Vittorio Mezzogiorno

The Russian poet Gortchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th century Russian composer. In a ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in a barn to save them from the evils of the world. As Eugenia seeks to tempt Gortchakov into infidelity, he, seeing some deep truth in Domenico's act, becomes drawn to the lunatic.

A meeting of two world famous climbers, one is an experienced mountaineer the other a free climber, and a journalist (Ivan) results in a bet on which of the two is the best climber. Roger (the mountaineering expert) states that Martin (the free climber) wouldn't survive a day on a 'real' climbing expedition, although he is the world's best free climber. (imdb)

In a farmhouse in southern Italy, an old woman dies. Her husband summons their sons: from Rome, Raffaele, a judge facing a political case for which he risks assassination; from Naples, the religious and ideological Rocco, a counselor at a correctional institute for boys; from Turin, Nicola, a factory worker involved in labor disputes. Once home, each encounters the past and engages in reveries of what may come.(imdb)

A young man discovers his homosexuality and begins a relationship with a manipulative huster/petty criminal that he meets at a train station. (imdb)

In an urban netherworld, a despondent man named Gerard roams the streets, hunting for the perpetrator who raped his sister. She later took her own life. A gallery of grotesque types populates Gerard's netherworld. He suspects a waterfront drunkard and his cherubic sister, both of whom have crucial information about the rape. But Gerard may be hiding something. (rottentomatoes.com)

Franca and her husband Antonio decide to sell a yellow rug which was a gift of Franca's stepfather. One day, while Antonio is out, a strange man rings saying he wishes to buy the rug. But the man's visit becomes a nightmare. He kidnaps Franca and says he killed his wife on that same yellow rug. (imdb)

A girl and her art professor get trapped inside a castle-museum after it closes at night. After a little resistance she agrees to have sex with him, but then she sues the professor for rape. The professor will have to prove his innocence. (imdb)

This film tells of a gang of brutal bank robbers who pull off a dangerous heist. As they attempt escape the cops are right on them. The thugs are forced to hold hostages as the cops try to negotiate, leading up to a bloody confrontation.

Story about a gypsy expresso vendor who is illegally working Italy's express trains and his skirmishes with Italian bureaucrats, pickpockets and passengers. (bfi)

In the year 1870 Rome, then governed by the Pope, was captured by the Italian General La Marmora's troops. After the armistice, the Italian soldier Alfonso killed a Pope's soldier, the son of Don Prospero. Then he sought refuge in the house of Don Prospero himself. There Costanza and Olimpia, respectively the wife and the daughter of Don Prospero, fall for him. Then Gustavo, who knew that Alfonso had killed Don Prospero's son arrived in the house... (imdb)

Three films directed by three masters of Italian comedy. L'Equivoco directed by Luigi Comecini, Macchina d'amore directed by Nanny Loy and Il Superiore directed by Luigi Magni. (mubi)

A cafe owner refuses to pay protection money, his premises are blown up and he is savagely murdered. The Chief Commissioner forms a special police squad who specialise in shooting martial arts and stunt driving, to rid the city of such criminals. (bfi)

Attracted to a policeman, a mobster's girlfriend considers her options. (imdb)

An allegory of the Golem, a Jewish mythical creature personifying displacement and exile, this film tells the story of a woman (similar to the biblical Ruth) and her sisters, who are forced into exile after the death of their husbands. It is set in 1990s Paris, where the director was living in self-imposed exile following the ban on his 1982 documentary in Israel. The recurring theme of the film is migrations and unrooting, like the legendary Golem. (imdb)

Paul, an ace driver and Nick, a wizard of mechanics, form a perfect team of auto racers. By winning a rigged race and he had to leave victory to a rider of a team in the pay of a mobster named Wronsky, our friends are forced to temporarily erase circuits; to escape the wrath of Wronsky. (imdb)

The daughter of a prostitute who could not maintain it, Desideria was sold to the rich bourgeois Viola who has given her a good education but little affection. (imdb)

A journalist is assigned to interview an eccentric anthropologist who has exhumed the skeleton of Jörg Jenatsch, a revered freedom fighter who was mysteriously murdered in 1639. (KG)

At the end of the nineteenth century, Italian anarchists, ten men, one woman, libertarian, collectivist emigrate to Brazil to start a leaderless community, without hierarchy, without a boss without police, but not without conflict nor passion.

Through the depiction of some famous pages of Russian literature, we travel inside the history of the tsars' rule, up to the October Revolution.