Bambini ci guardano, I (1944)

The film follows the anguish of the four-year-old, Prico, after his mother, Nina, leaves his father, Andrea, for her lover Roberto.
Prico is sent to his aunt and then to his grandmother. Nina returns when Prico is sick and vows to give up Roberto,
even though he persists in seeing her.
The family situation gradually improves until they take a holiday on the Italian Riviera.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Children Are Watching Us (USA)
The Little Martyr (USA)
Runtime:85 min | Finland:82 min (1980) | Italy:103 min | USA:79 min (cut version)
Country:Italy
Language:Italian
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono
Genrerama

Cast:
Emilio Cigoli ... Andrea - il padre
Luciano De Ambrosis ... Pricò
Isa Pola ... Nina - la madre
Adriano Rimoldi ... Roberto - l'amante di Nina
Giovanna Cigoli ... Agnese - la governante
Jone Frigerio ... La nonna (as Ione Frigerio)
Maria Gardena ... La signora Uberti
Dina Perbellini ... Zia Berelli
Nicoletta Parodi ... Giuliana
Tecla Scarano ... La signora Resta (Mrs. Resta)
Ernesto Calindri ... Claudio
Olinto Cristina ... Il rettore - The Chancellor
Mario Gallina ... Il medico
Zaira La Fratta ... Paolina
Armando Migliari ... Il commendatore

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Caduta degli dei, La (1969)

In the early days of Nazi Germany, a powerful noble family must adjust to life under the new dictatorship regime. The transition from democracy to dictatorship is thus dramatized through the lives of the family which also owns a powerful German industrial firm. Through such characters as a German Baron, a child molester, a Nazi Storm Trooper, an innocent man framed for murder, and a Captain in the German SS, "Damned" thus shows how so called "German Upper Class Nobility" first resented Adolf Hitler, then accepted him, and at last embraced him.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Die Verdammten (West Germany)
The Damned (USA)
The Damned (Götterdämmerung)

CAUTION: MPAA:Rated R for violence, nudity and aberrant sexuality.

Runtime:155 min
Country:Italy | West Germany
Language:Italian | German
Color:Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Genrerama | War

Cast:
Dirk Bogarde ... Frederick Bruckmann
Ingrid Thulin ... Sophie Von Essenbeck
Helmut Griem ... Aschenbach
Helmut Berger ... Martin Von Essenbeck
Renaud Verley ... Gunther Von Essenbeck
Umberto Orsini ... Herbert Thallman
Reinhard Kolldehoff ... Konstantin Von Essenbeck (as René Koldehoff)
Albrecht Schoenhals ... Joachim Von Essenbeck (as Albrecht Schönhals)
Florinda Bolkan ... Olga
Nora Ricci ... Governess
Charlotte Rampling ... Elisabeth Thallman
Irina Wanka ... Lisa
Karin Mittendorf ... Thilde Thallman
Valentina Ricci ... Erika Thalman
Wolfgang Hillinger ... Janek

Credit O/U

All links checked 2-08-2009

Fellini: Je suis un grand menteur (2002)

Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini created one of cinema's most distinct, influential, and lasting bodies of work over the course of his legendary career. Fellini's films explored the director's innermost fears, dreams, and desires with uncompromising originality, and forever changed cinema in the process. In this documentary from Damian Pettigrew, audiences get to hear from the director himself, who was interviewed just months before his passing in October 1993. Fellini isn't a theorist, and that's what makes his discourses so entertaining. He proves that his films were true expressions of the subconscious, without the over-intellectualizing that plagued the work of so many of his peers. In addition to clips from 8 1/2 and LA DOLCE VITA, Pettigrew presents behind-the-scenes footage of Fellini directing SATYRICON and AMARCORD. This footage provides greater insight into the director's almost comically two-dimensional view of actors, who he treated more like puppets than actual human beings. Corroborating this are several actors who worked with Fellini on different projects, including Donald Sutherland, Terence Stamp, and Roberto Benigni.

A must-see for film aficionados, I'M A BORN LIAR only adds to the director's already boundless mystique and charm.

A look at Fellini's creative process. In extensive interviews, Fellini talks a bit about his background and then discusses how he works and how he creates. Several actors, a producer, a writer, and a production manager talk about working with Fellini. Archive footage of Fellini and others on the set plus clips from his films provide commentary and illustration for the points interviewees make. Fellini is fully in charge; actors call themselves puppets. He dismisses improvisation and calls for "availability." His sets and his films create images that look like reality but are not; we see the differences and the results.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Federico Fellini: I'm a Big Liar (USA) (literal English title)
Federico Fellini: Sono un gran bugiardo (Italy)
Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (USA)
Fellini: Sono un gran bugiardo (Italy)
I'm a Born Liar (International: English title)

CAUTION: MPAA:Rated R for some language and sexual content.

Runtime:USA:105 min
Country:France | Italy | UK
Language:English | Italian | French
Color:Color | Black and White (archive footage)
Sound Mixolby Digital
Genreocumentary | Biography

Cast:
Roberto Benigni ... Himself / La Voce della Luna
Luigi 'Titta' Benzi ... Himself / Ami d'enfance
Italo Calvino ... Himself / Ecrivain
Dante Ferretti ... Himself / Chef décorateur
Rinaldo Geleng ... Himself / Peintre
Tullio Pinelli ... Himself / Scénariste
Giuseppe Rotunno ... Himself / Directeur de la photographie
Terence Stamp ... Himself / Toby Dammit
Donald Sutherland ... Himself / Casanova
Daniel Toscan du Plantier ... Himself / Producteur
Federico Fellini ... Himself

XviD-1247 ,mp3@128, 560x400, Italian (English Hard subbed),
Cover & DVD Sticker, 1h41, 1.00 Gb

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Gattopardo, Il (1963)

In the 1860s, a dying aristocracy struggles to maintain itself against a harsh Sicilian landscape. The film traces with a slow and deliberate rhythm the waning of the noble home of Fabrizio Corbero, Prince of Salina (the Leopard) and the corresponding rise to eminence of the enormously wealthy ex-peasant Don Calogero Sedara. The prince himself refuses to take active steps to halt the decline of his personal fortunes or to help build a new Sicily but his nephew Tancredi, Prince of Falconeri swims with the tide and assures his own position by marrying Don Calogero's beautiful daughter Angelica. The climatic scene is the sumptuous forty-minute ball, where Tancredi introduces Angelica to society.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Leopard (UK) (USA)
Guépard, Le (France)
Runtime:187 min | France:195 min (Cannes Film Festival) | 205 min (premiere version) | Germany:161 min (cut version) | USA:165 min (cut version) | Spain:151 min (cut version) | UK:161 min (cut version)
Country:Italy | France
Language:Italian | Latin
Color:Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Genrerama | History | Romance | War

Cast:
Burt Lancaster ... Prince Don Fabrizio Salina
Claudia Cardinale ... Angelica Sedara / Bertiana
Alain Delon ... Tancredi Falconeri
Paolo Stoppa ... Don Calogero Sedara
Rina Morelli ... Princess Maria Stella Salina
Romolo Valli ... Father Pirrone
Terence Hill ... Count Cavriaghi (as Mario Girotti)
Pierre Clémenti ... Francesco Paolo
Lucilla Morlacchi ... Concetta
Giuliano Gemma ... Garibaldi's General
Ida Galli ... Carolina
Ottavia Piccolo ... Caterina
Carlo Valenzano ... Paolo
Brook Fuller ... Little Prince
Anna Maria Bottini ... Mademoiselle Dombreuil, the Governess

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Giulietta degli spiriti (1965)

Giulietta lives in a beautiful house by the ocean. Her sisters, and especially her Mother overshadow her with their beauty. She is a spiritual, superstitious and naive woman. She visits a psychic who tells her she must follow the sex trade in order to be happy. Thereafter she meets her eccentric and sexy neighbour Suzy, who by all counts appears to be a high class prostitute and encourages Juilet into sexual acts which make her guilty and nervous. During a rare night when her husband is at home, she wakes up to catch him talking to another woman on the phone. When she questions him he lies his way out of it. She fears her husband will leave her. Giulietta drifts into a dream world to escape the hard facts of a crumbling marriage. The increasingly bizarre visions start to accuse and terrorize her.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Juliet of the Spirits (USA)
Juliette des esprits (France)
Runtime:137 min
Country:Italy | France
Language:Italian
Color:Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono
Genre:Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Cast:
Giulietta Masina ... Giulietta Boldrini
Sandra Milo ... Suzy / Iris / Fanny
Mario Pisu ... Giorgio (Giulietta's husband)
Valentina Cortese ... Valentina
Valeska Gert ... Pijma
José Luis de Villalonga ... Giorgio's friend (as José De Villalonga)
Friedrich von Ledebur ... Medium (as Fredrich Ledebur)
Caterina Boratto ... Giulietta's mother
Lou Gilbert ... Grandfather
Luisa Della Noce ... Adele
Silvana Jachino ... Dolores
Milena Vukotic ... Elisabeta (the maid)
Fred Williams ... Lynx-Eyes' agent
Dany París ... Desperate friend
Anne Francine ... Psychodramatist

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Jeux interdits (1952)

In 1940, the five years old Paulette loses her parents
and her dog under a Nazi attack in the country while escaping
from Paris. The eleven years old peasant Michel Dolle sees the girl
wandering with her dead dog in her hands and brings her to his home.
She is welcomed and lodged by his simple family and she becomes
a close friend of Michel. They bury her dog and decide to build
a cemetery for animals and insects, stealing crosses in the cemetery,
bringing problems to Michel's family with their neighbors.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Forbidden Games (USA)
The Secret Game
Runtime:86 min
Country:France
Language:French
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono (Western Electric System)
Genrerama | War

Cast:
Georges Poujouly ... Michel Dolle
Brigitte Fossey ... Paulette
Amédée ... Francis Gouard
Laurence Badie ... Berthe Dolle
Madeleine Barbulée ... Red Cross Nun (end of film)
Suzanne Courtal ... Madame Dolle
Lucien Hubert ... Dolle, the Father
Jacques Marin ... Georges Dolle
Pierre Merovée ... Raymond Dolle
Violette Monnier
Denise Péronne ... Jeanne Gouard (as Denise Perronne)
Fernande Roy
Louis Saintève ... Priest
André Wasley ... Gouard, the Father

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis (1966)

Paul is young, just demobbed from national service in the French Army, and dishillusioned with civilian life.
As his girlfriend builds herself a career as a pop singer, Paul becomes more isolated from his friends and peers
('the children of Marx and Coca Cola', as the credits announce) and their social and emotional politics.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Masculin, féminin (France) (short title)
Masculine, Feminine: In 15 Acts (International: English title) (complete title)
Masculine-Feminine
Maskulinum - femininum (Sweden)
Runtime:110 min | Argentina:103 min | Sweden:104 min | USA:103 min
Country:France | Sweden
Language:French | Swedish | English
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono
Genrerama

Cast:
Jean-Pierre Léaud ... Paul
Chantal Goya ... Madeleine
Marlène Jobert ... Elisabeth
Michel Debord ... Robert
Catherine-Isabelle Duport ... Catherine-Isabelle
Eva-Britt Strandberg ... Elle (la femme dans le film)
Birger Malmsten ... Lui (l'homme dans le film)

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Ningen no joken I (1959)

First of a trilogy of films.

During the Second World War, a Japanese conscientious objector named Kaji works as a supervisor in a Manchurian prison camp. He hopes to avoid duty as a soldier, but he also hopes to be helpful to the welfare of his prisoners. An escape attempt by Chinese prisoners results in Kaji's arrest for collusion. He faces the possibility of transferral to combat--or worse.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Ningen no joken I-II
No Greater Love
The Human Condition I (USA)
Runtime:208 min | West Germany:157 min
Country:Japan
Language:Mandarin | Japanese
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono
Genrerama | History | War

Cast:
Tatsuya Nakadai ... Kaji
Michiyo Aratama ... Michiko
Ineko Arima ... Yang Chun Lan
Chikage Awashima ... Jin Tung Fu
Keiji Sada ... Kageyama
Sô Yamamura ... Okishima
Akira Ishihama ... Chen
Koji Nambara
Seiji Miyaguchi ... Wang Heng Li
Toru Abe ... Sgt. Watai
Masao Mishima ... Kuroki
Eitarô Ozawa ... Okazaki






Ningen no joken II (1959)

Second part of a trilogy.

Conscientious objector Kaji, now forced to serve in the Japanese army during the Second World War, helps a friend defect to the Russians and nearly goes with him. But despite his opposition to war, Kaji does his best to serve as help and guide to the men in his charge, most of whom are doomed to fall to the relentless attack of Russian armored divisions.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Ningen no joken III-IV
The Human Condition II (USA)
The Road to Eternity
Zoku ningen no joken
Runtime:181 min | West Germany:112 min
Country:Japan
Language:Mandarin | Japanese
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono
Genrerama | History | War

Cast:
Tatsuya Nakadai ... Kaji
Michiyo Aratama ... Machiko
Minoru Chiaki ... Onodera
Izumi Hara ... Head of Nurse, Sawamura
Kaneko Iwasaki ... Nurse Tokunaga
Kokinji Katsura ... Sasa
Yusuke Kawazu ... Terada
Hideo Kidokoro ... Kudo
Mayumi Kurata ... Ohara's wife
Michio Minami ... Yoshida
Taketoshi Naitô ... Tange
Keiji Sada ... Kageyama
Kei Sato ... Shinjo
Kunie Tanaka ... Obara
Jun Tatara ... Hino
Ryohei Uchida ... Hashiya
Kenjiro Uemura ... Itauchi
Shôji Yasui ... Trainee






Ningen no joken III (1961)

Part three of a trilogy.

After the Japanese defeat to the Russians in the last episode, Kaji, the Japanese soldier and humanist protagonist, leads the last remaining men through Manchuria . Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines. Ultimately, he finds himself in the exact opposite position he held in the first episode: then a labor manager, Kaji is now a prisoner of war, forced to work for the Russians, whom do not seem to hold to the Communist ideals in which Kaji himself had put his faith.

Additional Details
Also Known As:
A Soldier's Prayer
Ningen no joken V-VI
The Human Condition III (USA)
Runtime:190 min | West Germany:143 min
Country:Japan
Language:Mandarin | Russian | Japanese
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono (RCA Sound System)
Genrerama | History | War

Cast:
Tatsuya Nakadai ... Kaji
Michiyo Aratama ... Machiko
Yusuke Kawazu ... Terada
Tamao Nakamura ... Girl refugee
Chishu Ryu ... Village elder
Taketoshi Naitô ... Pfc. Tange
Reiko Hitomi ... Umeko
Kyôko Kishida ... Ryuko
Nobuo Kaneko ... Cpl. Kirikara
Fujio Suga ... Capt. Nagata
Keijiro Morozumi ... Cpl. Hironaka
Hideko Takamine ... Woman in the settlers' village

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009

Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Cinema Paradiso (Australia) (France) (USA)
Cinéma Paradiso (France)
Cinema Paradiso: The New Version (USA) (director's cut)
MPAA:Rated R for some sexuality. (director's cut)
Runtime:155 min | 123 min (International version) | Italy:170 min (director's cut)
Country:Italy | France
Language:Italian | English | Portuguese
Color:Color
Aspect Ratio:1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Dolby
Genre:Comedy | Drama | Romance

Cast:
Antonella Attili ... Maria Di Vita - Younger
Enzo Cannavale ... Spaccafico
Isa Danieli ... Anna
Leo Gullotta ... Usher
Marco Leonardi ... Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Teenager
Pupella Maggio ... Maria Di Vita - Older
Agnese Nano ... Elena Mendola
Leopoldo Trieste ... Father Adelfio
Salvatore Cascio ... Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Child
Tano Cimarosa ... Blacksmith
Nicola Di Pinto ... Village Idiot
Roberta Lena ... Lia
Nino Terzo ... Peppino's Father
Jacques Perrin ... Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Adult
Philippe Noiret ... Alfredo

Credit O/U

All links checked 4-26-2010

Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960)

The widow Rosaria moves to Milano from Lucania with her 4 sons, one of whom is Rocco.
The fifth son, Vincenzo, already lives in Milano. In the beginning, the family has a lot of problems,
but everyone manages to find something to do.
Simone is boxing, Rocco works in a dry cleaners, and Ciro studies.
Simone meets Nadia, a prostitute, and they have a stormy affair.
Then Rocco, after finishing his military service, begins a relationship with her.
A bitter feud ensues between the two brothers, which will lead as far as murder...

Additional Details
Also Known As:
Rocco and His Brothers (UK) (USA)
Rocco et ses frères (France)
Rocco et ses freres (France) (DVD title)
Runtime:Spain:168 min (DVD edition) | Italy:177 min
Country:Italy | France
Language:Italian
Color:Black and White
Aspect Ratio:1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono
Genre:Crime | Drama

Cast:
Alain Delon ... Rocco Parondi
Renato Salvatori ... Simone Parondi
Annie Girardot ... Nadia
Katina Paxinou ... Rosaria Parondi
Alessandra Panaro ... Ciro's Fiancee
Spiros Focás ... Vincenzo Parondi (as Spiros Focas)
Max Cartier ... Ciro Parondi
Corrado Pani ... Ivo
Rocco Vidolazzi ... Luca Parondi
Claudia Mori ... Laundrey Worker
Adriana Asti ... Laundrey Worker
Enzo Fiermonte ... Boxer
Nino Castelnuovo ... Nino Rossi
Rosario Borelli ... Un biscazziere
Renato Terra ... Alfredo, Ginetta's brother

Credit O/U

All links checked 3-08-2009