Alongside the contemporary movie Cornetti alla Crema, Spaghetti a Mezzanotte proves that the pair Banfi-Martino is a not matched top comedy makers (as also seen in the ultra cult "L'allenatore nel Pallone", a funny view of Italian football world). Martino is a well accomplished director and despite he's internationally known for early 70's thrillers he was very eclectic directing different genre of movies and you will always recognize his trademarks. In this comedy, a late effort in the mature sexy comedy genre of the 70's, the action is focused on the cheating: everybody as a lover, and a lover's lover, it's just a world of lovers and cheaters. And the adultery fuses with the hedonistic utopia. Savino is a southern man in the city of Asti, a classic Italian beautiful little city but spelled like all the north of Italy by foggy, and he is an advocate. His professional rating are so low that a frightened mob would even ask him to defend in his trial in order to go to jail and avoid a sure murder. Savino is short fat and bald while his wife (Barbara Bouchet, a splendid of a woman, then known in Italian TV for a Jane Fonda style fitness show) is a typical fit woman in his late 30, full of sex appeal. She wants him to get slim and even forces him to weird hair loss cure. Savino is a hot blooded southern Italian man and despite his funny look even has a beautiful lover (Alida Chelli), the wife of a jealous public minister (Daniele Vargas). He can't even imagine that his wife could have a lover and like any southern man would go for a honor murder (still not punished in Italy in 1980). Other caracthers are the black news journalist Fefè (Pippo Santonastaso) and the posh and flighty architect Andrea (a young Teo Teoccoli still a cabaret mask at the time, that established himself as a number 1 showman in late 90's). At the time of this movie Banfi reached the highest point of his acting career providing an incredible performance. He is the center of the movie and all the funny scenes are focused only about him. He doesn't disappoint. From the beginning to the end this movie will make you laugh and you will forget all your problems leaving just the living breathing time.
Reviews
6 Reviews
To Be Twenty
(1978)
what a great movie it would have been IF...
22 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
...if it had a better storyline. Avere vent'anni (or "2b20") has a cult movie status. Until it was released in DVD few years ago with much claim and wawings by the cinema of genres lover. Originally released in 1978 2b20 was a complete failure and the producer forced the director Di Leo to change the final ending. But this resulted in nothing and the movie fell in forgotten unless for the lesbian scene between Gloria Guida and Lilli Carati, the most beautiful and sexy actresses of the Italian cinema in the 70's, both retired for good, the first as the wife of ultra famous Italian ecletic showman Johnny Dorelli, the second victim of terrible personal issues. I believe Di Leo wanted to show how the decadent society kills the young spirits like raping them. The sense of the final scene is that there is no space for the freewill and the spirit is killed by the dusty tradition. As usual Fernando Di Leo uses the women body to criticize the male stupidity, insecurity. But the dark mood of the end of the movie have nothing to share with the comedy of the whole movie. In this movie the main characters of the two girls make no sympathy to the audience but their brutal death will make u sad. Anyways they are no heroes for the director. It seems that all the society and all the people are not worth a cent, not even the two girls, they die as they were only a minority. It is very difficult to find a focal point in the movie. There is simply not storyline, the events have no importance in the whole movie. The director seems riding the line between an intellectual protest to the society (that the counterculture was a total failure) and a commercial sexy movie. Probably a major disappointment for the director himself this is a movie nice to see by the comedy side. Lot of nice jokes, good direction, scenes that makes sense on their own. Unfortunately there is no consequentiality hence the spectator has no sense of time. It looks like a telefilm, made of episodes, with the same characters, but with different subjects. The final dark ending, the rape, is demonstrating that the same Di Leo didn't even know if this was an intellectual research on the failure of counterculture and all kind of human cultures, or just a show of the beautiful bodies of the two actresses to the audience, who were the top at the moment. Again the big regret is the total lack of a storyline. This is not new in Di Leo's movie; especially in the poliziesco genre the storyline is usual simple and easy, like the sentiment of human beings and in fact he's more interested in characters psychology. But in Avere Vent'Anni he is not able to give credibility to the events, the time is not stressed in any way, and the action is episodic. Despite this Di Leo doesn't loose a pinch of his screenplay writer genius. The characters speak common language, not a Shakespearean litany, he puts words that sound real. The directing is perfect, also in this minor movie you can appreciate how good was the Italian director. The Actors: it seems that the director shaped the personality of the two main characters on the two girls. Guida and Carati pierce the screen, they have a beautiful photogenic face, but they are not good actress at all, and need to be dubbed. While the character of Carati is a though leading spirit, the one of Guida is humble, silent. I don't know if this is due to the real capability of the two actresses, I've seen many movies and they provide the same expressions of this films. The character try to live their life at the limit, to be real humans that take decision, but the two actresses are not able to give a better impression than being an inflating doll, and the idea of the free girls of the director is totally reversed by their poor acting! Some kind of importance has the character played by Ray Lovelock, who is an ex teacher disappointed by the culture and the society who turned a junkie. Vittorio Caprioli is "il Nazariota", the Sai Baba wannabe, the chief of the commune. He's old, fat, and a little dumb, and looks always concerned of the economic part of the commune, and never about the spiritual. He witnesses the end of counterculture, and the decadence of those principles that made dream the young guys in early 70's. Caprioli is a fetish actor of Di Leo, and he doesn't disappoint. Funny and great as ever. The real good surprise is made by the comedian Giorgio Bracardi, especially famous in his surreal radio performances. Well Bracardi is over the top here and plays the part of the police officer who will send back home the two girls. It's incredible. He is serious, but he can be funny, grotesque is the right word. His facial expressions are exaggerated and this is the funny thing in it. He's so real in the stereotype of the police officer, that he becomes funny.
This is an average movie. Nice to see and easy to forget about it. Di Leo has done some pictures with no time, real masterpieces fortunately rediscovered by the wise men at the beginning of this century. But Avere vent'anni is definitely not one of them. The movie was low budget and not well orchestrated like the other ones. The Di Leo style is present, but I rate 2b20 as one of his minor films.
This is an average movie. Nice to see and easy to forget about it. Di Leo has done some pictures with no time, real masterpieces fortunately rediscovered by the wise men at the beginning of this century. But Avere vent'anni is definitely not one of them. The movie was low budget and not well orchestrated like the other ones. The Di Leo style is present, but I rate 2b20 as one of his minor films.
Cream Horn
(1981)
one of the best Italian dirty comedies
15 October 2005
This is one of the latest effort of the genre called Italian sexy comedy. this genre came out in mid seventies, direct son of Decamerotico from which takes the job's characters from the Boccaccio. There were the teacher, the colonel, the doctor, the nurse, and a various example of jobs. All was used to show the usual the stereotyped art comedy mask. This genre, riding the sexual liberation of the media in mid seventies, opposed itself to the great Italian comedy of the early 60s and its bitter humor with a chemistry of sex and comedy in different mixtures. During the second half of the seventies there are hundreths of production of which few are really remembered now. One of them is Giovannona Coscialunga (1973) with Edwige Fennech and directed by the eclectic Sergio Martino. After 8 years Martino directs Cornetti alla crema that could be defined (with the earlier Spaghetti a Mezzanotte) the top of the sexy comedy. In this case the stereotyped masks are abandoned and the actors are given a bigger range to show their capabilities. Domenico Petruzzelli, a Lino Banfi in his best interpretation, is a vatican tailor that own a well know factory in rome. His wife (Milena Vukotic from Fantozzi contro tutti) is a typical catholic housewife. His son is fat and stupid, blocked by years at elementary schools. Domenico's aim is to obtain the san Eunorio honor, by his cardinal customer, that would made great his factory. In this bizarre world there's Gabriele Arcangelo (a Gianni Cavina well fitting in the shoulder role) who, despite his name, is a hooker addicted and lives on the upper floor of Domenico, disturbing not less the calm life of his family; still Domenico and Gabriele are very good friends. Edwige Fennech plays Marianna, a opera singer wannabe, that would become Domenico's lover... Well the movie is a must see. Behind this regular life patterns hide an incredible amounts of gags and situations that will climax in which the 2 protagonist will switch identity in the face of Marianna. I love this movie and I saw it first at 8 years old and I remember I laughed for the whole movie. Probably not really understandable by foreign but i advice this gem to everyone that wanna laugh
Io e Caterina
(1980)
a technological Sordi
1 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Once you see this movie you can't forget it. And you wanna see it again. The story is about a manager who is tired both with his wife and his lover. In a travel to America he has the opportunity to buy Caterina, a antropomorphe robot that looks and acts like a maid. Alberto is so fond of this robot that will bump his wife, his lover and even his southamerican maid. But slowly it will show the construction mistake in Caterina. It can feel love and she falls with Alberto. She gets jealous and menaces Alberto. He will be forced to live with his robot as his new wife witnessing that love goes beyond anything (a la Blade Runner in a certain sense) and it was himself the real problem in the relationships with the real women. This movie is great in plot and acting and it's also one of the best directing efforts of Alberto Sordi. His acting is above his average of end of 70's and the themes of the movie are well developed and presented with a mild taste and with lot of finesse. I really like this movie and it's bittersweet finale is very nice to see.
a very good movie about an army seller
1 July 2005
Alberto Sordi directs and stars in this movie. He puts all his class in acting. Probably his greatest shape had gone at the time. He plays a family man whos job is selling weapons to African dictators. He will be forced to give those weapons to the guerrillas after he's been captured by those guys. The plot doesn't tell much but there's many reasons watching this movie: Sordi puts all his melancholic vision of life in this movie making the story so real despite the unique role he's playing. Beside it's remarkable that his sons are first disgusting his job of death seller but then he has to go on with his job to give his family the wealthy life they were having. Remarkable is also the soundtrack by Piero Piccioni.
Tutti dentro
(1984)
very good comedy about corruption
1 July 2005
Alberto Sordi has always been underrated in his directing efforts if we except for "smoke of London" and "stardust memories". The highly underrated "Tutti dentro" could be an occasion to re evaluate Alberto Sordi as a director. In fact in this movie his mask is only the means of his directing mind and Sordi achieves a good separation between this two skills. The story is about an assault judge that has suspects on a bribery system in italy. He will start with a lucky strike, witnessing that the governance system is totally corrupted in Italy, then he will discover all the money circles of Italian companies that include not only politicians and professionists but also journalists, cardinals... A nice thing of the movie is the portrayal of the character: Sordi puts all his mastery of acting to give us a vicious person, ambitious, that will act not only for the law sake but especially for his career. In fact he is a nice person but his ambition makes him funny and silly to observe. Remarkable is the presence of the American actor Joe Pesci and of the beautiful model Dalila di Lazzaro. Very good also the music of the usual Sordi's musical partner Piero Piccioni, that makes a jazz-samba.funk that fits very good in the movie. Let's not forget the ability of Sordi of writing stories (he had often written and directed many of his movie as an actor, despite not being credited): in this case the story is very just marginal and useful to show the rise and fall of the man; something not so common in Italian cinema. Fun thing is that this movie anticipated of 10 years the Italian bribe scandal that has been called "Clean Hands". Also in that case there was a wild witch hunting and the password was "tutti dentro" all in jail
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