Exclusive: Principal photography has wrapped in Naples on writer-director Michele Placido’s fourteenth film as a director, Caravaggio’s Shadow (L’Ombra Di Caravaggio), about the enigmatic and genius Renaissance painter.
Today we can reveal three striking production stills from the Italian-language movie, which stars Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick Chapter 2) as Caravaggio, Louis Garrel (Little Women) as the mysterious Shadow, Isabelle Huppert (Elle) as the Marquise Costanza Colonna, Micaela Ramazzotti (Like Crazy) as Lena and Placido in the role of Cardinal del Monte. French star Huppert will be dubbed for the film.
Veteran Italian filmmaker Placido, who also directed Scamarcio in hit 2005 crime drama Romanzo Criminale, has spent four years working and preparing for the film, which will focus on the adventurous and controversial life of the great painter from the 1600s. The movie will show the artist as a rebel without a cause, a man of huge talent but...
Today we can reveal three striking production stills from the Italian-language movie, which stars Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick Chapter 2) as Caravaggio, Louis Garrel (Little Women) as the mysterious Shadow, Isabelle Huppert (Elle) as the Marquise Costanza Colonna, Micaela Ramazzotti (Like Crazy) as Lena and Placido in the role of Cardinal del Monte. French star Huppert will be dubbed for the film.
Veteran Italian filmmaker Placido, who also directed Scamarcio in hit 2005 crime drama Romanzo Criminale, has spent four years working and preparing for the film, which will focus on the adventurous and controversial life of the great painter from the 1600s. The movie will show the artist as a rebel without a cause, a man of huge talent but...
- 12/10/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The shoot has begun in Naples for the Italian-French co-production about the tempestuous life of the great Italian painter; the cast includes Riccardo Scamarcio, Louis Garrel and Isabelle Huppert. Filming has begun in Naples for Caravaggio’s Shadow, written and directed by (and also starring) Michele Placido (7 Minutes) who, after four years of toiling away on the project, is making his 14th film as a director, from a screenplay that he penned together with Sandro Petraglia and Fidel Signorile. During the shoot, the cast and crew will travel between Naples, Rome, the environs of Viterbo, Ariccia, Frascati and Malta. In Italy, in the year 1600, Michelangelo Merisi, who goes by the name Caravaggio, is a brilliant and subversive artist who lives with the burden of a death sentence. The shadow of a merciless, occult power is about to loom over him: indeed, an unnerving figure has been tasked with investigating...
Company brings 10 recent sales acquisitions to the market also including feature animation The Summit Of The Gods.
Wild Bunch has boarded sales on Italian director Michele Placido’s upcoming drama Caravaggio’s Shadow, exploring the tempestuous life of the 17th-century painter.
It revolves around a secret Vatican investigation into Caravaggio, ordered by Pope Paul V as he debates whether to grant the artist clemency for murdering a love rival.
Riccardo Scamarcio plays Caravaggio opposite Louis Garrel as the investigator – known as The Shadow. Isabelle Huppert also features as a noblewoman who was a steadfast protector of the artist, hiding him...
Wild Bunch has boarded sales on Italian director Michele Placido’s upcoming drama Caravaggio’s Shadow, exploring the tempestuous life of the 17th-century painter.
It revolves around a secret Vatican investigation into Caravaggio, ordered by Pope Paul V as he debates whether to grant the artist clemency for murdering a love rival.
Riccardo Scamarcio plays Caravaggio opposite Louis Garrel as the investigator – known as The Shadow. Isabelle Huppert also features as a noblewoman who was a steadfast protector of the artist, hiding him...
- 2/13/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Italy’s state broadcaster Rai is leading the way in the country’s international TV boom.
Though pay-tv Sky Italia and Netflix are churning out some edgier Italian shows for the international marketplace, the bold Italian pubcaster is now riding high after making a splash at the Venice Film Festival with the world premiere of HBO/Rai’s powerful female friendship saga “My Brilliant Friend,” based on the first of Elena Ferrante’s globally best-selling novels.
Next up are its buzzed-about “The Name of the Rose” series, starring John Turturro, and the third season of Frank Spotnitz’s hit “Medici” saga, currently shooting in Italy.
“My Brilliant Friend,” which Rai fiction chief Eleonora Andreatta started developing before the book’s big success, marks a milestone for Italy’s TV industry because unlike Sky’s crimer “Gomorrah” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Young Pope,” it’s classic highbrow TV of the...
Though pay-tv Sky Italia and Netflix are churning out some edgier Italian shows for the international marketplace, the bold Italian pubcaster is now riding high after making a splash at the Venice Film Festival with the world premiere of HBO/Rai’s powerful female friendship saga “My Brilliant Friend,” based on the first of Elena Ferrante’s globally best-selling novels.
Next up are its buzzed-about “The Name of the Rose” series, starring John Turturro, and the third season of Frank Spotnitz’s hit “Medici” saga, currently shooting in Italy.
“My Brilliant Friend,” which Rai fiction chief Eleonora Andreatta started developing before the book’s big success, marks a milestone for Italy’s TV industry because unlike Sky’s crimer “Gomorrah” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Young Pope,” it’s classic highbrow TV of the...
- 10/17/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Film to market premiere at Toronto.
Paris-based Indie Sales has secured sales on Stefano Sollima’s Rome-set organised crime thriller Suburra.
The film has sold to Benelux (Lumiere), Germany and Austria (Koch Films) and Switzerland (Praesens Films).
Sollima previously directed most of the episodes of hit TV series Gomorrah, which sold to more than 100 territories including the Us, where it was acquired by The Weinstein Company.
Other credits include the 2012 film A.C.A.B., about a squad of riot police in Rome, and TV series Romanzo Criminale.
Indie Sales, which will market premiere the high-octane Suburra at a private screening today (Sept 12), is also reporting strong interest from Australia and the UK.
“Stefano Sollima is an amazing director and the actors are great” said Indie Sales chief Nicolas Eschbach.
The film is based on a novel of the same name by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini, painting a nebulous web of corruption interlinking politicians, the Vatican...
Paris-based Indie Sales has secured sales on Stefano Sollima’s Rome-set organised crime thriller Suburra.
The film has sold to Benelux (Lumiere), Germany and Austria (Koch Films) and Switzerland (Praesens Films).
Sollima previously directed most of the episodes of hit TV series Gomorrah, which sold to more than 100 territories including the Us, where it was acquired by The Weinstein Company.
Other credits include the 2012 film A.C.A.B., about a squad of riot police in Rome, and TV series Romanzo Criminale.
Indie Sales, which will market premiere the high-octane Suburra at a private screening today (Sept 12), is also reporting strong interest from Australia and the UK.
“Stefano Sollima is an amazing director and the actors are great” said Indie Sales chief Nicolas Eschbach.
The film is based on a novel of the same name by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini, painting a nebulous web of corruption interlinking politicians, the Vatican...
- 9/12/2015
- ScreenDaily
Those Happy Years
Written by Daniele Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Caterina Venturini
Directed by Daniele Luchetti
Italy/France, 2013
In 2007, Daniele Luchetti garnered international attention with My Brother Is an Only Child, a nostalgic look at a pair of brothers in 1960s and 1970s Italy who find themselves on opposite sides of the political spectrum but loving the same woman. With Those Happy Years, Luchetti returns to the past once more, this time looking at family dynamics with the backdrop of art rather than politics.
The film tells the story of artist and art teacher Guido (Kim Rossi Stuart), who is struggling both to gain the notoriety as an artist that he seeks and to provide for his wife Serena (Micaela Ramazzotti) and children Dario (Samuel Garofalo) and Paolo (Niccolo Calvagna). Serena, on the other hand, cares little for art and instead just wants Guido to turn his attention to her.
Written by Daniele Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Caterina Venturini
Directed by Daniele Luchetti
Italy/France, 2013
In 2007, Daniele Luchetti garnered international attention with My Brother Is an Only Child, a nostalgic look at a pair of brothers in 1960s and 1970s Italy who find themselves on opposite sides of the political spectrum but loving the same woman. With Those Happy Years, Luchetti returns to the past once more, this time looking at family dynamics with the backdrop of art rather than politics.
The film tells the story of artist and art teacher Guido (Kim Rossi Stuart), who is struggling both to gain the notoriety as an artist that he seeks and to provide for his wife Serena (Micaela Ramazzotti) and children Dario (Samuel Garofalo) and Paolo (Niccolo Calvagna). Serena, on the other hand, cares little for art and instead just wants Guido to turn his attention to her.
- 9/20/2013
- by Laura Holtebrinck
- SoundOnSight
Wrekin Hill Entertainment acquired U.S. rights to Gabriele Salvatores’ Siberian Education. Based on the novel by Nicolai Lilin, with a screenplay by Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Salvatores, the film stars John Malkovich, Arnas Feravicius, Vilius Tumalavicius, Eleanor Tomlinson, Peter Stormare, Jonas Trukanas and Vitalji Porsnev. Set in the ghetto of Soviet Russia, Siberian Education follows the path of two boys who are members of a gang of exiled Siberians. The best friends grow up together, mastering a unique education focused on illegal arts such as theft, banditry and weaponry. Their clan has its very own stringent code of honor, which, while criminal, sometimes actually coincides with what is generally considered ethical and moral. It is a code that must never be broken, no matter what. As the boys turn to men, everything they have come to know and learn is tested. The film’s produced by Catteya’s Riccardo Tozzi,...
- 5/19/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Wrekin Hill Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Gabriele Salvatores’ Siberian Education, starring John Malkovich, Arnas Feravicius, Vilius Tumalavicius, Eleanor Tomlinson, Peter Stormare, Jonas Trukanas and Vitalji Porsnev. Wrekin Hill, headed by president and CEO Chris Ball, plans to release the film in late 2013. It has already been released in several territories, including Italy where it has taken in more than $6 million at the box office. Photos: Radiant 'X-Men' Star Fan Bingbing Honored at Glittery Cannes Fest Based on the novel by Nicolai Lilin, with a screenplay by Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Salvatores, the
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- 5/19/2013
- by Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mythological Story of My Family (a.k.a. Storia mitologica della mia familia) to star Kim Rossi Stuart in Daniel Luchetti-directed autobiographical film The film set in 1968 Rome during summer, follows the breakup of a couple of from different backgrounds, after the woman falls for another woman. Apparently the story is told from the ten-year-old son's point of view. Ouch! Not something I'll be watching with having my own kids. Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia are scripting based on Luchetti's real family life, reports Variety. ThinkFILM released the helmer's 2007 film My Brother is an Only Child, which won numerous European awards...
- 5/24/2012
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Mythological Story of My Family (a.k.a. Storia mitologica della mia familia) to star Kim Rossi Stuart in Daniel Luchetti-directed autobiographical film The film set in 1968 Rome during summer, follows the breakup of a couple of from different backgrounds, after the woman falls for another woman. Apparently the story is told from the ten-year-old son's point of view. Ouch! Not something I'll be watching with having my own kids. Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia are scripting based on Luchetti's real family life, reports Variety. ThinkFILM released the helmer's 2007 film My Brother is an Only Child, which won numerous European awards...
- 5/24/2012
- Upcoming-Movies.com
John Malkovich is one hell of an awesome actor, and he is set to star in a new indie film project called Siberian Education. The movie will be directed by Italian filmmaker Gabriele Salvatores (I'm Not Scared), from a script written by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Salvatores.
The film is an adaptation from Nicolai Lilin's autobiographical book of the same title and follows his story "about growing up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, between Moldova and Ukraine."Malkovich will take on the role of Grandfather Kuzja, "who teaches his grandson Kolyma (played by Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius) the morals of honest criminals."
Siberian Education is set in Southern Russia between 1985 and 1995, and the film will start shooting at the end of August, nearly entirely in Lithuania, with some shooting set for Italy, during summer and winter.
This will be yet...
The film is an adaptation from Nicolai Lilin's autobiographical book of the same title and follows his story "about growing up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, between Moldova and Ukraine."Malkovich will take on the role of Grandfather Kuzja, "who teaches his grandson Kolyma (played by Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius) the morals of honest criminals."
Siberian Education is set in Southern Russia between 1985 and 1995, and the film will start shooting at the end of August, nearly entirely in Lithuania, with some shooting set for Italy, during summer and winter.
This will be yet...
- 7/6/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
After the long Fourth of July weekend we don't have a lot of news on the casting front, but there are a few good stories to share, and they're all in a similar vein. Today, the theme is crime pictures. After the break you'll find info on the following: John Malkovich is taking the lead in Siberian Education, which chronicles the culture of crime in a small community near the Ukraine. Parker, the new screen version of Richard Stark's classic crime character, gets two supporting players. And French film The Lookout casts Daniel Auteuil as a cop out to catch a sharpshooter who ruined a well-laid police plan. Variety [1] reports that John Malkovich will play Grandfather Kuzja in Siberian Eductation, which Gabriele Salvatores (I'm Not Scared) will direct based on the autobiographical book by Nicolai Lilin. (Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Gabriele Salvatores scripted.) The book follows "the Mafia-like...
- 7/5/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
John Malkovich has signed up for Siberian Education, the movie adaptation of Nicolai Lilin’s autobiography.
The Oscar-nominated star of In The Line Of Fire and Places In The Heart will play Grandfather Kuzja, who teaches grandson Kolyma (Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius) how to be an “honest” criminal.
Lilin’s memoir tells of his upbringing in Transnistria, a small republic between Moldova and Ukraine. Born into a leading criminal dynasty beyond the control of any government, he was in possession of a firearm and sentenced for attempted murder by the age of 12.
Gabriele Salvatores (I’m Not Scared, Quo Vadis, Baby?) will direct the film, adapted for the big screen by himself, Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia.
Malkovich can currently be seen as Shia Labeouf’s boss in Transformers 3 - The Dark Of The Moon, currently leading Box Office charts around the world. The film enjoyed the highest-grossing Fourth...
The Oscar-nominated star of In The Line Of Fire and Places In The Heart will play Grandfather Kuzja, who teaches grandson Kolyma (Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius) how to be an “honest” criminal.
Lilin’s memoir tells of his upbringing in Transnistria, a small republic between Moldova and Ukraine. Born into a leading criminal dynasty beyond the control of any government, he was in possession of a firearm and sentenced for attempted murder by the age of 12.
Gabriele Salvatores (I’m Not Scared, Quo Vadis, Baby?) will direct the film, adapted for the big screen by himself, Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia.
Malkovich can currently be seen as Shia Labeouf’s boss in Transformers 3 - The Dark Of The Moon, currently leading Box Office charts around the world. The film enjoyed the highest-grossing Fourth...
- 7/5/2011
- by [email protected] (Shaun Kitchner)
- LOVEFiLM
John Malkovich is tapped to star in Siberian Education, an adaptation of Nicolai Lilin’s autobiographical novel.
The new feature by Italian director Gabriele Salvatores (I’m Not Scared) is based on a script penned by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Salvatores himself.
Malkovich plays the role of the great teacher, an elder of the community, the “grandfather” Kuzja, the greatest interpreter in the Transnistrian exile in the Taiga by the Urka. He trains his grandson Kolyma, portrayed by Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius, the morals of “honest criminals.” on the basis of the illegal ethics of a rigid ethnic group, forever hostile to Moscow’s authoritarian power and obliged to achieve respect using power in a region in which authorities had concentrated the worst of the Soviet Union’s criminals.
This is, as well, a tale of an extreme childhood – exotic, violent and completely unique. Nicolai Lilin’s education was a remarkable upbringing,...
The new feature by Italian director Gabriele Salvatores (I’m Not Scared) is based on a script penned by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Salvatores himself.
Malkovich plays the role of the great teacher, an elder of the community, the “grandfather” Kuzja, the greatest interpreter in the Transnistrian exile in the Taiga by the Urka. He trains his grandson Kolyma, portrayed by Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius, the morals of “honest criminals.” on the basis of the illegal ethics of a rigid ethnic group, forever hostile to Moscow’s authoritarian power and obliged to achieve respect using power in a region in which authorities had concentrated the worst of the Soviet Union’s criminals.
This is, as well, a tale of an extreme childhood – exotic, violent and completely unique. Nicolai Lilin’s education was a remarkable upbringing,...
- 7/4/2011
- by Nick Martin
- Filmofilia
John Malkovich is set to star in the Russian crime drama "Siberian Education" reports Variety.
An adaptation of Nicolai Lilin's autobiographical book, the story is set in southern Russia in the late 80's and follows a man who grows up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, between Moldova and Ukraine.
Malkovich plays the role of Grandfather Kuzja, who teaches his grandson Kolyma (Arnas Fedaravicius) the morals of "honest criminals."
Italian helmer Gabriele Salvatores ("I'm Not Scared") directs from a screenplay by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and himself. Filming begins at the end of August in Lithuania and Italy.
An adaptation of Nicolai Lilin's autobiographical book, the story is set in southern Russia in the late 80's and follows a man who grows up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, between Moldova and Ukraine.
Malkovich plays the role of Grandfather Kuzja, who teaches his grandson Kolyma (Arnas Fedaravicius) the morals of "honest criminals."
Italian helmer Gabriele Salvatores ("I'm Not Scared") directs from a screenplay by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and himself. Filming begins at the end of August in Lithuania and Italy.
- 7/4/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Siberian Education casts John Malkovich. John Malkovich will star in Italian director Gabriele Salvatores' Siberian Education, from a script by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Salvatores, adapted from the autobiographical book by Nicolai Lilin. According to Variety, the story focuses on Lilin's growing up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, which falls between Ukraine and Moldova. Malkovich will play Grandfather Kuzja who mentors his grandson Kolyma (Arnas Fedaravicius), teaching him the morals of "honest criminals."...
- 7/4/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Siberian Education casts John Malkovich. John Malkovich will star in Italian director Gabriele Salvatores' Siberian Education, from a script by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Salvatores, adapted from the autobiographical book by Nicolai Lilin. According to Variety, the story focuses on Lilin's growing up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, which falls between Ukraine and Moldova. Malkovich will play Grandfather Kuzja who mentors his grandson Kolyma (Arnas Fedaravicius), teaching him the morals of "honest criminals."...
- 7/4/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Siberian Education casts John Malkovich. John Malkovich will star in Italian director Gabriele Salvatores' Siberian Education, from a script by Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia and Salvatores, adapted from the autobiographical book by Nicolai Lilin. According to Variety, the story focuses on Lilin's growing up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, which falls between Ukraine and Moldova. Malkovich will play Grandfather Kuzja who mentors his grandson Kolyma (Arnas Fedaravicius), teaching him the morals of "honest criminals."...
- 7/4/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
'Lago' makes splash at Donatello Awards
ROME -- Andrea Molaioli's "La Ragazza del Lago" (The Girl From the Lake) was the surprise star of the David di Donatello Awards on Friday, taking home the prizes for best film, director, emerging director, producer and screenwriting.
The Davids were dished out at a gala ceremony that attracted intense attention from the local media as well as large crowds that gathered outside the theater despite cloudy skies.
Molaioli, the only helmer nominated in the director and emerging director categories, won both for his murder mystery set in northern Italy.
"Lago", which premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival, also earned nods for Sandro Petraglia (screenwriting), Francesca Cima and Nicola Giuliano (producer), Toni Servillo (best actor) and Ramiro Civita (cinematography).
The best actress prize went to Margherita Buy for her role in "Giorni e Nuvole" (Days and Clouds), which premiered last year at the RomaCinemaFest. And actor Silvio Muccino, brother of director Gabrielle Muccino, won the Young David award for his directoral debut, "Parlami d'Amore" (Talk to Me About Love).
The Davids were dished out at a gala ceremony that attracted intense attention from the local media as well as large crowds that gathered outside the theater despite cloudy skies.
Molaioli, the only helmer nominated in the director and emerging director categories, won both for his murder mystery set in northern Italy.
"Lago", which premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival, also earned nods for Sandro Petraglia (screenwriting), Francesca Cima and Nicola Giuliano (producer), Toni Servillo (best actor) and Ramiro Civita (cinematography).
The best actress prize went to Margherita Buy for her role in "Giorni e Nuvole" (Days and Clouds), which premiered last year at the RomaCinemaFest. And actor Silvio Muccino, brother of director Gabrielle Muccino, won the Young David award for his directoral debut, "Parlami d'Amore" (Talk to Me About Love).
- 4/18/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- There are films where the reward comes in sticking it out till the end - as was the case with Best of Youth (the 6-hour Italian tele-film, generational period piece that Miramax packaged as two separate films for a short theatrical release). For those who like their gelato and Italanio history, Th!NKFilm's latest import My Brother Is An Only Child has many similarities with the former - both are co-scripted by Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli and both look at national identity during turbulent times. The company eventually decided to take a title that they were handling internationally and bring about a domestic release. Coming out later this month, this has received international accolades (here is my Cannes review) and below you'll find the Na poster one sheet. Set in a small Italian town in the 60’s and 70’s, the film tells the story of two brothers who
- 3/4/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Crime Novel
BERLIN -- This Italian gangster movie is based on a novel titled "Crime Novel" (Romanzo Criminale). So why not call this "Crime Movie"? Because even though the story reputedly portrays a real gang of street punks that did rise to some power in Rome from 1977-92, the movie feels totally generic. We've seen all these moves before -- all these massacres, betrayals, drug deals and double crosses, the intrepid police inspector, great whore, merciless leader and the falling out among gang members once delusions of grandeur or grasps at respectability go to their tiny brains.
Truth be told, when moviemakers go up against Coppola or Scorsese, they need charismatic characters and a wicked story line. Alas, Michele Placido and writers Giancarlo De Cataldo, Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia, adapting De Cataldo's novel, are stuck with cruel characters and crude action that provoke little excitement.
Warner Bros. Pictures is one of the producers of "Crime Novel", but there probably isn't too much domestic coin to be made from the film. It should do well in action markets and could turn up at a festival here or there.
On the plus side, Placido does give audiences juicy action and superficial though lively characters. He even has an eye for tourist sights. A clandestine meeting takes place in front of the ancient Forum. A girl brings her gangster date to an old church to admire its Caravaggio. A guy gets knifed to death on the Spanish Steps. You half expect a bloody body to get dumped into the Trevi Fountain.
These gangsters come from the streets and never really clean up their act. As kids, they joyride in a stolen car through a police blockade and over a cop, an act that lands several in prison. They emerge as hardened criminals, each with his own criminal moniker.
Lebanese (a scruffy-bearded Pierfrancesco Favino) is the natural born leader, uncompromising in his brutality but untutored in the subtleties of dealing with Mafia dons, terrorists or the Secret Service. Ice (handsome Kim Rossi Stuart) actually has smoothness, as he comes from wealth. He eventually tires of the whole criminal experience, perhaps because of his love for Roberta (beautiful Jasmine Trinca), an innocent art lover unaware of her boyfriend's occupation.
Dandy (the equally handsome Claudio Santamaria) also longs to be "normal," but that doesn't mean dropping Rome's greatest prostitute, Patrizia (sultry Anna Mouglalis), as his lover. He even sets her up with her own luxury bordello.
The police are absorbed in a battle with homegrown terrorists during this time, so it falls to Capt. Scialoja (Stefano Accorsi) to dog the gang's every step for years. In doing so, he forms an ambiguous relationship with Patrizia; indeed he may be her only lover to actually love her.
The film interweaves the gang's activities with major events in recent Italian history, especially the Red Brigade terror. The film hints that the gang may have crossed over into working with terrorists, but this is never completely clear.
Eventually, the endless killings and emotional face-offs between the gang members as they predictably fall out become numbingly repetitive. So muddled is the action that one can be excused for missing a plot point or misidentifying a character.
Luca Bigazzi's camera is fluid and alive to the action. Nicoletta Taranta's stylish period costumes and Paola Comencini's sets are magazine-quality. A score of pop hits of the era and Paolo Buonvino's lush, ominous music put plenty of flavors into these Roman rumblings. But as one Mafia don says, there have been too many killings by this rudderless gang and " 'too much' is the enemy of fairness." That is an apt criticism of this movie, too.
CRIME NOVEL
Cattleya/Warner Bros. Pictures
Credits:
Director: Michele Placido
Screenwriters: Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia, Giancarlo De Cataldo
Based on the novel by: Giancarlo De Cataldo
Producers: Riccardo Tozzi, Giovanni Stabilini, Marco Chimenz
Director of photography: Luca Bigazzi
Production designer: Paola Comencini
Music: Paolo Buonvino
Costumes: Nicoletta Taranta
Editor: Esmeralda Calabria
Cast:
Ice: Kim Rossi Stuart
Patrizia: Anna Mouglalis
Lebanese: Pierfrancesco Favino
Dandy: Claudio Santamaria
Scialoja: Stefano Accorsi
Black: Riccardo Scamarcio
Roberta: Jasmine Trinca
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 153 minutes...
Truth be told, when moviemakers go up against Coppola or Scorsese, they need charismatic characters and a wicked story line. Alas, Michele Placido and writers Giancarlo De Cataldo, Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia, adapting De Cataldo's novel, are stuck with cruel characters and crude action that provoke little excitement.
Warner Bros. Pictures is one of the producers of "Crime Novel", but there probably isn't too much domestic coin to be made from the film. It should do well in action markets and could turn up at a festival here or there.
On the plus side, Placido does give audiences juicy action and superficial though lively characters. He even has an eye for tourist sights. A clandestine meeting takes place in front of the ancient Forum. A girl brings her gangster date to an old church to admire its Caravaggio. A guy gets knifed to death on the Spanish Steps. You half expect a bloody body to get dumped into the Trevi Fountain.
These gangsters come from the streets and never really clean up their act. As kids, they joyride in a stolen car through a police blockade and over a cop, an act that lands several in prison. They emerge as hardened criminals, each with his own criminal moniker.
Lebanese (a scruffy-bearded Pierfrancesco Favino) is the natural born leader, uncompromising in his brutality but untutored in the subtleties of dealing with Mafia dons, terrorists or the Secret Service. Ice (handsome Kim Rossi Stuart) actually has smoothness, as he comes from wealth. He eventually tires of the whole criminal experience, perhaps because of his love for Roberta (beautiful Jasmine Trinca), an innocent art lover unaware of her boyfriend's occupation.
Dandy (the equally handsome Claudio Santamaria) also longs to be "normal," but that doesn't mean dropping Rome's greatest prostitute, Patrizia (sultry Anna Mouglalis), as his lover. He even sets her up with her own luxury bordello.
The police are absorbed in a battle with homegrown terrorists during this time, so it falls to Capt. Scialoja (Stefano Accorsi) to dog the gang's every step for years. In doing so, he forms an ambiguous relationship with Patrizia; indeed he may be her only lover to actually love her.
The film interweaves the gang's activities with major events in recent Italian history, especially the Red Brigade terror. The film hints that the gang may have crossed over into working with terrorists, but this is never completely clear.
Eventually, the endless killings and emotional face-offs between the gang members as they predictably fall out become numbingly repetitive. So muddled is the action that one can be excused for missing a plot point or misidentifying a character.
Luca Bigazzi's camera is fluid and alive to the action. Nicoletta Taranta's stylish period costumes and Paola Comencini's sets are magazine-quality. A score of pop hits of the era and Paolo Buonvino's lush, ominous music put plenty of flavors into these Roman rumblings. But as one Mafia don says, there have been too many killings by this rudderless gang and " 'too much' is the enemy of fairness." That is an apt criticism of this movie, too.
CRIME NOVEL
Cattleya/Warner Bros. Pictures
Credits:
Director: Michele Placido
Screenwriters: Stefano Rulli, Sandro Petraglia, Giancarlo De Cataldo
Based on the novel by: Giancarlo De Cataldo
Producers: Riccardo Tozzi, Giovanni Stabilini, Marco Chimenz
Director of photography: Luca Bigazzi
Production designer: Paola Comencini
Music: Paolo Buonvino
Costumes: Nicoletta Taranta
Editor: Esmeralda Calabria
Cast:
Ice: Kim Rossi Stuart
Patrizia: Anna Mouglalis
Lebanese: Pierfrancesco Favino
Dandy: Claudio Santamaria
Scialoja: Stefano Accorsi
Black: Riccardo Scamarcio
Roberta: Jasmine Trinca
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 153 minutes...
- 2/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Best of Youth
Toronto International Film Festival
Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.
Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.
The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world
the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s
the ups and downs of the economy
the Falcone assassination in 1992
and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.
Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.
At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.
Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.
Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.
While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.
Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.
Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.
Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.
THE BEST OF YOUTH
Miramax Films
Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production
Credits:
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli
Producer: Angelo Barbagallo
Director of photography: Roberto Forza
Production designer: Franco Ceraolo
Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo
Editor: Roberto Missiroli
Cast:
Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio
Matteo: Alessio Boni
Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco
Carlo: Fabrizio
Mirella: Maya Sansa
Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti
Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca
Angelo: Andrea Tidona
Running time -- 373 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.
Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.
The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world
the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s
the ups and downs of the economy
the Falcone assassination in 1992
and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.
Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.
At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.
Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.
Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.
While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.
Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.
Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.
Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.
THE BEST OF YOUTH
Miramax Films
Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production
Credits:
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli
Producer: Angelo Barbagallo
Director of photography: Roberto Forza
Production designer: Franco Ceraolo
Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo
Editor: Roberto Missiroli
Cast:
Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio
Matteo: Alessio Boni
Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco
Carlo: Fabrizio
Mirella: Maya Sansa
Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti
Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca
Angelo: Andrea Tidona
Running time -- 373 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Best of Youth
Toronto International Film Festival
Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.
Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.
The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world
the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s
the ups and downs of the economy
the Falcone assassination in 1992
and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.
Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.
At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.
Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.
Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.
While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.
Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.
Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.
Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.
THE BEST OF YOUTH
Miramax Films
Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production
Credits:
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli
Producer: Angelo Barbagallo
Director of photography: Roberto Forza
Production designer: Franco Ceraolo
Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo
Editor: Roberto Missiroli
Cast:
Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio
Matteo: Alessio Boni
Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco
Carlo: Fabrizio
Mirella: Maya Sansa
Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti
Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca
Angelo: Andrea Tidona
Running time -- 373 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.
Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.
The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world
the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s
the ups and downs of the economy
the Falcone assassination in 1992
and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.
Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.
At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.
Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.
Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.
While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.
Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.
Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.
Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.
THE BEST OF YOUTH
Miramax Films
Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production
Credits:
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli
Producer: Angelo Barbagallo
Director of photography: Roberto Forza
Production designer: Franco Ceraolo
Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo
Editor: Roberto Missiroli
Cast:
Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio
Matteo: Alessio Boni
Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco
Carlo: Fabrizio
Mirella: Maya Sansa
Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti
Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca
Angelo: Andrea Tidona
Running time -- 373 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/18/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'The Little Teachers'
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to war we go. That's the primary emotion in this idealistic, warm but undeniably scattered story about a group of Italian university students who decide to lay down their books and fight the fascists during World War II -- that is, their own countrymen and the Germans. It's a curious offering, perhaps to demonstrate that all Italians were not on the wrong side in that titanic battle, but its dewy sensibility and atonal ruptures never fully involve us in the story line.
"The Little Teachers", the opening-night offering at the 10th annual Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival, met with the polite applause one expects from a gala crowd that is not exactly bowled over but wants to be appreciative nonetheless. Domestic distribution prospects look dim, unlike other Palm Springs opening-nighters such as "Cinema Paradiso" and "Enchanted April".
In this warm look at idealistic young men, director Daniele Luchetti's surest grasp is with the inherent comic aspects of a group of fresh-faced college boys deciding to take up arms and liberate Italy before Gen. Patton and his British counterparts roll into town. The group is led by square-jawed Gigi (Stefano Accorsi), who fancies the romantic aspects of going off to war, especially when the women wave their handkerchiefs and bat their eyes. The story strikes best in its droll sensibility as the filmmakers gently lampoon the idealism of the young, self-declared soldiers. Their idea of boot camp is not training for the rigors of hand-to-hand combat but debating the pros and cons of fascism and formulating intellectual constructs to justify their taking up arms.
These early preparation scenes are quite funny, a credit to the squadron of screenwriters (Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Domenico Starnone), but like the gaggle of schoolboy soldiers, the scripting seems a participatory democracy so unfocused and lacking in thematic substructure that the story digresses to a mountain-trek, travelogue level. In short, the narrative seems impaired by the same drawback the boy soldiers have -- no particular plan or focus. After a while, speechmaking by the scholarly soldiers, often callow and simplistic, wears thin, even in its comic dimensions.
In this post-"Saving Private Ryan" age, the battle scenes seem woefully stylized and, hence, false. Still, there's much to praise, especially Luchetti's warmly comic nurturing of the action. Unfortunately, he's leading his team in largely unmapped terrain thanks to the meandering script, and "The Little Teachers" ultimately grades as a minor disappointment despite atmospheric lensing from cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci. Indicative of the narrative's atonality, composer Dario Lucantoni's delightfully bouncy score rings true when the film is smiling at the boys' idealism but is intrusively upbeat during the battle sequences.
As the self-styled leader of the pack, Accorsi (with Stallone-like forehead and jaw) is a solid lead and well epitomizes the ambivalence of young men whose rhetoric outflanks their bravery.
THE LITTLE TEACHERS
Cecchi Gori Group
Producers: Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Rita Cecchi Gori
Director: Daniele Luchetti
Screenwriters: Daniele Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Domenico Starnone
Director of photography: Giuseppe Lanci
Editor: Patrizio Marone
Music: Dario Lucantoni
Color/stereo
Cast:
Gigi: Stefano Accorsi
Simonetta: Stefania Montorsi
Nello: Manuel Donato
Running time -- 122 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"The Little Teachers", the opening-night offering at the 10th annual Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival, met with the polite applause one expects from a gala crowd that is not exactly bowled over but wants to be appreciative nonetheless. Domestic distribution prospects look dim, unlike other Palm Springs opening-nighters such as "Cinema Paradiso" and "Enchanted April".
In this warm look at idealistic young men, director Daniele Luchetti's surest grasp is with the inherent comic aspects of a group of fresh-faced college boys deciding to take up arms and liberate Italy before Gen. Patton and his British counterparts roll into town. The group is led by square-jawed Gigi (Stefano Accorsi), who fancies the romantic aspects of going off to war, especially when the women wave their handkerchiefs and bat their eyes. The story strikes best in its droll sensibility as the filmmakers gently lampoon the idealism of the young, self-declared soldiers. Their idea of boot camp is not training for the rigors of hand-to-hand combat but debating the pros and cons of fascism and formulating intellectual constructs to justify their taking up arms.
These early preparation scenes are quite funny, a credit to the squadron of screenwriters (Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Domenico Starnone), but like the gaggle of schoolboy soldiers, the scripting seems a participatory democracy so unfocused and lacking in thematic substructure that the story digresses to a mountain-trek, travelogue level. In short, the narrative seems impaired by the same drawback the boy soldiers have -- no particular plan or focus. After a while, speechmaking by the scholarly soldiers, often callow and simplistic, wears thin, even in its comic dimensions.
In this post-"Saving Private Ryan" age, the battle scenes seem woefully stylized and, hence, false. Still, there's much to praise, especially Luchetti's warmly comic nurturing of the action. Unfortunately, he's leading his team in largely unmapped terrain thanks to the meandering script, and "The Little Teachers" ultimately grades as a minor disappointment despite atmospheric lensing from cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci. Indicative of the narrative's atonality, composer Dario Lucantoni's delightfully bouncy score rings true when the film is smiling at the boys' idealism but is intrusively upbeat during the battle sequences.
As the self-styled leader of the pack, Accorsi (with Stallone-like forehead and jaw) is a solid lead and well epitomizes the ambivalence of young men whose rhetoric outflanks their bravery.
THE LITTLE TEACHERS
Cecchi Gori Group
Producers: Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Rita Cecchi Gori
Director: Daniele Luchetti
Screenwriters: Daniele Luchetti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli, Domenico Starnone
Director of photography: Giuseppe Lanci
Editor: Patrizio Marone
Music: Dario Lucantoni
Color/stereo
Cast:
Gigi: Stefano Accorsi
Simonetta: Stefania Montorsi
Nello: Manuel Donato
Running time -- 122 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/11/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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