Armenia Balducci
A reconstruction of the bankruptcy of the Banco Ambrosiano bank and its liaisons with the Vatican and the Masonry through its president Roberto Calvi, notoriously found dead under the Blackfriars Bridge in London in June 1982.
On March 16 1978, the Red Brigade kidnap the Chief of the Christian Democraty, the party in power in Italy since the end of the war. Fifty-five days later, his corpse was found in the trunk of a red Renault.
Armenia Balducci's feature film debut, featuring super star Gian Maria Volontè in the guise of Stark, a cop-movie actor that falls prey to paranoia because he fears his latest movie will be a failure.
In a resort town near Rome, Louise (Jacqueline Bisset) attempts to cope with her divorce, a new career, and John (Maximilian Schell), a boyfriend who is not much of an improvement on the husband she left behind. She has a demanding son, a demanding career, a demanding lover, and makes some impossible demands on herself. She gets together with a couple of girlfriends, including one who has just had a liaison with her boyfriend John, and decides that women haven't made nearly as much progress as they might have thought. Louise has also been having an affair with Henry (Terence Stamp), but isn't getting much joy from that relationship either.
The story of two anarchists who were charged and unfairly tried for murder when it was really for their political convictions.
Magistrate (Judge) Del Russo presides over four cases brough before him during a period of one day. "Adultery in 16mm" focus on Elena who brings her salesman husband to court on charges of abandonment where he springs surprise evidence involving her affair with her lawyer. In "The Priest and the Prostitute," Don Michele, a young priest, is charged with wrecking a pool room who claims he was robbed by Anna, a prostitute, and beaten by her pimp. In "Indecent Exposure," Meniconi is a man arrested for indecent exposure who claims he was swimming in the nude and his clothes where stolen. The last case "Lustful Lieutenant," involves Gloriana, a middle-aged prostitute, who's brought before Del Russo on charges of soliciting and who apparently knew Del Russo from a time years ago.
In this comedy Alberto Sordi plays Rosario Scimoni, known as Sasà , an opportunistic and unscrupulous guy, nephew of the mayor of Catania, and he's always ready to take sides with anyone who can help him. He switches from socialism to fascism; he changes his political faith the same way he changes women. He even tries to found his own party.
