Isabella Rossellini Movies
Isabella Rossellini was one of the twin daughters born to actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini in 1952. After growing up in Italy, she came to America when she was19 and studied at Finch College and the New School for Social Research. She then returned to Rome, where she worked as a translator and TV journalist (not unlike her New York-based half-sister Pia Lindström). Just for fun, Rossellini made her first movie appearance in 1976, playing a bit in her mother's film A Matter of Time. She found acting to her liking, appearing in several European TV dramas before her first big-screen starring role in 1979's The Meadow. In the early 1980s, Rossellini put her film activities on the back burner to concentrate on her modelling career on behalf of Lancome Cosmetics. After her first marriage (to Hollywood director Martin Scorsese) ended in 1983, she began a relationship with ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov, with whom she co-starred in White Nights (1985). She was later involved was filmmaker David Lynch, who cast her in her breakthrough role as a much-abused small-town nightclub singer in Blue Velvet (1986). (Her other romantic partners have included her second husband John Wiedeman -- the father of her daughter Elettra -- and actor Gary Oldman). Rossellini continued seeking out offbeat, challenging film roles into the '90s, including Anna Maria Ermody in the controversial Beethoven biopic Immortal Beloved and no-nonsense frontierswoman Big Nose Kate in Wyatt Earp (both 1994). She also starred in Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci's delicious drama Big Night in 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 2010
Producer Norman Twain spearheads this independent animated film adapted from British author J.R. Ackerley's 1956 novel detailing the 14-year friendship shared between the author and a German shepherd he once rescued. With vocal contributions by Christopher Plummer, Isabella Rossellini, Paul Hecht, and Lynn Redgrave, and animation by Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, this adult-oriented tale of friendship offers a touching testament to the bond between man and beast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, (more)
- 2007
Libya was once a nation with a large and thriving Jewish community; today, only a tiny number of Jews remain there, and this documentary from filmmaker Vivienne Roumani-Denn (herself a Libyan Jew) explains the tragic legacy of the nation's Jewish community. While Jews were a part of Libya's culture since before the birth of Christ, events during the 20th Century were to decimate both the numbers and the spirit of the nation's Jews. During World War II, Italy took control of Libya, where Jews did not fare well under Mussolini's fascist regime. Britain wrested control of Libya from Italy, but the pogroms against the Jewish community only grew worse. Finally, Libya gained independence, but when the Arab states gained power and influence in the Middle East, most of Libya's remaining Jewish population fled, with only a small number of families remaining to uphold the nation's heritage. The Last Jews of Libya received its North American premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabella Rossellini
- 2006
With his English-language political thriller The Feast of the Goat, action helmer Luis Llosa cinematizes Mario Vargas Llosa's sweeping, epic novel about the myriad of events leading up to the assassination of a real-life tyrannical despot. The story opens in 1992, when a Dominican émigré attorney, Urania Cabral (Isabella Rossellini) leaves her new home in the U.S. and heads back to her native country, for the first occasion in decades. She intends to confront her father, 80-year-old Augustin (Tomas Milian), about his former employment in the government of the supremely corrupt dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (Tomas Milian). The film then flashes back to the events surrounding the assassination of Trujillo on a highway in late May of 1961, by delving into the lives and motives of each of the participants - from Amadito (Juan Diego Botto), whom Trujillo forced to execute his future brother-in-law, to that victim's father (Murphy Guyer), to Antonio (David Zayas), the brother of an incriminating witness whom Trujillo's men executed. One by one, as their stories are disinterred, the assassins gather on a nighttime road, brandishing guns, and prepare to shoot Trujillo and throw his body into the trunk of a car. Paul Freeman, Stephanie Leonidas and Richard Bekins co-star; Llosa co-authored the script with Augusto Cabada and Zachary Sklar. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 2006
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From the majesty of the snow-capped Alps to the sun-soaked landscape of Sicily, Discovery Atlas spends a year in Italy to offer armchair vacationers a wondrous look at one of the world's most picturesque countries while candidly speaking with the people who exemplify everything that it means to be an Italian. These are the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of Italy's heart and soul, set to awe-inspiring footage of a land seemingly untouched by time. All of the famous monuments are here, as are some hidden surprises known only to the few who call this land their home. Stunning computer graphics combine with a compelling narrative to take viewers on a tour of Italy that few are likely to soon forget. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2005
On the eve of the release of actress Isabella Rossellini's book In the Name of the Father, the Daughter, and the Holy Spirits: Remembering Roberto Rossellini, the famous daughter of the acclaimed filmmaker teams with Canadian director Guy Maddin to pay loving homage to the man who crafted such cinematic classics as Viaggio in Italia and Roma, Città Aperta. In addition to crafting an affectionate portrait to her father, Rossellini and Maddin attempt to capture the cinematic feel of the filmmaker's most prolific period by incorporating the influences of such key figures as Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, David O. Selznick, and, of course, the legendary Ingrid Bergman into the film as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabella Rossellini
- 2005
The heir to one of Italy's most successful cinematic legacies documents his brave battle with the devastating bacterial infection that would ultimately render him paraplegic in an intimate documentary from filmmaker Gil Rossellini. The son of Roberto Rossellini and the brother of Isabella, Gil presents a low-tech look at his struggle to survive that eschews the typical sentimentality to achieve a present a perseverant and hopeful tone that steers well clear of morbid self-pity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Despite its late start in January of 2005 after a hiatus of eight months, the fourth season of Alias more than made up for lost time with a plethora of trials, tribulations, jaw-dropping revelations, big-time betrayals, and near-death experiences for the series' secret-agent heroine, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner). Reeling from the disillusionment and embarrassment of her demotion, Sydney quits the CIA flat; however, it turns out that this is part of a master plan hatched by new CIA director Hayden Chase (Angela Bassett) to arrange Sydney's membership in Authorized Personnel Only (APO), a top-top secret black-ops organization. Sydney's co-workers at APO include several longtime associates: her father, Jack (Victor Garber); her partner and sometime lover, Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan); her steadfast previous partner Dixon (Carl Lumbly) -- and, much to our heroine's surprise, her duplicitous ex-chief, Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who has proven time and again that he can't be trusted. For her first APO assignment, Sydney is sent to Rio, where she has a fateful encounter with her latest adversary, Tamasaki (Rick Yune), a self-styled 21st century samurai. Previously a recurring character, Sydney's half-sister, Nadia Santos (Mía Maestro), becomes a full regular this season, the better to throw a monkey wrench into Sydney's volatile relationship with her father, Jack -- and to share with Jack a startling secret about Sydney's supposedly dead, supposedly traitorous mother. At the same time, Vaughn has a great deal of difficulty overcoming the treachery of his former wife, Lauren, and an equal amount of difficulty assimilating new and disturbing information about his own father. Major developments this season include a huge revival of interest in the Rambaldi code, which when broken may spell the doom of humankind; the surprising temporary recruitment of another of Sydney's longtime enemies, Julian Sark (David Anders), for a special APO mission; a grim prognostication that Sydney and Nadia are destined to duke it out to the death; and the resurrection of a long-presumed-dead central character, who will reveal anew to Sydney that she can never completely rely upon anyone or believe in anything, not even the evidence of her own eyes. Though the season ends with the good news that Sydney and Vaughn are engaged, any hopes for lasting happiness are dashed by still another shocking revelation -- and a spectacular car crash. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Lord of the Rings fans take note, acclaimed fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin's epic tale of wizardry and prophecy comes to life as never before in director Robert Lieberman's imaginative screen adaptation of her popular Earthsea novels. Adapted for the Sci-Fi Channel, the two-part miniseries chronicles the journey of a reckless youth who seeks to master the ancient arts and become the most powerful sorcerer Earthsea has ever seen. As Ged (Shawn Ashmore) begins to discover the vast potential of his true powers, he must face great adversity if he is to truly fulfill his destiny and reunite his bitterly divided planet. Facing dragons, love, and eventually death itself, Ged's path to power is as wondrous and alluring as it is deadly. Also starring Isabella Rossellini, Danny Glover, and Kristin Kreuk (of TV's Smallville), this miniseries premiered in late 2004. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shawn Ashmore, Kristin Kreuk, (more)
Based on a novel by Jack Schaefer (writer of Shane), and previously filmed theatrically in 1970, the made-for-cable Monte Walsh is the still-timely saga of a dying way of life. Monte Walsh (Tom Selleck) and his friends are cowboys and bronco busters, plying their trade in the Wyoming Territory of 1892. Alas, the advance of civilization has all but rendered Monte and his comrades obsolete -- and with the increasing corporate buy-ups of Wyoming land, these relics of the Old West have practically nowhere else to go. Should Monte continue as before, seeking out the last of the wide open spaces, or should he follow the advice of his sweetheart Martine (Isabella Rosselini) and settle down in a steady job -- say, as a trick rider-roper in the traveling Wild West Show owned by impresario Colonel Wilson (Wallace Shawn)? This elegiac drama debuted January 17, 2003, on the TNT network as part of the cable service's "100 Years of Westerns" celebration. The teleplay is partially credited to one of the scripters of the 1970 film, Lukas Heller, who died in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Keith Carradine, (more)
- 2003
First-time filmmaker Abby Epstein directs Until the Violence Stops, an hour-long documentary capturing the impact of V-Day in five different international communities. Following the success of Eve Ensler's award-winning play The Vagina Monologues, V-Day was created as a global movement to end violence against women and girls. In 2002, hundreds of V-Day benefit events occurred all over the world in order to raise both awareness and funds. This program focuses on specific V-Day events in New York, California, the Philippines, South Dakota, and Kenya. Includes appearances by founder Eve Ensler along with celebrity activists Jane Fonda, Glenn Close, and Isabella Rossellini. Until the Violence Stops was shown at a special screening of the Sundance Film Festival prior to its commercial-free broadcast premiere on Lifetime Television in February of 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin directs The Saddest Music in the World, reworked from an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, the film involves a contest announced by the legless and glamorous Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini) to find the saddest music in the world. She's hoping the contest will result in increased sales of her company's brand of beer. American theatrical producer Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) shows up to win the contest with his kooky show-business idea, while brother Roderick Kent (Ross McMillan) returns from the war. Maria de Medeiros plays Narcissa, a sleep walker romantically linked to both brothers. Their father, the alcoholic doctor Fyodor Kent (David Fox), is tortured by his role in Lady Port-Huntly's leg amputation, so he makes her a new glass pair filled with beer. The Saddest Music in the World was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 2002
Celebrated as the "Greatest War Photographer in the World," the Hungarian-born Robert Capa (1913-1954) vividly recorded no fewer than five wars, beginning with the Spanish Civil War of 1936. It was during this conflict that Capa achieved fame with his heartbreaking Falling Soldier, capturing the death of a Spanish freedom fighter at the moment of the bullet's impact. Capa went on to photograph several of the major battles of WWII, including D-day (his coverage of this epochal event inspired the harrowing opening sequence of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan). His brilliance with the camera transformed Capa into an international celebrity, bringing him in close contact with several other notables, among them actress Ingrid Bergman, with whom he had a brief romance (Bergman's daughter Isabella Rosellini is among those interviewed in this documentary). It was during his coverage of the French-Indochina war of the early '50s that Capa was killed in action after he stepped on a land mine. First exhibited at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2003, the 90-minute Robert Capa: In Love and War made its American TV bow four months later on the PBS American Masters anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goran Visnjic, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 2002
Filmed in France, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Morocco, and Canada, this ambitious biographical TV miniseries chronicles the life and times of the "Little Corporal" from Corsica who managed to conquer nearly all of Europe within a period of a dozen years. The narrative begins in the mid-1790s, as Napoleon Bonaparte (played, curiously enough, by comic actor Christian Clavier) makes his mark on posterity with spectacular victories in Austria and Egypt. On the home front, Napoleon woos and wins the lovely (and considerably older) Josephine (Isabella Rossellini), but finds time for extracurricular romances with other women, notably Countess Marie Walewska (Alexandra Maria Lara). Ultimately, Bonaparte's ambitions destroy him, first in Russia, then at Waterloo, consigning the general-cum-emperor to live out his life in humiliation and exile. When originally broadcast in France in October 2002, Napoleon ran six hours (plus commercials), with four episodes. For its American presentation on the A&E cable network beginning April 8, 2003, the production was literally sliced in half, shown in two installments with a running time of three hours. What remained was all highlights and few insights, though a few brilliant moments remained, many of these supplied by the supporting cast, which included Gérard Depardieu (who also produced) as Fouche, and John Malkovich as Talleyrand. Thankfully, the full six-hour version was made available in the U.S. on DVD and VHS in 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Clavier, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 2000
- Add The Hollywood Collection: Ingrid Bergman Remembered to QueueAdd The Hollywood Collection: Ingrid Bergman Remembered to top of Queue
This documentary, part of The Hollywood Collection, depicts the highs and lows of the life of actress Ingrid Bergman. This video captures the phenomenal triumphs and devastating disappointments of Bergman's illustrious career through the eyes of two of her four children, Isabella Rossellini and Pia Lindstrom (a child from her first marriage). After a successful film career in her native Sweden, Bergman burst onto the American screen in Intermezzo. After that, she starred in such successes as Casablanca, Gaslight, and Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound and Notorious. Her career came to an abrupt halt when a scandal involving her adulterous relationship with director Roberto Rossellini shocked the country. Bergman fled to Italy, made a few Italian films with then-husband Rossellini, and returned to American with the critically successful Anastasia, which garnered her a Best Actress Oscar. In addition to memories of their mother by her two daughters, this documentary also includes excerpts of Bergman's interviews, clips from some of her films, and footage of a press conference after she returned from Italy. ~ Cecilia Cygnar, All Movie Guide
Adapted from Lorenza Mazzetti's acclaimed autobiographical novel inspired by her experiences in WWII Tuscany, Il Cielo Cade is a coming-of-age tale that pits the emotional growth of its young protagonists against the encroaching horrors of war. In 1944, newly-orphaned pre-teen sisters Penny (Veronica Niccolai) and Baby (Lara Campoli) come to live in the Tuscan villa of their Uncle Wilhelm (Jeroen Krabbe) and his wife, Katchen (Isabella Rossellini). Wilhelm, a German-Jewish intellectual, and Katchen subtly discourage the pro-Mussolini and fascist sympathies the girls inherited from their late father, and Penny and Baby gradually make friends in their new surroundings and become somewhat smitten with their uncle and his group of cultured friends. As war rages around them, Wilhelm receives warnings from the local priest to flee with his family to Switzerland. He refuses, putting his loved ones at risk. Everything comes to a climax as the family members, who are awaiting the arrival of Italy's British allies, are caught off-guard by the return of the Nazis to their small town. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabella Rossellini, Jeroen Krabbé, (more)
- 2000
A crusade for decency and truth is mounted by a man gone mad (or has he?) in this made-for-TV adaptation of the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Alonso Quijano decides that it is time to devote his life to battling evil in all its forms; he dubs himself Don Quixote (John Lithgow), obtains a suit of armor, and with the help of his loyal friend and squire Sancho Panza (Bon Hoskins), he sets out to confront the world's ills. Inspired by the lovely Dulcinea (Vanessa Williams) and pursued by a mysterious Duchess (Isabella Rossellini), Quixote fights his battles as he finds them, with Sanson Carrasco (James Purefoy) attempting to find the eccentric old man and send him home before he can do any serious damage to himself or others. Don Quixote was something of a labor of love for John Lithgow, who had been attempting to get a feature film version of the story off the ground for several years. This production received its American premier on the TNT cable television network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Bob Hoskins, (more)
- 1999
Leonardo da Vinci painted only three portraits of women, and only one of those has a place in the Western Hemisphere. Ginevra de Benci, by Leonardo da Vinci, is perhaps the most prized painting in the National Gallery of Art collection. In this documentary, narrated by actress Meryl Streep, the viewer goes to Washington, D.C., to the National Gallery's painting conservation laboratory to try to solve some of the questions that surround the painting Genevra. Who was the model for the picture? Why are both sides of the canvas painted? Why does one part of the painting appear to be missing? Why was the painting sealed in a wine cellar? X-ray analysis and infrared reflectography are employed to look below the surface to find an underdrawing. Computer technology enables the missing part of the painting to be reconstructed. Art history and detective story are joined in this documentary. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
Actor Jeroen Krabbe made his directorial debut with this Dutch-Belgian-U.S. drama examining anti-Semitic attitudes in 1972 Antwerp. Free-spirited 20-year-old student Chaja (Laura Fraser) has a long-haired revolutionary lover and sometimes visits her parents (Maximilian Schell, Marianne Sagebrecht), both concentration camp survivors. Evading eviction from her apartment, Chaja finds work as a nanny with the Kalmans, an Orthodox Hassidic family. Initially rebelling against the rigid traditions, she eventually comes to terms with their way of life as she teaches their four-year-old to follow his father's doctrines. Adapted from Carl Friedman's novel The Shovel and the Loom, this film was shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Fraser, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 1998
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This four-hour fantasy miniseries, elaborating on the Arthurian legend and filmed in England and Wales, offers a portrait of the wizard Merlin (Sam Neill), following his life as a youth (Daniel Brocklebank) to his later conflicts with the evil Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson) and his love for Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), who is kidnapped by Lord Vortigern (Rutger Hauer). Amid battles and displays of magic and mysticism (courtesy of London's Framestore and the Jim Henson Creature Shop), Merlin strides the English countryside encountering Excalibur, the unbreakable sword, and a Camelot cast of colorful characters including the morphing manservant Frik (Martin Short), Morgan le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter), King Arthur (Paul Curran), Lancelot (Jeremy Sheffield), and Guinevere (Lena Heady). Premiered April 26, 1998 on NBC. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
Utilizing an exceptional international all-star cast and excellent special effects, Hallmark entertainment and American Zoetrope productions created this fun-filled adaptation of Homer's most-famous epic poem. It was originally broadcast as a four-hour miniseries on the NBC network. The story faithfully chronicles the many adventures of sailor Odysseus (Armand Assante), his colorful crew as they encounter a variety of mythical figures, including Odysseus's spiritual guide Athena (Isabella Rossellini), the seductive Calypso (Vanessa Williams) and the treacherous Eurymachus (Eric Roberts). Highlights include the Trojan Horse (made to original scale and filmed on location in the ruins of Troy) sequence. Much of the miniseries was filmed in Europe and on the Mediterranean, making it a feast for the eye. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1996
Isabella Rosselini guest stars in this episode, in which Ross (David Schwimmer) tries to come up with the names of his five "dream" celebrities (a list that he's forced to pare down to four at the least advantageous moment). Meanwhile, Phoebe's half-brother, Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi), shows up, prompting Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) to attempt a bonding exercise. And Joey (Matt LeBlanc) tries to convert his corner of the apartment into a home entertainment center (funny, it started out as a mailbox...). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
