Flavio Bucci Movies
Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (The Family Friend) writes and directs this cinematic portrait of seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, whose controversial legacy peaked when he was tried for Mafia ties and subsequently acquitted. A leader with close ties to the Vatican, Andreotti was also tried and acquitted for the murder of an Italian journalist, and remains a senator for life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Toni Servillo, Anna Bonaiuto, (more)
- 2007
A pair of teenage classmates known as "Chicken" and "Curry" for the fact that they are virtually inseparable attempt to cover for the fact that they both failed their high school finals by claiming that "Curry" is in the midst of an identity crisis that can only be solved by returning to his homeland of India with his Jewish best friend. While the ruse works wonderfully on the parents of both students, the impromptu journey of self-discovery takes an unexpected detour when "Curry" locates his sister and becomes captivated by the country he first despised, and "Chicken" falls for an older medic working for Doctors Without Borders after entering a synagogue for the first time in his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Andrea Miglio Risi, (more)
Writer/director Paolo Virzì and co-writer Francesco Bruni follow up their sly fish-out-of-water comedy My Name Is Tanino with another comedy in a similar vein, Caterina in the Big City. Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) is delighted when he has an opportunity to leave his provincial teaching job and drag his wife Agata (Margherita Buy) and 12-year old daughter Caterina (newcomer Alice Teghil) back to his old neighborhood in Rome. Caterina is a sweet, naïve, and pretty girl, and on her first day of school, she finds herself mocked as a hick. Her classmates are the sons and daughters of Rome's elite. Margherita's (Carolina Iaquaniello) parents are prominent intellectuals, and she leads a faction of bohemian socialist kids, while Daniella's father is a political heavyweight, and her preppy clique dresses in designer duds and espouses right-wing politics. Poor Caterina finds the two opposing factions battling over her allegiance, but every time she makes a new friend, her father fouls things up. Giancarlo, who is also an aspiring novelist, spends his evenings at home ranting about the elites and their devious, cliquish ways, but every time he's in the presence of an important person, he desperately tries to ingratiate himself and get his talents noticed. Meanwhile, he's drifting into depression and isolating himself from his wife and daughter. Caterina in the Big City was shown at New York City's Walter Reade Theater in 2004 as part of a Sergio Castellitto retrospective presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Teghil
- 1999
- NR
Comic actor Massimo Ceccherini makes his directorial debut in this broad comedy with fantasy elements. Ceccherini plays Lucio, a free-spirited bohemian who is forced into a job at a retirement home, where he soon falls in love with the beautiful head nurse, Fatima (Claudia Gerini). When Fatima proves resistant to Lucio's charm, he hatches a bizarre scheme to seduce her with the help of his best friend Pini (Alessandro Paci). Meanwhile, Lucio keeps having a strange dream where he's put on trial for the crime of self-abuse. Hailed by some critics as a satiric affront to close-minded values and derided by others as simple vulgarity, Lucignolo was a box-office hit in its native Italy, and features a cameo by director Tinto Brass, no stranger himself to extreme reactions from critics. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Ceccherini, Claudia Gerini, (more)
- 1997
When snooty Gueflo's blue-blooded mother finally dies, he is delighted. At last the family fortune and estate will belong to him. However, his joy is short-lived for he learns that his mother bore an illegitimate son to whom she has bequeathed half her wealth. The bastard son turns out to be a waiter living in southern Italy. Upon learning of his good-fortune, he and his pal head north to Florence to take up residence in his newfound family's posh estate. Gueflo does not welcome his half brother and the two engage in heated battles that only worsen when a beautiful and very single baroness gets involved. The relationship between the quasi-siblings abruptly changes when another family secret is revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Marco (Gianmarco Tognazzi) is a schoolboy who finds his current friends tedious: they don't seem to have an idea in their heads. His single mother works, and frequently isn't around much. In fact, Marco is pretty bored. So when a neighborhood man with a bad reputation, who is known as "the Fuhrer" (Giulio Base), begins courting him, he is open to what he has to say. The leader of a group of neo-Nazis, "the Fuhrer" has a lot of things to say, and he says them passionately; his group has arduous and rigorous rules and disciplines which are attractive to the aimless young man as well. If anything, Mario is now far from bored. In fact, he is quite ready to shave his head and become a full member of the group - except for his gorgeous Somalian girlfriend in the apartment downstairs. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gian Marco Tognazzi, Franca Bettoja, (more)
- 1988
Nino Manfredi plays Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who carried out the execution of Jesus. He ignores several signs that proclaim that Jesus is the son of God, including the faith of his wife Claudia (Stefania Sandrelli). Pilate is tormented by his actions and later offers his life to Roman Emperor Tiberius in exchange for an end to the persecution of the Jews. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nino Manfredi, Stefania Sandrelli, (more)
- 1987
Fifteen strangers who have volunteered for an experiment in isolation are forced to deal with an even larger problem in this film from Italian director Giuliano Montaldo. A research group in Germany wants to study the effects of isolation in a nuclear shelter on human subjects and assembles a diverse group of people for the test. The strangers agree to stay in the shelter for 20 days, but are allowed to exit at any time. During their time in the shelter, the group experiences a wide range of social dynamics, but near the end of their stay in the shelter, it is learned that a real nuclear incident is underway and the test group will be forced to stay in their shelter indefinitely. Featured in the cast are Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, and Kate Nelligan. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Kate Nelligan, (more)
- 1985
In a straightforward yet unexceptional rendering of the life and loves of Alberto (Ben Gazzara), a writer/director approaching the hill though not yet over it, director Alberto Bevilacqua has used his own experiences to fashion a conventional tale about a search for the "perfect woman." His mettlesome neighbor Luisa (Lina Sastri) just will not leave him alone; she was the reason why he ended his marriage to Maura (Claudia Cardinale), but Alberto considers their affair dead and buried. Recently, an anonymous "dream woman" has been calling him for some seductive phone exchanges. As he searches out the identity of the mystery caller he is also distracted by Luisa who starts to insinuate herself back into his affections. Sooner or later, Alberto will just have to decide how to handle his love life, which in the end may only be mesmerizing to himself alone. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Gazzara, Lina Sastri, (more)
- 1985
The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal is based on Le Deux Vite di Mattia Pascal, one of Luigi Pirandello's many stories concerning the transitory nature of the intangibles "Truth" and "Identity" Marcello Mastrioanni is a downtrodden average man, treated like trash by his fiancee, scorned by his associates, and cheated out of his inheritance by contemptuous relatives. The dispirited Mastrioanni heads to Monte Carlo, where he accrues a fortune. He also assumes the identity of a less fortunate gambler who has committed suicide. The "new" Mastrioanni is treated with a dignity and respect that overwhelms him--and nearly kills him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Flavio Bucci, (more)
- 1985
Based on a Texas Ranger comic-book hero who first rode into sight in 1948, this routine western is an Italian version of the adventures of Tex Willer (Giuliano Gemma), his sidekick Kit Carson (William Berger), and his Native American buddy Tiger Jack (Carlo Mucari). Predictably, Tiger Jack is nearly mute, and Tex wears a white cowboy hat, just to make clear which side he is on. A series of adventures take the trio into a confrontation with the Yaqui nation, intent on (finally) avenging the near-annihilation of their ancestors. To that end, the Yaquis rob a train, join forces with other Native Americans, and manage to concoct a secret weapon that is capable of immediately transforming their enemies into mummies. The "Lord of the Deep" is an alchemist parked at the bottom of a volcano, who creates a glowing green mummification rock (shades of kryptonite!).
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giuliano Gemma, Carlo Mucari, (more)
- 1984
The body count notches upward in an unrelenting progression in this horror comedy that features an unbalanced hunchback experimenting on lab animals, a countess, her two bodyguards, and a prostitute. These characters are in the middle of an unending series of bloody killings in which the victims are cut apart, put in a garbage bag, and burnt in the municipal incinerator. As bags dot the streets waiting to be picked up and disposed by the garbage trucks, survivors wear an amulet that shows the three Japanese monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) and either keep silent or are killed. Humor, in this case, may depend on the age and/or inclinations of the beholder. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flavio Bucci, Ida Di Benedetto, (more)
- 1983
Shakespeare buffs might be quite surprised to learn that his Midsummer Night's Dream had been turned into a rock musical, but here it is. The early '80s Italian rock star Gianna Nannini plays Titania, and belts out a raucous score, missiles flash by, Oberon dances through a woman's shower room, and in a modern twist, Demetrius and Lysander do not fall in love with their traditional ladies, but with each other. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flavio Bucci, Gianna Nannini, (more)
- 1982
Hans Castrop (Christoph Eichhorn) goes to visit a cousin in a Swiss tuberculosis sanatorium, intending to stay for about three weeks, but instead ends up staying for seven years observing the fascinating inhabitants at this supposed haven from the society that has slid downhill to the brink of World War I. The characters he observes range from the politically dueling pair of Lucovico Settembrini (Flavio Bucci), a capitalist "liberal" and Leo Nafta (Charles Aznavour), a Jewish leftist, Claudia Chaochat (Marie-France Pisier), an attractive, passionate Russian woman, and others such as a Dutch businessman with suicidal tendencies, Mynheer Peeperkorn (Rod Steiger). The unfolding exchanges between the protagonists are meant to mirror the larger European world in which they live, and stay close to the Nobel Prize-winning novel (1929) of the same name by Thomas Mann, on which this film is based. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Marie-France Pisier, (more)
- 1982
The real Marquis of Grillo lived in the early 18th century, but, for this take-off on the marquis' life, director Mario Monicelli) has changed the time period to the early 19th century when a lot more was going on in Rome. The marquis (Alberto Sordi) amuses himself by throwing red-hot coins to beggars, occasionally walling up the store entrance of an offending merchant and installing a urinal there instead, and generally making witty and broad comments on the life going on around him. His existence suddenly gets a lot more interesting when he discovers his physical (unrelated) twin in a Roman tavern (also Alberto Sordi) - a drunkard who works transporting coal when he is sober. As a joke, the marquis takes the passed-out drunk to his mansion and puts him in his bed -- fully intent on convincing the drunk and everyone else that this man is the real marquis. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Caroline Berg, (more)
- 1981
Living a well-to-do life in the Italian sector of Switzerland, Alfredo (Omero Antonutti) longs for a return to the environment of his childhood, and to that end, takes his family off to visit his native mountain village every weekend. While they are not so happy about that arrangement -- after all, his present home in the city is the childhood environment of his own two youngsters -- Alfredo seems to feel that his roots matter more than anything else, possibly more than staying with his job in the city. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omero Antonutti, Francesca de Sapio, (more)
- 1980
Maledetti Vi Amero' is a bleak but also bitingly humorous look at what happened to Italy during the absence of one young rebel. Svitol (Flavio Bucci) has been hiding out in South America. Then one day he gives up on his life in exile and decides to head back home. Everything has changed. The radical left is now in business or shooting up drugs, and Svitol finds he has no "home" left. Terrorists seem to set the stage for near anarchy and nothing is as he had imagined. What can a former rebel do? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flavio Bucci, Pasquale Zito, (more)
- 1978
The Italian artist Ligabue grew up as a withdrawn child in Switzerland, speaking a hodge-podge of Italian and German. On his return to Italy, he takes up residence by the banks of the Po river, but his uncouth speech and his near-mad behavior cause him to be shunned and ridiculed. In the movie, he is portrayed as a child-like figure who is encouraged by a local sculptor to paint on canvas. Even when he is beginning to gain some recognition as a painter, Ligabue (Flavio Bucci) still behaves like a wild, untamed woodland creature. This film is an adaptation of an Italian television series based on a book by Cesare Zavattini exploring the life of the artist and his works. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flavio Bucci, Giuseppe Pambieri, (more)
