Gabriele Salvatores Movies

Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker Gabriele Salvatores (I'm Not Scared) returns to the helm for this feature film, based on the novel by best-selling author Niccolo Ammanniti and following the tale of an eleven year old boy and his neo-Nazi father. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Gabriele Salvatores' kidnapping drama lo Non Ho Paura (I'm Not Scared) is about a boy dealing with issues he cannot quite comprehend. While playing outside one day, nine-year-old Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) discovers Filippo (Mattia Di Perro), who is chained to the ground at the bottom of a hole. Michele witnesses town baddie Felice (Giorgio Careccia) nearby and suspects something bad is happening. Michele is unsure whom he should tell about his discovery, eventually spilling the beans to his closest friend. Michele's parents learn of his discovery and warn him to forget whatever he saw. I'm Not Scared was screened at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In this bizarre and darkly comic fantasy, Antonio (Sergio Rubini) is a man who was born with unusually large incisors; his freakishly huge teeth make him an outcast from his peers as a child, and he attempts more than once to break off the offending choppers. The emotionally fragile Antonio was further devastated at the age of 12 when his mother (Anouk Grinberg) died, and as a man, he's become obsessive and controlling in his relationships with women. Antonio is convinced that his girlfriend Mara (Anita Caprioli) has been unfaithful to him -- with her dentist (Tom Novembre), of course. After Antonio confronts Mara in a moment of anger, she responds with rage, and strikes him in the face with a large ashtray, breaking off one of his teeth. Antonio now must travel across the land, going from dentist to dentist in search of someone who can make a crown that will suit his extra-large smile. Denti was shown in competition at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A computer virus endows Solo (Diego Abatantuono), the hero of a virtual reality game, with human consciousness, thereby creating all kinds of headaches for his creator Jimi (Christopher Lambert). The trouble begins in the futuristic metropolis of Northern Agglomerate three days before Christmas. With little time left, video-game designer Jimi has no choice but to give his newest game, "Nirvana," to his powerful bosses. Unfortunately, the virus strikes just before the deadline. At first Solo doesn't know he is a graphic image, but when he finds out, he fervently pleads with Jimi to destroy every existent copy of the game so that he will not have to live the same sequence of events over and over for eternity. Jimi, vulnerable after the mysterious and sudden disappearance of his lover Lisa (Emmanuelle Seigner), agrees to honor Solo's wishes, but is unable to simply erase the program because his every move, on and off the job, is monitored by a giant, Orwellian computer. He therefore takes off for the Arab quarter and enlists the aid of two hackers, Joystick (Sergio Rubini), an expert at sabotaging databases, and Naima (Stefania Rocca), a woman with the skills to destroy the prototype of the computer game. With the company's henchmen hot on their heels, the threesome set off on a colorful journey through real and virtual worlds to destroy Solo before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Mario (Diego Abatantuono) is a gentle soul living in a big Italian city. He works as a bank teller. When his bank is robbed for the umpteenth time, and he sees yet another policeman killed, he throws in the towel on city life, and attempts to get away from it all by fleeing to a small town in Mexico. In this comedy, instead of getting away from the complications of big city life by moving to a backwater, he finds himself even more deeply embroiled in them. Things come to a head when he cop-killer he saw in Italy also winds up in Mexico. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Gabriele Salvatores' antiwar story Mediterraneo is set during World War II on a seemingly deserted island in the middle of the Aegean Sea. After their ship is sunk by the British, a unit of Italian soldiers finds refuge on the island, where they soon realize that the area is not deserted after all--its citizens have merely gone into hiding after believing they were under German attack; indeed, the Germans have already imprisoned all of the village's young men. As the brigade of soldiers, led by one Lt. Montini (Claudio Bigagli), becomes ingrained into island life, they begin repainting the church's frescoes, starting soccer teams, even finding romance. Time passes until an Italian pilot (Antonio Catania) touches down on the island, and relates the news of the world since the soldiers' arrival in 1941. Ultimately, a British rescue party comes for the soldiers, bringing with them the men who were captured by the Germans years before. Four decades later, Montini returns, re-joining the few other men who could not bring themselves to leave their island refuge. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

When Teresa (Cristina Marsillach), an old school chum from ten years before, shows up at his house, Marco (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) lets her in. She wants him to help her get hold of $20,000 to pay off a Moroccan judge to get her boyfriend Rudy (another old school chum) out of jail. Somehow, this story plays on his heartstrings, and instead of kicking her out, he contacts other old chums from the period. The whole gang reunites with Teresa and Marco, at first revealing, then shedding their grown-up identities. After raising the money, they all travel to Morocco to spring their comrade. Along the way, they smoke a lot of dope and relive old times. When Teresa apparently runs off with the money (and Rudy), they get hold of some bicycles and try and track them down. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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