. In this documentary exploring the events that led up to the infamous crime, as well as the repercussions that the fashion giant's murder would have on the entire fashion industry, Versace's longtime lover Antonio D'Amico and close friend Lazaro Quintana go public for the first time to reveal the true nature of the man behind the profitable machine. In addition to offering a personal account of Versace, filmmakers also travel to the Philippines to speak with Pete Cunanan and learn of the troubling personality issues that drove his son to murder. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Jon Rothstein stars in this ABC Afterschool Special as a wimpy but artistically gifted teenager. Tired of being persecuted by school bullies, our hero creates a comic book about a master scientist who feels he is "doing mankind a favor" by eliminating the boy's real-life nemeses. In the process, the youthful artist learns that there are other ways besides brute strength to overcome one's problems. In the film's fantasy sequences, the scientist is played by Adolph Caesar of A Soldier's Story fame. ~ All Movie Guide

Best known for their historical epics that examine class and social issues in British life through a thick lens of tasteful production design and good manners, director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant set their sights on an American protagonist for a change with Jefferson in Paris. As the title suggests, Jefferson in Paris deals with the five years that Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) spent as U.S. ambassador to France prior to the French Revolution; while Jefferson is sympathetic to the revolutionary forces in France, he's become well enough acquainted with the ruling aristocracy that he finds himself torn between the two sides of the issue. Jefferson, a recent widower, also becomes friends with Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), who is married to a foppish British artist; while it's obvious the two are in love, neither is in a position to do anything about their infatuation. And while Jefferson's daughter Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow) loves her father, she's very upset with him when he sends her to a convent school. In this midst of this personal turmoil, Jefferson's younger daughter Polly (Estelle Eonnet) arrives in Paris, with her slave Sally Hemmings (Thandie Newton) in tow. Attractive and bright (if uneducated), Sally catches Jefferson's eye, and a friendship develops that grows into something deeper; in time, Sally becomes pregnant, and her family claims that Jefferson is the father. At the time Jefferson In Paris was released, the question of Sally Hemmings' relationship with Thomas Jefferson was a matter of lively historical debate; since then, genetic evidence has shown that, while Jefferson's paternity can't be proved beyond a doubt, it is likely that he did father children with Hemmings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Meant to be an action-packed thriller about city gangs fighting for a piece of a lucrative drug shipment, this mindless, violent, stereotyped series of killings ruins credibility by its own excesses. A crooked, neo-Nazi police inspector supplies his gangland cohorts with weapons to slaughter the Vietnamese, black, and Arab gangs fighting for the upper hand in the drug trade. Before the final showdown, an undercover cop (Daniel Auteuil) tries to prevent the bloodshed and faces one defeat after another as his connections and informants are killed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This African comedy takes a sharp, satiric poke at one of the white colonialist's most sacred cows--the humanitarian work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. The film was shot beside Ganon's Ogooue River in Lambarene, where the real Schweitzer did most of his work, and the settings are more realistic than romanticized. The story covers the last 25 years in the Great White's African stay, and observes the changing African attitudes towards the good doctor's frequently condescending ministrations. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Margherita (Carol Alt) is a wife and mother who decides to take a job as a fashion-show coordinator in this romantic drama. She discovers the tawdry truth of the inner workings of the Milan fashion industry and falls for the Italian heel Roberto (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a move that nearly destroys her marriage. Renee Simonsen and Luca Barbareschi co-star with Marissa Berenson and Valentina Cortese in this vehicle that features beautiful fashion models in chic designer clothes. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this thriller a Chicago policeman grows suspicious after his daughter does not return from a modeling assignment on a Caribbean island. He flies out to find her and finds himself in some rather strange situations. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The made-for-television Playing for Time debuted on September 30, 1980. Vanessa Redgrave stars as Fania Fenelon, a Jewish cabaret singer working in Paris at the time of the Nazi invasion. Shipped to the Auschwitz death camp in 1944, Fenelon is certain that she is as doomed as all the other prisoners. But SS camp matron Shirley Knight has other plans: she orders Fenelon and several other female inmates with musical ability to form themselves into a prisoner's orchestra. They are to perform for the benefit of those who are herded into the gas chambers--a "humane" means of easing the condemned into the next world. As much as she despises her work, Fenelon and her fellow musicians continue to play, lest they too be exterminated. The film raises several questions about courage, guilt and survival at any price, but the most controversial aspect was the casting of anti-Zionist Vanessa Redgrave as Fania Fenelon. Like many others, the real-life Fenelon (who died in 1988) was vehemently opposed to Redgrave's appearance in the film. Playing for Time won Emmy Awards for Redgrave, scriptwriter Arthur Miller, supporting actress Jane Alexander, and as Outstanding Dramatic Special. Redgrave's husband Tony Richardson was the original director, but he bowed out and was replaced by Joseph Sargent., who himself was replaced by Daniel Mann (the only one credited) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this biting comedy satirizing Hollywood cynicism from writer-director Blake Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) is a motion picture director whose career is on the skids. Having just completed a family musical that is sure to be a $30 million flop, Felix knows that his days are numbered and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. When he recovers, Felix suddenly has a brainstorm and hatches a scheme to buy the film back from his studio and lens new scenes that will turn it into a pornographic movie with big stars, a sure-fire box office winner. In order to pull it off, he'll need to convince his female lead and wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews, not coincidentally the director's real-life wife) to defy her wholesome, squeaky-clean public image by baring her breasts on film. S.O.B. (1981) was the final film of legendary actor William Holden. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide