Pupi Avati Movies
Italian filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer Pupi Avati dropped out of veterinary school to become a jazz clarinetist during the mid-'50s. A decade later, after spending time working in the frozen food industry he, his brother Antonio and Gianni Minervini founded the A.M.A. production company. From there Avati directed a number of distinguished films. In 1975, he helped write the screenplay of Pasolini's final film Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. After producing the horror movie Macabro (1980), he and his brother founded Duea Films where they produced many popular comedies such as Festa di Laurea (1985). In 1991 Avati made a splash in the U.S. with Storia di Ragazzi di Ragazze/The Story of Boys and Girls. That same year he also released his first English language film Bix. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 2009
This deeply nostalgic, operatic family drama represented a labor of love for its director, Pupi Avati (The Story of Boys and Girls). A thinly-disguised autobiographical account, it dramatizes the director's formative years growing up in early 1950s Italy. As events both significant and insignificant transpire with his family, teenager Bep (Neri Marcore, Avati's onscreen surrogate) spends many memorable hours spying on the customers of a local bar from his bedroom window. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neri Marcoré, Fabio de Luigi, (more)
- 2008
A father's love for his troubled daughter may be the only thing that can save her in this drama from writer and director Pupi Avanti. It's 1938, Benito Mussolini is the fascist ruler of Italy, and Michele (Silvio Orlando) is a high school teacher living in Bologna. Michele and his wife Delia (Francesca Neri) have a teenage daughter Giovanna (Alba Rohrwacher), and Giovanna is the most important thing in Michele's life -- so much so that Delia often finds herself wishing her husband was as devoted to her as he is to their child. As much as Michele indulges her, Giovanna is an unstable and disturbed young woman, and one day in a fit of anger Giovanna murders one of her friends. Sergio (Ezio Greggio), Michele and Delia's next door neighbor, is a police officer who uses his authority to help his friends, and he's fond enough of Delia to see that her family is well cared for, but Giovanna's crime is too severe for him to be able to help, and while the courts spare the girl's life, she's sent to a mental hospital where she receives only the most minimal care. Michele stands by Giovanna and tends to her in the hospital, leaving Delia at home to look after their home with the help of Sergio. Il Papa di Giovanna (aka Giovanna's Father) was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Silvio Orlando, Alba Rohrwacher, (more)
- 2007
Italian director Pupi Avati contrasts his 2007 English-language thriller The Hideout with this sentimental, distinctively Italian comedy concerning a failed actor who can't help but obsess over his lackluster career. After the depressive thespian makes a half-hearted suicide attempt, his three daughters flock to be by his side and organize a surprise dinner party designed to set him up with a potential mate. Later, as dinner gets underway, the situation takes an unexpected turn. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Abatantuono, Vanessa Incontrada, (more)
- 2007
A shirt-chasing matinee idol is suddenly at the mercy of his family in this romantic comedy from Italy. Sandro Lanza (Diego Abatantuono) is a veteran actor whose career is not what it used to be; once he was a movie star, but now the best work he can get is a role on a second-rate soap opera. After an attempt to regain his looks through plastic surgery goes wrong, the vain Lanza decides that a suicide attempt might get his name back in the papers. However, Lanza's attempt to fake his suicide comes close enough to put him in the hospital, and psychiatrist Giuliana (Manuela Morabito) urges his three daughters to come to his side. Thanks to Lanza's womanizing ways, the three daughters all have different mothers, and Clara (Vanessa Incontrada), Betty (Violante Placido) and Ines (Ines Sastre) barely know one another. However, the women bond over their concern for Lanza's failing physical and emotional well-being, and they decide he needs a good woman to take care of him. The siblings decide to fix Lanza up with Anna (Francesca Neri), a bright older woman, though neither Anna or Lanza seem too enthused about the idea at first. Meanwhile, the women have their own problems to deal with, as Clara and Betty are having relationship trouble, and Ines has recently been diagnosed with cancer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2007
A woman making her way back to sanity finds herself living in a house with a history of madness in this thriller. Lei (Laura Morante) is a woman who has spent fifteen years in a mental hospital; eager to start her life over again, she's decided to put her life's savings into opening a restaurant. Muller (Burt Young) is a real estate agent who tells Lei he has the perfect location for her eatery -- Snakes Hall, a large mansion in Davenport, Iowa that's been vacant for several years and can he had for a reasonable price. Lei buys Snakes Hall, but it's not long before she begins hearing strange noises late at night, and a priest (Treat Williams) warns her that the mansion has a terrible past and she should get out while she can. Lei ignores the warnings, but Paula (Rita Tushingham), a local historian, also insists that evil dwells in Snakes Hall. Lei discovers that the mansion was once a home for the disturbed run by a iron-willed nun (Angela Goodwin), and one night three patients were killed while another two disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Do the ghosts of the murdered women walk the passages of Snakes Hall? Il Nascondiglio (aka The Hideout) also stars Peter Soderberg and Yvonne Brulatour Scio. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Morante, Rita Tushingham, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neri Marcoré, Giancarlo Giannini, (more)
- 2001
A handful of young knights are given the grave responsibility of rescuing one of the most sacred relics in Christianity in this lavish historical epic. In the year 1272, the bloody swath of the Crusades has swept much of Europe, and King Louis IX of France dies after a battle in Tunisia. After the king's demise, the Holy Shroud (the cloth with which Jesus' body was believed to have been wrapped following his crucifixion) goes missing, and four young knights who served under him -- Simon of Clarendon (Edward Furlong), Rainiei di Panico (Marco Leonardi), Vanni delle Rondini (Thomas Kretschmann), and Jean de Cent Acres (Stanislas Merhar) -- take it upon themselves to find the shroud . Travelling with the knights is Giacomo (Raoul Bova), an assistant to Rondini who learned from a wicked blacksmith a valuable secret -- a method for making magical swords that cannot be broken. As the knights scour the land in search of the shroud, they encounter Delfinello (F. Murray Abraham), another searcher attempting to find the shroud, who persuades the knights to join him as he sets sail to the Holy Land in his quest. I Cavalieri Che Fecero L'impresa was shot in Italy with an international cast and crew; while the original version was filmed in Italian, an English-language version of the film was also shot with an eye towards an American release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Furlong, Raoul Bova, (more)
- 1999
Renowned director Pupi Avati, whose previous work includes The Best Man, creates this sweeping ensemble drama set against the striking backdrop of rural Italy. Young Ines (Valentina Cervi) is hired as a touch typist for an antique dealer. She soon finds herself falling for the man's feckless son Angelo (Libero De Rienzo). Though the guy doesn't seem to notice her, she dreams of meeting him at the annual dance. Meanwhile, lovelorn loser (Gianni Cavina) tries to round up bachelors for said dance, which is run by his brother Loris. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gianni Cavina, Valentina Cervi, (more)
- 1997
- PG
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Abatantuono, Dario Cantarelli, (more)
- 1996
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, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Franco Melis is utterly humiliated at being reduced to performing stand-up comedy before young unappreciative audiences who do not realize that he was once a great and highly respected star, and, desperate for a chance to reclaim his lost fame, he jumps at the opportunity to appear in a low-budget independent art film. It is being specially made for exhibition at the Venice Film festival. This Italian comedy chronicles the struggle of Melis, one that grows even more difficult in the face of a press that is more interested in the juicy details of his personal life than in his new movie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angiola Baggi
- 1994
A talk show host confronts his friend's murderer on live TV in this Italian psychodrama. Outspoken journalist Arnold Gardner was deeply upset by the death of a good friend in a Chicago hotel room. He believes his friend's death was involved in a recent deal with a TV network to become a talk show host. Despite the network's initial reservations, Gardner, known for his no-holds-barred reporting style, becomes his friend's successor. He becomes quite popular, but his rise is fraught with personal difficulties. He is divorced from an upper crust woman, but soon begins getting mail and phone calls from a nut in his Indiana hometown. Gardner, under tremendous pressure, offers the murderer a chance to call into his live call-in show. During the conversation it is revealed that twenty years ago both Gardner and the killer raped the same girl. The confrontation eventually ends in a shoot-out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards III, Amy Galper, (more)
- 1993
This serene slice-of-life drama is unusual in the fact that it is set in ninth century Italy. In the story, a variety of people have gathered at a relgious establishment at Malfole in what is now Tuscany, an abby associated with the cult of the Virgin Mary. One of the pilgrims is a local ruler who is certain that he is destined to die soon. If so, he would prefer to do it near the site of his late wife's grave. Another pilgrim is a royal concubine who is about to give birth to a child: her future will be very good indeed if the child turns out to be a boy. An executioner and his apprentice have come to do their usual very professional and dispassionate job on a wife-murderer; they have affable words with the man prior to chopping off his head. Perhaps the most touching of these pilgrims is a fourteen year old girl who is being "given" to the church by her family. Though there is not much story development in this film, it is filled with humor and memorable scenes; reviewers claimed it was very enjoyable. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1991
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cara Wilder
- 1991
In Italy, Gloria is so dismayed to find that her husband has been carrying on an affair behind her back that she takes her two boys and goes to visit a sister in the U.S. who lives in St. Louis. The lads are intrigued to discover that their cousins are young women with very distinct attractions: one is blond, difficult and a bit of a hussy; the other sister is a brunette, very nice and sympathetic, but rather plain. Reviewers suggested that this film was shot in order to take advantage of the U.S. working visas that director Pupi Avati arranged in order to shoot the heartland jazz biography Bix, and they felt that this was not an especially successful effort. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Anna Bonaiuto, (more)
- 1990
One of the leading cornet players of the early jazz era of the 1920s, and one of the great jazz innovators, was well-brought-up Midwestern white boy Bix Biederbecke (1903-1931), who just couldn't keep away from what was then often considered to be low-down and trashy music, despite the relentless efforts of his stodgy and oppressively respectable family to keep him at home. Between the conflict caused by his relations with his family and his own difficulties negotiating the sometimes harsh world of the music business (yes, even then) he was a hardcore alcoholic at the height of Prohibition. Some say that cheap, dangerously ill-prepared liquor did him in at the tender age of twenty eight; others contend that he would have died of drink anyway, driven by his internal demons and family conflicts. This Italian-made biographical drama, while it includes much of his extraordinary music, focuses mainly on his conflict with his family. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 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 uneven drama, Walter Ferrari (Ugo Tognazzi) is an Italian soccer coach fired on the eve of the playoffs by club President Di Carlo (Lino Capolicchio). He overcomes his feelings of bitterness in order to help his former club win the big game, but his relationship with the team and his family becomes strained after his dismissal. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ugo Tognazzi, Lino Capolicchio, (more)
- 1986
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Abatantuono, Gianni Cavina, (more)
- 1985
The endearing efforts of a divorced, simple baker to capture the attentions of a bourgeois society woman fuel the action in this comedy by Pupi Avati. It is 1950 and the coastal town of Rimini is about to experience another influx of the monied elite who come to wile away their time in elegant beach houses. Among them is the wealthy Gaia (Aurore Clement), her philandering husband, and her daughter Sandra (Lidia Broccolino). Vanni the baker (Carlo Delle Piane) is excited because he has been infatuated with the beautiful Gaia for 10 years now. When Gaia asks him to prepare a graduation party for her daughter Sandra, Vanni pulls out all the stops and sinks into debt to do a good job. Meanwhile, his son Nicola (Nik Novecento) is chasing after Sandra. Without any way of knowing beforehand, Vanni is heading toward total disaster -- and an education on the morals of the worst of the Italian bourgeoisie. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aurore Clément, Lidia Broccolino, (more)
