Adalberto Maria Merli
When Irena Ruppel, a fascinating Slovenian woman, arrives in a valley of the Po river, she is hosted by a man of that area, Gabriele. She seems to know a lot about Gabriele, whom at the same time is intrigued by this woman who doesn't speak Italian but she seems to understand everything that happens around her. Once she leaves, she gives a weak clue to Gabriele: her name and Tolmin, the name of a locality at the borders between Italy and Slovenia. Gabriele can't help it and goes to look for her, taking a journey that will bring him to the truth about his parents, himself and this woman who threw his calm life into confusion.
The story of Maria Montessori the most famous pedagogue of the world. She spent all her life to make her "metodo" (method) accepted in the archaic Italian school system, while the rest of the world immediately understand the importance of her theories. She was the first Italian Doctor, a famous feminist, a scientist. Her private life was hit by having an illegitimate son and by the Fascism that didn't want to accept completely her theories.
Policewoman Anna Mari is forced to play a dangerous game with the title serial killer. If she loses, she witnesses the maniac's tortured victims having their throats cut in explicit close-up detail via webcam. She teams up with British cop John Brennan to find out the identity of the murderer.
An evening at an Italian restaurant. Hosted by tolerant and relaxed Flora, various parties of middle-class people come in -- large and small, young and old, regulars and tourists, married and single -- to dine, converse, argue, celebrate, make confessions; to overhear other people's discussions, to interrupt them, to sing, listen to music, and enjoy life. The camera, just like the people, moves constantly from table to table, into the kitchen and the back room to observe the staff's petty jealousies and frustrations -- until two hours later it's time for everybody to go home.
Let's Hope It's a Girl is a multifaceted exploration of the pointlessness of sexual stereotypes. Liv Ullmann is a countess who, after her divorce, takes over the family farm. Realizing that she can't rely on the patriarchal society structure for assistance, Ullmann runs the farm herself with the help of her female servants and relatives. When the Count (Philipe Noiret) comes back into her life, he and his male buddies find themselves outclassed by the expertise of the ladies.
After a terrorist attack against a train, the police arrest the young laborer Stefano Baldini, member of a group of militant leftists. Entrusted for interrogation to Sergeant Pendicò and special agents Lorusso and Spasiani, Stefano dies, after four days, in unclear circumstances. Doubting the official version of the police, the second time in which a young person died in custody, journalist Cristina Visconti tries, with the aid of the sister of Stefano, to discover the truth. They rub up against a conspiracy of silence that encircles the acts of Pendicò and his associates. Frustrated beyond reason, Cristina tries a desperate ploy: publishing a story without evidence in the newspaper, accusing the three agents of having caused the death of Stefano with their blows. Cristina is put on trial for defamation. Can she avoid going to jail and also reveal the facts surrounding Stefano's death?
Faccia di spia tries to tell the story of the CIA and other government intelligence agencies with lots of re-creations and dramatizations and points out some of the more brutal aspects of the intelligence community from around the world. Wars are started, all facets of everyday life are controlled, innocent people are tortured needlessly and subjected to extreme violence.
A serial-killer frightens Paris by phoning young ladies at night, telling them insults about their lives. Minos, as he calls himself, wants to prevent the world from free women and he targets at first these ones. Commissaire Letellier is given the investigation and he has hard work with the maniac.
An elderly millionaire manipulates an avant-garde writer and a happily married man.
Rossini, history teacher and son of another professor, for his liberal ideas refuses to sign the oath of allegiance to the the fascist regime that Mussolini imposed on the professors university. After a period of imprisonment he is so assigned to confinement on an island. Here the young intellectual finds himself in contact with the composite humanity that populated the places of confinement: militiamen, agents, common and political coercion, villagers. The figure of the director of the colony, the commissioner Rizzuto, stands out among all, who was a pupil of his father, and for whom he continues to have feelings of esteem and devotion.
In Italy, the gambler and professor of poetry Daniele Dominici arrives in the seaside town of Rimini and is hired to teach for four months in the local high school replacing another teacher. His relationship with his partner Monica is in crisis and he spends most of the time with his new acquaintances and gamblers Giorgio, Marcello and Gerardo. In classroom, he meets the gorgeous nineteen years old student Vanina Abati, who is Gerardo's girlfriend.
The narrative concerns the barbaric exploits of Attila The Hun and yet none of the characters ever leave the remote seaside stretch of land on which the film is set or do much of anything – with the ensuing moralizing interrupted only by the occasional (and equally obscure) music-infused rites.
Luisa Latin, betrayed by her husband, is imprisoned for the murder of her husband's mistress - who is still alive. When Luisa is released from prison, she kills her.
