Reviews (2)

The gold of Naples
Robert Traven (Jack Lemmon) comes to Naples as consultant to Aeritalia. While the taxi trives him to his hotel he studies the city he has not seen since his time as G.I. Naples has changed; So has he. He draws the curtains and swallows his pills. His calendar is crammed. A p.r. officer is getting on his nerves and he puts on his sunglasses to shield himself against the world around. He is forced to watch Aeritalia's advertising films, but his main concern is: "Did you send the bottle to my room?".

Antonio Jasiello (Marcello Mastroianni) hurries upstairs panting with pleasant anticipation. At last he will meet the man he still considers as his best friend. He does not notice in his exuberance that the man he smothers with kisses is morning-afterish and not very affable. Robert dismisses Antonio like a burdensome petitioner: "What can I do for you?". Antonio is taken aback: "Perhaps you could do somthing for yourself" he replies quietly.

Maria, Antonio's sister, was the sweetheart of Robert's youth and an old photography calls this happy time back to his mind. He visits the places of his memory. The visualization of Maria sitting in a churchyard casts a ray of sunshine on his embittered face. He calls on Antonio, and , to his dismay, the entire neighborhood seems to recognize him: "This must be Maria's fiance!". Antonio is leading a leisurely life in the archive of the bank of Naples. He is not resentful and the ice is melting fast. Robert forgets his VIP status (He has a car-phone) for a while and plays truant. He is going through a belligerent divorce and is eager to meet Maria, who, he is surprised to learn is now a grandmother. A young woman greets him and he gives her a passionate kiss on the mouth. "I'm Virginia - Maria's daughter" the young woman sets him right. Maria appears, a grey-haired grandmother indeed, but the way she walks down the stairs is a moment out of a glittering Hollywood-film - adapted for the cramped space of a flat in Naples. He gives her a respectful kiss on the hand. The apartment is decorated like a sanctuary - with his photograph at the center. It turns out that Antonio, moved by the suffering of his sister after Robert departed has written her letters under Robert's name for the past 40 years. And he made a daredevil superhero out of him! "Robert's" letters are exhibited before him, but Antonio comes to his help: "He has always avoided giving interviews for newspapers and television". Maria's husband reveals his jealousy.

Italian nights can be delirious. The street-lightening outshines the stars in the sky. By this time Robert takes great interest in Antonio's personality. His generosity and enthusiasm are infectous. Antonio introduces Robert to his mother, who predicts that his job is threatened. They make an excursion to the beach and enjoy the sunset. Later, Robert has to deal with the p.r. woman who makes a drunken pass at him in the pouring rain, but Antonio saves the evening when he stars in a self-written play and delivers a hilarious parody of his younger self. Robert, on the other hand impresses him with his piano-playing (Lemmon was an accomplished pianist). Under the influence of wine and the intoxicating mediterranean atmosphere Robert curses the vanity of his existence: "I bought a dozen postcards to send to friends. I can't think of any".

Critics were sceptical: Can dolce far niente in a maffia-infested city heal the taedium vitae of the american businessman? But Lemmon's woebegone appearance and Mastroianni's mental balance seem to indicate that the fountain of youth springs indeed from Italy. The film is short of plot (the maffia-related dramatic climax is depressing), but the performances are authentic and deeply felt, and you can always enjoy the lovely scenery and the seductive score. When director Ettore Scola opens his magic trick pack some of his tricks are, trust me, truly bewitching.

Macaroni, no cheese
In this sadly overlooked romantic comedy, Jack Lemmon and Marcello Mastroianni team up in a wonderful combination of foreign film charm and Hollywood star power. Jack Lemmon plays an American business mogul visiting Naples, Italy on business for the first time since his tour of duty in World War II. He is greeted by an old friend, played by Mastroianni, who has spent the years since the war re-inventing Lemmon as a super hero, thanks to a series of letters faithfully arriving from around the world. Lemmon shines as the jaded American against Mastroianni's hopeless romantic. Both actors work so well together it is a shame they didn't do more during their lifetimes. I highly recommend this movie for those who want a romantic comedy with a European twist. An added bonus for those allergic to foreign films is that Macaroni is in English. -Enjoy ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Strange and Wonderful Movie
This is an oddly great movie, with no dialogue and a large ensemble cast of actors playing the same or different roles in segments that span fifty years or so. The setting is a French dance hall, and the segments cover the Roaring 20's through the Disco 70's. Each segment and/or vignette features the best and most popular music of its era. The themes covered include courtship rituals, different definitions of masculinity and femininity, dominance hierarchies, and the passive but clear resistance of an occupied people toward its oppressor. All of that is accomplished with wonderful music, no dialogue, and some of the purest examples of rich non-verbal communication you will see anywhere. Buy it and watch it many times. It will keep surprising you, touching you, and amusing you. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Papa Giancinto and others.
This is a beautiful movie about the life of an impoverished Italian family. Very well played. I do not understand Italian very well, and it was necessary to view the movie repeatedly, until all the details from subtitles sunk in. It was well worth it!

Human!!!
If one likes most of Hollywood one will not like this movie. If one is very moralistic and judgemental one will not like this movie. If one looks for black and white, one will find colorfull. I look for a masterpiece and I found one. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Primer on the French Revolution
This movie has as its base the improbable scenario of a public coach on the same route and about two hours behind Louis XVI as he flees Paris. In the Coach is Thomas Paine (Harvey Keitel), Retif de la Bretonne, a lady in waiting, a rich industrialist, a middle class woman, young jacobin, etc. During the course of the journey the passangers get to know each other and discuss the events of the day and the revolution in general each with a particular point of view. It is extremely well done with very authentic detail in costuming and accoutrements.

Where the people are historic they are in character and in some instances are made to say quotes that have been attributed to them. (...)

French Revolution period piece
This is extremely well done. Costumes are excellent and well as the props settings and various scenes. It was the movie that made seek out a read Retif de la Bretonne. The movie takes several very strong and strictly in character persons and places them together on the coach following the fleeing King and Queen. I would say this is a must have for anyone interested in the French Revolution. I cant wait for this to be out on DVD.

"IT'S NOT GOOD TO BE THE KING ANYMORE"
WHERE ELSE can you find : Marcello Mastroianni, Harvey Keitel, Hanna Schygulla and the great Jean-Louis Barrault sharing screen time? [Just to name a few of the stars].

This brilliant realization of the 'race to save' the doomed Louis XVI is conceived by director Ettore Scola. Costumes by Gabriella Pescucci ["Dangerous Beauty"] and Production design by Oscar nominee - Dante Feretti ["Titus", "Kundun", etc.] authentically capture this remarkble premature-revolution rush to save the Sun King!

In brief - a devoted royal, Schygulla, frantically tries to get the Royal Coronation robes to Varennees, where Louis, Marie-Antoinette and the rest of the family are in hiding; along the way her travel companions are respectively, Casanova, Thomas Paine [now in Europe, after our 1776 incident], and the historian de la Bretonne. Respectively played by, Mastroianni, Keitel, and Barrault, they are all magnificently in character especially Mastroianni, who leaves us with a moving, melancholy portrait, as the ageing Casanova [practially upstaging the rest of the talented thespians]. Barrault - is also a fascinating figure as the historian Nicolas Edme Restif de la Bretonne, passively observing the events. Can't say anymore - that would ruin the plot, the reasoning "behind the Royal Robes".

THE WORK RIVALS the beauty of Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" and Fellini's "Casanova" - worthy companions though!

A rarely seen work, it well deserves a restored, wide-screen DVD release - long overdue! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Papa Giancinto and others.
This is a beautiful movie about the life of an impoverished Italian family. Very well played. I do not understand Italian very well, and it was necessary to view the movie repeatedly, until all the details from subtitles sunk in. It was well worth it!

Human!!!
If one likes most of Hollywood one will not like this movie. If one is very moralistic and judgemental one will not like this movie. If one looks for black and white, one will find colorfull. I look for a masterpiece and I found one. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great Italian Film
This film has such a breathtaking display of intensity and strong sensuality that makes you surrender to the passion of the drama.

Obsessive love
This is one of the truly great films--if not the greatest--about obsessive love. Based on a short novel of the same name by Igino Tarchetti, it is one of the unsung masterpieces of Italian film. In 19th century Italy, a strikingly handsome officer is sent far from his home town, also the site of his mistress, an extremely beautiful married woman played by Laura Antonelli. His new quarters houses, among others, the seriously ill Fosca, the cousin of the officer's local commander in his newly appointed region. Fosca is the antithesis of the officer's mistress; she is sick and she is, as well, supremely unattractive.

When Fosca catches sight of the officer for the first time, she is immediately smitten and her passion for him is boundless. She implores him every way she knows how to pay attention to her, to bestow some measure of understanding and affection upon her. The officer is repelled by her and thinks of his mistress.

Yet with Fosca's constant unrelenting efforts, something changes. The longer the officer stays at his new command, the more he realizes it will be even longer before he is reunited with his lover. And Fosca's attention is ever present. The denouement and climax of this film are a marvel of emotional intensity, something unduplicated anywhere else in film.

If you have the opportunity to see and/or own this film, do not miss it. It is truly remarkable.

Fascinating and repulsive, all at the same time----
The thought of this movie has stayed with me since I first saw it in the early l980's. In fact, I have shared its content with many friends who never saw it. What struck me the most is how the handsome cavalry officer, once so repulsed by this hideous, obnoxious woman, came to not only see her as beautiful, but became obsessed with her. Why do you suppose that is? Well, it is my belief that it is hard to resist those who find us irrestible---this is a very unusual movie and not for everyone---I like foreign films such as this one; how many actresses in America would allow themselves to take on the emaciated repulsive look this actress did? can't think of any ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Warning: The disc goes to menu after every chapter!
This is a great movie, which I first saw at the Museum of Modern Art on the evening they held in honor of Nino Manfredi. I wasn't aware of anything by director Ettore Scola out on DVD, so I was surprised when I saw this movie was available at Amazon. According to the reviews I read here, it was supposed to have a so so picture quality and was also made for the purposes of learning Italian, but no one mentioned that the disc automatically went to the chapter menu after every scene. It is definitely annoying for anyone with intentions of enjoying the movie rather than learning Italian. Even if you bought this DVD to learn Italian, at one point you would like to watch the movie as a whole, I think, and the people at Brigham Young University, who produced this DVD, should have taken that into consideration and given the viewer this option as well. (I played this DVD on two different players, and tried to change some player settings too, but couldn't find a way to watch the movie without jumping to the menu every few minutes. If I am wrong and there is a way to watch the movie without interruption, please let me and all others interested know). I still don't regret that I have bought the DVD since there is no other way of owning this movie now, and it is worth putting into your collection even with the flaws of it. One thing I wish to say to whichever company owns the rights to this movie is to put this out as a regular DVD release. Looking at the director, the cast and the cameos by Fellini, De Sica, and Mastroianni, I know fans of foreign films will jump on it even if they haven't seen it and don't know what great a movie this is. Speaking of Ettore Scola and releasing great movies on DVD, his movie 'A Special Day' with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni is one of the greatest movies of all time according to many interested in film. I don't think it has been out on video since early 80s, and it is very difficult to find it anywhere to watch. So Criterion, Image, Kino, Fox Lorber, New Yorker or anyone from any other video company, who is reading this; somebody please pick this masterpiece up and release it on DVD. I am 24 and I hope I can wait for some time, but I am sure there are also older people who are dying to get this, please let them get it before they do!

Fantastic movie with great fringe benefits
This is a great classic of Italian cinema, and anyone who enjoys a well made movie should see this film. This DVD was particularly helpful because it includes essays on the actors and the director, along with many different versions of subtitles that vary in length. You can watch the movie with comprehensive word by word subtitles, or with ones that just summarize what's going on, and they're in Italian or English, which is helpful for students of Italian.

Even with the extra content of the film aside, it is a fantastic show that portrays the life of three friends and the woman that they all fall in love with during Italy's post World War II era. It is a highly allegorical film, using the main characters as a topos of the nation Italy itself.

Fellini, De Sica, ... who cares.
I opened this DVD with some trepidation, because of all the controversy surrounding its original release. To my relief, the full theatrical version was there, uninterrupted and without cuts. The print quality is good enough, better than the one I saw recently at Vittorio Gassman retrospect. The controls are not particularly versatile, for example, I couldn't change the choice of subtitles during the play, but regardless of the flaws, we should be grateful to those, who made this wonderful film available to us. There is nothing like it!

An ode to friendship
This film is one of the most sincere and haunting films you'll watch in you life. A careful sight into the affective world of three friends, his adventures and livings, until they find casually twenty years later; and the changes produced by the life in what they are, and their useless efforts for trying 'to freeze' the time. Beautifully filmed with surrealistic rapture images.
Manfredi and Gassman were two of the major actors in the italian cinema in any age Watch also for that legendary seductive beauty who was Stephania Sandrelli.
The dazzling script and delightful sequences are feed by a clever sense of humor. It's about the nosthalgical reflections of those years that they'll never come.
A cult movie. One of my favorites italian films.

Clarification !
The Second edition of this DVD has been available since 2001. The first edition, which went to the menu after every scene, is no longer available. Neither version cut any scenes. The DVD now being sold at this site and others is the complete, uncut movie and can be viewed without interruption. I apologize for the confusion caused by my earlier explanation. ... Read more