Davide Ferrario Movies

Primo Levi's harrowing memoir If This Is a Man appeared in the U.S. in 1959 as Survival in Auschwitz; historians now regard it as the most critically important written conveyance of the horrors within the Nazi concentration camps. But the account in that text only represents half of Levi's story. The other half began after his release from Auschwitz. Instead of simply returning to his native Turin, Levi and 600 others were forcibly shipped east -- thousands of miles away from their homes. Thus began a grueling, trans-national journey that Levi undertook, across war-ravaged Europe and back to Turin -- a journey that took all of 12 months to complete, and that filled him, alternately, with incredulity, anger, wonder, and astonishment -- as he reflected on the meaning of his own survival in the camps. Levi died in 1987; as a tribute to the belletrist and historian, acclaimed nonfiction filmmaker Davide Ferrario (Far from Rome, Borderline) retraces Levi's route with his cameras in his documentary Primo Levi's Journey. Ferrario travels through Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, Germany, and south to his native country, evaluating, at each stop, the sociological climate and the various ways in which Eastern Europe has alternately evolved and remained static over the prior 60 years. Ferrario touches on numerous issues relevant to the contemporary sociopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe, as the Russian satellite countries struggle to develop national identities, and concurrently reflects on the experiences of Levi's original trip. Celebrated Polish filmmaker Andrezj Wajda appears early on and serves as a "tour guide" for one of the first legs of the voyage. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A man introduces the woman he's worshiped from afar to the great love of his life -- silent movies -- in this romantic drama from Italy. Martino (Giorgio Pasotti) is an avid movie enthusiast whose greatest passion is the silent cinema. Martino's both works and lives in Italy's National Museum of Cinema, located in Turin's fabled Mole Antonelliana, where he keeps the place clean and indulges himself by caring for the aging equipment and souvenirs. Martino also has a crush on Amanda (Francesca Inaudi), an attractive woman who works as a cook at a nearby diner. One day, after Amanda gets in a screaming match with her abusive boss, she throws a pot of boiling oil at him, and finds herself wanted by the police. While the cops, her car-thief boyfriend (Fabio Troiano), and her best friend (Francesca Picozza) all look for Amanda, she hides out in the museum. So when Martino finds her, she asks him to help hide her. As Martino's idealized love for the cinema collides with the real-life desire he feels for Amanda, he introduces her to his secret world of silent movies and the special meaning they hold for him. Ironically, given the love and care its characters display for vintage celluloid, After Midnight (aka Dopo Mezzanotte) was primarily shot on digital videotape. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The heroine of this tragi-comic Mediterranean story is 25-year old Imma, a helpless romantic who lives in a decrepit flat in the old part of Genoa. She has a knack for putting herself in hopeless situations at work and in love, from which she is rescued only by her sense of humor. The film tries to marry the style of Italian comedy with the realism of English cinema. The director takes an ironic point of view of men and women, but from a feminine perspective. In Principio Erano le Mutande was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Bella Ciao is the name of a song popular among the Italian anti-fascist resistance movement during World War II. It is an appropriate name for a documentary detailing the continuing history of Italian anti-fascism. The resurgence of neo-fascist groups in Italy and Europe, and opposition to these, is also given attention. The context for the documentary is a 1995 concert commemorating Liberation Day. Among the bands appearing (and interviewed) are Yo Yo Mundi and Mau Mau. World War II partisans are among the others interviewed. During the interviews, a wide gap in view and action between the generations is revealed, which is partly bridged by the concertgoers' warm reception of a speech by an elderly partisan who was only recently freed from imprisonment for his anti-fascist activities during the war. Rare footage of fascist Italy further enlivens this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Carlo (Carlo Colnaghi) is down on his luck. Actually, he's been down on his luck for a long time. He's an actor who hasn't worked in decades, in part because his mental state is so volatile that he gets put into psychiatric institutions on a fairly regular basis. All the same, he longs to get back onstage and off of welfare. He is preparing a long monologue based on his life - a solo performance. If he can pull it together and find someplace to perform it in, maybe he can manage a comeback. His only friend is a museum curator, a wealthy Jewish woman (Alessandra Comerio) who finds this pitiful man's situation, character, and efforts at redemption fascinating, much to the puzzlement and disgust of her friends. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

More a collection of characters and scenery in the region of Parma than a drama with a hefty storyline, this film focuses on three main protagonists. Anna (Valeria D'Obici) is a waitress who develops an interest in Tom (Thom Hoffman) who rolls into town on his jeep to photograph the peasants and townies. The young Andrea (Andrea Puglisi) is also in town visiting his aunts. The three young people meet and decide to go do things together; they fish, they banter and scamper about, and in general are supplemented by a wide range of local color that is just a tad over the top. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide