Ennio Morricone Movies
With his peerless versatility and productivity, Ennio Morricone has been one of the most famous and influential film composers since the 1960s. Drawing from classical, jazz, rock, Italian folk, and avant-garde influences, Morricone's 400-plus scores have accompanied every conceivable movie genre; his innovative soundscapes for Sergio Leone's 1960s Westerns, however, were enough to ensure his lasting reputation. His list of directorial collaborators a veritable Who's Who of post-1960 international cinema, Morricone's music has masterfully accompanied the films of most notably Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giuseppe Tornatore, Roland Joffe, Brian De Palma, and Warren Beatty.A lifelong Rome resident and classically trained musician, Morricone began studying at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia at age 12. Advised to study composition, Morricone also specialized in playing trumpet and supported himself by playing in a jazz band and working as an arranger for Italian radio and TV after he graduated. Morricone subsequently became a top studio arranger at RCA, working with such stars as Mario Lanza, Chet Baker, and the Beatles. Well-versed in a variety of musical idioms from his RCA experience, Morricone began composing film scores in the early '60s. Though his first films were undistinguished, Morricone's arrangement of an American folk song intrigued director (and former schoolmate) Sergio Leone. Leone hired Morricone and together they created a distinctive score to accompany Leone's different version of the Western, A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Rather than orchestral arrangements of Western standards à la John Ford -- budget strictures limited Morricone's access to a full orchestra regardless -- Morricone used gunshots, cracking whips, voices, Sicilian folk instruments, trumpets, and the new Fender electric guitar to punctuate and comically tweak the action, cluing in the audience to the taciturn man's ironic stance. Though sonically bizarre for a movie score, Morricone's music was viscerally true to Leone's vision. As memorable as Leone's close-ups, harsh violence, and black comedy, Morricone's work helped to expand the musical possibilities of film scoring. Though he was initially billed on Fistful as Dan Savio, Morricone's name became almost as well-known as Leone's when his more ambitious score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) yielded a Top Ten hit (despite his avowed disdain for pop music soundtracks).
Even more so than in the first two Dollars films, Morricone's scores for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) elevated the action to operatic heights. Reaching crescendos in The Good's famous graveyard shootout and West's showdown between Charles Bronson's Harmonica and Henry Fonda's Frank Booth, Morricone and Leone created set pieces that were as powerful musically as visually, placing music on a par with the image rather than subordinating it. Integrating a spectral harmonica into the theme music for Booth as well as Harmonica, the soundtrack hints at their fateful relationship long before the truth is visually revealed. Morricone's scores were so integral to Leone's Westerns that he had Morricone write and record Once Upon a Time in the West's main themes, and then played them during shooting so that the actors could move to the score's rhythms. Morricone and Leone repeated this for their equally effective collaboration on the gangster saga Once Upon a Time in America (1984).
Even as he was permanently changing the landscape of Western scores, the breadth of Morricone's talent became apparent as he took on more overtly "art" film projects. Morricone's music lent drama to Gillo Pontecorvo's highly regarded, documentary-style war film The Battle of Algiers (1966); that of Algiers and his score for Pontecorvo's Queimada! (1969) were two of Morricone's outstanding, non-Leone 1960s works. Morricone also delved into the remnants of Italian cinema's postwar heritage with Marco Bellochio's unsung, late neorealist film Fist in His Pocket (1965), Bernardo Bertolucci's neo-neorealist second film Before the Revolution (1964), and Pier Paolo Pasolini's parable/farewell to that legacy, Hawks and Sparrows (1966). Keeping pace with Bertolucci's and Pasolini's evolving styles and concerns, Morricone continued to collaborate with the directors into the 1970s. From the Godard-ian Partner (1968) to the coming of age story Luna (1979) and hostage drama Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1980), Morricone enhanced the emotion and drama of Bertolucci's increasingly stylized (and occasionally muddled) imagery, reaching an apex with the somber, grand, and celebratory compositions for Bertolucci's epic 1900 (1976). Morricone's lavish scores for Pasolini's sexy, satirical "Trilogy of Life," The Decameron (1970), The Canterbury Tales (1971), The Arabian Nights (1974), and his notorious final film Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), were one of the few aspects of the films not to provoke controversy.
Staying close to his genre film roots even as he advanced in art cinema, Morricone provided psychedelic accompaniment for Mario Bava's superhero romp Danger: Diabolik (1968), and crafted a series of evocative scores for Dario Argento's stylized thrillers, including The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1969), The Cat O'Nine Tails (1971), and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1974). Enhancing his international reputation from the 1970s onward, Morricone continued to compose for movies across the artistic spectrum as well as collaborating with an international constellation of directors and stars. Beginning with The Burglars (1971), Morricone devised straight-up action scores for several Jean-Paul Belmondo star vehicles, including Le Professionel (1981); his music also graced the wildly popular French transvestite comedy La Cage Aux Folles (1978) and its sequels. Hired by Don Siegel to give his ironic edge to the Clint Eastwood Western Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Morricone made his presence felt in American films in the late '70s with his eerie, pulsating music for the otherwise ridiculous sequel The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). Morricone finally received his first Oscar nomination for his magical, pastoral score for Terrence Malick's spectacularly beautiful Days of Heaven (1978).
Constantly working and easily shaking off such lows as a Razzie nomination for John Carpenter's remake of The Thing (1982), and the troubled fates of Sam Fuller's provocative race drama White Dog (1982) and Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Morricone hit another career peak in the mid-'80s with directors Roland Joffe and Brian DePalma. Merging Brazilian folk and European liturgical traditions through drums, flutes, oboes, chants, and arrangements of "Ave Maria" and "Te Deum," Morricone's majestic score for Joffe's award-winning epic The Mission (1986) garnered another Oscar nomination and became a soundtrack hit. One of Morricone's personal favorites (along with The Exorcist II), he has said of The Mission that it "represents me nearly completely." Morricone earned another Oscar nod the following year for his lushly orchestral, yet edgy, percussion-driven score for De Palma's popular big screen version of The Untouchables (1987). As with his durable associations with Leone, Bertolucci, and Pasolini, Morricone went on to score Joffe's Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), City of Joy (1992), and Vatel (2000), and De Palma's Casualties of War (1989) and Mission to Mars (2000).
Morricone entered into yet another fecund creative partnership in the late '80s with Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988). A favorite of movie music fans, but not one of his Oscar nominations, Morricone's score struck the perfect balance of sentimental, bittersweet nostalgia to accompany Tornatore's paean to cinema. Morricone also scored Tornatore's more downbeat Everybody's Fine (1990), cinema love letter The Star Maker (1995), and earned kudos for his imaginative music for The Legend of 1900 (1998). His work on Tornatore's Malena (2000) earned Morricone his fifth Oscar nomination.
After excursions into Shakespeare with Franco Zeffirelli's version of Hamlet (1990) and the dark side of desire with Pedro Almodóvar's sex comedy Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), Morricone garnered his fourth Oscar nod for his moody, period-tinged score for Barry Levinson's Bugsy (1991). As prolific in the 1990s as ever, Morricone had a happy reunion with Eastwood for the summer hit In the Line of Fire (1993), provided the violins for Bugsy star Warren Beatty's glossy remake of Love Affair (1994), brought out the horror and romance in Mike Nichols' Wolf (1994), ditto for Adrian Lyne's adaptation of Lolita (1997), and scored a docudrama about his erstwhile murdered collaborator Who Killed Pasolini? (1995). Working again with Beatty, Morricone neatly sent up political platitudes with martial horns, drums, and fifes and hauntingly paid tribute to the senator's spirit with soaring yet funereal strings in Beatty's incisive satire Bulworth (1998), earning a Grammy nomination for his work.
Even as he began to collect lifetime achievement awards, including a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1995, Morricone continued going strong into the new millennium. Maintaining his presence in European and American cinema through his work with Joffe, De Palma, and Tornatore, Morricone also revisited another past creative relationship when he reunited with The Cannibals (1971) director Liliana Cavani for her adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley's Game (2002). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Brian De Palma directed this science-fiction suspense story. When the United States sends its first manned mission to Mars, hopes are high for new scientific discoveries, but many of those hopes are dashed when the Mars crew meets an unexplained disaster; three members of the mission are killed, and a fourth (Don Cheadle) loses all radio contact with the Earth. A rescue mission sets out to bring back the one survivor; in the process, they discover that Mars may not be a dead planet after all, and uncover some startling evidence about the fate of their predecessors. The rescue crew includes Gary Sinise, Jerry O'Connell, Connie Nielsen and Tim Robbins. The screenplay was partially by award-winning playwright Ted Tally, who won an Oscar for his adapted screenplay of The Silence of the Lambs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, (more)
On the 1st of January in 1900, Danny Boodmann (Bill Nunn), the mechanic of the transatlantic liner Virginian bound for America, finds an abandoned baby on board and decides to keep him. Nicknamed Novecento (1900), the boy grows up on the ship hidden from everyone. His presence is revealed when Danny dies in an accident. The young '1900' manages to hide again despite threats from the captain. Discovering a passion for music, he teaches himself to play the piano without being able to read the notes, and he soon becomes a virtuoso whose reputation spreads beyond the confines of the ship. Even the famous jazz piano player, Jelly Roll Morton (Clarence Williams III), gets on board for a challenge because he has heard rumors about the greatest piano player in the world living on a ship. The story is told by Max Tooney, Novocento's old trumpeter friend, who reminisces about the incredible pianist who never set foot on land. After two films about cinema, Giuseppe Tornatore comes up with the story of a highly imaginative artist who lives only for and through his art. Tornatore was inspired by a theatre monologue written in 1994 by Alessandro Baricco, and the film was shot partly in Odessa, on a sixty-year-old Russian freighter, and partly in the Cinecitta studios in Rome. Tim Roth's performance as the talented but reserved Novocento is remarkable, and the music of Ennio Morricone plays a vital role in the film. La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, which was retitled The Legend of 1900 for US distribution after forty-five minutes have been cut, was originally two hours and forty minutes when it was shown to great success in Italy in autumn of 1998. The US version had its world premiere at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince, (more)
In keeping with the his cult reputation, Italian filmmaker Dario Argento's take on Gaston Leroux's enduring Gothic tale of terror and obsession features plenty of sex and graphic, high-tech gore (although hard-core Argento purists may find the splatter scenes rather sparse). Unlike other renditions of the illustrious Phantom, Argento's version suffers no facial disfigurement and therefore remains unmasked. His creepiness, shown in the early parts of the story, comes from having been abandoned as a baby and raised by rats in the labyrinthine catacombs beneath the Paris Opera. Unaccustomed to humankind, the Phantom (Julian Sands) spends his days in the darkness playing an organ, murdering intruders, saving his rodent family members from the theater's exterminator and occasionally wandering about the opera house. His life changes when he falls in love with beautiful young singer Christine (Asia Argento), understudy to temperamental zaftig diva Carlotta (Nadia Rinaldi). Desperate to have her, the Phantom plays a haunting melody and lures her into the bowels of the great theater. There he will begin a macabre courtship destined to end in tragedy. Those who enjoy finding continuity mistakes will be delighted to discover that while the story is set in 1877, the theater is lighted with electricity, something that did not happen in real life until 1888. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Asia Argento, (more)
Warren Beatty directed, co-produced (with Pieter Jan Brugge), co-scripted (with Jeremy Pikser), and stars in this political satire, a comedy-drama about a U.S. senator who decides to start speaking the truth. Despondent California Sen. Jay Bulworth (Beatty), up for re-election, is disillusioned by the usual campaign banalities; his marriage to Constance (Christine Baranski) seems equally hollow. In the midst of a nervous breakdown, Bulworth goes without sleep or food for three days and takes out a $10 million insurance policy on himself while arranging his own assassination. Drinking during a return to Los Angeles, Bulworth is scheduled to speak at an African-American church in South Central L.A. Once there, he tosses aside his prepared speech, startling both the audience and his campaign manager Murphy (Oliver Platt) by improvising truthful remarks instead of the familiar rhetoric. These loose-cannon salvos gain the attention of an attractive young woman, Nina (Halle Berry). Bulworth finds an exhilaration with this new freestyle approach, and after shocking a gathering in Beverly Hills with further fulminations, Bulworth invites Nina and her girlfriends into his limo. During a spaced-out sojourn at one of South Central's more frenzied after-hours clubs, Bulworth gains respect for hiphop culture. Still reeling from insights gained by this nightlife, he arrives the next day for a fund-raising function at the Beverly Wilshire, startling everyone with a diatribe delivered in the intonations of a rap artist. His interest in Nina and his new optimistic outlook on life give Bulworth a sense of elation and a will to live. He phones to call off the hit, but gears have been set in motion. After an assumed hitman turns up during a church appearance, Bulworth flees, and Nina offers him a safe-house hideout at the home of her family, veterans of the Civil Rights movement. Here Bulworth goes through the final steps in his transformation -- making a Kennedy-styled connection with the disenfranchised as he tunes into forgotten memories of the '60s. Outfitted in homeboy clothing, the born again Bulworth heads for a TV station to unleash even more caustic comments on the American political scene. Language and drug use brought this film an R rating. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, (more)
- 1997
- R
- Add Lolita to Queue
Adapted from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov (previously filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1962), Lolita stars Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert, a college literature professor. In early adolescence, Humbert fell hopelessly and tragically in love with a girl his own age, and, as he grew into adulthood, he never lost his obsession with "nymphets," teenagers who walk a fine line between being a girl and a woman. While looking for a place to live after securing a new teaching position, he meets Charlotte Haze (Melanie Griffith), a pretentious and annoying woman who seems desperately lonely and is obviously attracted to Humbert. Humbert pays her little mind until he meets her 13-year-old daughter Lolita (Dominique Swain), the image of the girl that Humbert once loved. Humbert moves into the Haze home as a boarder and eventually marries Charlotte in order to be closer to Lolita. When Charlotte finds out about Humbert's attraction to her daughter, she flees the house in a rage, only to be killed in an auto accident. Without telling Lolita of her mother's fate, Humbert takes her on a cross-country auto trip, where their relationship begins to move beyond the traditional boundaries of stepfather and step-daughter. Lolita proved to be controversial in the United States due to its clear (if not explicit) depiction of sex between a middle-aged man and an underaged girl; no major studio was willing to release it in America, and it finally had its U.S. premiere on the Showtime cable network. This version, directed by Adrian Lyne, was publicized as being more faithful to Nabokov's book than Stanley Kubrick's adaptation (which was scripted by Nabokov himself); however, it manages to be closer to the letter of the novel without capturing its spirit and tone as well as Kubrick did. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Melanie Griffith, (more)
Oliver Stone directed this John Ridley screenplay adapted from Ridley's novel Stray Dogs. A drifter (Sean Penn) eludes Las Vegas collection agents and arrives in a small town where he decides to linger after his car has a breakdown. Here he gets involved with the locals, including an unhappily married couple -- a businessman (Nick Nolte) and his seductive, femme-fatale wife (Jennifer Lopez). A trailer trash teen (Claire Danes) also approaches him in an effort to get away from her abusive boyfriend (Joaquin Phoenix). Tensions in the town escalate, eventually leading to murder. Stone wanted to change the title from U-Turn back to Stray Dogs but encountered a problem with Akira Kurosawa, who felt it was too similar to his detective classic, Stray Dog (1949) with Toshiro Mifune. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, (more)
- 1996
Usury is a serious problem in mid-'90s Italy, a country torn by the realities of a long-term economic recession and the people's desires for material prosperity. Unforutnately, with the closure of many Italian banks and the lack of available credit, these things are hard to come by legally, so many, especially businessmen, turn to loan sharks. According to surveys, over %65 of the nation's businesses have involvement with violent loan sharks who like their seafaring cousins will patiently circle the rickety financial lifeboats of their prey until the right moment and then rush in for the kill. This allegorical crime drama from Italian filmmaker Ricky Tognazzi chronicles the complex psychological relationship between one such loan shark and his prey, an old friend from college. Francesco (the intended victim) runs a failing construction company owned by his dying father-in-law who went deeply in debt trying to keep the firm afloat. Outwardly, Sergio is an upstanding financial advisor who knew Francesco a decade before when they were both wild college boys. Sergio learns of Francesco's plight via a helpful banker and as soon as the father-in-law dies sends Claudio (his thug) to visit the bereaved family. Saying he represents the wealthy Signora Sauro (Sergio's secret lover and accomplice) Claudio offers to make a substantial loan to Francisco who accepts. Soon Sergio is back in Francesco's life. He has set his sights on his old friend's beautiful wife Miriam and becomes obsessed with bedding her. At the same time Claudio, whom Francesco doesn't realize is in cahoots with Sergio, begins threatening him for the money. Fortunately Sergio is there to 'save' Francesco from what he doesn't realize is the inevitable destruction of his business. At least that was Sergio's plan. Unfortunately, as ruthless and shrewd as he is, he does not count on the inconsistency of his accomplices. He also underestimates his victims and that proves for him, a terrible mistake. The film is also known as Un Homme Honnete. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Lindon, Sabrina Ferilli, (more)
- 1996
The title creature is not a canine but rather a passionate, strong-willed Sicilian woman who turns her home village on its ear with her constant battles against sexual repression. This sensual Italian drama chronicles some of La Lupa's seductive hunts. Her prey includes a strapping young buck just home from the military and the town priest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Filmed on location in Colombia, the four-part British miniseries Nostromo was based on the 1904 Joseph Conrad novel of the same name. Relocating to the fictional South American country of Costaguana, 19th century British aristocrat Charles Gould (Colin Firth) was determined to revive the old San Toma silver mine established by his father. As Gould was swept up by events beyond his control, the story began to focus upon the mine's head stevedore Nostromo (Claudio Amendola), a mysterious, mystical man much admired and respected by his fellow natives. When a revolution broke out, Nostromo was entrusted with a large amount of Gould's precious silver. Would this responsibility culminate in the corruption of Nostromo -- or would he be "saved" through the intervention of Gould's wife, Emelia (Serena Scott-Thomas). Albert Finney stole the show as the mercurial Dr. Monygharm. Originally telecast by BBC2 in 1996, Nostromo aired in America the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
A ripe 19-year-old virgin fights to keep her virtue and retain her free-spirited ways during WW II. Set in an ancient, remote Neapolitan village, Miluzza is the lovely pubescent daughter of the glorious Nunziata, a nymphomaniac who is surprisingly well tolerated by her husband and her normally conservative neighbors. Nunziata and Miluzza lead an idyllic life until the Allies bomb their village. During the shelling Nunziata is killed in a manner that would make Freud proud. Afterward, Miluzza gets work at a tomato sauce factory where the owner, enticed by an accidental peak at her underwear attempts to seduce her in a local hotel. With her reputation thus ruined, life for Miluzza becomes a struggle to fight the gossip mongers and those who would rape here until she encounters Pietro, a handsome wounded soldier who offers her a better life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The life of the reluctant Old Testament prophet is told in this made-for-television biblical drama. When the Pharaoh Ramses calls for the death of all Hebrew children, a mother puts her son Moses in a basket and sends him down the Nile to save his life. The baby is found by a princess and raised as the heir to the family throne. Called upon by God, the hesitant Moses (Ben Kingsley) accepts the challenge to lead his enslaved people out of Egypt for what becomes a 40-year journey into the promised land. This extravagant production was nominated for the "Outstanding Mini-Series" Emmy. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1996
This drama, set in 1938, chronicles a month in the life of the Portuguese journalist Pereira. He is first seen as a lonely, widowed, and overweight editor of the culture page of a second-rate Lisbon newspaper. Earlier in his career, he had been a news reporter. Pereira is fascinated with old literature; he is also obsessed with death. He hires himself an assistant, Monteiro Rossi, to prepare obituaries for old writers before they die. The young man and his girlfriend are both passionate fighters against the dictatorship in Portugal. They, along with a German Jewish woman, help to draw Pereira out of his dusty old books and spark his interest in the current political turmoil of Europe. Eventually they strongly encourage him to use his position to post notice of the impending dangers to the public. At their urging, Pereira is emboldened to publish his translation of an anti-German French short story. Although he sneaks it past the censors, his editor catches it and Pereira is in deep trouble. Meanwhile Rossi leaves his job to join the underground revolutionaries. Pereira keeps sending money to Rossi's girl, but he doesn't become totally committed to the cause until he meets up with the philosophical cardiologist who narrates the tale. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni
The title affliction causes sufferers to react to paintings in extreme and bizarre ways. In the case of police detective Anna Manni, she swoons and feels herself entering hallucinatory versions of the artwork she sees. This Italian psychothriller contains dark elements of horror as Manni tries to capture a murderous serial rapist. The lady detective is first seen walking the art-filled hallways of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The great paintings have a terrible effect upon her and she ends up having one of her surreal visions after fainting in front of Brueghel's "The Flight of Icarus." She sees herself falling through the painting's deep ocean and is only saved by the hands of Alfredo, a stranger who saw her fall. She returns woozily to her hotel. Her memory has temporarily lapsed, and once in her room she finds herself similarly mesmerized by a painting on the wall, but eventually she remembers her assignment. Unfortunately, when she meets up with Alfredo again, he attacks and rapes her. He then forces her to watch while he rapes and murders another. She manages to escape and make it back to Rome where she begins seeing a psychiatrist. Her former lover Marco also makes sure she is guarded 24-hours a day. Unfortunately for Anna it is not enough, and Alfredo strikes again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
British director Nicolas Roeg, best known for his films Walkabout and The Man Who Fell To Earth, helmed this made-for-cable adaptation of the epic tale from The Old Testament's Book of Judges. Starring Eric Thal as the legendary strongman Samson, Samson and Delilah also stars Elizabeth Hurley as the temptress Delilah, who ultimately seduces Samson and cuts his hair, robbing him of his strength. Originally airing on the TNT cable network, the film also features Dennis Hopper and Sir Michael Gambon. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 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
- 1995
From his quirky compositions for the spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone to his sublime musical contributions to director Roland Joffé's acclaimed 1986 drama The Mission, film composer Ennio Morricone has crafted more than 500 scores over the course of his enduring career in film. Now fans can take a look back at the life and career of one of cinema's most prolific composers through interviews with both the composer himself and many of his longtime collaborators. From his Italian efforts to his work in America, this documentary covers every aspect of Morricone's career as few have, offering insight into his childhood, his longtime association with Leone, and his ultimate disenchantment with the American studio system. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Set within the free-spirited world of a traveling circus, a human cannonball reflects upon his life in this Italian drama that was written, directed, produced, and filmed by auteur Silvano Agosti who based the film upon his book L'uomo proiettile. The reminiscences of the performer subtly drive home the idealistic view that the pursuit of artistic freedom is more humanizing than the pursuit for material wealth. Cannonball loves his work which only requires he spend one hour per day climbing into an enormous silver circus cannon and being fired into space by a lovely young woman. Eventually the fellow and the girl embark upon a passionate affair. Unfortunately, it doesn't last and she moves on. The Human Cannonball is devastated and becomes quite jealous. He tries hard to overcome his heartbreak and go on with his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This Italian film was released in 1995 and slowly made its way around the world; its English title is The Star Maker. Like the Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso by the same writer-director, Guiseppe Tornatore, it's drenched in the filmmaker's love for cinema. In Sicily in the early 1950s, Joe Morelli (Sergio Castellitto) is a con man who travels by truck from village to village posing as a film company representative. For a fee, he offers the rubes screen tests, using passages from a script of Gone with the Wind and encouraging their hopes with lines such as "Success awaits you!" Morelli's camera brings out people's hidden sides, including a soldier's war trauma, a woman's protests at being accused of prostitution, and a policeman who recites poetry. Begging for a chance at the stardom Morelli purportedly offers, Beata (Tiziana Lodato) asks Morelli to take her with him. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- NR
Pier Paolo Pasolini was a beloved Italian filmmaker, poet and novelist whose murder in 1975 threw the whole nation into shock. This drama attempts to document the killing and the aftermath while exploring the true motives for the killing. The film opens as the police are in hot pursuit of a car racing along the waterfront of Ostia. At the end of the chase they end up arresting one Pino Pelosi, a male prostitute who confesses to bludgeoning the director to death and running him over with a car. The initial evidence goes along with Pelosi's story. Intermingled with the drama is actual police and press footage of the murder scene, the trial and other related events. As the court goes to trial, it soon becomes apparent that Pelosi is not telling the whole truth. Despite the findings of the media, the police and the lawyers seem to be in an inordinate hurry to close the case and dismiss it as yet another gay killing. Although the film avoids making elaborate postulations about the whole truth of the killing, it does not deny the fact that Pelosi did not act alone. Unfortunately, though Pelosi was imprisoned for his crime, he refused to reveal the identities of the others involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlo DeFilippi, Nicoletta Braschi, (more)
- 1995
Sicily and its people have held a fascination for filmmakers the world over and more than 800 feature films have been set there or contained Sicilian characters. This montage-driven documentary from Italian-director Giuseppe Tornatore, pays tribute to his birthplace and the people who live there by presenting over 500 snippets from 163 different films. He then took the many clips and divided his documentary into 14 short chapters with humorous and serious subjects ranging from history to gestural communication to Mafia influence to mustaches on both women and men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The 1939 Irene Dunne-Charles Boyer romance Love Affair, remade with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in 1957 as An Affair to Remember, became a vehicle for real-life couple Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in this 1994 rendition. The well-worn story remains the same, as a man and a woman, both engaged to other people, fall madly in love while traveling, indulge in a brief but intense affair, then agree to part and sort out their feelings. They are to meet again at the top of the Empire State Building if their feelings persist, but a series of unfortunate circumstances threatens to keep the lovers apart. Despite polished visuals and a time-tested narrative, this variation suffers in comparison to its two predecessors, not to mention the previous year's Sleepless in Seattle, which had drawn on An Affair to Remember for several of its most memorable sequences. It does features Katherine Hepburn's first film appearance in 13 years. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, (more)
This drama is based upon an 18th century French novel by Crebillon. It represents the sharp conversations between a clever, free-thinking writer and a beautiful noblewoman as he tries to seduce her. At her request, he must recount his previous love exploits. He also describes the times he spent in prison after he was arrested for his licentious writings and suspicious acquaintances. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willem Dafoe, Lena Olin, (more)
The biblical story of Jacob explored in this made-for-TV movie starring Matthew Modine as the titular religious figure and Lara Flynn Boyle as his love Rachel. Set against the backdrop of Jacob's many trials from God throughout his life, Turner Pictures' production focuses on the romantic aspect to present what many consider to be the best love story in the Bible. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- PG13
The sweet sentimental gauze of director Giuseppe Tornatore's international hit Cinema Paradiso (1988) is nowhere to be found in this dark, Kafkaesque crime thriller that takes place, stage play-style, mostly in the confines of one room. Gerard Depardieu stars as Onoff, a famed author who has become a recluse in recent years, publishing nothing. Late one night he is picked up by police officers, who find him running across the French countryside in the rain, breathless and apparently suffering from short-term memory loss. A murder has been committed in the nearby woods, and suspecting Onoff's involvement, the authorities detain him at a leaky, dark command post to await the arrival of an inspector (Roman Polanski), ironically a fan of Onoff's work, who will interrogate his subject and try to arrive at the truth. Una Pura Formalita (1994) was produced simultaneously with Polanski's Death and the Maiden (1994), another film with a stage-bound quality featuring a long, stormy night's interrogation in a single room. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Roman Polanski, (more)
