Giovanni Fago Movies
- 2000
Three childhood friends are each confronted with different sides of the tumultuous impact of WWII in this period drama from Italy. Andrea (Andrea Renzi), Guido (Stephane Indovina), and Nives (Lorenza Indovina) grew up together in a city along the Italian coastline. Andrea was the son of a successful druggist who studied medicine according to his father's wishes, even though he dreamed of being a writer. Guido's father was a merchant seaman, and Guido was expected to follow in Dad's footsteps, though he is a gifted musician. And Nives is a woman who loved both men as they loved her. As the War draws to a close, Guido, who became a member of Mussolini's Black Brigade, has been emotionally shattered by the atrocities he witnessed. Andrea is in charge of the hospital where Guido struggles through his delirium; Andrea and Nives try to guide Guido through his mental chaos by recalling the happier days of their youth. Sulla Spiaggia E Di La Molo was based on the novel by popular Italian author Mario Tobino. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omero Antonutti, Stéphane Freiss, (more)
- 1980
This autobiographical drama is a captivating look at the ambiance of a strong family and a small provinicial town in times gone by. Based on a book by Mario Tobino, who also wrote the screenplay, the story centers on his mother (Anna Maria Gherardi) and her memories of childhood. The elderly woman goes back home to the town where she and her extended, wealthy family lived for many years. She revisits her early period in the town during the weeks preceding her death: eccentric villagers come and go, she and her sisters interact, and she revels in trips to the countryside with her children. Interspersed with her memories are her son's own remembrances of his childhood and how he viewed the same villagers, the same family, and his mother. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna-Maria Gherardi, Luigi Diberti, (more)
- 1969
When his farm is destroyed by the Brazilian Army, peasant Milian establishes a group of guerrilla fighters eventually joined by mercenary Pagliani who had been hired to capture Milian, but changes his mind. ~ All Movie Guide
Although primarily known for gruesome 1980s horror films like L'Aldila and Lo Squartatore di New York, it took cult Italian director Lucio Fulci until this bloody spaghetti Western -- his 17th film -- before he began exploring the dark recesses of insanity and Sadean bloodshed which marked his later work. Bolstered by a commanding star turn from 24-year old Franco Nero, fresh from another Western success in the same year's Django, this dark, violent story -- which many fans consider the first "true" Lucio Fulci film -- begins with a man's murder at the hands of the insane Jason "Junior" Scott (Nino Castelnuovo) and the credits appearing over his victim's blood washing downriver. The rest of the film deals with the efforts of young prospector Tom Corbett (Nero) to avenge the death of his father...or the person whom he believes to be his father, for the familial relations in this film are as twisted as Fulci's violent imagery. At times, the film presages the hallucinatory atmosphere of L'Aldila, with Corbett returning to his family farm only to find it destroyed, and wandering the barren, windswept wreckage amidst a group of foraging pigs. George Hilton turns in a fine performance as Corbett's orphan half-brother, Jeff, an alcoholic whose years of dissolution have curbed neither his gunslinging talents nor his thirst for revenge, and the supporting cast does well by Fernando di Leo's somber script. Giuseppe Addobbati co-stars with Tom Felleghy, Salvatore Borgese, and Lynn Shayne. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, George Hilton, (more)
