Giulia Boschi
- 1995
Set within the free-spirited world of a traveling circus, a human cannonball reflects upon his life in this Italian drama that was written, directed, produced, and filmed by auteur Silvano Agosti who based the film upon his book L'uomo proiettile. The reminiscences of the performer subtly drive home the idealistic view that the pursuit of artistic freedom is more humanizing than the pursuit for material wealth. Cannonball loves his work which only requires he spend one hour per day climbing into an enormous silver circus cannon and being fired into space by a lovely young woman. Eventually the fellow and the girl embark upon a passionate affair. Unfortunately, it doesn't last and she moves on. The Human Cannonball is devastated and becomes quite jealous. He tries hard to overcome his heartbreak and go on with his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This rosy Italian drama centers upon a cheerful Italian woman who learns that before the war her grandparents owned a beautiful 17th-century house in a small Czechoslovakian town. Now that the Communists have fled, she technically has the right to reclaim it. Elena brings her boy friend to Prague and immediately she is enchanted by the three story pink home. The primary tenant is an old man who knew her grandparents and he tells her many interesting stories. Later her boy friend returns to Italy while she chooses to remain for a while longer. While there, she falls in love with a handsome Prague lawyer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- R
Marco (Claudio Bigagli) is an insurance adjuster who must travel all over Tuscany in order to investigate and settle claims put through by his firm's various branches. This brings in a tidy sum of money, and he has every reason to expect that he will continue to prosper in his work. He manages quite successfully to organize every event in his own life, but he can't manage the lives of others. His tidy and reasonably satisfying world comes unglued when his mother's extramarital affair causes dissension between her and his father. The tidiness of his life is also undone when his former girlfriend actually gets married, and his current girlfriend dumps him. Soon he is irritated even by his work, and then the real hysteria sets in. The only thing he can think to do is to opt out of having such a tidy, predictable, yuppiefied life, and this is what he does. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Bigagli, Gigio Alberti, (more)
- 1990
In this painful melodrama, an aging mother (Claudia Cardinale) attempts to cope with the progressive deterioration of her grown son due to his drug addiction. At first only manipulative, in addition to stealing from her he eventually becomes abusive and violent, and she must take strong measures if she is to save her own life, much less his. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Giulia Boschi, (more)
- 1988
Before Penny Marshall brought Big to the big screen, an Italian director, Franco Amurri, released this body-changing movie. In his story, Marco (Ioska Versari) is a bedwetter whose mother scolds him one time too often, and his classmates tease him one time too often. The finishing touch is that his father neglects to bring him a Lego set for his birthday. He promptly puts all his heart into wishing he were big and not subject to these indignities. The result is that he bursts through his clothes in the guise of a middle-aged man (Renato Pozzetto) and seeks refuge in the house of his former schoolteacher. Mentally, he is still eight years old, and it's a puzzle what to do with him until someone discovers that he has an uncanny rapport with children. Then he becomes a full-time babysitter -- at least, until he is suspected of abducting the by-now long-missing child Marco. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renato Pozzetto, Giulia Boschi, (more)
- 1988
- R
Ferroccio Ferri (Paolo Rossi) is a quiz-show champion who is an expert on camels in this offbeat comedy. He is eligible for the upcoming show that will award a sizeable sum of money to the grand-prize winner. Camillo (Diego Abatantuono) is the manager of a second-rate traveling troupe who recruits Ferri to ride a camel for a promotional tour of the Po Valley. Sabina Guzzanti plays a notoriously bad singer in Camillo's troupe with comedic flair. Ferri loses on the quiz show and meets the beautiful Anna (Giulio Boschi) on the train ride back home. Anna talks Ferri into posing as her lover so she can dump her fiancee in front of her mother (Laura Betti) and father (Giancarno Sbragia). ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Rossi, Diego Abatantuono, (more)
Set in French Colonial Africa, Chocolat is told from the viewpoint of 8-year-old Cecile Ducasse. With no other frame of reference, the innocent Ducasse accepts the subjugation of the black natives by the white colonists as the natural order of things. The girl grows gradually aware of the social iniquities about her, but only in retrospect (the film is related in flashback, narrated by the grown-up heroine) does she fully realize just how cruel and wrong-headed the entire colonial system had been. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isaach de Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, (more)
- 1987
Otello (Marco Messeri) is the honest lawyer who accepts the position of planning a natural park in Italy's Po valley region. He turns down corrupt officials who offer bribes in exchange for favors. He continues his work but soon uncovers a scandal that led to the murder of an unfortunate inspector. Daria (Giulia Boschi) is a former political activist who provides love interest for the lonely lawyer, and Otello's friend Cecco (Meme Perlini) provides comedy relief in this mystery with touches of film noir. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marco Messeri, Giulia Boschi, (more)
Adapted from Mario Puzo's novel, The Sicilian is an attempt to chronicle the life and times of Mafia leader, patriot and real-life Robin Hood Salvatore Giuliano, the infamous bandit who, together with his rag-tag band of guerillas, attempted to liberate 1940s Sicily from Italian rule and make it an American state. Giuliano (Christopher Lambert) robs from the rich conservative landowners to give to the poor, serf-like peasants, who in turn hail him as their savior. As his popularity grows, so does his ego, and he eventually thinks he is above the power of his backer, Mafia Don Masino Croce (Joss Ackland). The Don, in turn, sets out to kill the upstart by convincing his cousin and closest advisor Gaspare (John Turturro) to assassinate him. Nearly thirty minutes of screen time were haphazardly hacked off director Michael Cimino's original cut by the studio. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lambert, Terence Stamp, (more)
- 1985
Giuseppe Bertolucci (younger brother of Bernardo Bertolucci) has created a movie unusual for its all-female cast of well-known Italian actresses and for a script that gives them latitude to develop their individual characters. The story is about Laura (Lina Sastri) a young terrorist who commits a rash act of cold-blooded murder which introduces the other women in this story. Laura is in Venice when she kills a judge and a gang member who was vacillating in his commitment. The dead terrorist's mother (Rosanna Podesta) and sister (Giulia Boschi) attend his funeral in Avellino, an area devastated after a severe earthquake -- a particularly dramatic backdrop for a funeral. Back home, Laura's former nanny (Alida Valli) still lives with the family and is as astute as ever -- she figures out what Laura has done and leaves for good. Laura's mother (Lea Massari) is not as perceptive about her own daughter and can hardly believe Laura has done anything wrong, even after the police come to take her away. The effect this has on the devoted mother is totally devastating. Meanwhile, Laura is brought before a judge (Mariangela Melato) for questioning, made all the more difficult because of her critical emotional state and the judge's own personal problems. The wisdom of Laura's confession and the many "secrets" she reveals is another matter entirely. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lina Sastri, Lea Massari, (more)
- 1984
Enhanced by a good musical score and good cinematography, this first-time directorial effort by Francesca Comencini is an engrossing, partially autobiographical story of a drug-addicted couple who heroically try to break their destructive habit. Maria (Giulia Boschi) and Paolo (François Siener) agree to live apart and not reunite until they are heroin-free. Their scheme works, and to celebrate they take a vacation in Sri Lanka together -- but it was ill-timed. The two lapse in their resolve and soon they are shooting up as before. Paolo despairs of being normal again, and Maria devotes herself to playing her grand piano as a consolation and inspiration in her fight against her drug habit. The couple's differing attitudes toward their addiction soon reach dramatic and tragic proportions, as the film nears the closing credits. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giulia Boschi, Giovannella Grifea, (more)
