Giuseppe Rotunno Movies
Over his long career, Italian cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno worked with some of Europe's finest filmmakers. Originally a still photographer, he started out operating the camera for legendary cinematographer G.R. Aldo. In 1955, Rotunno became a full-fledged lighting director and due to his versatility, became one of the most in-demand cinematographers of the '60s through the '90s. He is especially known for the creative camera work he did with Fellini and Visconti. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 2006
Marcello Mastroianni (1924-1996) was arguably the most famous and respected leading man in the history of Italian cinema. A favorite of such directors Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Michelangelo Antonioni, Mastroianni's fame in Europe extended to the United States, where he was nominated for three Academy Awards and frequently starred opposite another celebrated Italian player, Sophia Loren. Filmmakers Mario Canale and Annarosa Morri offer a look at the public and private sides of this legendary actor in the documentary Marcello: A Sweet Life, which features archival interviews with the actor alongside reminiscences from his family, friends and colleagues. Interview subjects include actresses Claudia Cardinale and Anouk Aimee, directors Ettore Scola, Mario Monicelli and Lina Wertmuller, and Marcello's daughters Barbara Mastroianni and Chiara Mastroianni. Marcello: A Sweet Life received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2003
German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt tracks down many high-profile Italian movie folks for the documentary portrait Federico Fellini: Through the Eyes of Others. Actresses Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, and Sandra Milo provide commentary about the director's behavior on and off the set. Other interview subjects include screenwriter Tullio Pinelli, producer Dino de Laurentiis, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, biographer Tullio Kezich, and novelist Gore Vidal. The film also employs archive footage and film clips. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Dino de Laurentiis, (more)
Federico Fellini was one of the leading figures of the international cinema in the 1960s, whose dreamlike images and indelible characters made La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and Juliet of the Spirits among the most acclaimed films of that era. Fellini himself was a character as unique as any he created for his films, an expansive and outsized visionary who could be either a pleasure or a terror to work with. Fellini: I'm a Born Liar is a documentary on Federico Fellini's life and work by filmmaker Damian Pettigrew, who combines vintage interview footage of Fellini, new conversations with those who worked with him (including actors Donald Sutherland and Terence Stamp), and excerpts from Fellini's films (some of them previously unseen outtakes) to create an insightful portrait of a remarkable creative mind. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Legendary Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti's life and remarkable cinematic achievements are investigated in depth in Adam Low's 2002 documentary produced by the BBC entitled The Life and Times of Count Luchino Visconti. Born into Italian aristocracy in 1906, Visconti's life was one of discontented listlessness until he took a position on French director Jean Renoir's 1936 film Une Partie de Campagne. This development would greatly influence the young Italian's own entry -- not to mention his entire career -- into filmmaking, starting in 1943 with Ossessione, which was simultaneously his directorial debut and the masterwork that launched the Italian neorealist movement. Many of Visconti's colleagues and contemporaries are interviewed by Low, including such luminaries as Claudia Cardinale, Farley Granger, Franco Zeffirelli, and Helmut Berger. The Life and Times of Count Luchino Visconti premiered at the 2002 London Film Festival in connection with a Visconti retrospective produced by the British Film Institute in 2003. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Meralda Caracciolo Di Melito, (more)
This moving, finely-wrought portrayal of legendary cinematographer Sven Nykvist was directed by his son Carl-Gustav Nykvist -- a noted filmmaker himself. Spanning from long forgotten kiddie flick in 1945 to Woody Allen's Celebrity (1997), Nykvist's career came to an abrupt end when he was diagnosed with a rare disorder that affects his speech. Though the film explores Nykvist's upbringing and turbulent private life (an ugly divorce, the suicide of one of his sons, an affair with Mia Farrow), the emotional heart of the film is his celebrated collaboration with auteur Ingmar Bergman, with whom Nykvist made some of his most enduring work, including Winter Light (1962) and Scenes from a Marriage (1973). As Bergman recalls his own career, he notes, "I don't miss making films, but I miss the collaboration with Sven." ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Bibi Andersson, (more)
- 1997
- Add Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember to QueueAdd Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember to top of Queue
Rarely has any actor, and especially one with a filmography as rich as that of Marcello Mastroianni (1923-1996), been given such a lavish screen biography. But then, director Anna Maria Tató was Mastroianni's companion for the last 22 years of his life, and she clearly saw this film, made for Italian television, as a labor of love. Mastroianni is filmed speaking to the camera in a variety of settings, usually outdoors in picturesque settings, and dozens of film clips enhance his memories of a long career in films. He touches on his love for the stage; his relationships with director Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Marco Ferreri; his disdain for the moniker "Latin Lover" that got attached to him after the success of his breakthrough film, La Dolce Vita; his appreciation for his favorite cities: New York City, Paris, Rome, and above all, Naples; and his thoughts on acting. Among the films generously excerpted are The Organizer, White Nights, I Don't Want to Talk About It, Bell' Antonio, Divorce Italian Style, Dark Eyes, A Special Day, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, La Nuit de Varennes, Henry IV, La Grande Bouffe, Bye Bye Monkey, Intervista, and The Tenth Victim. In the film's penultimate scene, Mastroianni is shown celebrating his 72nd birthday, only a year before his death. The film is also available in a 98-minute version. ~ Tom Wiener, 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
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 La Scala Opera Company presents this acclaimed production of Rossini's final opera, William Tell, performed in a new Italian translation. This story of the love between a princess and a simple villager stars Chris Merritt as Arnold, with Riccardo Muti leading the orchestra. The production was photographed by award-winning cameraman Giuseppe Rotunno. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Two of Italy's top comics, Massimo Troisi and Roberto Benigni teamed up to write (with Giuseppe Bertolucci), direct, and star in this comedy about two men accidentally thrown back to the year 1492. In a series of comic sketches, two friends, Saverio (Benigni) and Mario (Troisi) suddenly find themselves in 1492 while on a drive in the Italian countryside. Saverio is enthusiastic, but Mario just wants a ticket home, until he meets the nubile Pia (Amanda Sandrelli). Then Saverio suggests that if they can prevent Christopher Columbus from sailing to the New World, America would never be discovered and the Native Americans would not suffer. Along with this scheme come skits like Saverio explaining a few modern machines to Leonardo Da Vinci. In-between these highlights are lower ebbs in the comic flow, making the end result slightly under the capabilities of both comedians. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Troisi, Roberto Benigni, (more)
- 1984
In director Anna Maria Tato's shallow depiction of an equally shallow dalliance, Lucia (Fanny Ardant) is unavoidably delayed in meeting her husband in Greece and so decides to take a detour (both geographically and emotionally) to visit her hometown in the south of Italy. Once there, she enters into a brief, afternoon fling with a local man of smoldering looks -- and overcome by what she has done, she hits him on the head with an ashtray and escapes while he is out cold. Soon she is joined by a young girl also running away (from her First Communion celebrations), and the two proceed to hide out from the understandably vexed young man who has regained consciousness and is piqued about his post-coital experience. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Ardant, Leonardo Treviglio, (more)
- 1984
Set during World War II, The Assisi Underground deals with the efforts made by a handful of hardy European souls to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Ben Cross plays a dynamic young Catholic priest who puts his own life on the line to save thousands of refugees from Nazi-occupied Italy. While the role of the Vatican in the war is still a matter of hot debate, there can be no denying that individuals like Cross existed: in fact, virtually every event depicted in this film is based on an actual event. Featured in the all-star cast are James Mason, Irene Papas, and Maximillian Schell. When originally released, Assissi Underground clocked in at 178 minutes, resulting in a well-intentioned but frankly boring wartime epic. The producers whittled the running time down to 118 minutes for its general release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, James Mason, (more)
This evocative look at a 1914 ocean voyage to scatter the ashes of a world-famous opera singer (Janet Suzman) is by turns charming, funny, and bizarre. Among the ship's passengers are aristocrats, politicians, singers, and a rhinoceros. Their episodic interactions form the core of the film, with complications (including a group of refugee Serbs boarding the vessel) carefully orchestrated by screenwriters Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra to highlight the decay of European society prior to World War I. The ship sails on an artificial ocean against an artificial sky, crafted by art director Dante Ferretti in the studios of Cinecitta, with a result that is both disconcerting and oddly comforting. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freddie Jones, Barbara Jefford, (more)
Gregory Peck had made scattered television appearances before, but the 3-hour Scarlet and the Black was his first starring assignment in a made-for-TV movie. Peck plays Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, a real-life cleric who, during World War II, rescued thousands of escaped POWs from the Gestapo. Christopher Plummer co-stars as the Rome-based SS official who tries to catch O'Flaherty in the act. The film won several industry and religious awards, and earned three Emmy nominations. Based on J. P. Gallagher's book The Scarlet Pimpernel in the Vatican, The Scarlet and the Black premiered on February 2, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In this slapstick comedy, almost a vaudeville revue, the Italian side of World War II is affectionately re-created, while the cream of Himmler's German troops, the dreaded Stormtroopers, consistently make fools of themselves. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Boldi
- 1976
A beautiful woman (Laura Antonelli) is engaged to one man, but has an affair with both a young nobleman (Terence Stamp) and later his cousin (Marcello Mastroianni). This Italian production, also known as Divina Creatura, appears in both subtitled and dubbed versions. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Antonelli, Terence Stamp, (more)
- 1976
From 16th century Sicily to the streets of contemporary New York, the Mafia has transcended its humble roots to evolve into one of the most formidable crime organizations ever. Centuries ago, the dreaded Gramignanos family took control over Sicily by launching a vicious campaign of violence and corruption. These days, the objectives may have changed, but the tactics remain the same. Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Cotten, and Edward Albert are all featured in a five-part documentary spanning 400 years of death, deception, and secrecy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This simple movie, which follow the exploits of two transcontinental truck drivers as they wrestle their semi across Europe, is much enhanced by having the veteran actors Michel Constantin and Giancarlo Giannini in the roles of Nino and Sandro. At the beginning of the film, the two men have not driven together before, and neither one is much pleased with the other. By the end of the film, their adventures and common adversities have drawn them together. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giancarlo Giannini, Michel Constantin, (more)
- 1974
Lina Wertmuller's flamboyant satire is an acquired taste, and this unpleasant sociopolitical comedy may be the acid test for potential devotees. Luigi Diberti stars in a scathing look at a group of rural youths who share a Milan apartment-commune in order to combat the economic oppression of urban life. Giuseppe Rotunno's evocative camerawork brings a consistency of tone to even Wertmuller's most extreme indulgences, such as a slaughterhouse ballet, but many viewers will be left scratching their heads wondering what it all means. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Fellini's Roma is a virtually plotless autobiographical tribute to Rome, Italy, featuring narration by Fellini himself and a mixture of real-life footage and fictional set pieces. It flows from episode to episode, beginning with the director's early years arriving in Rome in 1931 during the time of Mussolini. Played by Stefano Mayore as a child, he visits the city with classmates and becomes infatuated. Played by Peter Gonzales at age 18, the young Fellini moves in to a tenement building and explores the wild characters living in neighborhood. The events that follow switch between the past and contemporary times, including a story line that involves a 1970s film crew making a movie about Rome. He also incorporates segments of Roman history and problems in the government, including an improvised speech from Gore Vidal. Throughout this journey there are visits to an outdoor restaurant, a movie theater, a music hall, and a brothel. In one famously surreal segment, groups of clergymen gather together for a Catholic fashion show spectacle. After a visit to a street festival and some on-camera interviews, the film concludes with shots of motorcycles driving by the Colosseum. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Britta Barnes, Federico Fellini, (more)
- 1970
The first Italian feature film shot in Moscow was directed by the renowned Vittorio De Sica and produced by Carlo Ponti. Sophia Loren stars as Giovanna, an Italian woman who marries Antonio (Marcello Mastroianni) 12 days before the outbreak of WWII. Antonio has no desire to fight in the conflict, and he fakes insanity to try to avoid the draft, but officials see through the charade. Antonio is sent to the Russian front, where the soldiers are plagued by freezing temperatures and short supplies of rations. He is found half-dead in the cold by a Russian peasant girl, Mascia (Lyudmila Savelyeva). She takes him in, and eventually, they marry. Giovanna waits in vain for word on the fate of her husband, who is officially declared missing in action. She goes to Russia to try to find him, searching records and cemeteries. Finally, she discovers first his new wife, then him, and reluctantly decides not to fight the situation. Returning home to Italy, she marries an older factory worker, Ettore (Germano Longo), and they have a son (who is played by the real-life son of Ponti and Loren). But Antonio still longs for Giovanna, and he returns to Italy to discuss a reconciliation with her. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1968
- Add Candy to Queue
In this big-budget adaptation of Terry Southern's satiric sex farce (the sort of project that could get an immediate green light in the late 1960's and at practically no other time before or since), Ewa Aulin is Candy, a sweet young woman who doesn't seem entirely aware of the powerful sexual desire she brings out in men. While her father (John Astin) and mother (Elsa Martinelli) try to keep Candy in line, the task proves to be all but impossible, as she's seduced by a remarkable variety of men in her journeys, including a booze-addled poet (Richard Burton), a mystical guru who lives on a truck (Marlon Brando), a gardener from Mexico (Ringo Starr), a fanatical military man who refuses to leave his plane (Walter Matthau), a pair of uncomfortably high-strung doctors (John Huston and James Coburn) and even her own uncle (Astin, again). The Byrds and Steppenwolf contributed songs to the soundtrack; the screenplay was written by Buck Henry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, (more)
Released in Europe as Histoires Extraordinaires and Tre Passi Nel Delirio, this is a portmanteau picture, comprised of three supernatural playlets based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. "Metzengerstein," directed by Roger Vadim, stars the director's then-wife Jane Fonda as a medieval woman prone to acts of vengeance. Her brother Peter Fonda is somewhat perversely cast as her cousin, for whom she holds incestuous yearnings. When he gives her the cold shoulder, she spitefully sets fire to his stable of horses. He is himself killed in the blaze, but it seems that he has been reincarnated as a horse. In "William Wilson," directed by Louis Malle, a sadistic Austrian officer (Alain Delon) commits various S&M misdeeds upon a variety of victims, including a woman (Brigitte Bardot) with whom he plays cards. The officer himself comes to grief when he finds that the Church will not allow him to say an act of contrition. And "Never Bet Your Head," directed by Federico Fellini, updates the Poe original by casting Terence Stamp as a self-indulgent movie star. Driving drunk one evening, the actor literally bets his head that he can escape a potentially fatal accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Stamp, Jane Fonda, (more)
