Sergio Rubini Movies

This entry in the Italian crime film cycle of the '70s presents an interesting take on the format. Emergency Squad seems unusually postmodern for its time because it places an equal amount of dramatic focus on its hero and its villain. The hero part is fulfilled by Ravelli (Tomas Milian), a cop consumed with the desire to get revenge on the crook who shot his wife to death during a robbery. The crook in question is Marseilles (Gastone Moschin), who is trying to assemble funds for his own retirement. As the revenge scenario moves toward the inevitable confrontation, Emergency Squad retains interest because it paints both leads in a complex fashion -- Ravelli's obsessive quest makes him as scary as he is sympathetic and the seemingly icy Marseilles reveals some surprisingly vulnerable sides to his character. Emergency Squad was the first of several Italian crime films for director Stelvio Massi, and star Tomas Milian would also become a mainstay of this genre. In 2005, Emergency Squad received a domestic DVD release from Mondo Macabro. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

A good idea is taken to the well one too many times in this routine comedy by Luciano Salce. Paolo Villaggio is Arturo, the bank teller of the title, and Catherine Spaak is his put-upon wife Elena. Arturo's problem is that he does not have enough money to keep his head above water and so that is his wife's problem too. The maid no longer works because she has not been paid in living memory, and Elena is forced to scrub the floors. Then Arturo brings in his mistress to shore up their finances. After he fails in his objective (she moves in but cannot help that much), Elena brings in her lover to help out. After he arrives, his wife also moves in with her lover. At that point, who is sleeping with whom becomes a question of mathematical complexity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In a routine drama about teen drug addiction, Antonio Morelli (Ben Gazzara) is a lawyer with good community standing who is overwhelmed when he discovers that his son has a heroin habit. Antonio lets his law practice slide, and he does everything he can to get his son off drugs -- but nothing works. Finally, in desperation he intentionally starts taking heroin himself in a risky effort to show his son what it looks and feels like from the other side of the fence. He can only hope this last-ditch effort achieves what nothing else could up to now. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In 1978, Italian politics were thrown into turmoil when the Christian Democratic president Aldo Moro was executed. This gripping political drama is based on American journalist Robert Katz's non-fiction book Days of Wrath and documents the convoluted chain of events that lead to Moro's death. Moro was the first politico to bring his country's political factions together in 40 years. His ordeal begins shortly after he is elected. He is en route to church with his five body guards when they are ambushed by radical communist terrorists, the Red Brigade. They quickly execute the body guards and spirit Moro to a hidden "people's prison' where he is interrogated. Neither Moro's Christian Democrats nor the newly reinstated Communists will deal or in any way acknowledge the Red Brigade. They do however engage in a massive search for the missing Moro. But the search is poorly organized and ineffectual. Meanwhile Moro is allowed to send letters to the government. He suggests that the Vatican be called in to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the terrorists, but the Vatican refuses. Instead, they make a formal plea for Moro's unconditional freedom. The government does little or nothing to help the president and Moro realizes that the organization he helped create has abandoned him. In desperation, he becomes sharply critical of the government that continues to stall while the Red Brigade becomes increasingly frustrated and impatient. Eventually they decide to kill Moro and later stuff his body in a red Renault which they parked between the Christian Democrat and the Communist headquarters. The Moro Affair or Il Caso Moro as it was known in Italy, was extremely popular in it's native country, but it also sparked considerable controversy for as the case unfolds, nagging doubts and holes arise that infer that perhaps the government had more of a hand in the assassination than the Red Brigade. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Giovanni (Sergio Rubini) is an Italian who travels to New York City in this uneven situation comedy. He is mugged as soon as he arrives and his electric guitar is stolen. After working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant, Giovanni lands a job teaching Italian in spite of his questionable command of the English language. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Station is about a peaceful, down-to-earth railroad clerk whose life is thrown into turmoil when a rich woman on the run from the fiancee she has just left arrives at his station. The two take off together, avoiding her fiancee, and eventually falling in love. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Their father (Barry Morse) is a wealthy, world-renowned painter, and he brought the three siblings (two sons and a daughter) up in lavish style. The three children have had a falling out over the years, as much due to their differing lifestyles as anything else. Gregorio (Carlo Verdone) is a radio disk jockey, freewheeling and not very conventional. Vanni (Sergio Rubini) is a very stiff-necked concert pianist, the soul of propriety. Finally, Livia (Francesca Neri) is used to being the center of attention and the toast of all men's eyes - which she hardly is for her brothers. In this domestic comedy, when these three individualist's father goes missing, they unite to find him and begin to work out their differences in a more amicable way than before. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Nastassja Kinski headlines this Italian romantic-tragedy which tells the story of a lonely man and a mysterious blonde amnesiac. The film is set in Milan. Tommaso has a slight physical disability and is very shy. One night upon returning home, he accidently hits a beautiful blonde woman who falls onto his doorstep with amnesia. At first Tommaso does not welcome her intrusion into his life, but then slowly, comes to love her. Unfortunately her memory returns and she returns to her previous life as the lover of Alberto, an aspiring major drug dealer. He is getting ready to field a major coke deal, but the blonde has other plans for Alberto. Tommaso pursues her and refuses to accept her rejection of him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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

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

Porzia, a beautiful and feisty aristocrat leaves her convent school when her wealthy, blue-blooded fiancé sends a small military regiment to bring her home for their wedding. Handsome Captain Palagano has been particularly charged with keeping the virginal lass safe and intact. The journey across the picturesque country starts off peacefully enough, but when brigands attack, only the girl and Bartolo, a humble coachman, are left alive. Determined to get her home, he and she make the rest of the trip on horseback. Though rude in manner and uneducated, Bartolo proves to be a loyal and courageous ally who sees Porzia through many adventures. This beautifully rendered costume drama offers chaste adventure and fun suitable for the entire family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Italian road comedy gets a jump-start when unemployed Dominico (Silvio Orlando) robs a bank, taking businessman Tommaso (Diego Abatantuono) hostage. Since debt-plagued Tommaso has a dead-end marriage, he takes advantage of the situation, leaking news of his abduction in a diversion tactic that sends police hunting in Switzerland. He then steers Domenico to Puglia, past plains of cactus, volcanic vistas, red cliffs, and salt fields. In Taranto, Tommaso romances Orfeo (Flavio Insinna), but the arrival of his daughter Rita (Valentina Cervi) creates problems for the secret lovers. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Darker undertones infiltrate this lightweight Italian romantic comedy, as a troubled young man's fancy turns to obsession and jealousy. While most of his friends are eagerly preparing to graduate from high school, Matteo realizes that his poor grades are going to hold him back unless he can devise a plan to radically alter his records. His buddy Piterone has the same problem. Matteo's depression lifts when he meets the free-spirited, slightly older artist Margherita and falls in love. She seems to return his affection, and the youth eagerly moves into her studio apartment. At first Matteo is happy, but as time passes, he begins discovering small signs around the place that imply that his beloved has not only had an active past love-life, but that she may also be cheating on him. The more things he finds, the more suspicious Matteo becomes, and when suspicion becomes paranoid obsession, his relationship with Margherita begins to crumble. At the same time, Matteo and Pietrone attempt a desperate ploy to change their grades, an action that brings the story to its climax. The feature-film debut of documentary and television director Gabriele Muccino, Ecco Fatto competed in the 1998 Turin Film Festival. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide