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Love in the City
Five stories of life, love and tears in Rome by five of Italy's best film directors. Each of them take his turn at showing how love is found, lost, and nurtured in the Eternal City.
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Tullio Pinelli
Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Marco Ferreri
Dino Risi
Dino Risi
Carlo Lizzani
Francesco Maselli
Alberto Lattuada
Alberto Lattuada
Luigi Chiarini
Luigi Malerba
Aldo Buzzi
Casts & Crew
Also Directed by Federico Fellini
A series of disjointed mythical tales set in first century Rome.
In Italy, small-town newlyweds Wanda and Ivan Cavalli embark on their honeymoon in the big city of Rome. Ivan dutifully wants to keep appointments with family and church, but Wanda is only interested in meeting her favorite photo-strip star known as "The White Sheik". While Wanda impetuously sneaks away to locate the object of her affections, disconsolate Ivan tries his hardest to keep up appearances with the couple's relatives.
An anthology of four adult tales: a young couple tries to hide their marriage and the wife’s supposed pregnancy from their place of employment; a billboard photo of a scantily clad woman comes to life to torment the local censor; a lottery is held in which the prize is to spend the night with a beautiful woman; an aristocratic couple comes to terms with life and marriage after the domineering husband is caught visiting sex workers by the press.
A businessman finds himself trapped at a hotel and threatened by women en masse.
When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
Middle-aged Giulietta grows suspicious of her husband, Giorgio, when his behavior grows increasingly questionable. One night when Giorgio initiates a seance amongst his friends, Giulietta gets in touch with spirits and learns more about herself and her painful past. Slightly skeptical, but intrigued, she visits a mystic who gives her more information -- and nudges her toward the realization that her husband is indeed a philanderer.
Three directors each adapt a Poe short story to the screen: "Toby Dammit" features a disheveled drugged and drunk English movie star who nods acceptance in the Italian press and his producers fawn over him. "Metzengerstein" features a Mediveal countess who has a love-hate relationship with a black stallion - who it turns out is really her dead lover. "William Wilson" tells the story of a sadistic Austrian student with an exact double whom he later kills.
Federico Fellini welcomes us into his world of film making with a mockumentary about his life in film, as a Japanese film crew follows him around.
In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.
Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.
Also Directed by Cesare Zavattini
The film tells of old Antonio, 81, who refuses to stay in a mental home and walks away. He hits the streets to give a message to people: be yourselves, tell what you think, make love and stop with violence against the weaker members of society. When he realizes nobody will listen, he tries to take his life by holding his breath, but he doesn't succeed.
Also Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Impressionistic short by Antonioni
A jaded couple, Christopher and Chloë, whose relationship comes to a crossroads when both husband and wife become infatuated with the same woman, Linda.
This romantic drama by Michelangelo Antonioni follows the love life of Vittoria, a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship
Clelia, a self-made woman coming from humble means, travels back to Turin, her hometown, to scout locations for the successful Roman atelier she works for. At the hotel, she encounters some upper middle-class women and she finds herself drawn into their friendships.
A hunted man breaks into the castle at Oberwald to kill the Queen, but faints before doing so. He is Sebastian, the splitting image of the King who was assassinated on his wedding day. The Queen discovers that Sebastian once wrote a subversive poem that she liked, even though it was attacking her. The Queen dares Sebastian to kill her, otherwise she vows to kill him.
A short film.
A three-part anthology film about love and sexuality: a menage-a-trois between a couple and a young woman on the coast of Tuscany; an advertising executive under enormous pressure at work, who, during visits to his psychiatrist, is pulled to delve into the possible reasons why his stress seems to manifest itself in a recurring erotic dream; and a story of unrequited love about a beautiful, 1960s high-end call girl in an impossible affair with her young tailor.
Made of four short tales, linked by a story filmed by Wim Wenders. Taking place in Ferrara, Portofino, Aix en Provence and Paris, each story, which always a woman as the crux of the story, invites to an inner travel, as Antonioni says "towards the true image of that absolute and mysterious reality that nobody will ever see".
Also Directed by Dino Risi
King's Dagobert I intestinal and sexual problems loom large as he survives an attack on his royal caravan then barely makes it to Rome to personally give thanks to the Pope. After he arrives at the Vatican, he becomes involved in the battle between two contenders for the papacy and has to face the machinations of a ruthless Byzantine princess.
A sex comedy anthology containing four stories, each from a different country (England, France, USA and Italy). "An Englishman's Home" "The French Method" "Armando's Notebook" "Skippy"
Agnese has many men who woo her and live with her cousin Cesira Franca Valeri, who has the opposite problem with men and wishes she would also have men woo her.
Over two decades after their affair ended, a married man is haunted by the presence of his former lover.
A man and his mistress have just taken off for a weekend romp when they're kidnapped by a trio of bank robbers. They wind up becoming media "stars" as police and reporters follow them. They all wind up at the beat-up shack of a cranky old codger, with the police surrounding them and the robbers threatening to kill everybody.
The technical office for the renovation of Milan Cathedral - the Duomo - shows the camera the treasures of the place and the projects for the facades of the building.
A story set behind the scenes of the annual Miss Italia pageant, with its load of young girls and recognizable characters.
How Funny Can Sex Be? is an eight-episode anthology film about love, sex and marriage in contemporary, mid-'70s Italy.
The film consists of twelve episodes, all with Monica Vitti as the protagonist.
Also Directed by Carlo Lizzani
A brief tribute to the grat director, spanning through some insights about his character, his works, his life, through the words of critics, relatives, colleagues, with a collage technique of interviews, archive footage, and brief excerpts and pictures from some of his works.
A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.
Based on real events, in Rome a lawyer is not sure whether to accept defending a lower-class worker wrongly accused of the murder of his girlfriend.
After the Civil War ends, two soldiers return home with a cache of stolen money. They are caught by Union troops. One escapes, but the other is sent to prison for five years. When he gets out and goes home, he finds that his wife has died in poverty because his partner kept all the money, and is now a major power in the area with an army of deadly gunmen to back him up.
Enrico Berlinguer (Sassari, May 25, 1922 - Padua, June 11, 1984) was an Italian politician, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.
Girolamo, a teenager from a good family suffering from bone tuberculosis, is hospitalized in a sanatorium where he is forced to suffer the harassment of his rough roommate, sadistically backed by an Austrian nurse. To alleviate his suffering a little will be the tender friendship with Polly, a sweet English girl.
Also Directed by Francesco Maselli
Lucia (Natassja Kinski) is a volatile, exciteable young woman. She forms a romance with Carlo (Stefano Dionisi), who is somewhat callow and is very skittish. Their romance is not an easy one, but they are assisted in coping with its ups and downs by their mutual friendship with Franco (Franco Citti), an older, wiser and more stable man.
An acid portrait of Italian youth at the time, I DELFINI follows a dreary season of discontent and viciousness in the lives of a thoroughly unpleasant group of mostly rich youngsters in a small Adriatic coast city.
Enrico Berlinguer (Sassari, May 25, 1922 - Padua, June 11, 1984) was an Italian politician, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.
Karen arrives at hotel room no.772: she has a huge amount of bags and suitcases and she decided to leave behind her previous life and to meet Massimo, a man she met long time ago.
Giovanna and Franco are lovers pretending to be brother and sister in order to con unsuspecting marks while staying in the most luxurious locales throughout Europe. In their travels, they come across the beautiful Christina, a girl who is being threatened by her brother, Sergio, in order to get the family fortune. But as Giovanna and Franco delve into their story, the double-crossing begins, and no one is sure who is getting tricked.
This drama about a young girl's struggle to overcome the dehumanization of poverty depicts the steady, corrosive effects of her life on her psyche. Bruna (Valeria Golino) has had to work since the age of 13 to help support her father and brothers. She gets up at 3 A.M. to catch the bus to go clean offices, and when she is home, she cleans and cooks for her siblings and father. In spite of this existence, she is spunky and optimistic. As she gets older, she falls in love with Sergio (Bals Roca-Rey), and he moves in with her and her family. But that relationship ends when she meets another young man, Mario (Livio Panieri). This new romance leads her away from her siblings and father and although there is no inkling of any trouble, the drudgery of her past existence catches up with her.
Also Directed by Alberto Lattuada
Giovanni used to be a humble, mild-mannered government clerk whose life was turned upside down when he met Giulio, a notorious forger who at once set about manipulating the over-confident man. Giovanni did what he should never have done: he associated himself with the crook. Giulio soon laid hands on Giovanni's money, ruined his career and manhandled him into marrying his own mistress, the beautiful Ginevra. It was of course an unhappy marriage but Giovanni found a little solace when his son Ciro was born. Seven years later though, Wanzer resurfaced...
A young man hatches a plan to sleep with another man's infertile wife. Based on the play by Machiavelli.
Augusto Valle is a successful young industrialist who weds Palmira, the girl working in his factory, and the two have a child despite the infant's uncertain legitimacy. Scheming to control her husband's fortune, Palmira has affairs with both the mayor and the judge to have Augusto committed to a mental institution. While there, he falls in love with Serafina Vitali, a young woman who was also put away
Guido, a young idler with a gambling problem falls in love with Caterina a mysterious girl. A torrid affair follows thereafter. When Caterina leaves him Guido investigates her past and learns she had a lot of lovers.
An Italian sex worker falls in love with a black American soldier during World War II.
A young officer in the army of Empress Catherine of Russia is on his way to his new duty station at a remote outpost. During a blinding snowstorm he comes upon a stranger who was caught in the storm and is near death from freezing. He rescues the man and eventually brings him back to health. When the man is well enough to travel, the two part company and the man vows to repay the officer for saving his life. Soon after he arrives at his new post, a revolt by the local Cossacks breaks out and the fort is besieged by the rebels. The young officer is astonished to find out that the leader of the rebellious Cossacks is none other than the stranger whose life he had saved during the storm.
A prostitute goes on vacation to a beach resort with her young daughter (who's being schooled by nuns). Everything is cheerful and pleasant at the seashore; the customers at the hotel think she's a poor widow - she always wears black - and treat her like a lady. But when one of her former clients arrives, her carefree days on the beach are numbered.
“It’s the most freedom we had on a film shot in Italy. We had to write with the camera, outside of any theoretical preconceived notions. My episode was a short satire of Italian male attitudes, a montage of heads turning to follow a girl”. (A. Lattuada)
A woman in her thirties is a single mother of a teenager daughter, and both are in love with the same young soldier. Mother sacrifices herself for Maricchia's marriage, but ultimately falls to her own passion, leading to family disruption.
The nun tells the priest about her past and then a long flashback begins...