Claudio Botosso Movies
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)
Not to be confused with the 1987 Bob Rafelson/Debra Winger thriller of the same title, the 2005 Black Widow stars Giada Colagrande as Eleanora, a woman amorously involved with the shady and eccentric Karl. When Karl dies, Eleanora embarks on a trip to his bizarre home -- known as 'The Rubber House' -- in an aggressive attempt to uncover her paramour's darkest and strangest secrets. Once there, she becomes erotically involved with the residence's weird caretaker, Leslie (Willem Dafoe) -- little realizing that he harbors bizarre, hidden eccentricities to rival anything in Karl's life. Colagrande directs, from an original script that she and Dafoe (real-life husband and wife) co-authored. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giada Colagrande, Seymour Cassel, (more)
Directed by Giada Colagrande, Aprimi II Cuore follows the obsessive and sometimes incestuous relationship between sisters Caterina (Colagrande) and Maria (Natalie Cristiani). Caterina, 17-years-old and shy, loves the arts and takes comfort in listening to music while her sister, a prostitute, entertains her nightly host of clients. Living in the apartment becomes harder with each passing day, as Maria is only allowed to leave to go to dance class. Despite Maria's efforts, Caterina falls for her dance teacher, Giovanni (Claudio Botosso), and series of perverse situations present themselves as the siblings compete for his attention. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giada Colagrande, Natalie Cristiani, (more)
- 1997
Gianfranco Cabiddu directed this mockumentary on the life and loves of fictional Italian folk hero Tullio Saba (Fausto Siddi) -- miner, wedding singer, anti-fascist, unionist, and politician. Based on the book by Sergio Adtzeni, the faux documentary employed many non-professionals to portray Tullio's family, friends, and opponents. Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Rotterdam), the English language title of this film is The Son of Bakunin. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fausto Siddi, Renato Carpentieri, (more)
- 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)
- 1989
- NR
The Story of Boys and Girls is about a rural Italian girl who invites the family of her rich Bolognese fiance over for a 20-course banquet at her home. Over the course of the meal, both families talk about many different topics, revealing a number of secrets along the way. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucrezia Lante Della Rovere, Felice Andreasi, (more)
- 1987
In this slightly science-fictiony romantic comedy, Ivan is a nice but rather clueless young man who works for a woman about his own age, a tough and ruthless person who is all business. He is so clueless that he is about to marry this unsavory person, much to the dismay of his ex-ballerina mother. He is doing his banking one day when a group of robbers comes in, stealing not only from the bank, but from its customers. He narrowly manages to escape them by heading for the basement and taking a doorway he never noticed before which should lead to the basement of the Chinese restaurant next door. Instead, he finds himself on the beach on another planet, one with two suns. There, he meets a professor and his daughter. The girl falls in love with him at first sight and returns through the doorway after him to persuade him to marry her. Other denizens of the second world also go through the doorway, and before the end of the show, a number of unlikely marriages have been proposed and accepted. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Botosso, Amanda Sandrelli, (more)
- 1987
When tough-minded slum dweller Claudio Scanna Claudio Amendola is drafted into the Italian Army for his obligatory one-year tour of service, he hardly expects to have to serve the entire year on latrine duty. However, that's just what happens in this exposé of injustices of the draft system. Claudio has inadvertently humiliated his lieutenant, a petty and small-minded man who cannot abide the knowledge that Claudio is definitely a better man than he is. Before the year is out, though, they will have a definitive confrontation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Amendola, Massimo Dapporto, (more)
- 1986
Perhaps taking a cue from the popular 1970s Brit television comedy "Are You Being Served?," this Italian department store comedy is a series of skits involving customers and store personnel from several departments. In one skit, Elena (Laura Antonelli) and her husband the personnel director, are certain that an inept salesman in the bathroom fixtures department is actually the son of the store's owner. They launch into a campaign to woo him over without bothering to check up on his credentials. In another skit, the famous Italian actress Ornella Muti, playing herself, walks into one of the men's departments and sends a salesclerk into near heart failure. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alessandro Haber, Laura Antonelli, (more)
Bearing no particular relation to any literary or cinematic work of the same title, this erotic drama by Marco Bellocchio uses sexual expression to work out a character's hang-ups, problems, and personality. Andrea (Federico Ptizalis) is in his last year of high school when he meets Giulia (Maruschka Detmers). Her father was killed by terrorists, yet Giulia is engaged to marry a former terrorist who is released from prison after he names names. After Andrea and Giulia meet, they have some torrid sexual encounters, though Giulia continues her engagement to the ex-terrorist because her wealthy family opposes any liaison with the lower-class Andrea. Mixed in with Giulia's two love affairs are several odd characters, such as the former terrorist's mother. No one is particularly stable, least of all Giulia. This film was released in the United States in both R and X-rated versions, the latter featuring a brief but explicit oral sex scene. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maruschka Detmers, Federico Pitzalis, (more)
- 1985
In this understated drama by director and co-writer Pupi Avati, the life-changing events that sweep through an office of nondescript bank workers may be minor in the scheme of a greater cosmos, but they have a major impact on everyone involved. The story is told through the eyes of Luigi (Claudio Botosso), just out of college and starting work at the bank as a new recruit. Luigi is shy enough to seem aloof at the beginning, but he quickly gets into the rhythm of office politics, at least as much as his still-reserved personality allows. Luigi would like to go out with Annalisa (Elena Sofia Ricci) but the attractive woman has chosen his former roommate Dario (Dario Parisini) instead. Meanwhile, Luigi is getting an introduction into the small and often corrupt and profligate society around him; women seem willing to bed down with whomever -- though not with him -- and they even get drunk at parties. Older men are chasing women who are their employees, the haves are not interested in associating with the have-nots, and even the rich cannot always get into -- and stay in -- the clubs that define an elite strata. As relationships come and go, one of the more unscrupulous workers is finally discharged, but not before a scandal erupts. And tragedy also lies waiting in the wings -- leaving Luigi with a lot of life experience in a very brief period of time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Botosso, Luca Barbareschi, (more)
