Adriano Celentano Movies
A true superstar of Italian pop music, Adriano Celentano essayed virtually every genre and style, from rock 'n' roll to rap, and was able to extend his success to films and television. His first public success was associated with his participation in the first Italian Rock 'n' Roll Festival in his native Milan in 1957. The song "Ciao Ti Dirò" became an immediate hit. His 1959 song "Il Tuo Bacio è Come Un Rock" topped the Italian hit-parade, and since then Celentano went on to produce at least one hit single every year. By 1960 he was already a recognizable face, and Federico Fellini invited him to make a brief appearance as a rock 'n' roll singer in La Dolce Vita (Celentano made his first film appearance in I Frenetici two years earlier.)In 1961 he participated for the first time in the Sanremo festival, the biggest annual showcase for Italian pop music. His song "Ventiquattromila Baci" won only a second prize but later sold a million copies and topped Italian charts. Such a disparity caused controversy, and the Sanremo festival even became subject to a Parliamentary hearing. The same year Celentano founded his own record label Clan Celentano, in order to have complete artistic control over his music. Stai Lontana Da Me, released in May of 1962, was the first record by the Clan. In 1963, during the shooting of Il Monaco Di Monza he met his future wife, actress Claudia Mori. They got married the next year.
Though the singer made regular appearances in film, he didn't get much critical attention until Serafino (1969), directed by the veteran comedy-maker Pietro Germi. With the 1974 Yuppi-du Celentano debuted as a film director. He also wrote, produced and starred in it. The original soundtrack, also composed by Celentano, went to No.1 on Italian charts as did the title song. The next ten years were the most successful for his film career. Such comedies as Il Bisbetico Domato (1980) and Innamorato Pazzo (1981), directed by Castellano and Pipolo and co-starring the beautiful Ornella Muti, became megahits in Italy and successfully played in some other European countries. However, his subsequent comedies were increasingly formulaic; they relied too heavily on the presence of beautiful actresses, and Celentano's acting verged on self-conscious mugging.
In 1985 Celentano wrote, directed, scored and starred in the film Joan Lui, his most ambitious project, an allegorical fable about the Second Coming of Christ. Dismissed by critics as a self-indulgent big-budget musical extravaganza, the film also flopped commercially, and the singer lost interest in cinema. In 1987 he ventured into television with a weekly show named Fantastico. He proved to be very successful as a TV host, as nobody could remain indifferent to his witty and provocative speeches. On the wave of this success he released the album La Pubblica Ottusità, that went to No. 1 in Italy. The same year he wrote the book Il Profeta e i Farisei ("The Prophet and the Pharisees") based on his experiences on television. In 1991 he released the album Il Re Degli Ignoranti, as well a book by the same title. In 1992 Celentano launched a new TV show, Svalutation, that became famous for its unpredictability and improvisation. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
In one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies of the 1960s, Federico Fellini featured Marcello Mastrioanni as gossip columnist Marcello Rubini. Having left his dreary provincial existence behind, Marcello wanders through an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome. He yearns to write seriously, but his inconsequential newspaper pieces bring in more money, and he's too lazy to argue with this setup. He attaches himself to a bored socialite (Anouk Aimée), whose search for thrills brings them in contact with a bisexual prostitute. The next day, Marcello juggles a personal tragedy (the attempted suicide of his mistress (Yvonne Furneaux)) with the demands of his profession (an interview with none-too-deep film star Anita Ekberg). Throughout his adventures, Marcello's dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are mirrored by the hedonism around him. With a shrug, he concludes that, while his lifestyle is shallow and ultimately pointless, there's nothing he can do to change it and so he might as well enjoy it. Fellini's hallucinatory, circus-like depictions of modern life first earned the adjective "Felliniesque" in this celebrated movie, which also traded on the idea of Rome as a hotbed of sex and decadence. A huge worldwide success, La Dolce Vita won several awards, including a New York Film Critics CIrcle award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Yvonne Furneaux, (more)
In this crime drama, two bank robbers foil their own plans to commit the perfect crime when they begin fighting over a woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- PG
Serafino (Adriano Celentano) is an illiterate shepherd who lives in the bucolic splendor of the Abruzis mountains. He takes frequent and amorous forays into the village below where he experiences all the pleasures his solitude cannot offer. He is quickly drafted into the military but is dismissed just as fast when he fails to adapt to the rigid discipline and his urban surroundings. He once again takes comfort in the arms of many females eager to make him forget his army life. An uncle dies and leaves him some money and property, but it is claimed by greedy relatives and he gains nothing. In a desperate attempt to survive, Serafino is forces to marry a woman of ill repute who is the mother of four children. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Ottavia Piccolo, (more)
- 1971
- R
This comic Italian melodrama recounts the story of a friendship which develops out of a romantic obsession. The Italian communist party was largely independent of the Eastern Bloc, and has played a large political role in that country, particularly on the local level. This story tells of Annibale Pezzi (Adriano Celentano), a hospital patient who is also the local communist party boss, and of Sister Germana (Sophia Loren), the nursing nun who is treating him. Annibale successfully invents one ailment after another in order to avoid having to leave the delightful ministrations of this special woman. Though she is at first antagonistic to him and his beliefs, their mutual respect grows until he is finally able to accept the idea of being discharged. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1973
This bloody and comical look at the 1848 Italian revolution was director Dario Argento's only foray outside the horror-thriller genres. Adriano Celentano wanders Milan with a goofy baker and witnesses the growing corruption and horror that turns a just cause into senseless violence, rape, and mayhem. The script, co-written by Luigi Cozzi, isn't very funny -- the most amusing part of the film involves a squashed rat in a guy's mouth -- and proved to Argento that comedy was not his forte. Fans of the director will find it worthwhile, but the script is so insular that non-Italians are likely to find most of it uninvolving. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Composer, songwriter, director, producer, and star performer Adriano Celentano has put together this tale of a seedy aristocrat's two loves, drawing upon the inspiration of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis. Felice (Celentano) has two wives, and he loves them both. His first, Silvia (Charlotte Rampling), faked a suicide in order to be the mistress of a wealthy man and live comfortably (divorce was not possible in Italy at this time). His second, Adelaide (Claudia Mori) cares deeply about his happiness. When Silvia comes to Felice hoping to make a baby with him, romantic complications abound, jeopardizing both relationships. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
- 1976
- PG
Marcello Mastroianni stars as an eccentric aristocrat who befriends an organ grinder. Soon after, the street musician convinces a prostitute (Claudia Mori) to pose as the nobleman's imaginary wife. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Sergio Corbucci directs the 1976 caper Il Grande Bluff, an Italian crime comedy inspired by he Sting, which has been released under several different titles. Bang (Anthony Quinn) gets out of prison and joins with young protege Félix (Adriano Celentano). The teacher and the student scam each other as they attempt a master plan to swindle criminal leader Belle (Capucine). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Adriano Celentano, (more)
- 1979
This Italian anthology uses the standard sex comedy format but lacks the subtle social commentary present in its predecessors. In the "Saturday" episode, a modest accountant is sent by his boss to entertain a visiting Japanese engineer who turns out to be a pretty woman (Edwige Fenech). In the "Sunday" episode, a truck driver (Michele Placido) has to help his suicidal neighbor (Barbara Bouchet) by posing as her husband when her Sicilian parents come visiting. In the "Friday" episode, a variety show owner (Adriano Celentano) tries to get back his star dancer who decided to marry a notorious gangster. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Guido (Italian pop-music superstar Adriano Celentano) is a millionaire who has made his fortune by inventing an unbreakable glass. He has everything he wants except for casual sex from a woman who knows nothing of his wealth. While riding the subway, his Rolex watch is lifted by the beautiful felonious female Tilli (Eleanora Giorgi). Guido falls for Tilli and spends the rest of his time trying to keep his identity a secret from her and her larcenous family. Celentano plays the role with slapstick flair reminiscent of Jerry Lewis and the smooth deportment of Cary Grant. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Eleonora Giorgi, (more)
- 1980
This Taming of the Shrew in Italian is also a take off on the 1970 French film L'ours et la Poupee, and showcases the popular singer/comedian Adriano Celentano as an irascible country farmer named Elia, who locks horns with Lisa (Ornella Muti), a gorgeous society snob. Elia is a notoriously obnoxious, confirmed bachelor. The story begins as Lisa finds herself seeking help at Elia's farmhouse when her car breaks down on a rainy night. Elia's maid (Edith Peters) has been after Elia to marry a good woman and when she opens the door to Lisa, the action starts to head toward fulfillment of the maid's wishes. Lisa's beauty is not only ignored by Elia right away, he also treats her quite rudely -- a new experience for her. So Lisa decides to "conquer" him simply because the challenge presents itself. Much to her chagrin, nothing she attempts has the expected effect on Elia, who remains miraculously impervious to her very obvious charms. When Lisa accepts defeat and leaves for Milan, Elia undergoes a change of heart. His slow reaction time only leads to a deeper and more intensive longing for Lisa, and the second half of the film is involved with their involvement. There is one final accomplishment waiting for Elia just before the ending that shows his interests have not been completely subverted to the new pursuit of love and its pleasures. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1981
Cristina (Ornella Muti) is a rich, spoiled princess visiting Rome with her royal parents. The mission of their visit is to marry her off to a super-wealthy corporate type and thereby start to turn around the losses their small kingdom is experiencing in its casino business. These less-than-noble intentions get derailed when Barnaba, a zany bus driver (Adriano Celentano) enters their lives and falls madly in love with the gorgeous Cristina. He is nuts enough to succeed in this romantic chase after royalty, as love seems to fuel his determination to rid Cristina of her elitism and to make her see his own irrepressible attractions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1981
On his wedding night, of all times, a husband appropriately named "Ace" (Adriano Celentano) gambles away the night at a local bar -- and wins a handy amount of money. As Ace heads home to his waiting bride Bocconcino (Edwige Fenech), he is killed by a hired gun. When he reappears to see his wife, he has a hard time convincing her that only she can see him -- he is definitely invisible to everyone else, and definitely quite dead. Aghast at his wife's determination to go to work as a dancer on the stage, he undermines her rehearsal and then connives to get her married off to an appropriately aged and wealthy banker. So the next question arises: Is there divorce after death? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Edwige Fenech, (more)
- 1982
Like his more famous loin-clothed tree-swinging, yodeling counterpart, Bingo Bongo was raised in the jungle by apes. This Italian comedy follows his lively adventures after he is captured, caged and sent back to civilization. There he begins working with a pretty anthropologist who teaches him all he needs to know about speaking, eating correctly and falling in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Carole Bouquet, (more)
- 1982
Four popular Italian comedians (Adriano Celentano, Carlo Verdone, Enrico Montesano, and Diego Abantantuono), at the time this film was shot, play characters who either work in or visit a large hotel. Each comedian reprises some of the roles or attitudes that made him famous in a series of connected vignettes. Unfortunately, the supposedly comic treatment of women and one black bellhop carry enough outmoded gender and racial stereotypes to offend more than a few viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Carlo Verdone, (more)
- 1983
The popular Italian comic Adriano Celentano stars in this light comedy as Mattia, a wealthy novelist besieged by female admirers who recruits the aid of his young neighbor to discourage any women from proposing marriage as a logical outcome of their affections. Federica Moro plays Michela, feigning to be Mattia's daughter when she is introduced to the altar-prone women and always finding the necessary "faults" to end their relationship. The Celentano comedy technique is one of exaggeration, or role reversal -- as when he is rejected by the parents of an African woman he is chasing because they do not like whites, so he spends a fortune on sun tan oil trying to get his skin dark. Women stare at him as he walks down the street, they pinch him, or distracted, they run their cars into telephone poles -- a great take-off on male behavior patterns. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Federica Moro, (more)
- 1985
Viewers should be warned off this failed attempt at farce by its title alone. The film makes just about as much sense. Scripted, directed, and edited by Adriano Celentano a total of $10,000,000 was spent to poke almost violent "fun" at Christ's Second Coming. Joan Lui (Christ, played by Celentano), dressed in a hippie-style band and rimless glasses rides a 19th-century train filled with obviously hostile blacks. He gets off at a rural station and suddenly crosses over into a future world at war. Helicopters fly overhead, cars crash into each other, kidnappings occur and all the while Joan Lui is hanging out with the locals, talking. Episodes "condemning" hedonism or hypocrisy continue from there, but many segments are sure to be unconvincing and unfunny to some viewers at least. Song-and-dance numbers add to the confusion, and only a miracle of re-editing could save this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adriano Celentano, Claudia Mori, (more)
