Average Rating:

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Stealing Beauty [1996]

starring: Carlo Cecchi, Sinéad Cusack, Joseph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng, Anna-Maria Gherardi
directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci

June 21, 2004
The plus: The movie is pleasantly filmed in a beautiful setting of country houses in rural Italy; unconventionally overt display of sexual relationship and naturist display; true love triumphed and rewarded in the end with the joyful first-times.

The minus: flawed script, unfocused story where the journey of discovering the identity of father and resuming of youthful love is distracted to an explicit and needless anecdotes of naturist playing, love-making and sexual mind games. It is unconvincing and has little reality touch. There is also a myriad of strange yet underdeveloped characters. Directors seems could not decide on following a core storyline and instead packed the movie with large quantity of sub plots and supporting characters. ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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La Scorta [1994]

starring: Carlo Cecchi, Enrico Lo Verso, Claudio Amendola, Ricky Memphis, Tony Sperandeo
directed by: Damiano Damiani, Ricky Tognazzi

February 28, 2006
La Scorta is one of the best Italian films of the 90s, although that hasn't stopped it from disappearing from circulation for years until Blue Underground's DVD release. Unlike the Eurotrash which is that label's main stock-in-trade, this is a powerful and sober crime drama (rather than an out-and-out thriller) about the small group of bodyguards protecting a judge investigating mafia and government corruption in Sicily. It's certainly not a glamorous portrait: terminally underfunded, they only have two bullet-proof vests between them, and instead of armoured cars they get clapped-out unmarked vehicles the police can't even afford to keep the tanks full. There's not much in the way of action, but there's plenty of suspense over what MIGHT happen. Every ... Read More:

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Steam: The Turkish Bath [1997] (NTSC)

starring: Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi, Halil Ergün, Serif Sezer
directed by: Ferzan Ozpetek

July 05, 2000
I decided to make a blind buy out of this having seen the director's last two pictures "The Ignorant Fairies" and "Facing Window", both of which I thought were very good. This one however, while not a entirely bad film, was a disappointment. This is the story of a man who having inherited a Turkish bath from his recently deceased aunt sets off to Istanbul to sell it and like her, falls for the city and rediscovers life and himself. The cover/poster, for those who judge a film from it, it's a bit deceptive (as is the trailer) and some people may feel a bit disappointed by that. My disappointment had mainly to do with the film itself rather than expectations that I did not have: the story structure has flaws (and I can't say more as not to spoil it for other ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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The Horseman on the Roof [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Olivier Martinez, Juliette Binoche, Pierre Arditi, François Cluzet, Jean Yanne
directed by: Jean-Paul Rappeneau

June 03, 2003
This is a chase movie. It opens in the 1830s in Aix-en-Provence with the town en fête, Italian nationalists are in exile there plotting a return to oppose Austrian rule of Italy. An Austrian special forces team is sent to clip them. For all they drive in a coach and use flintlock pistols they are recognisably brothers under the skin with assassins from any modern movie, aided by their otherness (they speak in German). One Italian is executed but the second (a colonel of hussars and our hero) escapes and the chase is on. It is a chase across a world that has long gone, as if Flashman were pursued through Hardy country. The farming communities are beautifully observed; one can feel the heat of the harvest fields, one joins the communal tables, I can recognise ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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The Red Violin [1999]

starring: Carlo Cecchi, Jean-Luc Bideau, Christoph Koncz, Jason Flemyng, Greta Scacchi
directed by: François Girard

February 03, 2003
It makes a change to see a film these days that have a good solid narrative with interesting twists and a nicely measured way of unfolding the plot. I really enjoyed this film.

Average Rating:

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Hamam - The Turkish Bath [1997]

starring: Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi, Halil Ergün, Serif Sezer
directed by: Ferzan Ozpetek

April 10, 2000
I decided to make a blind buy out of this having seen the director's last two pictures "The Ignorant Fairies" and "Facing Window", both of which I thought were very good. This one however, while not a entirely bad film, was a disappointment. This is the story of a man who having inherited a Turkish bath from his recently deceased aunt sets off to Istanbul to sell it and like her, falls for the city and rediscovers life and himself. The cover/poster, for those who judge a film from it, it's a bit deceptive (as is the trailer) and some people may feel a bit disappointed by that. My disappointment had mainly to do with the film itself rather than expectations that I did not have: the story structure has flaws (and I can't say more as not to spoil it for other people) and the film's ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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Stealing Beauty [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Jeremy Irons, Liv Tyler, Carlo Cecchi, Sinéad Cusack, Joseph Fiennes
directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci

January 08, 2002
The plus: The movie is pleasantly filmed in a beautiful setting of country houses in rural Italy; unconventionally overt display of sexual relationship and naturist display; true love triumphed and rewarded in the end with the joyful first-times.

The minus: flawed script, unfocused story where the journey of discovering the identity of father and resuming of youthful love is distracted to an explicit and needless anecdotes of naturist playing, love-making and sexual mind games. It is unconvincing and has little reality touch. There is also a myriad of strange yet underdeveloped characters. Directors seems could not decide on following a core storyline and instead packed the movie with large quantity of sub plots and supporting characters.

I would give it ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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Silk [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Kôji Yakusho, Sei Ashina, Tony Vogel
directed by: François Girard

February 26, 2008
The plus: The movie is pleasantly filmed in a beautiful setting of country houses in rural Italy; unconventionally overt display of sexual relationship and naturist display; true love triumphed and rewarded in the end with the joyful first-times.

The minus: flawed script, unfocused story where the journey of discovering the identity of father and resuming of youthful love is distracted to an explicit and needless anecdotes of naturist playing, love-making and sexual mind games. It is unconvincing and has little reality touch. There is also a myriad of strange yet underdeveloped characters. Directors seems could not decide on following a core storyline and instead packed the movie with large quantity of sub plots and supporting characters.

I would give it ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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The Horseman On The Roof [1996]

starring: Olivier Martinez, Juliette Binoche, Pierre Arditi, François Cluzet, Jean Yanne
directed by: Jean-Paul Rappeneau

June 03, 1996
This is a chase movie. It opens in the 1830s in Aix-en-Provence with the town en fête, Italian nationalists are in exile there plotting a return to oppose Austrian rule of Italy. An Austrian special forces team is sent to clip them. For all they drive in a coach and use flintlock pistols they are recognisably brothers under the skin with assassins from any modern movie, aided by their otherness (they speak in German). One Italian is executed but the second (a colonel of hussars and our hero) escapes and the chase is on. It is a chase across a world that has long gone, as if Flashman were pursued through Hardy country. The farming communities are beautifully observed; one can feel the heat of the harvest fields, one joins the communal tables, I can recognise it from conversation with my ... Read More:

Average Rating:

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Anywhere But Here/Stealing Beauty [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Jeremy Irons, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Carlo Cecchi
directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci, Wayne Wang

December 05, 2006
This is a chase movie. It opens in the 1830s in Aix-en-Provence with the town en fête, Italian nationalists are in exile there plotting a return to oppose Austrian rule of Italy. An Austrian special forces team is sent to clip them. For all they drive in a coach and use flintlock pistols they are recognisably brothers under the skin with assassins from any modern movie, aided by their otherness (they speak in German). One Italian is executed but the second (a colonel of hussars and our hero) escapes and the chase is on. It is a chase across a world that has long gone, as if Flashman were pursued through Hardy country. The farming communities are beautifully observed; one can feel the heat of the harvest fields, one joins the communal tables, I can recognise it from conversation with my ... Read More: