Roberto Cicutto Movies
Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna begins in 1983 with Hector Negron, a veteran of that war, unexpectedly shooting a customer dead. Police discover that the suspect, a quiet postal worker, kept a statue head worth millions of dollars in his apartment. An eager young reporter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) interviews Negron in his cell about the mysterious artifact. While serving in the all-minority 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, Negron and three comrades managed to sneak deep into enemy territory in Italy. One of the men, Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), picked the head up while they were serving in Florence and believes it brings him good luck. Negron (Laz Alonso), Train, and Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), along with their sergeant, Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), take refuge in the Italian village of St. Anna, harbored by locals who are resisting the Nazis -- who themselves surround the area. Train also protects an injured Italian boy he discovers while investigating a seemingly abandoned dwelling. Eventually, the soldiers make contact with their superiors, and are ordered to capture a German so that he may be interrogated about an upcoming attack. Lee adapted Miracle at St. Anna from a novel by James McBride, who also penned the screenplay. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, (more)
- 2007
As celebrated Italian director Ermanno Olmi's self-declared final work, the feature 100 Nails (AKA Centochiodi, 2007) attempts to weave a narrative around a contemporary figure who harbors the humanity of Christ. In a startling prologue, the overseer of an ancient library screams out in horror and summons the cops when he discovers that some degenerate has nailed 100 rare manuscripts to the floor with giant railroad spikes, comparable to the ones used to nail Jesus to the cross. As the authorities conduct their investigation, the film then flashes back to events that unfolded over the course of the prior day. An unnamed philosophy professor at Bologna University (Raz Degan) wraps up the tail of the semester and leaves his students behind, including a young Indian woman who penned a thesis on women and religion - the work asserting that organized religion is of utmost importance in her familial culture. The professor climbs into his BMW and drives out of Bologna and into the countryside, where he reaches the Po River and a dilapidated peasant house. Journeying into a local village, he finds its residents far warmer and more welcoming than his colleagues and students at the university; indeed, they first help him fix up the ruined house, then turn to him as an activist and seek his help protecting their threatened community center. He not only becomes a Christlike figure to the locals, but takes a pointed stand against what the film presents as the intellectual decreptitude of the Catholic church, with his intense and seemingly limitless love of humanity. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raz Degan, Luna Bendandi, (more)
Guillaume Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, and Michel Piccoli star in director Jacques Rivette's adaptation of the Balzac novella The Duchesse de Langeais, which tells the tale of a Parisian socialite who is romantically pursued by a Napoleonic war hero. The story begins as grieving French general Armand de Montriveau (Depardieu) arrives at a Majorcan church to speak with French nun Antionette le Langeais (Balibar). General de Montriveau believes le Langeais to be a woman he once loved dearly, but eventually lost. As the pair is reunited under the watchful eyes of the presiding priest and mother superior, their romantic past gradually comes into focus. It was five years ago that bored socialite Antoinette first became enamored with the wounded soldier whose rousing tales of adventure offered exciting contrast to her highly refined lifestyle. Though she was married at the time, the coquettish cosmopolitan quickly fell under the spell of the commanding military man -- who vowed that very night that Antoinette would be his lover. As their romance grows more complicated, the passionate pair finds it increasingly difficult to deny the powerful connection that binds them. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, (more)
Silvio Soldini's comedy Agata e la Tempestra (Agatha and the Storm) follows what happens to middle age Agata (Licia Maglietta) when a young man attempts to in her heart. His actions cause a number of disruptions in her own life as well as in the lives of many of her acquaintances. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Licia Maglietta, Emilio Solfrizzi, (more)
- 2004
A young boy immersed in a fantasy world of his own crosses paths with a real-live talking terrier -- who just happens to be the inheritor of a palatial estate -- in this family-oriented fantasy from Mostly Martha director Sandra Nettelbeck. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Lennart Thomas
Award-winning Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) directs the intimate drama Father and Son (Otets I Syn), a companion piece to his 1996 film Mother and Son. Following the death of his wife, a handsome father (Andrej Shetinin) shares an apartment with his son (Alexei Neimyshev). The son goes to military school to train to be a soldier, while the father remembers his own history as a soldier. The father and son develop a strong emotional and physical attachment to one another. The son's girlfriend starts to grow jealous of the relationship. The son wants to spend more time with the other boys in the military school, but the father doesn't want to let go of him. Composer Andrei Sigle provides the original score, based on themes by Peter Tchaikovsky. Father and Son was shown in competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrej Shetinin, Alexei Nejmyshev, (more)
- 2003
Directed by veteran helmer Ermanno Olmi, this Chinese folktale revolves around a young man (Davide Dragonetti) who mistakenly enters a brothel while trying to find his way through urban China circa the 1930s. Narrated by Bud Spencer, the young man succumbs to temptation, and the dialogue-free scene is performed through dance. Meanwhile, pirate junks begin firing at one another from a shoreside village. The leader, Admiral Ching (Makoto Kobayashi), is backed by a powerful group of profiteers, thus prompting the emperor to offer him a high ranking position if he stops firing. Unwilling to lose their income, Ching's backers murder the pirate, which sets off a strange sequence of events that will resound throughout the community for years to come. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Spencer, Jun Ichikawa, (more)
Vincent (Jacques Bidou, producer of Raoul Peck's Lumumba and several other films, making his acting debut) lives in a little French town, filled with eccentrics, and he follows the same routine, day in and day out. Up at five a.m. every morning, he takes the car to the bus to work, where he and his co-workers enjoy smoking a cigarette during the ten-second walk from the bus to the chemical plant gate. There the dreariness continues. He gets no satisfaction from his work, and none from his home life, where his wife (Anne Kravz-Tarnavsky) nags him, his older son, Nicolas (Dato Tarielashvili), ignores him and his younger son, Gaston (Adrien Paschod), gets into mischief. All Vincent wants to do is relax and paint, but he rarely gets the time. One day, instead of putting his cigarette out and going to work, he walks away from the plant and enjoys his smoke. He then goes to visit his father (Radslav Kinski), who encourages him to take a trip to Venice and visit an old friend of the family. In Venice, Vincent is robbed. He meets his father's old friend, Enzo di Martino (played by the writer-director of the film, Otar Iosseliani), a vainglorious fallen nobleman who goes to great lengths to impress his guest. Vincent also meets and befriends Carlo (Arrigo Mozzo), who turns out to lead a remarkably similar life. Iosseliani won the Silver Bear at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival for his direction of Monday Morning; the film was also shown at the 2002 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Bidou, Arrigo Mozzo, (more)
- 2001
While best-known as one of Italy's most acclaimed filmmakers, Pier Paolo Pasolini was also a painter, writer, and noted commentator whose views on politics and contemporary Italian culture had become quite controversial (and now seem quite prescient) by the time he died in 1975. Laura Betti was an actress who had worked with Pasolini, and considered him both a good friend and a great thinker; after his passing, she helped form the Pasolini Foundation to help stimulate discussion of his work. Betti directed this documentary which pays homage to Pasolini as an artist, philosopher, and human being; Pier Paolo Pasolini E La Ragione Di Un Sogno features footage of Pasolini himself, both at work on film sets and talking about his work and the larger world, as well as a look at the cities and circumstances where he grew up. Pier Paolo Pasolini E La Ragione Di Un Sogno was screened at the 2001 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2001
In Dervis, Italian director Alberto Rondalli returns to the theme of religion which has served him well in several earlier films. It is a story of revenge set in provincial Turkey in the early 1900s. Its main character is Ahmed Nurettin, a sheik who is responsible not only for upholding the civil law in his community, but also the Muslim faith. Because Ahmed is a dutiful man, he tries to do his best in this world by studying the Koran day and night. The problem is that his studies are so time-consuming that he has become out of touch with his fellow man. A wake-up call comes when Ahmed's brother is accused of a crime he did not commit and is arbitrarily sentenced to death. At first, Ahmed assumes that his position of power will get his brother off the hook, but he soon learns that the judges in the case are men just like himself -- men who are indifferent to society, knowing only the codes and punishments set down in their religious books. When the brother is executed, Ahmed sets out to punish the judges in his brother's case by stirring up a bloody revolt. Events spiral out of control until Ahmed comes into conflict with his best friend in the community, a man named Hassan. He believes he must kill Hassan, but the choice is a difficult one, as Ahmed knows deep down that the murder will be unjust. In the end, Ahmed must choose to obey his religious duties or the tugs of his conscience. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Buil Puejo, Cezmi Baskin, (more)
A dark drama of women living in a society where they are second-class citizens, Kadosh/Sacred begins with Meir, an Orthodox Jew living in the Mea Shearim district of Jerusalem, greeting the day with his morning prayers, which includes the phrase, "Thank you, oh Lord, for not having made me a woman." Meir begins to understand just how poorly regarded women can be in the Orthodox faith when his rabbi suggests he should leave his wife. Meir and Rivka (Yael Abecassis) have been married for ten years and have a solid relationship based on affection and mutual respect. However, they have been unable to have children, and as Meir is reminded, the Talmud says a woman without children may as well be dead. Consequently, the rabbi advises Meir to divorce Rivka and take up with a younger woman who can give him a family. Meanwhile, Rivka's younger sister, Malka (Meital Barda), is soon to wed Yossef (Uri Ran Klauzner) in a match arranged by their parents, even though Malka loves another man, Yaakov (Sami Hori), who has dared to question the teachings of the Orthodox faith. Yossef soon proves to be blind to Malka's emotional and physical needs, and she begins to wonder how long she can continue to live within this circle, even though it is the only world she knows. Destined to be controversial in its native Israel, Kadosh/Sacred was shown in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yaël Abecassis, Yoram Hattab, (more)
Amos Gitai directed this Israeli-French family comedy-drama, the second film in a trilogy about contemporary Israeli cities. A Jewish woman, Hanna (Hanna Maron), runs a bakery with her Arab husband Yussef (Yussef Abu Warda), while their son Moshe (Moshe Ivgi) has problems with his wife Didi (Dalit Kahan). With a proposed retail mall in the future, Yussef feels there are inherent political implications if he were to sell the bakery to the Israeli developer. Shown at the Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moshe Ivgi, Hanna Maron, (more)
This Israeli drama is based on Yaakov Shabtai's novel Past Continuous and tells the story of three men living in Tel Aviv. Caesar loves his wife and son; he is devastated that they have separated. Now he leads a miserable life in a run-down apartment shared with the sluggardly Israel, a dead-beat musician. Together the two set off to attend the funeral of their friend Goldman's father. Unfortunately, they cannot find the right cemetery. Later the story shifts to their complex love lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This bizarre satiric comedy stars writer/director Joao Cesar Monteiro as Joao de Deus, who runs a small ice cream parlor in Portugal. Joao's employees are mostly teenage girls, and he rigorously drills them in proper procedures and encourages a careful regimen of personal hygiene. But the single and rather lonely Joao has an unusual hobby -- he collects women's pubic hair, saving favorite samples in a scrapbook and claiming to have a few stray hairs from Queen Victoria. Eventually, Joao becomes romantically involved with one of the girls working at his shop, but when that relationship goes south, he finds himself attempting to seduce the 14-year-old daughter of the local butcher, which lands him deep in hot water. A Comedia de Deus was successful enough to inspire a 1999 sequel, As Bodas de Deus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1994
In this oddball comedy, the village Grande Dame tries to find a suitable husband so she can take good care of her daughter, a dwarf. The story is set in an Argentine village during the 1940's. Though her daughter, Charlotte, is a little person, the highly respected Leonor wants her to have a normal, happy life. At the same time, she does not wish to tarnish her public standing in the tiny town. She looks for a husband. The most promising prospect is Ludovico, a handsome bachelor desired by all the town single women. As he frequently visits her home and spends a lot of time with Charlotte, Leonor hopes he will marry her. She is sorely disappointed when it turns out that Ludovico is really interested in her daughter. Charlotte and Ludovico marry. They lead a happy fulfilling life until the circus comes to town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Luisina Brando, (more)
- 1994
Life after WW II and fascism is the focus of this Italian compilation documentary that examines the years of bel paese, 1945-1948. This was a time of healing and change for Italians as they faced the post-war devastation, the end of fascism, and the change in government from monarchy to democracy. The country also dealt with the split in power between the Mafia and the Catholic Church. Political parties, left, right, and in between were also battling to determine the country's new course. The film is wholly comprised of newsreels and historical footage from Instituto Luce and the Historical Archive of the Worker's Movement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
In this somewhat overlong children's fantasy, Colonel Procolo (Paolo Villagio) has inherited the duty of taking care of a large tract of woodland in northern Italy. He is charged with ensuring that no harm comes to the oldest trees in it. Furthermore, he is only an executor for the property, which is to go to his young nephew (Riccardo Zannantonio) when he reaches his majority. The colonel is a typical product of our age, and immediately concocts a plan to sell precisely the old trees that he has been charged to preserve in order to make a goodly amount of money. One day a forest ranger comes to see him and informs him that each tree is inhabited by a spirit which could help him if he leaves everything as it is. Thinking that this is pure poppycock, he cuts down an old tree, and finds the forest filled with mourners who have come to pay homage to their friend, the being that inhabited the tree. It turns out that the ranger himself is such a spirit, and the trees, animals and even the wind are sentient and are outspoken about what happens in their wood. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Villaggio, Giulio Brogi, (more)
- 1992
Years after the fact, a surveyor tells a story to his friends over dinner about an experience he had while surveying a remote mountain site: The terrain there is forbidding, and a storm comes up, so the surveyor seeks shelter in the first place he can find it. This turns out to be the home of a poor, hard-working and very honest old priest. The surveyor shares a very spartan dinner with the welcoming old man, and the two strike up quite a bond of friendship. He discovers just one incongruity in this frugal setting: all the old man's bedding is of the highest quality. Time passes, and during an illness, the priest explains that the unusually elegant bedding comes from his having grown up in a wealthy family which has long since grown bankrupt. As failings go, if that is what this is, it seems minor enough. Realizing that he is dying, the priest entrusts the surveyor with his will. Later, when the will is read, it comes out that the priest wanted all his savings to go to the building of a school for the poor children of the region. In fact, the priest didn't have any monetary savings: his coin was of another kind. In an auction, the rich people of the area purchase each of the kindly priest's belongings for quite large sums of money, thus endowing the school. This moving story is based on a well-loved novel by the Austrian author Adalbert Stifter. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Dance, Aleksander Bardini, (more)
- 1991
The southernmost tip of Patagonia, in Argentina, is an eerie place, quite near to the Straits of Magellan and some of the roughest seas in the world. It is a natural location for a resort for adventuresome travelers, and in this drama, a British corporation has bought up land for that purpose. Only one thing stands between the corporation and its plans: a stubborn Irish rancher who won't sell his land for use as an airport. Rather than consider selling to the corporation, he fences in his land and simultaneously fences in his two late-teenaged children, whose burgeoning interest in the world is frustrated by their father's possessive ways. The girl (played by Jacqueline Lustig) is particularly frustrated at this foreclosure of her romantic options. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arturo Maly
- 1990
In this evidently experimental, episodic film, moments in the lives of a disparate group of people who love or make love to one another are screened. Some of these scenes are filled with whimsey, others are tragic. In one of them, a girl develops an obsession with the transplant recipient of her dead lover's heart. In another, a woman struggles to break off an unhappy romance. In yet another, a mischievous wealthy woman helps a shoplifter escape from a store she has stolen from. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Evelina (Stefania Sandrelli) is divorced and is raising two school-aged sons. In the mornings, they have her all to themselves as she gets them ready for school, and though she has a day-job (writing children's stories), she gives them plenty of attention on most evenings, since she isn't dating anyone. Most of her free time is spent with her best friend Nana, and they freely share their complaints about her children and Nana's husband. When she finally does agree to go out with a kindly neighbor who, unbeknownst to her, has had romantic yearnings for her for a long time, the boys take it badly, and make life difficult for her and the new man in her life. Eventually he demonstrates his sterling character to the boys, and things get sorted out. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefania Sandrelli, Pamela Villoresi, (more)
- 1988
Italian director Ermanno Olmi serves up another tale of dignity amongst the "rabble" in Legend of the Holy Drinker. Rutger Hauer plays an alcoholic derelict who comes into a large sum of money. Though his benefactor is a human stranger, Hauer attributes his windfall to Santo Bevitor, or the "saint of drunkards." When Hauer tries to pay back the favor, he is constantly thwarted by society's "better" people. Distinguished by its long, portentous silent passages and by the consistently offbeat performances of stars Rutger Hauer and Anthony Quayle, The Legend of the Holy Drinker (originally La Leggenda del Santo Bevitor) is in the eyes of some observers superior to its source, a novel by Joseph Roth titled Die Legende des Helligen Trinkers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Anthony Quayle, (more)
- 1986
This is a drama about a mother's determination to save her daughter from a life of prostitution. Eva (Ida Di Benedetto) is working hard in a factory in Turin when she gets word from her mother in Naples that her 15-year-old daughter has disappeared. Actually, the daughter intends to enter a bordello and live independently as a prostitute. Eva immediately heads home to find her; what follows is a series of trials and tribulations, beatings and threats and involvement by the mob. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Concetta Barra, Nunzia Fumo, (more)
