Welsh actor Alexander Vlahos, known for his roles in TV series such as “Merlin,” “Outlander” and “Versailles,” is set to play a British ornithologist who, during a field trip to Sicily, gets involved in more than mere birdwatching.
Shooting is underway in Sicily on the indie drama “Hearts of Salt,” the first feature by London-based line producer Rosa Russo. The passion project is structured as a three-way co-production between Italy, the U.K. and Tunisia, with shooting also planned in the North African country. Tunisia will serve as a second location besides the Italian island.
Though plot details are scarce, “Hearts of Salt” will see Vlahos — who will soon be seen opposite Lindsay Lohan in the Netflix rom-com “Irish Wish” — arrive in Sicily on a mission to study the effects of climate change on bird migrations. However, the ornithologist will soon have to abandon his role as a detached observer...
Shooting is underway in Sicily on the indie drama “Hearts of Salt,” the first feature by London-based line producer Rosa Russo. The passion project is structured as a three-way co-production between Italy, the U.K. and Tunisia, with shooting also planned in the North African country. Tunisia will serve as a second location besides the Italian island.
Though plot details are scarce, “Hearts of Salt” will see Vlahos — who will soon be seen opposite Lindsay Lohan in the Netflix rom-com “Irish Wish” — arrive in Sicily on a mission to study the effects of climate change on bird migrations. However, the ornithologist will soon have to abandon his role as a detached observer...
- 6/26/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Barbarians Trailer — Netflix‘s Barbarians (2020) teaser trailer has been released and stars Gaetano Aronica, Bence Ferenczi, Jeanne Goursaud, Tibor Milos Krisko, Jeremy Miliker, Laurence Rupp, David Schütter, Bernhard Schütz, Eva Verena Müller, and Sergej Onopko. Crew Barbara Eder and Steve Saint Leger directed the episodes for this TV series. Plot Synopsis Barbarians‘ plot synopsis: “During the [...]
Continue reading: Barbarians (2020) Teaser Trailer: The Teutoburg Forest Battle between Germanic Tribes & Rome is Brought to Life [Netflix]...
Continue reading: Barbarians (2020) Teaser Trailer: The Teutoburg Forest Battle between Germanic Tribes & Rome is Brought to Life [Netflix]...
- 9/27/2020
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
In Malèna (2000, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore), set during WW2 in a rural Italian town, Monica Bellucci plays an impossible vision of beauty; a woman so striking she is immediately sexualised by all who lay eyes on her. Malèna’s reaction to the leering male gaze and subsequent scorn of jealous women is expressed through her hair, make-up and clothing.
Our introduction to the character occurs with Malèna wearing a just-below-the-knee white dress, lightly padded shoulders, deep neckline incorporating dotted bow detail (this fabric is later reused for another outfit – she is a seamstress) to match black and white edging on the revers. Its tubular fit is reminiscent of the form-fitting 1930s; Bellucci’s figure is emphasised within the story world, aligning our viewpoint with young protagonist Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) and not his leering friends. Renato sees Malèna as the perfect – the only – embodiment of woman. To cope with his infatuation,...
Our introduction to the character occurs with Malèna wearing a just-below-the-knee white dress, lightly padded shoulders, deep neckline incorporating dotted bow detail (this fabric is later reused for another outfit – she is a seamstress) to match black and white edging on the revers. Its tubular fit is reminiscent of the form-fitting 1930s; Bellucci’s figure is emphasised within the story world, aligning our viewpoint with young protagonist Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) and not his leering friends. Renato sees Malèna as the perfect – the only – embodiment of woman. To cope with his infatuation,...
- 8/26/2011
- by Chris Laverty
- Clothes on Film
The spirit of Fellini is very much alive in Giuseppe Tornatore's "Malena", a frisky coming-of-age wartime allegory about a 13-year-old boy and the ravishing town beauty who kick-starts his raging hormones.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
The spirit of Fellini is very much alive in Giuseppe Tornatore's "Malena", a frisky coming-of-age wartime allegory about a 13-year-old boy and the ravishing town beauty who kick-starts his raging hormones.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
- 12/19/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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