Previously I had seen many pairings of Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni--next to William Powell and Myrna Loy, this is my favourite cinematic coupling--but never any works by director Scola, so I wasn't really sure what to expect, especially with it being a period piece of Italy just before the Second World War. This was a masterpiece. I could talk all day about how excellent the two stars must have been, in order to completely subvert every preconception we have come to associate with their on-screen romantic partnership (namely, Loren portraying a shy, put-upon mother of six, and Mastroianni playing a suicidal gay man) AND so convincingly. As well, I heartily recommend viewers to watch all of the extras on The Criterion Collection's recent release--I loved Scola's statement (and I paraphrase): 'Humour is as much a part of life as everything else--If a writer has a chance to put a comedic incident in a realistic drama, he has a moral obligation to do so.' I will remember that--and hopefully utilize it in my own work, should I ever be so gifted as to work in the field that I love--for the rest of my days. I am surprised that it wasn't mentioned in any of the extras that Mastroianni was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance here. That is extremely rare for a foreign-language film, and should instantly be a clue to you of the film's quality. In Loren's June 2015 interview, she stated it was her best work other than her Oscar-winning acting in 'Two Women'. She's absolutely spot-on--and still looking gorgeous today. Definitely worth a purchase and rewatching. It's one of the most poignant observations of loneliness I have yet seen. When Loren's Antonietta says to Mastroianni's Gabriele 'I love you just as you are', it really doesn't matter what eventually happens to either party--Gabriele has found unconditional love. There is truly nothing else worth having, not even life. It should have been called 'A Very Special Day', for it most certainly is, especially for the cinephile who watches it, even now. And I wouldn't be the least surprised if the film's re-release starts a surge of interest in scrapbooking, as Antonietta was so good at it, charting in an obsessive fashion the doings of her beloved Il Duce.
Marco, 22 years old, lives in a Roma's suburb. His life goes on without any goal in an anonymous way. His only successful situation is his relationship with Zaira, a Somalian girl. While spending days uselessly, he meets Saverio, AKAS "The Fuhrer", head of a bunch of Nazi skins. He is fascinated by Saverio's world and tries all he can do to enter the fascist group. From that point on his life is deeply involved with the group activity. He tries to hide his relationship with Zaira, but the destiny is waiting for the final count.
Movie Star Rating : 4.5 Read More
Steven and Laura Harding, along with their kids David and Mary, have moved to the quiet community of Stepford. Steven joins the men's club, which is still assimilating their wives into robots. This time, they have begun to turn their out of control teens into robots as well. Once they are assimilated, they are obedient, homework loving, big band dancing droids. Laura, David, and Mary stumble onto this mystery, and they must avoid Steven's plans to turn them into robots.
Movie Star Rating : 4.8 Read More
Flight attendant Won-Gyu left Korea 2 years ago with painful memories and now comes back. Won-Gyu meets Tae-Joon, who is a quick service delivery man and has a special night with him.
Movie Star Rating : 5.9 Read More
Paul Lawrence is a working class man who dates Cara, sells shirts at a Sydney department store, and dreams of attending art school. Cara leaves for London and Paul becomes the protege of designer Marie Rosefield. Through this he enters the 'set', the world of Sydney art society. Rosefield is friends with Mark Broniski, an artist who commissions Paul to design a set for British stage director, John L. Fredericks. Paul is helped by art student Tony Brown, who is dating Paul's cousin, Kim Sylvester. Paul and Tony begin a homosexual affair. Kim's mother Peggy has an affair with Boronoski.
Movie Star Rating : 4 Read More
Morir en Madrid brings together several papers on the Spanish Civil War and integrates capturing different points of view, intended to represent the continuity of the suffering of the Spanish during the Franco regime. The death of Federico Garcia Lorca, Guernica, the defense of Madrid, the International Brigades, are some of the items comprised in this document.
Movie Star Rating : 7.4 Read More
In Madrid, Azu's husband Filipe is smug and boorish, but it's his money she slips to family members constantly in need of cash and that she uses to buy gifts for her lover, Pablo. Things start to fall apart when Pablo wants to leave her and when Filipe wants to evict Azu's cousin from a butcher shop he rents. Azu hatches a plan that relies on her sister, her cousin the butcher, and his mentally-challenged delivery man. When things start to go wrong, can Azu make them right?
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot.
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
Two young men — a Palestinian grad student and an Israeli lawyer — meet and fall in love amidst personal and political intrigue.
Movie Star Rating : 6.9 Read More
Set in 1935, a couple of aged smallholders are waiting for their son, for rain, for better days.
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
Things spin: amusement park rides, a phonograph record. A man wakes, shaves, and takes a phone call. Another man, in a kimono, walks in the woods, stops, and opens a small decorative box on the forest floor. People at an amusement park called Little Harlem enjoy themselves. A man walks through another amusement park, called Cavalcade Worlds, as midway rides spin. At a house, an older woman cleans; a pre-teen girl sets the table; a teenaged boy showers. After he dresses, he holds a candle high above his head and walks swiftly toward a young man standing bare-chested, his arms extended. A man arrives home where the girl has set the table. The youth sleeps. Christmas?
Movie Star Rating : 5.9 Read More
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