Antonio Avati Movies

Written and directed by Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati, Il Cuore Altrove is a romantic drama centering on Nello, a college Humanities teacher played by Neri Marcoré. His parents are well-to-do tailors who work for the Pope, and they don't approve of Nello's line of work. At their urging, Nello moves to Bologna where he meets and falls in love with Angela, a local blind girl played by Vanessa Incontrada. But their relationship isn't a simple one. Her parents don't believe that a simple teacher is worthy of their daughter, his parents protest because she is blind, and her ex-boyfriend may not be completely out of the picture. Adding one more wrench in the gears is a doctor who might be able to restore Angela's sight, leading Nello to wonder if she'll still feel for him if she isn't blind. Giancarlo Gianinni also stars as Nello's father. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

How did you lose your virginity? Six teenagers killing time on a subway ride answer that question in this episodic drama. In a series of otherwise unconnected episodes, each of the young people relates a story of being introduced to love and sex, ranging from a shop clerk who finally gives in to the lecherous advances of her boss, to a boy who is seduced by his older brother's girlfriend. Director and co-screenwriter Massimo Martella also examines issues regarding drugs, family tensions, romantic disappointment, and class division along the way, much as he did in his earlier film about teens growing up, The Dive. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In a northern Italian province, townspeople prepare for the wedding of wealthy, balding businessman Edgardo (Dario Cantarelli) and beautiful Francesca (Ines Sastre), pressured into marriage by her family. Angelo (Diego Abantantuono), who went to America when he was young, returns with a fortune. When Francesca sees him, she realizes she can't marry Edgardo. She flees the altar, is talked into returning, secretly says her vows as though marrying the stranger, and then later reveals this secret to him, saying, "You came to save me." Angelo tells her the facts behind his wealth; he was a failure in America, inheriting his fortune from his dying brother. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival, this film was a Golden Globe nominee and Italy's submission to the 1998 Academy Awards. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Set in 18th-century Italy and is somewhat based on the true story of priest Achille Ropa Sanuti, who was persecuted by the Church for dabbling in the black arts, The Arcane Enchanter is a surprisingly old-fashioned, highly atmospheric horror film. Young priest in training, Giacomo commits a minor sin in seminary school and is forced to flee from vengeful church authorities. It is a spooky old woman who offers him deliverance by sending him to become the newest secretary to the enigmatic Arcane Enchanter, a strange fellow who has been banished to a lonely tower deep in the wilderness. Giacomo's predecessor Nerio was apparently involved with Satan and recently died. The Enchanter, while not a devil worshipper, also dabbles in wizardry, something that Giacomo gradually comes to accept. Both the Enchanter and his new scribe are forced to team up when the evil Nerio's ghost rises up to threaten their souls. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

It is 1948, and Dado is a fifteen-year old boy who tries to avoid having to answer his stern schoolteacher's questions too often. He has much more interesting things to do - like trying to get somewhere with the countless girls who interest him. It doesn't matter that he accomplishes nothing, romantically. Life is good. His home is filled to overflowing with relatives, most of them peculiar in some way, and he feels little pressure or distress. This balmy lightly comic story is interspersed with the tale of a woman in the present (early 1990s) who, as a girl, was one of Dado's love-interests. Now things are considerably bleaker for the woman, and her recollections of the past are also screened. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Rather than waste the funds and logistical skill it took to film the movie Bix in Davenport, Iowa, Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati wrote and produced this unassuming English-language melodrama to make full use of their unusual location. Irving left his small-town home a long time ago, after breaking off relations with his father, who was capable of all kinds of wrongdoing. In particular, Irving's old man got a girl pregnant and didn't even begin to do the right thing by her. Now that the old coot is dead and he is the sole heir, Irving has come back to town determined to right past wrongs, and see to it that the girl's family benefits from his legacy. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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, Rovi

The relationships between five men who play cards far into the night on Christmas Eve are the focus of this psychological drama by Pupi Avati. Four of the players are out to skin the fifth, industrial tycoon Santelia (Carlo Delle Piane), but the four are not exactly a united front. Theater-owner Franco (Diego Abatantuono) is nearly bankrupt and harbors a deep and well-founded resentment against Ugo (Gianni Cavina), a wacko television host. Film critic Lele (Alessandro Haber) has his own insecurities, and Stefano (George Eastman) is simply trying to keep the game and the men together. As flashbacks reveal past loves and peccadilloes, antagonisms and alliances, the relationships at the card game are turned around into something completely different by the time Saint Nick has finished his rounds. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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, Rovi

This is a conventional, and for some viewers, an offensive farce that partially focuses on the initiation of young men into the joys of sex by one of their attractive schoolteachers while on a three-day class outing (back in 1911 in Italy). She also teases her less-than-macho colleague on the outing, but in the end, his fantasies about her just might come true. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi