Claudio Masenza Movies
- 1998
Actor-director Pino Quartullo shot this Italian comedy amid the natural splendors of the Abruzzo National Park. The screenplay, with some situations reminiscent of Bette Midler in Ruthless People (1986), is by Quartullo and Claudio Masenza, based on their play. Stefania Sandrelli repeats her role from the stage production. Former actress Federica Birki (Sandrelli), now reduced to hosting a trash TV gameshow sponsored by a furrier, generates gimmicks for the paparazzi in an effort to get back in the limelight. She's kidnapped by park ranger Marco (Quartullo) and his brother Ruggiero (Ricky Memphis), animal lovers who demand the sponsor close down his fur farm and free the animals. However, Federica's past history of staging stories for press coverage works against her this time, and the abductors' threats are ignored. As the brothers try to heighten her consciousness regarding animals, she begins devising new headline grabbers -- until the corrupt sponsor (Rocco Barbaro) steps in with a different spin. The film includes clips from Sandrelli's Seduced and Abandoned (1963). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefania Sandrelli, Pino Quartullo, (more)
- 1996
Unceremoniously dumped by her lover Roberto, bitter Marcella is determined to win him back at any cost. Such is the basis of this frothy Italian comedy. Roberto has since gone on a Tunisian vacation with his voluptuous new love Alessia. Meanwhile Marcella enacts an elaborate scheme to get him back. First she hires the devastatingly handsome, but dim rookie escort Francesco to accompany her to Tunisia. Neither Alessia and Francesco realize that Marcella and Roberto were once lovers and this creates even more problems. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
For some reason, thirty-something banker Luca (Pino Quartullo) wants to become a father, and his girlfriend doesn't. Their disagreements on this subject escalate until they break up. Thereafter, Luca attempts to become a father by resurrecting former relationships, having sex with his old girlfriends, and pricking holes in the condoms he uses. He temporarily quenches his baby frenzy with an endless-loop video of an infant, but that doesn't help long. Luca meets a lesbian couple (Antonella Ponziani and Rosalinda Celentano) who want a child, too, at a sperm bank. Though it looks like they could work out a deal, Luca has become sterile (possibly from worrying too much). Things escalate as the increasingly desperate trio seek to find ways to induce pregnancy, and they decide to rob a sperm bank... ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pino Quartullo, Antonella Ponziani, (more)
- 1985
Film clips and interviews with actors and colleagues provide the material for this laudatory view of the career of Alfred Hitchcock. Among those interviewed who provide a bit of humor in the bargain are Philippe Noiret and Joan Fontaine. The "master of suspense" is shown according to stereotypes already in vogue: he is alternately a melancholy man who wanted stardom in front of the cameras or someone who mistreated actors and actresses on a regular basis. This latter attribute is denied by those interviewed, while the more controversial aspects of Hitchcock's behavior are never mentioned.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1985
An account of the life of a talented and difficult star. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1985
This documentary video features vintage film clips, videotape and photographs and interviews with friends of James Dean. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1983
Documentary filmmaker Claudio Masenza, cinematic chronicler of the lives of Marlon Brando and James Dean, turns his attentions to the tragic film idol Montgomery Clift. Masenza offers a cursory synopsis of Clift's stage work (including The Skin of Our Teeth), then launches into a paean of the actor's film career, beginning with The Search (1947) and ending with The Defector (1966). It comes as no surprise that the film dwells upon Clift's erratic behavior, his quicksilver temperament, his sexual ambiguity, and his near-fatal 1957 auto accident. At 2 hours, the film leaves few stones unturned, though repetition is the order of the day during some stretches. Still, Montgomery Clift is a valuable primer for anyone unfamiliar with this compellingly unique performer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin McCarthy, Augusta Dabney, (more)
- 1983
In a revealing documentary about one slice of film history, directors Francesco Bortolini and Claudio Masenza interview eight Italian actresses who attained fame in the U.S. through films they made in Hollywood. Most of the eight agree that performers are treated better in Hollywood than in Italy, and that U.S. efficiency and organization impressed them -- but that in Italy, they had more challenging roles than was allowed in the U.S. Virna Lisi was made over to look like another Marilyn Monroe, Gina Lollobrigida was employed like the others for her sex appeal -- and left after a few films --, and Claudia Cardinale, for inscrutable reasons, was meant to be another Doris Day. Unfortunately, even though great stars are included among the eight, the most obvious and inexplicable omission is Sophia Loren, well-known to American audiences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Sylva Koscina, (more)
