Baarìa (2009)

After succeeded with Cinema Paradiso, Malèna, The Unknown Woman; it was time for director Giuseppe Tornatore to make the movie about his homeland: Baarìa (=Sicilian slang for Bagheria, a town in Palermo, Italy). I must say that after watching his other great works, Baarìa was not as good as I had expected. The opening scene - which showing a little boy being sent to buy a pack of cigarettes and ended up flying above the town – and the ending scene – showing another little boy (the first boy’s father) wake up in class’s corner, got out to find the town had changed a lot and crossed path with the first boy – seemed ridiculous and a bit confusing. Tornatore did mention that the movie was a comedy.

Peppino (Francesco Scianna) sending his love to his lover

We followed the story of Peppino Torrenuova, who lived with his father Cicco, his older brother Nino, and his mother. The story started at the time when Italy was under Mussolini’s reign. Little Peppino worked with Nino in a plantation, then became a shepherd. The injustice done to his father by a rich landowner made him joined the communist party. He married his girlfriend Mannina, although the girl’s parents didn’t like him because he was poor. To them – and also to Peppino’s children later – Peppino was not doing a real work. Only years later, Peppino could get an important place in the communist party and he hoped for a better Italy for his children.

The story had many interesting characters, they were souvenirs from the director’s memories. I am not sure what was wrong, perhaps the movie needed more screentime because the scenes changed and jumped from one another quite fast. It was about 2 hours and 20 minutes long though – which was quite long, so perhaps it needed more focus on certain things and things which were unimportant could have been cut out.

An American soldier gives Mannina a parachute. What for?

It can make clothes for a lot of kids.

The director didn't forget to include this tribute for Cinema Paradiso.

L'innocente (1976)

I've seen several movies by director Luchino Visconti and although the art in those movies are excellent, mostly they are, for me, very slow. So far only Rocco and His Brothers which I thought very captivating - for it's very dramatic. Now I have added L'innocente to this list. L'innocente is the last movie by Visconti, and he had died before the premiere.

L'innocente tells about rich aristocrat Tullio Hermil (played wonderfully by Giancarlo Giannini), who has an affair with widow Teresa Raffo (Jennifer O'Neill). This affair is publicly known, and his wife Giuliana (Laura Antonelli) can only accept it. Tullio can even discuss his mistress with his wife and tell her to stay silent in order to avoid further scandal. In her loneliness, she cannot resist the charm of writer Filippo d'Arborio (Marc Porel), who is brought to the house by Tullio's brother. Tullio is suspicious that his wife has an affair and he tries to win her back. The day after their reunion as husband and wife, Tullio learns that Giuliana is 2 months pregnant. He knows he is not the father. He contacts his brother so he can meet Filippo, but his brother tells him that Filippo is gravely ill.

Tullio himself has an affair, but he cannot accept if his wife is infidel. He perhaps can forgive her if she doesn't carry a souvenir from her affair. Tullio tries to kill the baby before it is born. To protect the baby, Giuliana pretends that she also hates the baby - and this proves to be fatal, because it gives Tullio encouragement to murder the baby, the innocent. Tullio can never win Giuliana back for his two rivals are dead.

Teresa is also not faithful to Tullio. She has another suitor, to whom she often makes promises. Tullio is not faithful, yet he demands his wife and his mistress to be faithful to him.

Estate violenta (1959)

Violent Summer, one of Zurlini's earliest works, for me is more preferable than 'Girl With A Suitcase'. Set in 1943, it's about 2 lovers who fall in love at the wrong time- with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Eleonora Rossi Drago. All 3 Zurlini films I've seen all star exceptionally beautiful women: Eleonora Rossi Drago in Violent Summer, Claudia Cardinale in Girl With A Suitcase, and Sonia Petrovna in La Prima Notte di Quiete. What I like about Zurlini's works, is that they are not difficult to understand, the theme is interesting - with not-to-slow pace. Also, as I made screen-captures for this blog, I could see how beautiful the photography was.

Carlo is younger than Rosanna [Jean-Louis Trintignant is 5 years younger than Eleonora Rossi Drago], a 30 year-old widow of a soldier with a daughter; and he is a son of a fascist, whom Rosanna's mother dislikes. To make the matter more complicated, Carlo has a girlfriend, who of course wants to keep Rosanna away from him. All this is situated when the country is in chaos because of the political situation, yet they manage to live like it's all never happening. Carlo has been avoided his military duty, with the help of his father's influence. With the change of situation, his father flees, Carlo cannot hide anymore and must report himself. However, Rosanna persuades him to ignore his duty and go with her to her villa, when on their way the train is bombed. Then their eyes are opened with the horror of war - how they cannot escape anymore. I think when Rosanna sees the dead girl, she must be thinking of her own daughter, whom she has left -without any message- in order to be with Carlo.

The last scenes, the bombing of the train is very haunting and well made. Very impressing because it's made in 1959 and Zurlini was not a big name at that time.

La ragazza con la valigia (1961)

Girl with a Suitcase is my 2nd Zurlini film. Like The Professor, it tells about a love story with an unhappy ending. The theme reminds me of Giuseppe Tornatore's Malèna, where an adolescent falls in love with an older woman.

16 year old Lorenzo (played by a very young Jacques Perrin) finds the beautiful Aida (Claudia Cardinale) in front of his front door, carrying a suitcase, looking for a man named Marchiori, who has abandoned her. Knowing that the man she wants is his own brother, who has given her a false name, Lorenzo decides to help her, to right what his brother has done wrong. He puts her in a hotel and gives her money, and during all the time falls in love with her. Lorenzo's teacher warns Aida that what they both have been doing is not right, because Lorenzo has given her money which is not his. Aida leaves and looks for Piero (most likely her ex lover), who has promised to give her a job, but Piero turns her out. Piero's cousin seems keen to help her, but Aida soon finds that he has something else in mind. Lorenzo comes, picks up a fight with Piero's cousin, and Lorenzo and Aida flee to a beach.

There are some captivating moments, like when Aida meets Piero in a station, with Lorenzo following them, trying to hear what they are talking about. To prevent her to go with him, Lorenzo tells her that he knows where Marchiori is. Later we see Aida breaks down and tells Lorenzo about her past, that she has a son.

The story flows very well and we learns about Aida from Lorenzo's point of view. The scene on the beach is very beautiful, and it's when we see that Aida does love Lorenzo, even though only a little.

Don Camillo Box Set

I was wrong to buy the region 1 Don Camillo box set from Koch Lorber, because later I found out that in France there were a box set contained 6 movies. I didn't know that the French box set actually had English subtitles. I put it in my wish list, but as I was saving money, it was sold out. Fortunately, another one was coming out, but this one only contained 5 movies. It was okay as I learned that the 6th movie didn't star Fernandel as Don Camillo.

So I end up with this box set from Studio Canal. Another difference from Koch Lorber box set, is that in the first 3 movies: Le petit monde de Don Camillo, Le retour de Don Camillo, and La grande bagarre de Don Camillo; English subtitles only come with the French audio version. The Italian audio version comes with French subtitles.

I love Don Camillo movies (and books). As I have written when I wrote about the first 2 movies, this Catholic priest and the Communist mayor both have good and bad side in them. They dislike each other, but cannot leave without each other; like in the end of La Grande Bagarre de Don Camillo when Peppone wins the deputy election and is ready to leave the little town. Don Camillo is more sad than happy to see his enemy going away.

I see many recent movies with many dialogues yet they are empty. The writers have worked hard to please producers, to get the scripts bought and made into movies; but for me the words are meaningless, like they are fabricated and false. It's different with Don Camillo's movies. I read how people say the sequels of Don Camillo movies are not as good as the first, but when I watched the 3rd (La grande bagarre de Don Camillo) I really enjoyed it. I am not sure if it's because in the credits it says that the writer of Don Camillo books Giovanni Guareschi himself wrote the script. [I jumped immediately for the 3rd as I had watched the 1st and 2nd from Koch Lorber.]

If I have a less preference among the 5 movies, it's Don Camillo en Russie, which I think doesn't have many plots as the other 4.

La Strada (1954)

La Strada (in English it means 'The Road') is one of the movies which is hard to forget once you have seen it. The story is about a traveling artist, Zampano (Anthony Quinn), a big man with lungs of steel. He entertains the crowds by breaking 6 mm iron chains by expanding his chest. He buys Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) from her mother, teaches her to play a drum and a trumpet; in short: to be his assistant. He treats her harshly. They later join a circus, where Zampano is provoked by The Fool (Richard Basehart), who likes to tease him. They both are dismissed from the circus. When Zampano meets The Fool again, he accidentally kills him, and this shocks Gelsomina - because The Fool had persuaded her to stay with Zampano when she wanted to leave him. She was so shaken that she cannot work again, so Zampano abandons her. Yet years later he breaks down when he learns about her death.

I have several Fellini's works and except for 'Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio' I don't like them. For me, although they are very well made, the stories have nothing special. They are about every day life, mostly about moral degradation. The plot in La strada is much more interesting.

Giulietta Masina, who played Gelsomina, was amazing. Gelsomina is a strange character. She is like a child: she doesn't hide anything, she tells the truth, and her feelings are like an open book. She has a big smile, which makes me think that she is not right in the head. Actually I thought she might have been one of the unprofessional actresses, an unknown face, who were often used in Italian cinema after WW2. Her acting was unique. I was surprised to know that she was the director's wife. She really deserved her many awards for Best Actress.

Anthony Quinn played well, too. His face showed a hard expression: a serious brute who likes to beat women. Yet there was something in him that made Gelsomina love him. I was thinking that 'At least he is honest. He doesn't steal.' and the next second, he tried to make Gelsomina steal silver hearts for him. Zampano's love for Gelsomina is hard to read, he has troubles to communicate (and she does, too. She is like a child.). It's an unusual love story.

Blow-Up (1966)

Having seen one work of Michelangelo Antonioni before, I prepared myself to enjoy this without trying to understand.

David Hemmings plays Thomas, a photographer in London who likes to bark to his models, thinking he is above them. One afternoon he photographs 2 lovers in Maryon Park, but the woman (Vanessa Redgrave) chases him and tells him that she wants the negative. This makes Thomas curious so he gives her another roll. After he blowups the pictures, he thinks he has photographed a murder. The enlarged, distorted pictures show a gunman and the body. Thomas goes to the park that night to find that the body is still there, but when he returns to his apartment, the pictures are gone.

I guess in the end it's better for Thomas to forget the whole thing because now he has no proof. The body has gone when he returns to the park again in the morning. Another new day comes and let's forget the past. It's symbolized in a scene when Thomas sees a group of mime artists watching their friends playing tennis with an imagining ball. No ball, but the players and the audience all enjoy the game.

There is an interesting scene when Thomas spots the mysterious woman (Redgrave) on his way to find his friend that night. He tries to find her by entering into a concert of The Yardbirds. The guitarist goes mad because the sound system goes wrong, and he breaks his guitar and throws the neck to the audience who goes wild. Thomas wins and runs out, chased by a mob. Outside the building, when he is no longer chased, he throws away the guitar's neck. This time the relic is seen as a trash - none wants it.

Seven Beauties (1975)

The original Italian title is Pasqualino Settebellezze or Pasqualino Seven Beauties. The central character, Pasqualino Frafuso, is called Pasqualino Seven Beauties, because, as he tells his friend Francesco, "I'm ugly, but in spite of my looks I appealed to women. People would say: it's unbelievable; he's repulsive, he must have the Seven Beauties."

Giancarlo Giannini is very good as Pasqualino, although I wasn't happy with this movie's editing. I just read at IMDb that the ratio of film shot to film used in the final cut was 50 to 1, so now I understand and that I hoped the movie was longer. From one scene to the next is not really clear, like in the mental asylum, we see him raping a patient bound on a bed, then jump to the next scene when he is sprayed with water, then put in to a straitjacket. Only after a while, I grasped the meaning that he has been caught.

Pasqualino is the only son in the family, but he doesn't work like his sisters. The family's bread winner is the eldest sister, who is unfortunately a prostitute. Pasqualino kills her pimp, who is also her lover. There is a funny scene when he is advised on how to get rid of the body. He is caught, sent to jail, and after pretending to be mad, he is moved to a mental asylum, where he commits sexual assault. The doctor agrees to let him free if he joins the army. He does join, but later abandon his post (i.e. desertion), and caught by Nazi Germans and sent to a camp. To survive, he seduces the female commandant.

It's hard to believe this story, especially the part in the German camp. The prisoners live in terror because for the Nazi soldiers, the prisoners's life is unworthy - and that killing them is like killing pests. Yet in this horror, we see Pasqualino whistles to woo the big, fat, cold commandant. "A woman is a woman, even one who is an evil person. A bit of sugar is always there," he says.

However, Seven Beauties is more a comedy than a drama, therefore it's okay if the plot is rather absurd - although there are also dramatic scenes as this is a story of survival. In the hell of the camp, where people want to die (like Pasqualino's 2 close friends), Pasqualino will do anything to live. The cinematography is wonderful and I like very much photography of the forest, where Pasqualino and Francesco hide after deserting.

Le notti bianche (1957)

Two years ago I saw clips from Le notti bianche in a RAI documentary about Luchino Visconti and at that time thought that the movie seemed boring. However as I had collected several Visconti works on DVD and it happened that last month this movie was on 50% discount, I thought I would try to watch it because in it there was Maria Schell, whom I thought was great in Gervais.

I just finished watching the movie and I must say that I like it very much. It's a beautiful story in a beautiful setting. It's about dream and hope.

On his way home, Mario sees a girl crying on a bridge. He offers if he can takes her home, thus begins a friendship between them. They promise to meet again the next night, then she tells him that she has been waiting for her lover, who has promised to meet her on that bridge. Her name is Natalia and her lover was a tenant in her house. One night the tenant took her, her grandmother, and her servant to an opera; and the next day he told her he was going away and that he would be back in a year. Mario thinks Natalia is crazy, for during the one year there is not any news from the tenant. "We agreed not no write to each other," she says. Mario tells her to stop waiting and ask her to learn to love him instead.

But who is dreaming? Who is having a false hope? Mario or Natalia? Among all the movie I have seen, this is certainly one of the most romantic. In the end, as the white snow falls, it seems that a new hope is born - as it turns out, but only for one of them.

Marcello Mastroianni usually plays annoying characters, but in this one, I really sympathize with his character. I wanted Mario to live happily ever after with Natalia and that the tenant never came.

The Return of Don Camillo (1953)

This is the sequel to Don Camillo. The bishop has moved Don Camillo to a remote village after hearing that the priest quarrels too often with the mayor. Both Don Camillo and Peppone, the Communist mayor, are not happy with the arrangement; because their days are empty without their adversary. The townspeople are also not happy with the new priest, plus there is a new problem: the mayor wants to built a dam, but the landowner refuses to give up his land. Peppone then asks Don Camillo to return to persuade the landowner, but he makes sure that when the priest returns, no one greets him at the station. Not only he has given wrong train schedule to the people, Peppone also holds a boxing match - so there is really no one at the station.

Don Camillo playing slide with the mayor's son
What I really like in this movie, is how the clock at the Citizen's Center and the church clock are always different. The mayor and the priest are rarely in agreement, that their clocks also strike not on the same time - the victims here are, of course, the townspeople, that some of them are always late or early. The movie closed with a flood, which ends the fight between the mayor and the landowner; and with the priest, they must stand together for a better future.

Matrimonio all'italiana (1964)

This is a funny movie from director Vittorio De Sica, with 2 great Italian actors, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Is this really a marriage, Italian style? Italy is a Catholic country and I imagine (never gone there) most of the people surely don't live this way. I bear in mind that 3 years previously, Mastroianni was in a movie called 'Divorce - Italian style'. The story spans in 20 years and in the background we can see changes in Italy.

Domenico (Mastroianni) is about to marry, sell his restaurant, and move to Rome (the story is set in Naples); when he receives the news that his mistress Filumena (Loren) is about to die. Domenico is a bit forced to marry her on her death bed, but soon after the priest left, Filumena gets up and it seems she still has many years to live. Domenico met Filumena in a brothel when she was only 17, during WW2. He came and go every 6 - 12 months and later moved her to an apartment. He also introduced her to his mother, but as a servant's niece. Filumena was angry when he was about to marry his new cashier and set a trap for him to marry her instead. Domenico sues her for trapping him into the marriage, and he wins. Then Filumena tells him that she has 3 sons, and one of them is his. But which one?

Illiterate Filumena signs her name

Filumena loves Domenico from the first sight and she dreams that one day he will free her from the brothel and marry her. He does free her, but does not marry her. He looks down on her as in his eyes she is always Filumena the prostitute, but he always comes back to her. She is so happy when he says he will present her to his mother, but the happiness turns sour because he is ashamed to tell the truth to his mother. Filumena takes care of his business - because he travels a lot - and looks after his sick mother; yet Domenico shares his heart and body with many women. However she still loves him, so at last she tells him about his son - whom if she told him many years before he must have told her to kill. She gives him a clue to help him find which son is his, but he cannot remember. She says: "It was the evening when you said 'Let's pretend to love each other.' You pretended, but I didn't. When you left you gave me the usual 100 lire. I wrote the date on it. When you were back 9 moths later I was pregnant, so you were told I was sick and I had gone up in the country. I return the money to you now. (but she tears the part when she wrote the date) One does not pay for children." He asks her: "What suit did I wear? What shoes?" and she answers: "What sort of person are you? You remember year and day of a pair of shoes."

There are 2 flashbacks, one by Domenico and one by Filumena. The fights between Domenico and Filumena are more a comedy, but when the sons appear the plot is turned into a drama. She has never told the boys that she is her mother. They know her face for she have visited them a lot. They have heard her name and stories about her. Will they accept her? This ends with a happy ending in a moving scene, and we all also happy because throughout the movie we sympathize with Filumena. She deserves the happy ending.

Don Camillo (1952)

This movie reminds me how I like French movies between 50's - 60's. I read that this is not the best work from director Julien Duvivier, yet it's so easy to like this movie. This and 'Le diable et les dix commandements' are my favourites. The dialogues make me giggle and the way it was made, watching this movie is like reading a book with its chapters.

Great French actor Fernandel plays Don Camillo, a parish priest in a little town in North Italy. In the beginning of Summer 1946, the Communists win the mayoral election and Peppone (played by Italian actor Gino Cervi) becomes the new major. At first Don Camillo - Peppone seems like enemies, but both are basically good hearted; so although they always compete with each other - either in building a citizen's center and a city park or in a football match, they actually care for each other. Don Camillo is not a perfect priest: he is hot headed and ready to fight if needed; luckily he has Jesus on his side who gives him useful advices - and yes, in this movie they really have conversations, like this one:
Don Camillo : None of the new councilmen know anything at all. The illiterate are directing town affairs.
Jesus : It's the heart that counts, not the grammar.

Look! There is a priest racing!

The Conformist (1970)

I think The Conformist is more beautiful than 1900. There are so many beautiful shots here, especially the outdoor scenes in Paris, the dancing, and the blowing leaves when Marcello and his mother get out of the car.

Set in 1938, the story centers around Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), who works for the Fascist government to atone the murder he has done when he was a child. "Everyone wants to be different from the others, but you want to be the same like everyone else," Italo remarks about Marcello. Marcello doesn't want to be different, because there will be less risk if he is the same as everyone else. The movie begins with Marcello and Manganiello, his colleague, follow Professor Quadri, their target, and his wife Anna. Marcello wants to save Anna, whom he loves, but Manganiello says it is too late. We then follow Marcello's life in a series of flashbacks.

In order to be the same like everyone else, apart from working for the Fascist government, Marcello marries a silly middle class girl; although according to the priest whom he gives confession to, Marcello's definition of "a normal life" is different. Marcello receives an order to assassinate his former professor, an anti-Fascist, who lives in exile in Paris. Taking his new wife to Paris for honeymoon, Marcello makes an appointment with Professor Quadri, meets his wife Anna, and falls in love with her. He almost aborts the mission and asks her to elope, but she refuses. He still tries to save her by begging her not to go with her husband to the villa in the mountain, where the mission will be launched.

The Legend of 1900 (1998)

From director Giuseppe Tornatore, came this movie about a man who spent his entire life on a ship. Abandoned as a baby on a piano, he is raised by a worker from the ship's boiler room. People call him: Nineteen hundred, taken from the year he was found. Having no papers, he never leaves the ship. Then he shows that he has a great talent in music and becomes the ship's piano player. He is very well-known that Jelly Roll Morton of New Orleans jazz fame (brilliantly played by Clarence Williams III) challenges him to a duel, which is one of the best scenes in this movie. 1900 wins, of course. Only one thing he cannot do: to leave his home, the ship.

Tim Roth plays 1900. I like the scene when he first appears: sea-sick Max (Pruitt Taylor Vincence, whose eyes never seem on focus, I think) comes into the ballroom and 1900 plays the piano to make him forget his sickness. It's a wonderful scene, the piano and the two men happily gliding around the room, with the stormy sea outside. With his talent, 1900 can also guess people's personalities (and compose their soundtracks). He makes rich and poor people happy with his piano playing, as depicted when he plays, not only in the ballroom, but also for the immigrants.


The movie begins with Max, who is selling his trumpet in a second-hand store. He plays it for the last time and the store-owner is struck by the song. He has the record, found inside a used piano. It was broken in pieces, but has been mended. Max then tells him the story of 1900 and the meaning of the beautiful song, which is the only one recorded by 1900, the first and only time he falls in love.

La sconosciuta (2006)

Last night I watched La sconosciuta (a.k.a. The Unknown Woman), a wonderful drama thriller by director Giuseppe Tornatore. This movie is a brilliant piece of writing and directing. After 45 minutes watching it, there was still a big question mark in my head: what was going on? What was she after? The hints were given, little by little, from the start until it completed in the end, that the central character, Irena (Xenia Rappoport), suffered trauma from her dark past. the movie starts with Irena looking for a job and she becomes a house-keeper in a family who has a little daughter named Thea. Irena makes a perfect house-keeper and Thea loves her, but something from Irena's past won't let her go.

I like how the family Adacher is portrayed in the movie. The relationship among the 3 members seem real, unlike the ideal family usually depicted in American family movies. The porter makes an interesting character, because if we desperately look for a job, a question of commission must not be forgotten. The most interesting is of course the relationship between Irena and little Thea, from the bad first impression, until how Thea comes to love her.

I kept thinking of 'The Hand that Rocks The Cradle' when I began watching this and thought that perhaps Irena went into the Adacher family to harm Thea, but this is a different movie. Irena's way is wrong (I'm especially referring to what she did to Gina), but we sympathize with her and we pity her. I have never seen Xenia Rappoport before, so she makes the perfect 'Unknown Woman' to me.


The most surprising moment, I think, is when Gina says, "Why do you always make me sign?" My favourite scene is when Irena is almost caught out by the porter, because I always like when the screen is divided in 2 (see picture).

My opinion below contains spoilers and can be read by highlighted it.
Although Irena finds out that Thea is not her daughter, the end of the movie shows that she finds her lost children in her and Thea loves Irena like she loves a mother, and this pays back all Irena's sufferings.

Big Guns Collection

This DVD from Pop Flix contains 5 Italian action movies at a very good price.

1. Big Guns (1973)
I have actually had the French DVD from Fox Pathé already, but after considering that I could get 4 more movies, and the price was great as well, why not? Comparing the 2, the one from Fox Pathé has better picture quality, but it's more expensive, so I will not complain. My French is actually very bad, but the sound from Fox Pathé DVD is much clearer than the English dialogues from this one. One scene is missing from the English version: when Sandra is being beaten at Tony's hotel room. Perhaps it's cut off because they think it's too violent (I think so, too. Poor Sandra.). On the other hand, one scene is missing from the French version: a police follows Tony when he's out from the hotel in Milan, buys flowers, and go to the cemetery. We only see Tony sees the bed, walk out the room, and the next scene shows he has arrived at the cemetery. Notes of places and dates are missing from the English version. Another difference is when Domenico (Marc Porel) is about to die. I like the French version better where he says, "You can kill me now." (after they forced him to tell the name of the hotel & room number in Milan where Tony stays) - and no scream. He dies like a real man. In the English version he says, "What else do you need from me?" and then he screams when they are killing him.

2. Violent Professionals (1973)
The sound is very bad that I could not understand most of the dialogues. If only there were English subtitles! I can excuse the bad quality of picture, but bad sound is unforgivable. Luc Merenda plays a police-officer whose superior is murdered by a organized crime ring and he infiltrates it to find who behind his boss's death. I have never seen Richard Conte in a fight scene before.

3. Long Arm of the Godfather (1972)
They should have made the title of the movie shaped like a long arm instead of three white balls. I was relieved that only Violent Professional has bad sound. Young Vincenzo bravely (and stupidly!) steals Don Carmelo's truck full of arms. I used to think that all 'Godfathers' cared more about loyalty than money, but in this movie, Don Carmelo more concerns about the money. He should have killed Vincenzo at the first opportunity. Amazingly, Vincenzo wins, although it doesn't mean that in the end he doesn't lose anything.

4. Magnum Cop (1977)
Maurizio Merli plays a private detective who is looking for a missing girl. He follows the trail to Austria where he meets a mother whose daughter is dead. The 2 things are connected and will lead him to a children prostitution ring. Some dialogues are funny. Also starring is Joan Collins.

5. Emergency Squad (1974)
Only this and Big Guns has good picture quality in the DVD. Tomas Milian plays the hero, a cop who doesn't hesitate to kill the culprit. It begins with a robbery in the street. The robbers pretend to be actors that people on the street think they are watching a film making, so no one raise an alarm until it is too late. Tomas (Milian) finds that the bullet which has killed the guard is from the same gun that killed his wife 5 years ago. Meanwhile, on the run, the robbers have themselves killed one by one, leaving only Tomas's wife's murderer and his beautiful girlfriend. Apart from Big Guns, this is the best among the 4 (could be of the good picture quality...)

All have nice music soundtrack which made me remember how I used to enjoy my father's old soundtrack tapes from the 70's.

Pane e tulipani (2000)

I'd never heard of this movie before and was interested because of its many good reviews. I saw it won awards, too. However, having watching it, I think that I put too much hope on this. The movie is nice, but not as good as I had expected.

It's about a clumsy housewife, Rosalba (Licia Maglietta) -at first I did sympathize with her-, who is left by her family during a group tour because she was too long in the bathroom. She doesn't wait as her husband has instructed, but hitchhikes a car to go home, and ends up in a town she has never visited before: Venice. She befriends a gloomy restaurateur (who doesn't hesitate to praise his rival's cooking) and stays at his apartment, makes friends with his neighbour, a masseuse, and his daughter-in-law and grandson. She also finds a job in a flower shop, whose owner has witty remarks. Meanwhile, her husband, feels humiliated left by his wife (although she sends him letters and postcards from time to time) hires a plumber as a detective to find her.

I never understand the reason Fernando wants to kill himself. I think the grandson makes him happy. Also mysterious is how can he find her at the parking lot of the supermarket. Sure, Rosalba is happier in Venice, where she is more appreciated than in her own family's home. There dinner together seems cold and nobody cares what she thinks. Not only Rosalba and Fernando find happiness, but also the detective, who can be free from his mother, and the masseuse, who finds her true love.

1900 (1976)

I had seen The Last Emperor and Stealing Beauty, works by great director Bernardo Bertolucci. Both movies didn't impress me much. I almost fell asleep watching The Last Emperor in theatre years ago, after it won Academy Awards' The Best Picture, and was still bored when I watched it again 2 - 3 months ago. Last night I tried another work of him, 1900, an epic about 2 Italian men. It's 5 hours long, but I finished it in one sitting.


1900 is a great movie and it's one of the best Italian movies I've ever seen. There are so many beautiful scenes here and I praise the director and the cinematographer. The picture above is the scene which I think the most beautiful, where Olmo catches Ada with his net. The location and the colour is wonderful. The DVD is great. Often great movies are ruined by bad quality of the DVD.

Bertolucci himself prefers to call the movie 'Novecento' (the 20th century). The synopsis is as follows: In the year of 1900, Olmo and Alfredo, are born on the same day. Olmo is a bastard son of a farmer, while Alfredo is the son of the rich landowner. They become friends, but as time goes by, Olmo becomes a socialist, while Alfredo a fascist. To underline the life of farmers, the director depicts the movie in 4 parts: the summer of happy childhood, the autumn of adolescence, the fascist winter, and the spring of liberation. The change of times, from the beginning of 20th century when landowners are very rich and powerful, until the liberation day in April 1945, when the farmers can hold a trial against their landowner, is well told; plus an epilogue where both Olmo and Alfredo, now 80 years old, play like little children again.

The cast are excellent, led by Robert De Niro and Gérard Depardieu. I never thought Donald Sutherland could be so evil. Meanwhile, Laura Betti's laughter is very like a witch's. I also like the lovely soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. I am familiar with that tune and now I know which movie it came from.

Una pura formalità (1994)

After watching Cinema Paradiso and Malèna, I look forward to see more works from director Giuseppe Tornatore. I saw a clip from Una pura formalità, a short scene where Roman Polanski and Gérard Depardieu went through a pile of old photos on the desk (can't really remember where, perhaps one of the extras from Cinema Paradiso DVD.). That time I thought that the movie must be boring. I was completely wrong. This movie, on the surface, was like a play where most of the scenes happened in one same place, but a play, imo, is when the actors shout to each other (so the audience can hear them better); and in this one, I didn't feel like watching a play.

I was surprised to find that Una pura formalità was not boring at all and almost 2 hours ran so fast. Gérard Depardieu runs in the middle of a storm and is caught by a group of police. He cannot give them any ID and is taken to the police station, a rotten place which leaks every where. The Inspector won't let him call anyone. He tells the inspector that he is Onoff, the famous writer, whom the inspector happens to adore. However, he seems to forget what he has been doing the day before and his story to the inspector keeps changing. Finally, the inspector tells him that there has been a murder nearby and that he is their prime suspect. "Is it possible to kill and not remember?" Onoff asks himself. He feels like a trapped rat in the device he sees in the police's wardrobe.

As the interrogation goes, the audience is taken to the murder scene and shown the victim. The ending is a shock and we will see that this is really a pure formality of the cinema.

Sophia Loren 4-film Collection

Like Catherine Deneuve 5-film Collection Boxset, the cover of the DVD is also made of thick plastic, but the red colour for this Sophia Loren boxset is much more charming.



1. Carosello napoletano (1954)
This is a beautiful musical consists of many stories, linked by a traveling family. I guess the songs are from or about Napoli, judging from the title. It's a well made movie with lovely costumes and sets. My favourite part happens to be around when Sophia Loren appears, along with the trio. I never knew that 3 + 7 = 27 can sound very nice. It's so funny when Sisina breaks up with her boyfriend and they ask everything they have given to each other back.

2. Attila (1954)
This is the worst among the 4 in the collection, imo. Anthony Quinn plays Attila, leader of the Huns who almost destroys the Roman empire. Rome is ruled by the weak Valentinianus, but his ambitious sister Honoria (Loren) offers her hand to Attila, promising him the empire as dowry. Nothing can stop Attila, except the man whose name is like an animal: Pope Leo.


3.Madame Sans-Gêne (1962)
Not as great as Fanfan La Tulipe, but is worth watching. Like other Christian-Jaque's works, this movie also combines action, drama and comedy. Sophia Loren plays Catherine, a laundress during the French Revolution, who marries sergeant Lefebvre (Robert Hossein) and both will climb unto the high society where Catherine meets again her old customer: Napoleon Bonaparte. Like in Fanfan La Tulipe, there is a funny scene where Lefebvre eagerly runs after Catherine that they don't realize they have gone too far into the enemy's area.


4. I girasoli (1970)
This movie reminds me to Waki Yamato's Haikara-san ga Tōru, although since the movie came first, perhaps Waki Yamato got her inspiration from I girasoli. Giovanna (Sophia Loren) and Antonio (Marcello Mastroianni) are newly wed, but he must go to Russia to serve military service. He tries to avoid the task by pretending he goes mad, but the authority can find it out. After the WW2 is over, Antonio doesn't return and is declared missing. Many believe he is dead, but Giovanna believes he is still alive and she goes to Russia looking for him, only to find the bitter truth, that he has married again to a Russian girl and has a child. There is a beautiful scene with a field of sunflowers where a Russian woman told Giovanna that every flower covers a dead soldier. The music by Henry Mancini is hauntingly beautiful.