Noticias

Exclusive: Game of Thrones alums Kristofer Hivju and Harry Lloyd have boarded Iris, the Sky thriller from Luther creator Neil Cross.

Hivju will play Jensen Lind, a tortured genius and brilliant scientist, while Lloyd is Hugo Pym, an immaculately composed mystery man who takes on a senior position within The Money, the group that bankrolled lead Cameron McIntyre’s project.

The pair, who played Tormund Giantsbane and Viserys Targaryen respectively in Game of Thrones, are joined in Cross’s series by Marco Leonardi, Angela Bruce (Silver Haze, Doctor Who) and Lorenzo De Moor (A Simple Favor 2, Dolce Fine Giornata). They join the previously announced Tom Hollander and Niamh Algar, who will play the title character and Cameron McIntyre respectively, along with Meréana Tomlinson (The Trials), Sacha Dhawan, Maya Sansa, Peter Sullivan and Debi Mazar (Younger,...

Tom Hollander and Niamh Algar are set to lead “Iris,” a new Sky Original drama from “Luther” creator Neil Cross. It is a Sky Studios and Fremantle co-production.

“‘Iris’ is a sun-drenched chase thriller about a rootless and enigmatic genius, Iris Nixon who steals a code from charming philanthropist Cameron McIntyre and goes on the run,” reads the logline. “Armed only with her lethal intelligence and chameleonic charm, the clock is ticking for her to work out what the code could unleash before she is found.”

Algar (“Mary & George”) stars as Nixon, a social media manager and puzzle addict who spends her free time solving complex riddles. When she stumbles across a post online about a highly secretive code, she puts herself forward to try and crack it – leading her straight to Cameron McIntyre (Hollander). But all is not as it seems and — realizing she has unwittingly unlocked a powerful...

Niamh Algar (Mary & George) and Tom Hollander (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) are leading a Sky thriller series about a code-breaking genius from Luther creator Neil Cross.

Described by its creator as “unapologetically exciting,” Iris will start shooting later this month in Sardinia and follow the titular character, a rootless and enigmatic genius who steals a code from charming philanthropist Cameron McIntyre (Hollander) and goes on the run. Armed only with her lethal intelligence and chameleonic charm, the clock is ticking for her to work out what the code could unleash before she is found.

Joining the cast alongside Algar and Hollander are newcomer Meréana Tomlinson (The Trials), Sacha Dhawan, Maya Sansa, Peter Sullivan and Debi Mazar (Younger, Entourage).

Algar is well known to Sky viewers having recently appeared as Sandie in period drama Mary & George. Hollander...

Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander will lead the cast for Iris, a new Sky original thriller series that will begin filming this month in Sardinia.

Algar, of Mary & George and The Virtues, and Hollander (The White Lotus, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans), will lead the cast of what is described as a “sun-drenched chase thriller.”

The eight-episode series follows “a rootless but enigmatic genius, Iris Nixon (Algar) who steals a code from a charming philanthropist (Hollander) before vanishing.” A countdown to her capture begins as she attempts to find out just what the code could unleash.

Luther creator Neil Cross will serve as writer, creator and showrunner, while and Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul director Terry McDonough will be the lead director.

“All I wanted to do was to make a show I wanted to watch,” Cross said of the Sky Studios and Fremantle co-production. “‘Iris’ is an unapologetically exciting,...

The Hollywood Reporter Roma, the entertainment media brand’s first European edition, was launched in a majestic mansion in Rome on Thursday night.

The starry party at Palazzo Brancaccio attracted 1,000 buzzy Italian well-wishers that included Cinecittà CEO Nicola Maccanico; local Netflix content exec Tinny Andreatta; Piera Detassis, president of the Italian Academy of Cinema; Alessandro Michele, who recently exited his role as creative director of Gucci; and Italian actress Ornella Muti.

The gilded indoor-outdoor setting in Rome had the feel of a scene out of Federico Fellini’s Italian classic La Dolce Vita. Also walking the red carpet were Suburra star Alessandro Borghi, The White Lotus actress Beatrice Grannò and Isabella Ferrari of The Great Beauty.

Inside, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director, and Elisabeth Rabishaw, co-publisher and executive vice president of THR, congratulated THR Roma on its debut.

“This is only the beginning,” said Moody, who...

Revoir Paris Trailer — Alice Winocour‘s Revoir Paris (2022) movie trailer has been released by Music Box Films. The Revoir Paris trailer stars Benoît Magimel, Nastya Golubeva, Virginie Efira, Grégoire Colin, Maya Sansa, and Amadou Mbow. Crew Alice Winocour wrote the screenplay for Revoir Paris. “Written in collaboration with Jean-Stéphane Bron and Marcia [...]

Continue reading: Revoir Paris (2022) U.S. Movie Trailer: Virginie Efira is a Mass-shooting Survivor in Alice Winocour’s Film...

"Someone was with me. He held my hand." Music Box FIlms has revealed the official US trailer for a French drama titled Revoir Paris, translated in English to Paris Memories. This initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last year and then recently won a Cesar Award (France's Oscars) for Best Actress. It's opening in June in art house theaters in NYC, and it will also play at the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema event this spring at the Lincoln Center if anyone wants to give it an early look. A meditation on healing, the film tells the story of Mia, who survives a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant, and still feels haunted by the trauma, yet unable to recollect memories of the tragic attack. Determined to reconstruct the sequence of events and reestablish a sense of normalcy, Mia finds herself repeatedly returning to the bistro where the shooting happened.

Gabriele Mainetti’s Freaks Out, co-written with Nicola Guaglianone, starring Franz Rogowski, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto, Giancarlo Martini, Claudio Santamaria, and Giorgio Tirabassi opens Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà’s 21st edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema

Giuseppe Bonito’s A Girl Returned; Paolo Taviani’s Leonora Addio (The Demise Of Luigi Pirandello); Laura Bispuri’s The Peacock’s Paradise (Il Paradiso Del Pavone) starring Dominique Sanda, Alba Rohrwacher, Carlo Cerciello, and Maya Sansa; Chiara Bellosi’s Swing Ride (Calcinculo) with Gaia Di Pietro and Andrea Carpenzano; Nanni Moretti’s Three Floors with Margherita Buy, Adriano Giannini, Elena Lietti, Riccardo Scamarcio, Paolo Graziosi, and Rohrwacher, and Gabriele Mainetti’s Freaks Out, co-written with Nicola Guaglianone, starring Franz Rogowski, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto, Giancarlo Martini, Claudio Santamaria, and Giorgio Tirabassi are six highlights of Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà’s 21st edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema.

Some creatures waste away when they’re domesticated, pining for the freedom of the outdoors. That seems to be the case not only for the immensely improbable, leadenly symbolic peacock at the center of Laura Bispuri’s “The Peacock’s Paradise,” but also for Bispuri’s flair for characterization and absorbingly grounded melodrama, which comes tamely indoors after the vibrant, windblown elementalism of “Sworn Virgin” and “Daughter of Mine,” and vanishes.

In the stultifying environment of a small coastal apartment, “The Peacock’s Paradise” follows a family of unbearably self-involved secret-keepers at a reunion that precipitates an entire telenovela’s worth of soapy revelation in the space of a single afternoon. Long-term same-sex affairs are discovered; dormant passions are reawakened; new lovers are betrayed; a history of institutionalization is dredged up; financial petitions are broached; and a clinically mute character speaks, delivering one single, loaded comment that scriptwriters Bispuri and...

Despite Italy having been among countries hardest hit by the pandemic, film production almost never stopped. So there is a backlog of new titles ready to hit global festivals and markets starting from Cannes, as well as newer projects.

Below is a compendium of hot Cinema Italiano titles in various stages of production.

“Bones and All”

Luca Guadagnino started shooting this U.S.-set film in May, marking his first collaboration with Timothée Chalamet since “Call Me by Your Name.” Pic is adapted from the eponymous novel by Camille DeAngelis and tells the story of first love between Maren, a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, a disenfranchised drifter, as they meet and join forces for a road trip through Ronald Reagan’s America.

“La Chimera”

Alice Rohrwacher will soon shoot her fourth feature revolving around the black market of stolen archaeological artifacts.

Dominique Sanda, Alba Rohrwacher and Maya Sansa star in the director’s new film, the story of an impossible love that will throw into question the feelings of an entire family. Filming on Il paradiso del pavone, the latest film from Laura Bispuri, has just wrapped in Ostia. The film comes three years after Sworn Virgin and Daughter of Mine (selected in competition at the 2018 Berlinale). This story of an impossible love that will throw into question the feelings of an entire family will be told by actors Dominique Sanda (recently seen in Saint Laurent), Alba Rohrwacher (seen last year in The Ties and shortly in Tre piani), Maya Sansa (last year in Lasciami andare), Carlo Cerciello, Fabrizio Ferracane, Leonardo Lidi, Tihana Lazović (the Croatian actress...

Leading arthouse outfit The Match Factory is continuing its successful partnership with Laura Bispuri as it boards sales on her latest film, “The Peacock’s Paradise.” The film stars Cannes best actress winner Dominique Sanda and Venice best actress winner Alba Rohrwacher, Bispuri’s long-time collaborator.

The Match Factory previously represented the director’s “Sworn Virgin,” which played in Berlinale Competition in 2015, and “Daughter of Mine,” which was in Berlinale Competition in 2018.

“The Peacock’s Paradise” follows Nena’s family, who reunite in their house by the sea to celebrate her birthday. Everybody is there: her husband Umberto, their children Vito and Caterina, cousin Isabella, their daughter-in-law Adelina, Caterina’s ex Manfredi with his new girlfriend Joana, their granddaughter Alma, and Lucia, the maid, with her daughter Grazia. Finally, there is Paco, Alma’s peacock, who surprisingly falls in love with a little painted dove: an impossible love that will...

Raphael Berdugo’s Paris-based Cité Films is heading to the Mia market with a slate of director-driven films, including the Marguerite Duras adaptation “Azuro,” and the politically-engaged documentary “Shirin Ebadi: Until We Are Free.”

Written and directed by Mathieu Rozé, “Azuro” is based on “The Little Horses of Tarquinia,” a lesser-known novel by Marguerite Duras published in 1953.

Rozé’s feature debut, “Azuro” shot this summer in the south of France, near Marseille, and is expected to be delivered in January. The film takes place over a summer and revolves around a group of friends who are enjoying their yearly holiday in their favorite little village, wedged between the sea and mountains. Their holiday routine gets turned upside down, however, when a mysterious stranger arrives from sea on a golden boat after a fire erupts on a nearby mountain.

The cast is headlined by Valerie Donzelli, the helmer-actor of “Declaration of War,...

Lasciami andare by Stefano Mordini will be Venice’s closing film; the special events include the series 30 Coins, directed by Álex de la Iglesia. Eight fiction films and 11 non-fiction titles, plus three special screenings, comprise the jam-packed Out of Competition programme of the 77th Venice Film Festival (2-12 September), as announced by artistic director Alberto Barbera this morning during a live-streamed press conference (see the news on the Venice 77 and Orizzonti competitions). Among the works of fiction on this list, besides the previously announced opening film (The Ties by Daniele Luchetti – see the news), is also the movie that will have the honour of closing this year’s Mostra: it will be another Italian title, Lasciami andare by Stefano Mordini, a psychological thriller filmed during the period of high water levels in Venice, starring Valeria Golino, Stefano Accorsi, Maya Sansa and Serena Rossi. In the same section is...

Prior to the pandemic, British filmmaker Peter Chelsom shot an Italian-language movie titled “Security” based on the novel of the same name by U.S. author Stephen Amidon. The film, set in the posh Tuscan seaside town of Forte Dei Marmi, wrapped just before lockdown. It stars Italian A-lister Marco D’Amore as a cop looking into a web of sexual abuse cases. The entirely Italian cast also comprises Maya Sansa, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Valeria Bilello, Silvio Muccino and Tommaso Ragno. The cinematographer, Mauro Fiore (“Avatar”), is Italian-born. Chelsom spoke exclusively to Variety about “Security,” which is co-produced by Indiana Production and Vision Distribution and being sold as a market premiere at the Cannes virtual Marché du Film by Vision Distribution’s new world sales arm.

This is the second novel by Amidon set in the U.S. and transposed to Italy, after “Human Capital,” which was directed by Paolo Virzì. Other similarities?...

Élodie Bouchez, Yannick Choirat, Nuno Lopes, Thomas Scimeca, Maya Sansa and Laetitia Dosch will star in the filmmaker’s first feature, produced by Tabo Tabo Films. Just as France’s Health and Safety Guide for Film Production Activities is undergoing validation by the ministries of Health and Work, and the compensation fund for film shoots, steered by the Cnc, is set to launch on 1 June, actor Matthieu Rozé is busy pre-producing Azuro, the first feature film he has directed, which he is due to shoot from 7 July on southern France’s Blue Coast. Shining bright at the head of the cast is Élodie Bouchez. Standing tall alongside her are Yannick...

Miami-based FiGa Films has snared all rights to “Fireflies” (“Luciernagas”), its first acquisition on the eve of the 16th Morelia Int’l Film Festival. Drama world premieres on Sunday, Oct. 21 and competes with nine others in Morelia’s official Mexican feature film category.

Written and helmed by Iranian-born Mexico City resident Bani Khoshnoudi, “Fireflies” turns on a young gay Iranian who finds himself stranded in Vera Cruz, Mexico after boarding the wrong cargo ship in Turkey. After escaping persecution in Iran, he now faces a different set of challenges, including a new language, customs and relationships. Variety has had exclusive access to the trailer and film poster.

“We are fortunate to be working with Bani; she’s a rising star,” said FiGa Films’ Sandro Fiorin, adding: “ ‘Fireflies’ is such a unique Mexican film; it’s a reflection of her background and multiple talents.”

“The particular story of Ramin was something...

Film currently shooting in Morocco.

Sierra/Affinity has launched sales in Cannes on the action film Red Snake featuring a female-led cast.

Caroline Fourest has begun filming in Morroco from her screenplay and Dilan Gwyn stars alongside Camelia Jordana, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Maya Sansa, Noush Skaugen, Nanna Blondell and Mark Ryder.

Inspired by true events, Red Snake follows the story of Zara, a young Yazidi woman who is kidnapped and held captive by a ruthless commander.

When she finally escapes, she joins a group of female warriors determined to fight back. Although they hail from different backgrounds, the women...

Leading Hollywood-based sales and finance agency, Sierra/Affinity has begun international sales for action film “Red Snake,” at the Cannes Film Market. The film is directed by Caroline Fourest and features a predominantly female cast.

The cast includes Dilan Gwyn, Cesar Award winner Camelia Jordana (“Le Brio”), Amira Casar (“Call Me by Your Name”), Esther Garrel (“Call Me by Your Name”), Maya Sansa (“Italian Romance”), Noush Skaugen (“The Conjouring 2”), Nanna Blondell (“Hassel”) and Mark Ryder (“Borgia”).

Inspired by true events, “Red Snake” follows the story of Zara, a young Yazidi woman who is kidnapped and held captive by a ruthless commander. When she finally escapes, she joins a powerful group of female warriors determined to fight back. Although they hail from different backgrounds, the women all share a troubled past that fuels their urge to accomplish the goal of bringing down Isis (aka Islamic State).

Producers include Samuel Hadida via his Davis Films label,...

The gods wish to scare me, I think, for clearly in anticipation of this evening when our flat in this small Swiss town gains not one, not two but three new roommates, my entire day turned out to be dedicated to the terrors, doubts, and sadnesses of living in confined homes.After Michael Cimino, the other Leopard of Honor the festival was bestowing this year is to another maverick of his nation, Italian master Marco Bellocchio. Bellocchio's latest film will premiere later this month in Venice, but Locarno has something just as good if not better: three 35mm prints from the director's last decade of work, plus a new restoration of 1965's I pugni ni tasca. The homage to the director has only just begun here, and is being led by 2003's Good Morning, Night, a rich, sequestered look at the political terror of Italy's Red Brigade in the 1970s...

Sleepytime Drama: Bellocchio Messy Message Movie

After yet another career peak with his 2009 film Vincere, Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio continues his examination of Italian society with Dormant Beauty, a treatise on Italy’s hot button issue of euthanasia. Bellocchio managed to score one of the cinema’s most talented actresses ever to appear on screen when he signed French actress Isabelle Huppert (no stranger to Italian cinema (see a 1996 Goethe adaptation, Elective Affinities from Vittorio and Paolo Taviani), so it’s so unfortunate that this latest endeavor is so unconvincing in all regards.

At the core, based on a true story, the film revolves around three separate storylines, all going on in the last 8 days of Eluana Englaro’s life in February, 2009. Her father, Beppe Englaro, had decided to take his daughter off of life support after she’d been in a coma for 17 years, which divided the country concerning...

These days, the number of indies premiering on a weekly basis can be both thrilling and intimidating. To help sift through the number of new releases (independent or otherwise), we've created the Weekly Film Guide. Below you'll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for today's fresh offerings. Happy viewing! Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. today, Friday, April 25th. (Synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.) Bicycling with Moliere Director: Philippe Le Guay Cast: Fabrice Luchini, Lambert Wilson, Maya Sansa, Camille Japy, Annie Mercier Synopsis: "A kind of theatrical odd couple, Serge Tanneur (Fabrice Luchini) and Gauthier Valence (Lambert Wilson) aren’t really friends but they’re willing to pretend if it’s to their mutual advantage. And perhaps it is: Gauthier is the star of a hit TV show, but he has an itch to stage Moliere’s Le Misanthrope, and he wants to persuade Serge,...

Marco Bellocchio at the 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema for Dormant Beauty (Bella Addormentata): "So the issue, the theme of awakening back to life is very present." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The Museum of Modern Art and Luce Cinecittà organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator in the Department of Film at MoMA, and Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero of Luce Cinecittà are presenting Marco Bellocchio: A Retrospective running from April 16 - May 7, 2014. This is the third collaboration, following exhibitions for Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci.

Il Gattopardo luncheon for Marco Bellocchio in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The opening night screening of The Wedding Director (Il Regista di matrimoni) starring Sergio Castellitto, Donatella Finocchiaro, and Sami Frey was introduced by Marco Bellocchio. Tonight, Bellocchio and Maya Sansa will introduce Dormant Beauty (Bella Addormentata) which stars Isabelle Huppert, Toni Servillo, Alba Rohrwacher, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio and Sansa at MoMA.

At...

Strand Releasing has acquired all Us rights to Philippe Le Guay’s comedy Cycling With Moliere.

Fabrice Luchini plays renowned actor Serge Tanneur who chooses to become a hermit in a small coastal town in France and is pursued for a role in Moliere’s classic play The Misanthrope.

Strand plans a spring 2014 release on the film, which also stars Lambert Wilson, Maya Sansa, Camille Japy and Ged Marlon.

Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing brokered the deal with Saya Huddleston of Pathe International.

Strand Releasing previously released Le Guay’s comedy The Women On The Sixth Floor which also starred Luchini.

A jury of four exhibitors announced today that "La Belle Vie," the feature debut of French director Jean Denizot, is the the winner of the Venice Film Festival's Europa Cinemas Label, as part of the festival's Venice Days section.  The cast includes Zacharie Chasseriaud, Jules Pelissier, SolEne Rigot, Nicolas Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey and Maya Sansa. Here's the synopsis: Sylvain and Pierre have been running from the law ever since a custody battle with their mother, won by the latter, pushed their father Yves into hiding ten years ago. But now that they're older, the two brothers are road-weary and eager to take advantage of the perks of young adulthood. When the authorities discover their whereabouts, they are forced to move yet again and Pierre, the elder, disappears. Alone with his father on an island in the Loire River, Sylvain meets Gilda: his first girl, his first crush, and the first...

Toronto – On July 24th, Piers Handling, CEO and Director of Tiff, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, unveiled some of the films that will headline the 37th Toronto International Film Festival.

According to Bailey, Tiff 2012 will include the “most diverse Gala programme to date with films from Japan, China, India, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, USA and Canada”.

Handling describes this year’s festival as looking “particularly strong” with a wide variety of work from “established and emerging filmmakers.”

Toronto audiences will be first in line to see many “exciting and prestigious films” with further announcements slated in the coming weeks. Until then, here is a sample of what you can expect to see:

Looper (Opening Night film, World Premiere)

Rian Johnson, USA

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels

Directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom), Looper is a futuristic action thriller set in a...

The Dark Knight Rises: a big pop-cultural event, the epicenter of a tragedy that has (unfortunately, inadvertently) become 24-hour news cycle fodder, an illustration of what is (and isn't) meant by the word "ambitious" in today's Hollywood, a much-anticipated sequel to a film that's popularly seen as the superhero-flick-to-end-all-superhero-flicks, a major talking point in the ongoing discussion of what film criticism means to audiences at large. It's easy to forget that it is, first and foremost, a movie. And as a movie, it happens to be a mess—long, loud, and full of seemingly contradictory ideas and plot threads. 

In the following exchange, Adam Cook, Mike Archibald, Josh Timmermann, and I try to make sense of the film, its politics, and its director.

***

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky: Positives first. I liked the first half of the film the most. It has all of these different threads of intrigue going on:...

Following the Toronto International Film Festival line-up earlier this week, the 69th Venice Film Festival has weighed in with their choices this morning. Outside of films also premiering at Tiff — including most notably Ramin Bahrani‘s At Any Price and Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder – they have a strong batch of films not at that fest. We have the highly anticipated next feature from Olivier Assayas (Summer Hours, Carlos), titled Something In The Air, as well as Brian De Palma‘s sensual thriller Passion with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace.

Then things get a little silly with Harmony Korine‘s James Franco and Selena Gomez gangster/party film Spring Breakers. Rounding out the other major titles are Susanne Bier following up her Oscar win with Love Is All You Need and Spike Lee’s Michael Jackson documentary Bad 25. The lack of Paul Thomas Anderson‘s heavily rumored The Master...

After a remarkable presence at Cannes Film Festival this year, Indian cinema hasn’t had much luck with the prestigious Venice International Film Festival.

The festival, headed by new Director Alberto Barbera announced its lineup today, but no Indian film figures in any of the sections.

The 69th edition of the festival will run from August 29-September 8, 2012. Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist will be the opening film.

In its 2011 edition, the festival had screened Sonchidi by Amit Dutta and Anhey Ghorhey da Daan(Alms of the Blind Horse) by Gurvinder Singh in the Orizzonti (New Horizons) section.

Films in Competition:

Olivier Assayas – APRÈS Mai (Something In The Air)

France, 122′

Clément Métayer, Lola Créton, Félix Armand

Ramin Bahrani – At Any Price

USA, UK, 100′

Zac Efron, Dennis Quaid, Kim Dickens, Heather Graham

Marco Bellocchio – Bella Addormentata

Italy, France, 115′

Toni Servillo, Isabelle Huppert, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Riondino, Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio

Peter Brosens,...

Toronto – On July 24th, Piers Handling, CEO and Director of Tiff, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, unveiled some of the films that will headline the 37th Toronto International Film Festival.

According to Bailey, Tiff 2012 will include the “most diverse Gala programme to date with films from Japan, China, India, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, USA and Canada”.

Handling describes this year’s festival as looking “particularly strong” with a wide variety of work from “established and emerging filmmakers.”

Toronto audiences will be first in line to see many “exciting and prestigious films” with further announcements slated in the coming weeks. Until then, here is a sample of what you can expect to see:

Looper (Opening Night film, World Premiere)

Rian Johnson, USA

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels

Directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom), Looper is a futuristic action thriller set in a...

Earlier today, the Toronto International Film Festival released their spectacular line-up for this year, and the festival has now released new images and synopses to from the movies playing at the fest. Among the films with new images and synopses are: Dormant Beauty (Directed by Marco Bellocchio) Starring Isabelle Huppert, Toni Servillo, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Riondino, Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Brenno Placido, Fabrizio Falco, Gian Marco Tognazzi, and Roberto Herlitzka Dreams for Sale (Directed by Nishikawa Miwa) Starring Matsu Takako, Abe Sadavo, and Tanaka Lena English Vinglish (Directed by Gauri Shinde) Starring Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Mehdi Nebbou, and Priya Anand Everybody Has a Plan (Directed by Ana Piterbarg) Starring Viggo Mortensen Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses. The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 – 16th. All images and info via Tiff. Dormant Beauty Italy is cleaved by Eluana Englaro’s drama, who will die...

Jayne Mansfield.s Car

Piers Handling, CEO and Director of Tiff, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, made the first announcement of films to premiere at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. Films announced include titles in the Galas and Special Presentations programmes. The announced films include 17 Galas and 45 Special Presentations, including 38 world premieres.

Toronto audiences will be the first to see the world premieres of films from directors Andrew Adamson, Ben Affleck, David Ayer, Maiken Baird, Noah Baumbach, J.A. Bayona, Stuart Blumberg, Josh Boone, Laurent Cantet, Sergio Castellitto, Stephen Chbosky, Lu Chuan, Derek Cianfrance, Nenad Cicin-Sain, Costa-Gavras, Ziad Doueiri, Liz Garbus, Dustin Hoffman, Rian Johnson, Neil Jordan, Baltasar Kormákur, Shola Lynch, Deepa Mehta, Roger Michell, Nishikawa Miwa, Ruba Nadda, Mike Newell, François Ozon, Sally Potter, Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, Eran Riklis, David O. Russell, Gauri Shinde, Ben Timlett & Bill Jones & Jeff Simpson, Tom Tykwer & Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski,...

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Earlier, we brought you a snapshot glance at the first wave of programming announced for the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. Shortly after, the fest released a thorough breakdown of the Galas and Special Presentations for this year’s event, which kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 6.

So far, 17 Galas and 45 Special Presentations have been announced, including 38 world premieres. Andrew Adamson, Ben Affleck, David Ayer, Maiken Baird, Noah Baumbach, J.A. Bayona, Stuart Blumberg, Josh Boone, Laurent Cantet, Sergio Castellitto, Stephen Chbosky, Lu Chuan, Derek Cianfrance, Nenad Cicin-Sain, Costa-Gavras, Ziad Doueiri, Liz Garbus, Dustin Hoffman, Rian Johnson, Neil Jordan, Baltasar Kormákur, Shola Lynch, Deepa Mehta, Roger Michell, Nishikawa Miwa, Ruba Nadda, Mike Newell, François Ozon, Sally Potter, Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, Eran Riklis, David O. Russell, Gauri Shinde, Ben Timlett & Bill Jones & Jeff Simpson, Tom Tykwer & Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski, Margarethe von Trotta, Joss Whedon and...

2012′s Toronto International Film Festival is set to officially announce its initial line-up later today, but Variety let the cat out of the bag, at least partially; and it’s quite astounding. Most of our most-anticipated films of the year will be premiering at the Canadian festival, notably Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder, Wachowskis & Tom Tykwer‘s epic-sounding Cloud Atlas, Rian Johnson‘s Looper (which will open the fest), Ben Affleck‘s Argo, Dereck Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond the Pines and much, more more.

Coming from Sundance, the only mentioned film was Ben Lewis‘ John Hawkes-starring The Sessions, while Cannes premieres include Matteo Garrone‘s Reality, Thomas Vinterberg‘s The Hunt, Pablo Larrain‘s No and Jacques Audiard‘s Rust and Bone. One of the biggest surprises is a new film from Noah Baumbach, starring Greta Gerwing titled Frances Ha. There’s also The Avengers director Joss Whedon...

After making his directorial debut four decades ago with “Fists in the Pocket,” Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio has tackled many genres and styles, but one consistent characteristic has been his savage socio-political themes and undertones. His 2010 film, “Vincere,” proved to be the most explosive yet, capturing disgraced Italian leader Benito Mussolini’s rise to power from his abandoned wife’s perspective, and now he plans to do it again, this time with one of the world’s most talented actresses in tow.

Cineuropa reports that Bellocchio will explore the right-to-die issue with “Sleeping Beauty,” which follows three interconnected storylines against the backdrop of Italy’s 2009 Eluana Englaro controversy. “The Best of Youth” scribe Stefano Rulli and novelist Veronica Naimo supplied the script, which follows in one storyline a retired movie star, played by Isabelle Huppert, as she cares for her comatose daughter, and in another thread, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher...

Frederikke Aspöck's "Out of Bounds" snagged the Golden Star grand prize at the Marrakech International Film Festival this weekend. Joslyn Jensen took home the award Best Actress for her performance in Mark Jackson's "Without," while Best Actor went to Daniel Henshall for Justin Kurzel's "Snowtown." The Jury Prize also went to "Snowtown," and Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio's "Seven Acts of Mercy" was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Director. The Cinécoles Short Film Prize went to Mohamed Aouad's "L'Arroseur" with a special mention going to Alaa Akaaboune's "Bebope." The feature film prizes were awarded by a jury including director Emir Kusturica, actress Jessica Chastain, director Nicole Garcia, actress Leïla Hatami, director Abdelkade Lagtaa, director Brillante Ma. Mendoza, director Radu Mihaileanu, actress Maya Sansa and director Aparna Sen. ...

La pecora nera or if you prefer, The Black Sheep is the feature debut from Ascanio Celestini, which is In Competition for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

Yes, we said it’s a comedy, but they also describe it as an “inventive, funny and tragic” movie. Check out the La pecora nera synopsis and see why…

“The psychiatric hospital is an apartment block of saints. The poor crazy inmates tucked into their Chinese sheets – industrially manufactured shrouds – are saints, the nun lit up like an ex-voto by her bedside lamp is a saint.

And the doctor is the saintliest of all, he is the head of the saints, he is Jesus Christ.”

This is how Nicola describes his 35 years in the “electric asylum” and in his messed-up head reality and fantasy merge, producing unexpected illuminations.

Nicola was born in the 1960s, “the fabulous sixties”, and...

Above: Antony Cordier’s Happy Few.

David has been doing an excellent job rounding up information on the films that will premiere at the 67th Venice Film Festival (see here,here, here, and here). Here is a more personal preview of some of the titles that will be showcased during the festival that’ll open September 1 with Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

The fine line between the Competition and Out of Competition selections seems especially blurred this year, with a host of U.S. and Italian titles making a strong showing in both sections, and with more than a few titles considered possibilities for either before the line-up was announced.

In one instance, however, the line between Competition and Out of Competition became painfully clear. A lot was made in the Italian press of the surprise inclusion, in competition, of Ascanio Celestini's La pecora nera (“Black Sheep”), a fiction-documentary...

Are you guys ready for the oldest film festival in the world? Yeah, sure you are! Who’s crazy enough to miss all that glamour, great movies, and well-known faces? Guess nobody!

This year’s Venice Film Festival runs from September 1- 11th and some great titles will compete for Leone d’Oro, or if you prefer Golden Lion, indeed!

Just in case you don’t trust us, check out a list of all the films playing in competition:

In Competition

Black Swan, Opening Night Film (dir. Darren Aronofsky – U.S.) Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

La Pecora Nera, (dir. Ascanio Celestini – Italy) Ascanio Celestini, Giorgio Tirabassi, Maya Sansa

Somewhere, (dir. Sofia Coppola – U.S.) Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Benicio Del Toro, Michelle Monaghan, Laura Chiatti, Simona Ventura

Happy Few, (dir. Antony Cordier – France) Marina Fois, Elodie Bouchez, Roschdy Zem, Nicolas Duvauchelle

The Solitude of Prime Numbers,...

Earlier this week, the fifty films showing at the Toronto International Film Festival were announced. Today, we have a list of the films showing in-competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Highlights of the Festival include Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, Richard J. Lewis’ Barney’s Version, Julian Schnabel’s Miral, and Tom Tykwer’s Drei. What’s also cool about this list is that we see the runtimes of each of the films. However, it’s not unusual for a film to undergo changes between a festival and its general release.

Hit the jump for a list of all the films playing in-competition and click here for the films playing out-of-competition. This year’s Venice Film Festival runs from September 1 – 11th.

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

USA, 103′

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

Ascanio Celestini – La Pecora Nera

Italia, 93′

Ascanio Celestini,...

The line-up for the 67th Venice Film Festival has finally been announced and we've handily posted the runners and riders below...

The Italian cinematic shindig, which runs from September 1-11 and features the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo Arriaga, Arnaud Desplechin, Danny Elfman, Luca Guadagnino and Gabriele Salvatores on the competition jury, has pulled out all the stops this year with some very exciting flicks.

Top on our list of must-see movies includes Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, Vincent Gallo's Promises Written In Water and Anh Hung Tran's Murasaki adaptation Norwegian Wood.

The films to be shown at the 67th Venice Film Festival are...

Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel.

La Pecora Nera, directed by Ascanio Celestini and starring Ascanio Celestini, Giorgio Tirabassi and Maya Sansa

Somewhere, directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Stephen Dorff,...

Knowing Quentin Tarantino's appreciation for films that are "out there": if I had to do some really early predictions here, I'd say that the Gold and Silver Lion front-runners are in Alex De La Iglesia's bizarro fantasy film A Sad Trumpet Ballad, Pablo Larrain's Post Mortem or Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg (a filmmaker we recently profiled in our American New Wave 25 series - she spent more than a decade in Austin's film scene). I'd also add put Abdellatif Kechiche's Black Venus high up on any awards list, especially the Lido - it's a film I've been pegging for Venice since the film went into production. Added to Aronofsky's Black Swan, the U.S is repped by Monte Hellman and his comeback film, Road to Nowhere, Julian Schnabel's Miral, indie female helmers Kelly Reichardt (Meek's Cutoff) and Sofia Coppola (Meek’s Cutoff), and the Coppola-...

This is a Pure Movies review of Villa Amalia, starring Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Xavier Beauvois, Maya Sansa, Clara Bindi and Viviana Aliberti, directed by Benoît Jacquot. Villa Amalia is a film about the destruction and rebuilding of one life, that of a middle-aged French woman who decides to leave her husband. When Ann Hidden (Isabelle Huppert) sees hers husband kissing another woman, she absorbs this information silently and decides to write it off to the past, along with the marriage as a whole. From that moment on, Ann systematically leaves every external facet of her identity behind her – her career as a composer, her flat, her Steinways, her location in the world – and begins again, alone. Momentous events are portrayed as exactly what they are – mere moments and nothing more.

Marco Bellocchio ("Vincere") will direct the transgressive nun-themed historical drama "La Monaca di Bobbio" reports Variety.

The story is based on the true tale of a 17th century noblewoman forced by her father to become a vestal. Her unholy sexual affairs inside a convent lead to a murder and her incarceration. Maya Sansa is in advanced negotiations to play the lead.

A young priest caught in a dilemma over her behaviour will be the central character. The director will shift the story's location to Northern Italy. Shooting kicks off in September.

• Foreign Spotlight: Good Morning, Night Good Morning, Night goes behind the doors, into the minds, and is seen through the eyes of the kidnappers of Former Italian Prime Minster Aldo Moro. A quiet apartment is turned into a political prison for the Christian Democrat Party Leader. With this film, Marco Bellocchio shows the world a piece of Italian history without relying on facts but on the emotional story of the relationship between a group of kidnappers and their prisoner. Set during the late 70’s, Chiara (Maya Sansa) and Ernesto (Pier Giorgio Bellochio) rent out a quiet apartment in Rome. Soon they smuggle in their friends Primo(Giovanni Calacagno) and Mariano (Luigi Lo Cascio). Never leaving the apartment the three men build a wooden prison hidden behind book case while Chiara works in a library hiding who she and the rest really are – Red Brigade Soldiers. There is

...

TORONTO -- Just in case the title doesn't say it all, An Italian Romance is indeed a big, glossy romance set in fascist Italy.

And that's the problem.

Everything about the Italian-French co-production has a warmed-over, been-there-done-that quality. Carlo Mazzacurati's film is certainly easy on the eyes, but the banal storytelling and uninteresting characters add up to a production that's as generic as its English-language title.

Meet Giovanni (Stefano Accorsi), a bank clerk who travels by train each day to his job in Livorno, a town that brings back old memories of a steamy interlude he once had with a blonde on the beach.

Meet Maria (Maya Sansa), the blonde in question who's now a brunette. Giovanni doesn't recognize her right away, but pretty soon he's making up for lost time, and the fact that he's got a wife and kid at home doesn't seem to be slowing either of them down.

While the performances are fine, the characters just aren't that interesting. Since Giovanni's being married and having a family doesn't seem to faze him in the least, his character is devoid of a conscience, robbing the story of some much needed conflict. Even the onset of World War II seems to be more about giving Giovanni an excuse to look good in a uniform rather than creating any real tension.

Director Mazzacurati may be saying that when two people are crazy in love, nothing else around them really matters. That's fine for them, but the onlookers need something more substantial than lush lighting and scenic vistas.

Screened

Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO -- In "Good Morning, Night" (Buongiorno, Notte), Marco Bellocchio dramatizes one of the most traumatic events in recent Italian history -- the kidnapping and murder of its former prime minister, Aldo Moro, by a Red Brigade faction in 1978. The writer-director's inquiry into this tragedy makes for a moving and intelligent film, but the dark story never feels fully realized. Bellocchio experiments with a number of fictional methods to penetrate the minds of his characters, but not all work -- and some add confusion rather than clarity.

Nevertheless, this film will be a must-see in its native land, while festival exposure here and in Venice should lead to theatrical releases in many international territories. The film is certainly one of the better attempts by a European filmmaker to grapple with the terrorist activity that plagued Western Europe in the '70s.

The film's early moments depict two of the kidnappers, Ernesto Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, the director's son) and Chiara (Maya Sansa), posing as a married couple to rent a large Roman apartment with an underground garage. Here they plan to sequester their victim. Under the leadership of Mariano Luigi Lo Cascio), Primo (Giovanni Calcagno) and the other two design and construct a hiding place behind a bookshelf wall.

The bloody shootout and kidnapping in broad daylight occur off camera. Chiara learns about it from a TV news bulletin, which alerts her to her colleagues' success and to the imminent arrival of a houseguest.

Moro (Roberto Herlitzka) languishes in the flat for 55 days. During this time, his kidnappers conduct fruitless negotiations with authorities. Moro even writes to the pope to gain concessions that would win his release.

While all of this is happening, Bellocchio imagines conversations between Moro and his communist kidnappers, chiefly their ideologue leader Mariano, a dialogue in which the two parties talk past each other. The story is told from the point of view of Chiara, the cell's only woman. Her doubts about the group's action grow with each passing day. She experiences flashbacks (in black-and-white) to the struggle against fascism during World War II, which lead her to wonder whether her colleagues' radical ideology is uncomfortably akin to the fascists'.

At her job in a library, she develops a relationship with a young man (Paolo Briguglia) who just happens to have written a screenplay about a similar terrorist kidnapping. What Bellocchio wants to achieve here is never clear, nor is the police arrest of her colleague ever explained.

Having trouble sleeping at night, Chiara experiences dreams when she does fall asleep in which Moro roams freely about the apartment, checking out books in the bookshelf, and later, a fantasy in which she frees him before her pals can kill him.

As the film moves back and forth between these hallucinations and the tense boredom of the waiting period, during which the cell's members start to suspect one another, the movie loses some of its grip on the audience. Bellocchio's impressionistic approach never quite jells with the more realistic account of the terrorists' methodology. One also wishes that at least one terrorist would offer a cogent rationale for their actions. Indeed, only Chiara seems able to question their motives and goals.

A movie about the Moro incident should be unsettling, and this one is. The failure of ideology to justify such a crime is clearly dramatized by Bellocchio. The actors convey the blindness of much of the European radical left of that era to the consequences of such acts. In the way Bellocchio lights and shoots the claustrophobic flat, he makes clear that everyone is a prisoner there, not just Moro.

GOOD MORNING, NIGHT

A Filmalbatos/RAI Cinema production in association with Sky

Credits:

Screenwriter-director: Marco Bellocchio

Producer: Marco Bellochio, Sergio Pelone

Director of photography: Pasquale Mari

Production designer: Marco Dentici

Music: Riccardo Giagni

Costume designer: Sergio Ballo

Editor: Francesca Calvelli

Cast:

Chiara: Maya Sansa

Mariano: Luigi Lo Cascio

Aldo Moro: Roberto Herlitzka

Enzo: Paolo Briguglia

Ernesto: Pier Giorgio Bellocchio

Primo: Giovanni Calcagno

Running time -- 108 minutes

No MPAA rating...

Toronto International Film Festival

Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.

Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.

The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world

the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s

the ups and downs of the economy

the Falcone assassination in 1992

and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.

Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.

At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.

Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.

Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.

While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.

Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.

Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.

Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.

THE BEST OF YOUTH

Miramax Films

Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production

Credits:

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana

Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli

Producer: Angelo Barbagallo

Director of photography: Roberto Forza

Production designer: Franco Ceraolo

Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo

Editor: Roberto Missiroli

Cast:

Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio

Matteo: Alessio Boni

Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco

Carlo: Fabrizio

Mirella: Maya Sansa

Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti

Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca

Angelo: Andrea Tidona

Running time -- 373 minutes

No MPAA rating...

Screened

Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO -- In "Good Morning, Night" (Buongiorno, Notte), Marco Bellocchio dramatizes one of the most traumatic events in recent Italian history -- the kidnapping and murder of its former prime minister, Aldo Moro, by a Red Brigade faction in 1978. The writer-director's inquiry into this tragedy makes for a moving and intelligent film, but the dark story never feels fully realized. Bellocchio experiments with a number of fictional methods to penetrate the minds of his characters, but not all work -- and some add confusion rather than clarity.

Nevertheless, this film will be a must-see in its native land, while festival exposure here and in Venice should lead to theatrical releases in many international territories. The film is certainly one of the better attempts by a European filmmaker to grapple with the terrorist activity that plagued Western Europe in the '70s.

The film's early moments depict two of the kidnappers, Ernesto Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, the director's son) and Chiara (Maya Sansa), posing as a married couple to rent a large Roman apartment with an underground garage. Here they plan to sequester their victim. Under the leadership of Mariano Luigi Lo Cascio), Primo (Giovanni Calcagno) and the other two design and construct a hiding place behind a bookshelf wall.

The bloody shootout and kidnapping in broad daylight occur off camera. Chiara learns about it from a TV news bulletin, which alerts her to her colleagues' success and to the imminent arrival of a houseguest.

Moro (Roberto Herlitzka) languishes in the flat for 55 days. During this time, his kidnappers conduct fruitless negotiations with authorities. Moro even writes to the pope to gain concessions that would win his release.

While all of this is happening, Bellocchio imagines conversations between Moro and his communist kidnappers, chiefly their ideologue leader Mariano, a dialogue in which the two parties talk past each other. The story is told from the point of view of Chiara, the cell's only woman. Her doubts about the group's action grow with each passing day. She experiences flashbacks (in black-and-white) to the struggle against fascism during World War II, which lead her to wonder whether her colleagues' radical ideology is uncomfortably akin to the fascists'.

At her job in a library, she develops a relationship with a young man (Paolo Briguglia) who just happens to have written a screenplay about a similar terrorist kidnapping. What Bellocchio wants to achieve here is never clear, nor is the police arrest of her colleague ever explained.

Having trouble sleeping at night, Chiara experiences dreams when she does fall asleep in which Moro roams freely about the apartment, checking out books in the bookshelf, and later, a fantasy in which she frees him before her pals can kill him.

As the film moves back and forth between these hallucinations and the tense boredom of the waiting period, during which the cell's members start to suspect one another, the movie loses some of its grip on the audience. Bellocchio's impressionistic approach never quite jells with the more realistic account of the terrorists' methodology. One also wishes that at least one terrorist would offer a cogent rationale for their actions. Indeed, only Chiara seems able to question their motives and goals.

A movie about the Moro incident should be unsettling, and this one is. The failure of ideology to justify such a crime is clearly dramatized by Bellocchio. The actors convey the blindness of much of the European radical left of that era to the consequences of such acts. In the way Bellocchio lights and shoots the claustrophobic flat, he makes clear that everyone is a prisoner there, not just Moro.

GOOD MORNING, NIGHT

A Filmalbatos/RAI Cinema production in association with Sky

Credits:

Screenwriter-director: Marco Bellocchio

Producer: Marco Bellochio, Sergio Pelone

Director of photography: Pasquale Mari

Production designer: Marco Dentici

Music: Riccardo Giagni

Costume designer: Sergio Ballo

Editor: Francesca Calvelli

Cast:

Chiara: Maya Sansa

Mariano: Luigi Lo Cascio

Aldo Moro: Roberto Herlitzka

Enzo: Paolo Briguglia

Ernesto: Pier Giorgio Bellocchio

Primo: Giovanni Calcagno

Running time -- 108 minutes

No MPAA rating...

Toronto International Film Festival

Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.

Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.

The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world

the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s

the ups and downs of the economy

the Falcone assassination in 1992

and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.

Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.

At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.

Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.

Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.

While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.

Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.

Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.

Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.

THE BEST OF YOUTH

Miramax Films

Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production

Credits:

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana

Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli

Producer: Angelo Barbagallo

Director of photography: Roberto Forza

Production designer: Franco Ceraolo

Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo

Editor: Roberto Missiroli

Cast:

Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio

Matteo: Alessio Boni

Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco

Carlo: Fabrizio

Mirella: Maya Sansa

Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti

Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca

Angelo: Andrea Tidona

Running time -- 373 minutes

No MPAA rating...