Description

While on a road trip to visit his ailing father, a man tells his two children their family history and how the family came to seem cursed. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Sentimental Horse Exhaust!!!
Phew...how did the Taviani brothers pull this one off? Well it does have pretty clothes, handsome actors & lovely surroundings. Kind of a Vogue/Réalités ambiance. But the corny sentimental, romantic & very SILLY family legend, good grief! This is the Italian equivalent of one of those 1970s Jane Seymour TV-movie bodice-rippers.

Yuccchh!

Llovetrain
Fiorile provides a very entertaining and thought provoking story for any viewer whether he be a casual movie goer wanting to be entertained, or a critic looking for a different perspective on human nature and the way he interacts with the rest of society.

Fiolrile follows several generations of a family cursed because of the greedy deeds of some of its early members. But are the following generations truly cursed by a superior being, or are they simply living out their lives equal to their perceived "cursed" potential? In a broader sense, do individuals live lives according to their perceived value and therefore fulfill expectations for good or for bad, or are individuals limited by their potential no matter how hard they try to break a mold that others have cast for them?

An intelligent, well-made film. I loved it.
The acting is excellent and the story is unique. I thoroughly enjoyed watching "Fiorile." Beware, you may need a few tissues during this film!

brilliant...
Fiorile was a captivating film showing the enchanting scenery of Italy. The plot is complex and wil demand you to submit your entire attention to follow. The dialogue between the actors is poetic and beautiful. The film journeys from the Napoleanic era to present times showing the tragedies that plague a family. A film worth seeing repeatedly... ... Read more

Reviews (5)

MY FATHER , MY MASTER...
Here is a landmark film of the seventies , a film with a great dramatic intensity , it has its roots in neo-realism yet so beautiful and lyrical. The 5 stars are for Paolo and Vittorio Taviani , Omero Antonuti and the rest of the crew. For Fox Lorber a zero on a transfer job so poorly done , the VHS tape plays better; they did the same with "Ran" , by Kurosawa . Let us hope someone will hear our voices screaming bloody murder , and hoping for a decent digital transfer on these and similar "butchered" masterpieces.

Fox Lorber DVD...experience the worst DVD transfer
a true story, about living under unbelievable paternal cruelty. the landscape must be beutiful, but this dvd transfer manages to obscure all that. this is the type of product you get when vulgar and dishonest people are involved in its making; this becomes more apparent when it involve the production of art-related materials, where ultimate crftmanship is required. I hope that a remastered version well be published sometimes in the future. avoid this dvd and all Fox Lorber dvd.

A great, great film
Maltin has clearly just not understood the first thing about this, and should stick to Hollywood blockbusters. This is a fantastic movie about the power that a father holds over his son due to his limiting the son's education and ability to communicate. The fact that Gavino Ledda went on to become a linguist shows the effect that his father had, as well as his determination to overcome the limitations set upon him. And when you're done seeing this, track down any other Taviani film you can, especially Notte di San Lorenzo, perhaps movie made about fascism.

One of the best films ever made!
This film is definitely a beautiful film. The courage that it takes Gavino Ledda to go against his father, his master (padre padrone) is incredible. Although I do not want to sound cliche', it's quite a moving film especially for someone who has endured serious difficulties and what might be setbacks in life. Obviously if you're looking for this movie it's because you've seen it or heard good things about it, but it's a must have. Also note that it is NANNI MORETTI who plays Ledda's friend in the Army in Pisa... I give this movie more than 5 stars.

A classic.
Ignore Maltin. He's out of his league when it comes to reviewing movies of any substance or ambition. This is an unbelievably powerful story of an illiterate shepherd who survives a brutal upbringing through the power of education. It's a movie about redemption through the written and spoken word. It's as stylistically audacious as anything Scorsese ever made. It's bawdy, beautifully acted, terrifying and whimsical. There's nothing quite like it, except maybe the Taviani Brothers' other movies (The Meadow, Kaos, Good Morning, Babylon). It's one of my favorites. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Italian immigrants find Hollywood, hope, and tragedy
This film places two young Italian immigrants in a true historical setting of moviemaking in the early1900s. The two handsome young architects leave Italy to find work in America because their father's architect business had been failing, and they promised him they would make money in America and then bring him over. When the young men arrive, no one will hire them for the type of skilled work they are capable of, and end up with humiliating jobs that keep them stuck in poverty.

Eventually, the Italians come across the great film producer, D.W. Griffith, who has just viewed the Italian film, "Cabiria" (produced in about 1914). Griffith declares it the greatest movie he's ever seen, and inspired by it, starts a new film, "Intolerance". The Italians, trying to win a job, create an impressive elephant statue for the backdrop of the movie, but alas, jealous production crew members destroy it. Again, the young men confront despair and hopelessness, as well as prejudice. The only thing that seems to keep their spirits up is the romantic involvement with two lovely American women and their own drive for success.

At last, their lives take a turn for the better, and happiness comes to them, but again tragedy strikes and a wall of dissension divides the brothers until bringing them together in the battlefield where they are fighting on opposing sides in WWI.

This is a very poignant movie, and although I didn't like the young men for their hot-headedness and for occasions in which they took their anger out on animals in the movie, their struggles were moving and emotionally involving. The fascinating part of this movie is the true history concerning D.W. Griffith and the progression of the movies from "Cabiria" to "Intolerance" to "Good Morning Babylon". It's fun to watch all three and see the connection between them. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

"This tragedy comes as deliverance."
"Elective Affinities" is set in 19th Century Italy. Widow Carlotta (Isabelle Huppert) and Edouard (Jean-Hugues Anglade) meet again after a twenty-year separation. Their interrupted love affair immediately resumes, and they marry quickly. The blissful couple retreat to Edouard's Tuscany villa, but when he announces that he's invited his friend, architect, Ottone to stay, Carlotta is concerned that their solitude will be ruined. And it is ....

Ottone spends an evening explaining how elements "give up original bonds and reform", and he even draws a little diagram to illustrate his subject. This is so heavy-handed that it comes as no surprise when Carlotta decides to invite her stepdaughter, Ottilia is join the fun in the country--and the idea is, naturally, that the four people will be affected by each other and form new relationships.

At this point, I thought I was perhaps about to watch some sort of film with a free-love message--you know--a sort of 19th Century "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" complete with bed hopping. I was wrong. The film degenerated into an overly-sentimental, queasy, self-righteous story with a heavy moral message. The guilty twist and suffer, and the morally correct characters are, well ... insufferable.

It was a little unsettling to see Isabelle Huppert play the role of Carlotta--rather a cold fish, and it was especially un-nerving to see her close-up dubbed speeches. Otto's character was wooden, and Edouard rather unbelievable--his eagerness at several points in the film was quite nauseating. The one 'steamy' scene was tepid at best--and again--extraordinarily heavy-handed. Two stars awarded to this film for the beautiful cinematography-displacedhuman

Slow, very slow
I was going to write a review of this, but there is little I can add to Peter Shelley's very perceptive review. I will relate my experience with the video. I chose it more or less at random, as I sometimes do (in this way I try to extent my horizons, or at least to come face to face with something different), but partially because it starred French actress Isabelle Huppert, whose work I admire. As I shifted in my seat through the languid development, I thought how odd and how out of sync with a modern story this is! Strangely coy and even "Victorian" for an Italian movie! After some time it occurred to me that the only explanation is that it was adapted from an eighteenth century novel! For some reason The Sorrows of Young Werther came to mind. When I discovered that Elective Affinities was indeed based on a novel by Goethe, I was very pleased with myself until I noticed on the video jacket a reference to Goethe that I must have read and forgotten.

Let me quote a passage from Goethe's novel, Elective Affinities (1808) found in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations that goes a long ways toward explaining why Carlotta (Huppert) does not immediately divorce her cheating husband and take up with the dashing architect: "The sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through all eternity." Carlotta represents Goethe's point of view.

I would also like to note that this is not Huppert at her best. She is too much long of face, and that sly cynicism of hers is a little too much on display. Additionally (I guess I can't help but review this a little!) the self-satisfied privilege of the upper classes depicted here allows one to understand the reasons for the revolutions that would again and again threaten the old order in Europe throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.

don't vote for this one
This 1996 Italian-French co-production by the Taviani brothers is like an imported box of eaten chocolates - pretty but empty. Based on a novel by Goethe, the story reads like a folk tale with a weak ending. The title refers to a love quartet in a Tuscan villa where an aristocratic married couple become involved with the husband's best friend and the wife's goddaughter, and their affections are traded. The Taviani's gives us a laboured chalk-board explaination of this equation, but also a sex scene with imagined interchangeable partners. Goethe gets all mystical in having the product of the night born by the wife, but with features of the best friend and goddaughter. The child however gets an unintentional laugh since it's thick red hair makes it resemble Chucky from the Child Play series. The film is hampered by a narration by Giancarlo Giannini and dubbing of the actors, since it appears only Fabrizio Bentivoglio as the best friend is speaking Italian, and the others French. In spite of my disappointment over the dubbing of Huppert in particular, and her being saddled with an unflattering black wig, she manages to invest her wife with humour and pathos. Ironically the dubbing of Jean-Hugues Anglade as the husband and the Taviani's direction make him less mannered than usual, though his scenes of physical injury recall his indulgent death scene in Queen Margo. The opening image of a drowned statue of Venus made me think this would be a story of female suffering, and though this image is never given any resonance, there is a disproportionate guilt about the situation as Huppert feels guilty and Anglade does not. We may already think that any man who is prepared to give up Isabelle Huppert is a fool but when he also displays no grief over the death of a family member, all empathy goes out the window. The Taviani's style saves this from being a total failure. They provide some nice editing dissolves, a dance on weak wooden boards of a bridge, and a shocking act of refusal to eat. The final image of a child servant crying over a loss like an animal in the wilderness might have worked better if the story had come together in a more satisfying way, and I could have done without the running gag of the same servant carrying luggage according to her employer's whim.

A pleasant film to watch...
Made by the Taviani brothers, "Elective affinities" is well..., not exactly up to expectation. The film is simple and precise, which I find quite pleasant. It is based on a novel by Goethe, and the story shows how human lives are unable to match mathematical formulas.(Quite frankly, I find it curious matching something as illogical as emotions with something rational.) As the plot goes... A woman engages her lover and then, wed. They settle in on his estate and then the husband's friend arrives for a visit, at almost the same time the women's young daughter appears. Hmm... wonder what's going to happen?

However... some scenes tend to be routine though, which I didn't particularly like. But, overall... an agreeable film to watch... 3 stars. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

"from our land of tears"
Produced by Raitelevisione Italiana, this film set in Sicily and directed by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, consists of four stories based on Luigi Pirandello's "Le Novelle per un Anno", and has some spectacular cinematography by Giuseppe Lanci and a gorgeous score by Nicola Piovani.
The first two stories in particular, take place in a parched, rocky setting, that has a strange beauty despite the dust and the cruelty of the life; life is harsh, and so is the way some of the characters treat each other. A warning to those of you, who like me are sensitive about the abuse of animals, the initial scene of the film with a crow is a little unpleasant.

The stories are: "L'Altro Figlio" (The Other Son), about a mother with two sons in America, and one that she has at home, but has rejected.
"Mal di Luna" (Moon Sickness), about a man who goes wild and howls when the moon is full, and his new wife.
"La Giara" (The Jar), which is a comedic story about an oil jar "as wide as an abbess".
"Requiem", is about a community of shepherds who challenge the town leader for land rights, to bury their dead.

the film ends with a lovely epilogue, "Colloquio con la Madre" (Conversing with Mother). Omero Antonutti plays Pirandello, and Regina Bianchi as his mother, with a scene on an island of pumice that is exquisite.
The ensemble cast is wonderful, with some members appearing in more than one story. Among the many fine actors are: Massimo Bonetti, Claudio Bigagli, Erica Maria Modugno, Franco Franchi, and Ciccio Ingrassia.
Just over 3 hours long, some may find this film slow, but if you are willing to immerse yourself in its unique atmosphere, you will be greatly rewarded.

Italian Beauty
This is an excellent, beautiful Italian movie. In 4 different parts, which are movies on their own, the Taviani-brothers tell the gripping, sometimes hilarious stories of Italian fellowmen from their history and from present times. Stunning landscapes, rich colours, excellent acting and mere suspense make this movie to one of the tops of Italian filmhistory. For me it is already a classic and the best untill now of the highly talenhted Taviania-brothers. Go, and see. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Tuscany's war.
Quite simply the best movie produced by Italy in the post-Fellini/Antonioni era. (And never mind *Cinema Paradiso*, the movie of choice for those who drink cappuccinos after lunch.) *The Night of the Shooting Stars*, written and directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, is a semi-autobiographical account of World War II shuddering to a close in the Tuscan countryside. The movie begins with the disembodied voice of a young woman, who proceeds to relate her childhood memories of war to her own child. We hear this as the camera stays glued on a static shot of an open window looking out into the dreamy blue evening. A typically fairy-tale-like Italian village is visible. This sets the stage for the impressionistic narrative that follows. Everything seems exaggerated in this movie, which is to be expected when the incidents are viewed primarily (though not exclusively) through the eyes of an impressionable six-year-old girl. The plot is simple: "San Martino (based on the real town of San Miniato between Pisa and Florence) is earmarked for destruction by the Germans. The villagers must decide whether to stay or leave. Rumors abound that the Americans are in the vicinity -- will they reach San Martino first? Or should the villagers hit the dusty roads in the countryside and find the Americans before their town is destroyed? About half stay, and half go: we follow the half that goes. There are dozens of characters who embark on the journey, so not much time can be expended on characterization. But the Tavianis cast actors of such unique physiognomy that we feel we know them at a glance. Quite often, they're presented as heroic archetypes. The camera seems to glow around the young couple freshly married with a child on the way; it closes in on the village priest so that we can see every pore of guilty conscience in his face. Larger-than-life gestures help carry the characterization along. But it's the set-pieces that astonish with their comic and/or dramatic intensity and their hyper-realism. There's a marvelous bit when the girl, watching a small-scale battle that has erupted around her, associates the combatants with the heroes from Homer that her grandfather used to tell tales about. In fact, there are so many marvelous bits that to describe more of them will ruin the movie for you, but I can't end this review without mentioning the brilliant scene involving skirmishes in a wheat field between our villagers and the local contingent of hold-out Fascists. This, more than almost any sequence in cinema, captures the horror, pity, and sadness of war, and what it can do to a community. (The San Martinians and the Fascists mostly know each other, calling out behind the rows of wheat, "I know you -- you're Carlo from Pistoia, Alfredo's cousin!" It's like the Italian version of the American Civil War.) Finally, the movie serves to remind Americans just how much we meant to other peoples on the earth, and how much they loved us. This is bittersweet for us; perhaps educational for today's crop of young Italians who almost uniformly have "PACE" flags hanging out their windows these days. Anyway, *The Night of the Shooting Stars* is a must-own masterwork, without flaw. Highest recommendation.

The Night of the Shooting Stars
I saw this movie in the theater when it was first released. It was a wonderful story with suspense, tenderness, betrayal, misconceptions. It seemed to be a straightforward wartime movie, but took off in unconventional ways. Movies like this stay with me a long, long time. I have aged considerably since first seeing Night of the Shooting Stars. When I was 20 years younger, I loved the humanity of the elderly couple. Now I'm pushing up in years, and I still love the handling of that story line!

Best foreign film
I really can't think of any other non-english film I like better than this one. I suppose "Ran" and "Crouching Tiger" are more skillfull, but this is the one I keep shoving back into the VCR over and over again. It's just extraordinary and one to own.

Failed attempt to explain fratricide
The Italians of San Martino had a hard time crushed between retreating Germans and advancing Americans, with fascists and partisans, even in the same family, killing each other. The movie lacks substance and conviction.The story of Italian 'resistance' it is not,but it could have been.It missed.

The best Italian film ever made
I first saw this film in the theaters when it was released. I thought it was better than "Seven Beauties" back then and I still think it's the finest movie ever to come out of Italy -- yes, even better than "Life Is Beatiful"! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

a story of finding
I saw the translated version in my country, so I did not hear Julian's voice. But I like the story itself. It has the same atomosphere of Russian film, and it just fit very well the hero's life searching. To Sergio, honour, dignity and faith are important, but he failed in appoaching it. It may be a life's tragedy, but we also adore his honesty, his searching and his pay. The film has good shot utiliazing and music, which made the film like a slowly flowing river and it flowed into the audience's heart.

Julian, What Were You Thinking?
Julian Sands is an actor whose work range from slightly bizarre to fabulous in period costume. As a fan, I've followed his career for years, however, Night Sun is not one of his better performances. The film is standard period melodrama with too much costume and little content. Although Sands attempts to bring life to a dreary storyline, he's overwhelmed by the maudlin and predictable characterization. Nothing works in this film, and perhaps most obnoxious is the dubbing. We all know what a beautiful voice Sands possesses, and to hear him dubbed is plainly irritating. The film is easily bypassed for better performances by this talented actor, and better storylines in film worth the attention such as A Room With A View. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Tuscany's war.
Quite simply the best movie produced by Italy in the post-Fellini/Antonioni era. (And never mind *Cinema Paradiso*, the movie of choice for those who drink cappuccinos after lunch.) *The Night of the Shooting Stars*, written and directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, is a semi-autobiographical account of World War II shuddering to a close in the Tuscan countryside. The movie begins with the disembodied voice of a young woman, who proceeds to relate her childhood memories of war to her own child. We hear this as the camera stays glued on a static shot of an open window looking out into the dreamy blue evening. A typically fairy-tale-like Italian village is visible. This sets the stage for the impressionistic narrative that follows. Everything seems exaggerated in this movie, which is to be expected when the incidents are viewed primarily (though not exclusively) through the eyes of an impressionable six-year-old girl. The plot is simple: "San Martino (based on the real town of San Miniato between Pisa and Florence) is earmarked for destruction by the Germans. The villagers must decide whether to stay or leave. Rumors abound that the Americans are in the vicinity -- will they reach San Martino first? Or should the villagers hit the dusty roads in the countryside and find the Americans before their town is destroyed? About half stay, and half go: we follow the half that goes. There are dozens of characters who embark on the journey, so not much time can be expended on characterization. But the Tavianis cast actors of such unique physiognomy that we feel we know them at a glance. Quite often, they're presented as heroic archetypes. The camera seems to glow around the young couple freshly married with a child on the way; it closes in on the village priest so that we can see every pore of guilty conscience in his face. Larger-than-life gestures help carry the characterization along. But it's the set-pieces that astonish with their comic and/or dramatic intensity and their hyper-realism. There's a marvelous bit when the girl, watching a small-scale battle that has erupted around her, associates the combatants with the heroes from Homer that her grandfather used to tell tales about. In fact, there are so many marvelous bits that to describe more of them will ruin the movie for you, but I can't end this review without mentioning the brilliant scene involving skirmishes in a wheat field between our villagers and the local contingent of hold-out Fascists. This, more than almost any sequence in cinema, captures the horror, pity, and sadness of war, and what it can do to a community. (The San Martinians and the Fascists mostly know each other, calling out behind the rows of wheat, "I know you -- you're Carlo from Pistoia, Alfredo's cousin!" It's like the Italian version of the American Civil War.) Finally, the movie serves to remind Americans just how much we meant to other peoples on the earth, and how much they loved us. This is bittersweet for us; perhaps educational for today's crop of young Italians who almost uniformly have "PACE" flags hanging out their windows these days. Anyway, *The Night of the Shooting Stars* is a must-own masterwork, without flaw. Highest recommendation.

The Night of the Shooting Stars
I saw this movie in the theater when it was first released. It was a wonderful story with suspense, tenderness, betrayal, misconceptions. It seemed to be a straightforward wartime movie, but took off in unconventional ways. Movies like this stay with me a long, long time. I have aged considerably since first seeing Night of the Shooting Stars. When I was 20 years younger, I loved the humanity of the elderly couple. Now I'm pushing up in years, and I still love the handling of that story line!

Best foreign film
I really can't think of any other non-english film I like better than this one. I suppose "Ran" and "Crouching Tiger" are more skillfull, but this is the one I keep shoving back into the VCR over and over again. It's just extraordinary and one to own.

Failed attempt to explain fratricide
The Italians of San Martino had a hard time crushed between retreating Germans and advancing Americans, with fascists and partisans, even in the same family, killing each other. The movie lacks substance and conviction.The story of Italian 'resistance' it is not,but it could have been.It missed.

The best Italian film ever made
I first saw this film in the theaters when it was released. I thought it was better than "Seven Beauties" back then and I still think it's the finest movie ever to come out of Italy -- yes, even better than "Life Is Beatiful"! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Sentimental Horse Exhaust!!!
Phew...how did the Taviani brothers pull this one off? Well it does have pretty clothes, handsome actors & lovely surroundings. Kind of a Vogue/Réalités ambiance. But the corny sentimental, romantic & very SILLY family legend, good grief! This is the Italian equivalent of one of those 1970s Jane Seymour TV-movie bodice-rippers.

Yuccchh!

Llovetrain
Fiorile provides a very entertaining and thought provoking story for any viewer whether he be a casual movie goer wanting to be entertained, or a critic looking for a different perspective on human nature and the way he interacts with the rest of society.

Fiolrile follows several generations of a family cursed because of the greedy deeds of some of its early members. But are the following generations truly cursed by a superior being, or are they simply living out their lives equal to their perceived "cursed" potential? In a broader sense, do individuals live lives according to their perceived value and therefore fulfill expectations for good or for bad, or are individuals limited by their potential no matter how hard they try to break a mold that others have cast for them?

An intelligent, well-made film. I loved it.
The acting is excellent and the story is unique. I thoroughly enjoyed watching "Fiorile." Beware, you may need a few tissues during this film!

brilliant...
Fiorile was a captivating film showing the enchanting scenery of Italy. The plot is complex and wil demand you to submit your entire attention to follow. The dialogue between the actors is poetic and beautiful. The film journeys from the Napoleanic era to present times showing the tragedies that plague a family. A film worth seeing repeatedly... ... Read more