Danilo Donati Movies
Noted as much for his collaborations with legendary filmmakers Franko Zeffirelli, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Frederico Fellini as for his flamboyant visual style, two-time Oscar-winning costume/production designer Danilo Donati contributed to some of the most colorful and controversial films of his time.Born in Suzzara, Italy, in 1926, Donati got his start in the film industry as costume designer for Mario Monicelli's The Great War (1959). Though his work with Zeffirelli and Pasolini brought him both an Oscar (Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet [1969]) and a fruitful longtime collaboration (Donati worked on virtually all of Pasolini's films from 1964 to 1975), the heir to Luchino Visconti's tradition received his greatest praise for his work on such Fellini classics as Satyricon (1969), Roma (1972), and Amacord (1972). His work on Fellini's Il Casanova di Frederico Fellini also netted an Oscar, and Donati worked with mentor Visconti in both theater and opera. With international work including costume design for such fantasy films as Flash Gordon (1980) and Red Sonja (1985), Donati was nominated for numerous BAFTA awards, David di Donatello awards, and Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists awards for both his costume and production designs. Donati was also recognized as an author with the publication of Coprifuoco, when he was honored as a finalist for one of Italy's most prestigious literary awards, the Strega prize.
On December 1, 2001, Donati died in Rome of heart failure. His recent work had included elaborate designs for director Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio. He was 75. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In this WW II tragicomedy, famed Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni (The Monster) portrays Guido, who moves during the '30s from the country to a Tuscan town, where he is entranced by schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life wife). Dora likes Guido, but she remains faithful to her pompous fiancé, so Guido has an uphill struggle. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attitudes lead to attacks against Guido's Jewish uncle (Giustino Durano). Leaping ahead to five years later, during WW II, Guido and Dora are married and have a son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). After they are imprisoned in a concentration camp, Guido goes to elaborate lengths to keep his son from understanding the truth of their situation. He tells the boy that they are competing with others to win an armored tank -- so everything from food shortages to tattoos is explained as necessary for participation in the contest. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, (more)
- 1997
Based on an acclaimed, popular historical novel by Dacia Maraini, this 18th-century set costumer follows the adventures of a deaf-mute noblewoman who strives to escape her dark past and the social conventions that force her to remain married to a man she detests. The story begins when the already speechless title duchess is 12 years old. In hopes of shocking her back into speaking, her grandfather takes her to a hanging. The causes of Marianna's affliction are revealed slowly as the story progresses, but the whole truth is not revealed until the end. Though she is much loved by her family, they still force her to marry her ancient uncle when she is only 13. Her wedding night is horrific as is the birth of her first daughter. Her husband is desperate for an heir so she is forced to endure his unwanted attentions until she is finally able to bear him a son. Despite her oppressive life, Marianna is able to find freedom in subtle ways. She also has time to save a peasant girl from a terrible situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Laborit, Roberto Herlitzka, (more)
- 1996
The three performers (one Italian, one Frenchman and one German) in a ramshackle and miniscule traveling circus are traveling through rural Italy looking for an audience when they encounter Father Gregorio who asks them to portray the three wise men in his village Christmas pageant. This comedy chronicles the many misadventures that ensue when they take the job. First they must deal with irate union actors, then with the women's chorus with whom they dallied, but their biggest problem comes when they must find an infant to play the baby Jesus. For some reason, everyone in town is childless and so the three hit the road in search of their Christ child. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
Grossly mistaken identity provides the impetus in this Italian farce. Loris is an anti-social fellow with a high sex drive. During a party he is pointed towards an "easy mark." Unfortunately he approaches the wrong woman. When he discovers his mistakes, he nervously apologizes for the attempted liberties. A run-away chain-saw becomes involved and the frightened woman ends up filing a police report. Her report leads police boss Frustalupi that he has finally found the crazed sex killer the "Mozart of vice" whom Frustalupi has hunted for the last 12 years. Situations go from bad to worse as the police begin surveillance upon Loris whose every action becomes misconstrued by them. Things get even stickier when they put policewoman Jessica on the case as undercover bait. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, (more)
- 1994
This poignant Italian drama tells the tale of a producer who would do just about anything to have actress Kim Novak appear in his next film. Enrico, a producer, needs $250,000 so he can hire Kim Novak for his film. The problem is that he is almost broke. He wants to sell his palatial family home but cannot unless his wife Emilia consents to it. Unfortunately, they are separated and she is involved with a new man. She has tried to convince her son Luca, that his father is a rat. Enrico's passion for Kim Novak is revealed through his memories of his youth which included a series of orgies with a sexy barmaid who was the spitting image of Novak. Eventually Luca, returns to his father determined to help him out and the two share many wonderful times. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Perrin, Joanna Pacula, (more)
- 1991
Originally titled Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride, this 2-part TV movie stars supermodel Carol Alt as Nancy, the ward of Mafia don Frank Latella (Eli Wallach). Part One gets off to an explosive start when Nancy witnesses her father's murder. Raised by Latella, our heroine lives for the day that she can avenge her dad's death. Little does she know that her own fiancé (Eric Roberts) was the man who pulled the trigger. Syndicated to local TV stations, Family Matter was first made available on May 13, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Carol Alt, (more)
Told in flashback, the film relates Francis of Assisi's evolution from rich man's son to religious humanitarian and eventually to full-fledged saint. Francesco was based on Hermann Hesse's Francis of Assisi, which director Liliana Cavani had previously filmed in 1966. The Saint and founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor is played by Mickey Rourke, and his inspiration, the woman who later became Saint Clare, is played by Helena Bonham Carter. Raised as the pampered son of a merchant, Francis goes off to war only to return with a profound horror for the society which generated such suffering. In one scene, as an act of renunciation, he strips himself of his fine clothing in front of his father and leaves the house naked and barefoot, joining the lepers and beggars in the poor section of town. The film follows with a series of episodes from the saint's life rather than a coherent narrative, following up until his final days when he receives the stigmata, or wounds similar to those on the body of Jesus at the crucifixion. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rourke, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
Intervista has been termed a semi-documentary: This is in fact the filmed autobiography of Italian director Federico Fellini, framed in the form of an interview conducted by a Japanese film crew. As the interview progresses Fellini's mind wanders to his earliest days (the reenacted events conflict with several of the "official" stories of his life). His fascination with filmmaking is manifested in the "wonderland" atmosphere of the old Cinecitta studios. With the cooperation of Fellini's loyal co-workers, we are permitted to see tantalizingly brief excerpts (some self-mocking) of Fellini's modus operandi. A visit by Fellini and guest-star Marcello Mastroianni to Anita Ekberg's home leads to a lavish (and poignant) "reliving" of the 1961 Fellini/Mastroianni/Ekberg effort La Dolce Vita. The climax of Intervista scene invokes Fellini's previous inward-looking classic 8 1/2, with a novel twist calculated to send the director's disciples home with a knowing smile. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
Director Federico Fellini gently lampoons the world of small-time show business in Ginger and Fred. Giulietta Masina and Marcello Mastroianni star as Amelia Bonetti and Pippo Botticella, a onetime celebrity song-and-dance team. Having risen to fame with a dancing act where they recreated the acts of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (hoping to become the Fred and Ginger of Italy), Amelia and Pippo parted company to pursue their separate lives. Neither one was particularly successful in other fields of endeavor, so when after many years Amelia is offered a guest-star gig on a TV variety show, she jumps at the chance. She also seeks out her former partner, Pippo, who may have looked like Astaire in his younger days, but now....The overall good cheer of the film was dampened when the real Ginger Rogers sued the distributors of Ginger and Fred for "defamation of character." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Giulietta Masina, (more)
- 1986
Momo (Radost Bokel) is a ten-year-old orphan girl who tries to save her village from the evil clutches of the Grey Men in this uneven children's story. Led by Chief Grey Man (Armin Muller-Stahl), the Grey Men have managed to make the villagers give up all their leisure time. Momo must get to the rococo palace where the time guardian Hora (John Huston) stands in her way. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Radost Bokel, John Huston, (more)
Brigitte Nielsen appears as warrior woman Sonja, who unites with a couple of other gladiator types (including Arnold Schwarzenegger) to overthrow the evil queen Gedren (Sandahl Bergman) and avenge the deaths of Sonja's family. This story descends from the writings of Robert E. Howard (author of Conan). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Nielsen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, (more)
Heroic earthling Flash Gordon saves the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, intentionally campy adaptation of the famous sci-fi comic strip. The story is as basic as space operas get: Ming (Max von Sydow) has developed a plan to destroy the Earth, and Flash (Sam J. Jones) and his attractive companion, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), are called upon to stop him. Along the way, Flash must battle Ming's goons and the temptations of a luscious space princess. Previously the basis for a more straight-faced 1930s adventure serial, Flash's story is mined here for exaggerated, cartoon humor by screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., a central figure in the similarly campy '60s Batman television series. The simplistic plot mainly serves as an excuse for spectacular sets and cartoonish action sequences, all set to an appropriately over-the-top rock score by Queen. Certainly not a film to turn to for serious excitement, fine performances, or character development, Flash Gordon has nevertheless developed an appreciative cult of fans who admire the film's humorous approach and the detailed, colorful production design. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Jones, Melody Anderson, (more)
This film showed up on TV as Forbidden Paradise, but you can't fool us. It's really The Hurricane, producer Dino De Laurentiis' ill-advised remake of the 1938 Sam Goldwyn production of the same name. The story of the casual cruelties imposed by the white ruling class on the natives of the isle of Manakoora had the advantage of timeliness in 1938; forty-one years later, the story plays like a Gilligan's Island amateur production of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Playing the old Jon Hall role of the native lad whose rambunctiousness incurs the wrath of the provincial governor, the uniquely ungifted Daton Kane makes Hall look like Sir John Gielgud. Even the expensive hurricane finale (which ate up most of the film's $22 million budget) isn't one-tenth as exciting as the corresponding sequence in the earlier film. The saddest aspect of the 1979 The Hurricane is that it was directed by Jan Troell, who showed flashes of brilliance in his earlier The Emigrants and Zandy's Bride; perhaps significantly, Troell hightailed it back to Sweden after wrapping up his obligation to Dino De Laurentiis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., Mia Farrow, (more)
This lavish big-budget epic was the pinnacle of a uniquely Italian subgenre, the historical hardcore gore/porn extravaganza. The star-studded cast, perhaps lured by the high-profile involvement of producer Bob Guccione and screenwriter Gore Vidal, includes such luminaries as John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, and Helen Mirren. Director Tinto Brass, whose similar treatment of Nazi Germany in Salon Kitty won him the job, did his best with the mammoth enterprise, but numerous production problems and re-edits took their toll on the finished product. When Caligula works best, it works because of Malcolm McDowell, whose crazed portrayal of the title Emperor is the embodiment of villainous corruption. McDowell raises his performance level to match the gaudy spectacle around him, which led to charges of overacting, but there are moments when he is absolutely riveting. Some of the cast doesn't fare as well, as O'Toole makes a particularly unsubtle Tiberius. The sex is graphic and steamy, particularly a feverish lesbian interlude between Penthouse Pets Lori Wagner and Marjorie Thorsen (using the pseudonym "Anneka di Lorenzo"), and the various carnival freaks used as atmosphere imbue the film with a grotesque, Fellini-like opulence. There are many memorable scenes and a magnificent score by Paul Clemente, but the heady brew of historical epic, hardcore sex, and gory violence proved overwhelming to many viewers. Still, Gore Vidal's script is surprisingly accurate, and manages to be entertainingly vulgar while bringing a rather loathsome slice of human history to vivid life, warts and all. The more explicit scenes were directed by Bob Guccione and Giancarlo Lui, causing both Vidal and Brass to remove their names from the credits. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, (more)
- 1977
This slapstick Italian sex comedy actually looks far more expensive than it really is, as it used the sets left over from the 1980 spectacular Caligula. It can't quite make up its mind, though, if it's a comedy (the emperor Claudius is a doddering, stuttering, impotent old fool), a sex film (with much nudity and several orgy scenes), or a slasher/gore picture (in a scene where soldiers invade an orgy and starting dismembering and decapitating everyone in sight -- which, incredibly, is treated as a slapstick scene!), and winds up being not much of anything. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Caprioli, Gian Carlo Prete, (more)
- 1976
- R
Fellini's Casanova is played by Donald Sutherland. The film takes great pains to debunk the myth of the Great Lover by presenting him as an ordinary human being swept up in extraordinary circumstances. This Casanova breezes through his various political and amorous adventures with an air of bored detachment, allowing the audience to "fill in the blanks" regarding motivations and emotions. Though the film's plotline hop-scotches all over Europe, Fellini lensed the picture entirely within the lavish confines of Rome's Cinecitta Studios. Danilo Donati won an Oscar for costume design, while Nino Rota (of Godfather fame) should have won for his musical score. A sumptuous visual treat, Fellini's Casanova is something of a chocolate Easter Bunny: delicious going down, but hollow on the inside. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, (more)
- 1975
The final work of notorious Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, this film updates the Marquis de Sade's most extreme novel to fascist Italy in the final days of WW II. Dispensing with the novel's meditations on sexual liberation and the search for truth, Pasolini presents four decadents who kidnap dozens of young men and women and subject them to the most hideous forms of torture and perversion in an isolated villa. Rape, murder, and a coprophagic banquet are only the beginning of the atrocities on display. Photographed by Tonino Delli Colli, the film also features a lavish score by Ennio Morricone. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, (more)
- 1974
This lush anthology of erotic tales was filmed in four countries (Iran, Nepal, Yemen, and Eritrea) over a period of more than two years. Completing the literary cycle begun by Pier Pasolini in Il Decamerone and I Racconti di Canterbury, this one is perhaps the most controversial of the lot, engendering reactions from admiration to dismissal. The connecting story deals with Mur el-Din (Franco Merli), a prince searching for his slave girl lover, Zumurrud (Ines Pellegrini), who has been kidnapped, only to disguise herself as a man, take a wife, and become ruler of a great city. Mur el-Din's quest carries him to the ends of his known world, where he listens to several stories of carnality and betrayal. The continuity and fluidity of the film depend entirely on the version screened, because several different cuts exist; producer Alberto Grimaldi insisted on a 130-minute release, whereas Pasolini and United Artists preferred the unexpurgated 155-minute version with its ten stories all intact. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ninetto Davoli, Franco Merli, (more)
Federico Fellini's warmly nostalgic memory piece examines daily life in the Italian village of Rimini during the reign of Mussolini, and won the 1974 Academy Award as Best Foreign Film. The film's greatest asset is its ability to be sweet without being cloying, due in great part to Danilo Donati's surrealistic art direction and to the frequently bawdy injections of sex and politics by screenwriters Fellini and Tonino Guerra. Fellini clearly has deep affection for the people of this seaside village, warts and all, and communicates it through episodic visual anecdotes which are seen as if through the mists of a favorite dream, playfully scored by Nino Rota and lovingly photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio, (more)
Fellini's Roma is a virtually plotless autobiographical tribute to Rome, Italy, featuring narration by Fellini himself and a mixture of real-life footage and fictional set pieces. It flows from episode to episode, beginning with the director's early years arriving in Rome in 1931 during the time of Mussolini. Played by Stefano Mayore as a child, he visits the city with classmates and becomes infatuated. Played by Peter Gonzales at age 18, the young Fellini moves in to a tenement building and explores the wild characters living in neighborhood. The events that follow switch between the past and contemporary times, including a story line that involves a 1970s film crew making a movie about Rome. He also incorporates segments of Roman history and problems in the government, including an improvised speech from Gore Vidal. Throughout this journey there are visits to an outdoor restaurant, a movie theater, a music hall, and a brothel. In one famously surreal segment, groups of clergymen gather together for a Catholic fashion show spectacle. After a visit to a street festival and some on-camera interviews, the film concludes with shots of motorcycles driving by the Colosseum. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Britta Barnes, Federico Fellini, (more)
- 1971
- R
Italian director Pier Pasolini tells four of the Chaucer tales in this graphic and satirical picture that chronicles the 14th-century's social, sexual, and religious standards in England. In Pasolini's Trilogy of Life, this second entry follows The Decameron and precedes The Arabian Nights. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1970
The culmination of filmmaker Federico Fellini's lifelong love affair with circus folk was his 1971 The Clowns (I clowns). Fellini's alter ego this time is a young boy, taking in his first circus (again, we're treated to the "parade" motif so often utilized by the director). As the clowns go through their rollicking routines, Fellini takes the time to snipe at movie critics by having one humorless newspaperman, who keeps repeating "What does it mean?", inundated with pails of water. There is also a fleeting homage to Charlie Chaplin in the form of Chaplin's daughter Victoria, who portrays an auditioning clown. Made for Italian TV, The Clowns sustains its exuberance by taking absolutely nothing seriously--not even Fellini, who makes fun of himself throughout in the guise of a pretentious documentary filmmaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Riccardo Billi, Fanfulla, (more)
- 1970
- R
In this nasty drama, a 17th-century Italian nun's long repressed sexual passion is awakened when a handsome nobleman rapes her. Confused by her unholy emotions, the nun sees that the aristocrat is arrested. Unfortunately, the louse impregnated her and shortly after bearing his child, she helps him escape from prison. Reunited, the two embark upon a passionate affair. One day another nun sees the two making love. Unfortunately, she dies before she can tell anyone. Later the offending nun is captured and given a life sentence for having sex and helping to murder her colleague. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The Decameron was the first of director Pier Paolo Pasolini's "trilogy of life." The film, based on the sexually supercharged tales of Boccaccio, is a patchwork of many of Pasolini's favorite themes. Pasolini himself plays the role of an aspiring fresco painter who is advised that his completed work will never be as satisfying as his dream of that work. The film is followed by Pasolini's The Canterbury Tales and The Arabian Nights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Julian (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is the son of German industrialist Klotz (Alberto Lionello) who seeks to go into business with the former Nazi Herdhitze (Ugo Tognazzi). Herdhitze had spent most of World War II collecting human skulls for experiments with brain matter. As a protest, Julian refuses to marry his fiancé from a pre-arranged marriage, and he becomes romantically involved with pigs. Part two finds a man driven to cannibalism by hunger while wandering Mount Etna. He scavenges the mountainside looking for any kind of sustenance. In both cases, humans revert to animal behavior when they are removed from the spectrum of social rules and opinions. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Clémenti, Jean-Pierre Léaud, (more)
