Paul Newman

Bibi Andersson

Brigitte Fossey

Vittorio Gassman

In the distant future the world is in the grip of another ice age. A city originally built to house five million people is now in its death throes as the relentlessly advancing glacier is slowly crushing the metropolis's steel infrastructure. The relatively few surviving fur-clad inhabitants, perhaps thousands, perhaps only hundreds, drift aimlessly in their grim, drab world, awaiting their inevitable fate as they try to survive from day to day with scavenged firewood and minimal diet. Their only solaces are booza, an alcoholic drink distilled from moss, and Quintet, a seemingly innocuous board game for six players. The only other surviving mammals are roving packs of hungry rottweilers which roam the city's corridors and quickly dispose of the remains of the dead. Newly arrived from the south is Essex with his pregnant wife Vivia, seeking shelter in the doomed city, only to find it populated by people middle-aged or older. They had supported themselves by hunting seals, but now that the last of the aquatic mammals has been killed off, they seek shelter in the apartment of Essex's brother, a renowned Quintet player. The new arrivals quickly learn that the game has a more sinister side.—duke1029@aol.com

Quintet

Quintet (1979)

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Catherine Spaak

Bruno Cortona and Roberto Mariani meet by chance as Roberto helps Bruno one day while everything is closed in Rome for the holiday weekend. The two men could not be more different. Thirty-six year old Bruno is extroverted, a man who seizes opportunities as they arise, is an excitement seeker, has never really grown up, but is a person to whom many are drawn because of his exuberance and masculine good looks. Law student Roberto is introverted, controlled and so unsure of himself that he doesn't really know why he chose law as a career and is afraid not only to let the girl who lives across the way from him, Valeria, know that he likes her, but even to speak to her. He even has a photograph of her in his wallet that he took clandestinely. Roberto reluctantly gets caught up in the whirlwind of Bruno's last minute change in plans for the holidays as the two head off together in Bruno's Lancia Aurelia sports car, their joy ride which will be largely at Bruno's whim. That reluctance is because Roberto would rather stay at home to study for an exam a few weeks away. Roberto tries to ditch Bruno at every stop, he however afraid to tell Bruno the truth that he'd rather not be with him. But as their time together progresses, they each learn a little more about the other, with Roberto in particular beginning to understand how stultified his life has been. The question becomes whether Roberto and Bruno can find that good balance in their lives because of their time with the other.—Huggo

Il Sorpasso

Il Sorpasso (1962)

Claudia Cardinale

Marcello Mastroianni

Caught red-handed for a crime he swears he didn't commit, hopeful criminal mastermind and--for now--small-time thief Cosimo entrusts square-jawed boxer Peppe with the plan for a seemingly fail-proof pawnshop heist on quiet Madonna Street. However, as the news of this lucrative job spreads like wildfire, instead, it's Cosimo's band of maladroit petty criminals--including a destitute photographer with fatherly obligations--who will take action for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Will things work as planned?—Nick Riganas

Big Deal on Madonna Street

Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

Ann-Margret

Eleanor Parker

Eleonora Brown

Comedy-drama about a middle-aged Italian businessman Vittorio Gassman who is married to Eleanor Parker and is innocently introduced one day to a schoolgirl with pigtails named Carolina. Years later, the schoolgirl has become a promiscuous young woman (Ann-Margret) and she pursues him and sucks him into an on-again-off-again romantic tryst where she pulls the strings. "Kitten with a Whip - Italian Style!"

The Tiger and the Pussycat

The Tiger and the Pussycat (1967)

Simonetta Stefanelli

An obscure Italian magistrate suspects that a well-known industrialist commited murder, and decides to investigate him, and bring him to court, whatever it takes. But - will the magistrate have it in him to go against impossible odds, in the name of the Italian people he represents?

In the Name of the Italian People

In the Name of the Italian People (1971)

John McEnery

Gottfried John

Maximilian Schell

The Old Testament story of Abraham and the trials he endures. Commanded by God to lead his family to the promised land of Canaan with the promise that if he does so, his descendants will become a great and numerous tribe. His obedience, as well as that of his children and grandchildren, is severely tested as they prove their faith to God. —Jean-Marc Rocher

Abraham

Abraham (1993)

Senta Berger

An episodic satire of the political and social status of Italy in the 1970s, through the shows of one day of a television channel: an English-language lesson turns into the killing of a black dignitary of an embassy by a CIA agent and then into his own killing by another colleague; in a television film, the police are fooled by a fake bomb and plant a real one to avoid public derision; in a film inquisition show, the Bishop of Naples speaks highly of the importance of the family while a child with a miserable home life kills himself; in the debate that follows it is proposed that they should eat the children, as Swift had said. In the next episode, a general who is in the toilet is summoned for the NATO parade, but the flasher breaks and in his effort to fix it, he messes all over and kills himself. In a children's show an inspector finds excuses to delay the arrest of a powerful man; in an inquiry a pensioner is happy with his petty pension, but cries when he hears the word 'fillet'; on a quiz show there is a contest for misery; i n Pope's elections Cardinals kill each other's voters and finally decide to temporarily elect an ailing Cardinal, but once he is elected he reveals his authoritarian face. A number of other issues are satirized through the news and advertisements between shows. —Alkistis Zografou

Signore e signori, buonanotte

Signore e signori, buonanotte (1976)

Gastone Moschin

The usual gang of robbers in engaged by a thief from Milan to steal a suitcase full of money, but troubles will menace the success of the operation.

Fiasco in Milan

Fiasco in Milan (1959)

André Dussollier

Fanny Ardant

Geraldine Chaplin

Three intertwined tales. On the eve of the First World War, Count Forbek starts to build a fantastic castle in the Ardennes forest. After the war he uses it to start a utopian society by brainwashing his friends, including his former fiancee, Livia, and her husband. In the present day, the castle is being used as an alternative school and, in the summer holidays, for an educational conference. At the conference, the American Nora Winkle bets Claudine that the ernest public school teacher Elisabeth Rousseau will be enticed into the bed of Robert Dufresne, even though the principal speaker, Walter Guarini, is obviously interested in Elisabeth. Meanwhile, the children staying at the castle over the holidays invent their own medieval tale about freeing prisoners from the dungeons. —Will Gilbert

Life Is a Bed of Roses

Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983)

Sylva Koscina

The well-known financier Pierluigi Bruscatelli is arrested after having paid two fraudsters with a bill of 100 000 lire.

La cambiale

La cambiale (1959)

Barbara Steele

Gian Maria Volonté

A group of rogues steal a scroll granting its bearer the property of the land of Aurocastro in Apulia (south of Italy). They elect a shaggy knight, Brancaleone from Norcia, as their leader, and decide to get possession of this supposedly wealthy land. Many adventures will occurr during the journey. —Stefano Bartolozzi

For Love and Gold

For Love and Gold (1966)

Giancarlo Giannini

The adventures of two derelicts. They are prisoners in a battleship, then, after a mutiny, they succeed to become officers. They leave the boat and start to drift all around the Spain with the mere goal to reach something to eat. A prostitute could set their life. —1felco

The Rogues

The Rogues (1987)

Silvana Mangano

Doris Dowling

Raf Vallone

Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder. —Laura Ernestina Ruberto

Katkeraa riisiä

Katkeraa riisiä (1949)

Karin Dor

Franco Nero

Adriana, a naive Italian country girl, moves to Rome to become a movie star and experiences the dark side of the business.

I Knew Her Well

I Knew Her Well (1965)

Catherine Deneuve

Bizarre events keep occurring in an old mansion in Venezia, and it's soon obvious that something mysterious is up in the attic.

The Forbidden Room

The Forbidden Room (1977)

Mario Brega

Vittorio Gassman stars as different characters in each of the nine episodes of this unusual Italian comedy. Playing everything from a practical joker to a prisoner, he comments upon romance, love and women in general.

Let's Talk About Women

Let's Talk About Women (1964)

Vernon Dobtcheff

An army cadet accompanies an irascible, blind captain on a week-long trip from Turin to Naples. The captain, Fausto, who wants no pity, brooks no disagreement, and charges into every situation, nicknames the youth Ciccio ("Babyfat"), and spends the next few days ordering him about and generally behaving badly in public. In Rome, Fausto summons a priest to ask for his blessing; in Naples, where Fausto joins a blind lieutenant for drinking and revelry, the two soldiers talk quietly and seriously about "going through with it." Also in Naples is Sara, in love with Fausto, but treated cruelly by him. What do the blind soldiers plan? Can Sara soften Fausto's hardened heart? —

Scent of a Woman

Scent of a Woman (1974)

Max von Sydow

Philippe Noiret

As his first assignment, lieutenant Drogo is sent to an isolated fortress on the borders of a desert and of a range of high mountains. The mission of the garrison is to prevent a possible incursion by the fearsome Tartars, coming from beyond the desert. Some fellow officers are eagerly awaiting an attack; some no longer want to believe in it; others take advantage of the vague threat to further their career. All of them are sacrificing everything -- health, youth, friends, family -- for a distant military ideal: leading the defence against the onslaught of the enemy. But in the vast emptiness surrounding the fortress, nobody has ever sighted the Tartars... —Eduardo Casais

Il deserto dei tartari

Il deserto dei tartari (1976)

During a dinner in a Roman terrace, the lives and experiences of multiple characters intertwine.

5 / 10

Drama
Mystery

8.2 / 10

Comedy
Drama

7.9 / 10

Comedy
Crime

6.3 / 10

Comedy
Drama

7.6 / 10

Comedy
Crime

7.1 / 10

Adventure
Biography

6.7 / 10

Comedy

7 / 10

Comedy
Crime

6.3 / 10

Comedy
Drama

6.7 / 10

Comedy

7.9 / 10

Adventure
Comedy

6.3 / 10

Action
Adventure

7.7 / 10

Action
Crime

7.7 / 10

Drama

7 / 10

Drama
Horror

6.6 / 10

Comedy

7.6 / 10

Comedy
Drama

7.5 / 10

Action
Drama

7.1 / 10

Comedy
Drama