Venice Film Festival

Giuseppe Piccioni follows up on his 1999 opus Not of this World with this understated drama about fantasy and reality. The film centers on Antonio (Luigi Lo Cascio), a youngish chauffeur who is a model of professional promptness and courtesy. He also possesses a vivid inner world dominated by images of other worlds and other planets. A chance near-accident introduces him to Maria (Sandra Ceccarelli), a struggling single mother trying desperately to keep her frozen foods store afloat and to keep her daughter from being taken away from her by the child's grasping grandparents. Even though Maria is extremely suspicious of Antonio's intentions, the two form a slow tentative relationship. When he learns Maria's dire circumstances, he selflessly tries to intercede at the expense of his own career. Antonio makes quiet deals with the sleazy gangster (Silvio Orlando) to whom Maria owes money, drives the crime boss around on his various errands, and eventually participates in some of his shady dealings. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto and Venice Film Festivals. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

In the classic play by Tennessee Williams, brought to the screen by Elia Kazan, faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to visit her pregnant sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), in a seedy section of New Orleans. Stella's boorish husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), not only regards Blanche's aristocratic affectations as a royal pain but also thinks she's holding out on inheritance money that rightfully belongs to Stella. On the fringes of sanity, Blanche is trying to forget her checkered past and start life anew. Attracted to Stanley's friend Mitch (Karl Malden), she glosses over the less savory incidents in her past, but she soon discovers that she cannot outrun that past, and the stage is set for her final, brutal confrontation with her brother-in-law. Brando, Hunter, and Malden had all starred in the original Broadway version of Streetcar, although the original Blanche had been Jessica Tandy. Brando lost out to Humphrey Bogart for the 1951 Best Actor Oscar, but Leigh, Hunter, and Malden all won Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Noted Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein directed this darkly comic drama of love and murder. Coral Fabre (Regina Orozco) is an overweight, emotionally unstable nurse raising two children on her own. Coral is desperately lonely, and through a "Lonely Hearts" club, she begins corresponding with Nicolas Estrella (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). When Coral finally meets Nicolas, she decides that he resembles her favorite actor, Charles Boyer (at least when he wears his toupee) -- and is convinced that they were destined to be together. The fact that Nicolas stole Coral's money after spending the night together does nothing to dissuade her; she learns that Nicolas makes his living by finding rich women and, using his charm, taking their savings before abandoning them. Leaving her children with an orphanage, Coral joins Nicolas as his lover and partner in crime, posing as his sister as he continues his work. Nicolas finds Coral's passion for him exciting, but their amour fou turns deadly when Coral's all-consuming jealousy leads her to murder Nicolas' victims. Profundo Carmesi was based on the true story of American multiple murderers Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, which also inspired the film The Honeymoon Killers (1969). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Akira Kurosawa's epic tale concerns honor and duty during a time when the old traditional order is breaking down. The film opens with master samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) posing as a monk to save a kidnapped farmer's child. Impressed by his selflessness and bravery, a group of farmers begs him to defend their terrorized village from bandits. Kambei agrees, although there is no material gain or honor to be had in the endeavor. Soon he attracts a pair of followers: a young samurai named Katsushiro (Isao Kimura), who quickly becomes Kambei's disciple, and boisterous Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), who poses as a samurai but is later revealed to be the son of a farmer. Kambei assembles four other samurais, including Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), a master swordsman, to round out the group. Together they consolidate the village's defenses and shape the villagers into a militia, while the bandits loom menacingly nearby. Soon raids and counter-raids build to a final bloody heart-wrenching battle. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The rise and fall of one of the most important and controversial figures in Ireland's struggle for independence is chronicled in this biographical drama. In 1916, the British government ruled Ireland with a firm and cruel hand, as they had for 700 years. When a group of Irish rebels staged a six-day siege at Dublin's General Post Office, only one of the leaders was able to escape execution -- Eamon De Valera (Alan Rickman), an American citizen of Irish blood. A number of De Valera's followers are sent to prison, and one of them, Michael Collins (Liam Neeson), walked out of jail convinced that a new approach was needed to free his homeland from British rule. With his compatriot Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn), Collins formed the Irish Volunteers, who used a combination of terrorist violence and guerilla warfare to attack the British where their defenses were weakest, and employed espionage and a key inside informant (Stephen Rea) to learn what the British planned to do next -- and what they knew about Collins and his supporters. Collins' strategic skills and talent for warfare made a major impact on the British, and he became the hero of the new-born Republican Movement, which seemed to offer a real hope of freedom, despite the violent reprisals of the vicious paramilitary police, the Black and Tans. De Valera, however, was often in conflict with Collins in terms of the methods and approach of their struggle. Collins also found himself in a different sort of conflict with Boland when he fell in love with his girlfriend, a strong-willed advocate of Irish freedom named Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts). Eager to gain support for the Republican cause, De Valera sought economic and military support from the U.S.; when he returned, the Volunteers seemed to have finally won a real victory, as the British government announced that they were willing to formally negotiate with them. While Collins was once the radical and De Valera was the moderate, once negotiations began, Collins sought to end the violence that he saw killing so many young people and was willing to agree to a compromise that would create the Irish Free State. While the agreement would still leave final political control with the British, it would bring a greater self-determination to Ireland, and Collins believed that it was a crucial first step that could lead, in time, to true freedom for his people. De Valera, however, was strongly opposed to the treaty with Britian, and this led to violence among pro- and anti-treaty factions; soon Ireland's most loved leader was now branded a traitor by many of his countrymen. Michael Collins was voted Best Picture at the 1996 Venice Film Festival, and Liam Neeson was awarded the prize for Best Actor. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Much as he would later do with Shakespeare in Love (1998), writer Tom Stoppard delivered a tale of Shakespearean origin from a skewed and unexpected perspective. In this case, it's the perspective of two relatively minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth), courtiers who, in the original play, were dispatched offstage before the narrative's conclusion. In Stoppard's script (which he also directed), the two supporting players take center stage as the events unfold in Elsinore Castle. Unable to determine the source of the prince's tortured despair, the duo ponders the question of fate as their predetermined roles are played out. Meanwhile, they dabble in a little verbal tennis and some ill-advised science experiments, and endure the puzzling attentions of mysterious wandering thespians led by (Richard Dreyfuss). Ordered to accompany Hamlet (Iain Glen) to England, the pair learn that the letter they carry instructs that nation's king to decapitate their mentally unbalanced and irksome charge, a revelation that Hamlet overhears. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Acclaimed Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini drew on his own circus background for the 1954 classic La Strada. Set in a seedy travelling carnival, this symbolism-laden drama revolves around brutish strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn), his simple and servile girlfriend Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina, Fellini's wife), and clown/aerialist Matto (Richard Basehart). Appalled at Zampano's insensitive treatment of Gelsomina, the gentle-natured Matto invites her to run off with him; but Gelsomina, like a faithful pet, refuses to leave the strong man's side. Eventually Zampano's volcanic temper erupts once too often, leading to tragic consequences. Written by Fellini and Tullio Pinelli and scored by Nino Rota, La Strada was the winner of the first official Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film, awarded in 1956. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The British prime minister and the Royal Family find themselves quietly at odds in the wake of a national tragedy in this drama from director Stephen Frears. On August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died in an auto accident in Paris; despite the controversial breakup of her marriage to Prince Charles, she was still one of the most famous and best-loved women in the world, and the public outpouring of emotion over her passing was immediate and intense. However, given the messy circumstances of Diana's breakup with Charles, official spokespeople for the Royal Family were uncertain about how to publicly address her passing. It didn't take long for the media to pick up on the hesitation of Buckingham Palace to pay homage to Diana, and many saw this as a sign of the cool emotional distance so often attributed to the royals, which in this case was widely seen as an insult against Diana and the many people who loved her. Prime Minister Tony Blair (played by Michael Sheen) saw a potential public-relations disaster in the making, and took it upon himself to persuade Queen Elizabeth II (played by Helen Mirren) to make a statement in tribute to the fallen Diana -- an action that went against the taciturn queen's usual nature. The Queen was released the same year that Helen Mirren played Queen Elizabeth I in an acclaimed miniseries for British television; The Queen also gave Michael Sheen his second opportunity to play Tony Blair after portraying the prime minister in the television film The Deal. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Written and directed by Academy Award-nominee Mike Leigh and set in England during the 1950s, this movie revolves around Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton), whose unrelenting dedication to her family is well known throughout her blue-collar town. However, there are more people than her rapidly aging mother and ill neighbor who depend on Vera's care. Though abortion was illegal and, of course, widely frowned upon in the '50s, Vera sees women going through unwanted pregnancies the same as she would anyone else -- human beings deserving of treatment. With this in mind, she regularly induces miscarriages for those who need them, and her patients are consistently grateful for her gentleness and understanding. Unfortunately for Vera, the law doesn't see her as aiding those in need; they interpret the abortions as murder, as do most of the other people in her life. When Vera's activities are revealed, her family life and relationships with those around her -- including the ones she helped nurse back to health -- are put in jeopardy. Vera Drake also features performances from Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, and Philip Davis. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Maverick director Todd Haynes embraces the look and feel of classic Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s in this period drama. Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) and her husband, Frank (Dennis Quaid), are a seemingly perfect couple; living in a handsome suburban neighborhood in Hartford, CT, in 1957, Cathy and Frank have a beautiful home and two happy, healthy children, while Frank pursues a successful career in sales and Cathy cares for the home. But Cathy has begun to sense something isn't quite right in her marriage, as Frank begins working late, spending less time with her, and seems cold and distant. One day, Cathy visits Frank's work and discovers something she never expected -- her husband is kissing a man. At Cathy's urging, Frank undergoes psychotherapy, but as she tries to keep up a brave face, the emotional trauma takes a great toll on her, and she finds there are very few people she can talk with. Cathy strikes up a friendship with Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), an African-American gardener who works for the Whitakers, and as she discovers how intelligent and compassionate Raymond is, she finds herself drawn to him. However, Hartford is in many ways still a small town, and when Mona (Celia Weston) sees Cathy and Raymond alone together, it sets off a wave of vicious gossip that threatens to make the Whitakers' many secrets public knowledge. Far from Heaven premiered at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, where Julianne Moore's performance won the prize for Best Actress. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Loach follows up on his 2000 opus Bread and Roses about a Los Angeles janitors' strike with this drama about the privatization of British Rail. Set in South Yorkshire, the film opens with familiar British Rail sign being replaced with a shiny new one reading "East Midland Infrastructure." For a group of men working at a local train station, this subtle change ends up meaning that their lives have irrevocably changed. When they learn the grim details of this privatization, their chummy sense of community begins to splinter and fall apart. Under the new regime, the customer comes first. While on paper this sounds great, in reality this new arrangement is implemented haphazardly, resulting in bitter fighting and political backstabbing. Some from the old group take the company's severance package while others soldier on. This film was screened in the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Based on the 1969 short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, by Brian Aldiss, this science fiction fantasy bears similarities to Pinocchio (1940) and originated as a long-gestating project of director Stanley Kubrick that passed to his friend Steven Spielberg after Kubrick's death. Haley Joel Osment stars as David, a "mecha" or robot of the future, when the polar ice caps have melted and submerged many coastal cities, causing worldwide starvation and human dependence upon robotic assistance. The first mecha designed to experience love, David is the "son" of Henry (Sam Robards), an employee of the company that built the boy, and the grief-stricken Monica (Frances O'Connor). David is meant to replace the couple's hopelessly comatose son, but when their natural child recovers, David is abandoned and sets out to become "a real boy" worthy of his mother's affection. Along the way, David is mentored by a pleasure-providing mecha named Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) and a talking "super toy" bear named Teddy. His adventures take him to the Roman Circus-style "Flesh Fair," where mechas are destroyed for the amusement of humans; Rouge City, where Gigolo Joe narrowly avoids capture by police; and finally a submerged New York City, where David's creator, Professor Hobby (William Hurt) reveals the secrets of the boy's creation. Brendan Gleeson and narrator Ben Kingsley co-star in A.I., which was adapted from Kubrick's treatment by Spielberg, in his first crack at screenwriting since Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi