The 2024 Venice Film Festival kicked off August 28 with the long-awaited Tim Burton-Michael Keaton sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opening the 81th edition, which runs through September 7 on the Lido. Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films.
The lineup for the world’s oldest fest also includes world premieres of Todd Phillips’ Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga pic Joker: Folie à Deux, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Pablo Larrain’s Maria Callas biopic Maria starring Angelina Jolie and new works from the likes of Alfonso Cuarón, Walter Salles, Harmony Korine, Thomas Vinterberg, Brady Corbet, Takeshi Kitano, Claude Lelouch, Errol Morris and others.
Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded its Golden Lion for best film to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, who went on the win the Best Actress Oscar. Isabelle Huppert heads the competition jury this year.
The lineup for the world’s oldest fest also includes world premieres of Todd Phillips’ Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga pic Joker: Folie à Deux, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Pablo Larrain’s Maria Callas biopic Maria starring Angelina Jolie and new works from the likes of Alfonso Cuarón, Walter Salles, Harmony Korine, Thomas Vinterberg, Brady Corbet, Takeshi Kitano, Claude Lelouch, Errol Morris and others.
Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded its Golden Lion for best film to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, who went on the win the Best Actress Oscar. Isabelle Huppert heads the competition jury this year.
- 9/8/2024
- by Pete Hammond, Damon Wise, Stephanie Bunbury, Dominic Patten and Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The war is far away, but ever so close, in Battleground (Campo di Battaglia), director Gianni Amelio’s sober study of doctors treating wounded soldiers in Italy as World War I comes to a close. Reducing the conflict to a chamber piece where a trio of former medical students clash over the moral repercussions of their duties, the film raises some interesting and altogether timely questions, but never builds into a powerful drama.
Set almost entirely in a military hospital miles from the front, Battleground fitfully conveys the utter horrors of the Great War, revealing the deep physical and psychological injuries of soldiers arriving on stretchers for treatment. Many of them are in fact so shell-shocked (what we now call Ptsd) that they’re willing to further harm themselves in order to avoid getting sent back to the front, where they are sure to die.
The patients triaged and treated...
Set almost entirely in a military hospital miles from the front, Battleground fitfully conveys the utter horrors of the Great War, revealing the deep physical and psychological injuries of soldiers arriving on stretchers for treatment. Many of them are in fact so shell-shocked (what we now call Ptsd) that they’re willing to further harm themselves in order to avoid getting sent back to the front, where they are sure to die.
The patients triaged and treated...
- 9/1/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The battleground in veteran Italian director Gianni Amelio’s atmospheric feature is nominally Europe in the last furlong of the 1914-18 conflict, but the real subject is the war that the Italian government declared on its own people. There are aspects of this all-too-true story, based loosely on Carlo Patriarca’s 2020 novel The Challenge, that will resonate throughout the world, and one might think that post-Vietnam America would be especially receptive to a story about the callous deployment of young, blue-collar men into savage conflicts from which they will almost certainly never return. Amelio’s film, however, while perfect for the local market, isn’t exactly likely to cross over.
The director sets the scene with grim images of bodies piled higher and higher in bleak muddy trenches. The year is 1918, and the armistice is just around the corner, but no one on the front line can possibly know that yet.
The director sets the scene with grim images of bodies piled higher and higher in bleak muddy trenches. The year is 1918, and the armistice is just around the corner, but no one on the front line can possibly know that yet.
- 8/31/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
1918 in Italy was, a title reminds us, “the year of victory.” Yet the first images in Gianni Amelio’s WWI-set “Battleground” are anything but triumphal: a pile of bloodied soldiers’ bodies glinting wetly in the moonlight; a scavenger pilfering the wallets of the dead; a blanket thrown over a survivor whose gibbering shellshock makes him too abject to look at. The irony is heavy, the way everything in this stultifyingly serious drama is heavy: the skies, the mood, the movements of Luan Amelio Ujkaj’s stately-to-the-point-of-staid camera. The year may have ended in victory but for the Italian soldiers fighting on the frontlines, and for a civilian population numbed by loss and wartime poverty, most of 1918 was spent somewhere closer to despair.
This national demoralization — a feeling rather too well evoked by “Battleground”‘s sluggish pacing and disjointed storytelling — is palpable to Stefano (Gabriele Montesi) and his old friend and...
This national demoralization — a feeling rather too well evoked by “Battleground”‘s sluggish pacing and disjointed storytelling — is palpable to Stefano (Gabriele Montesi) and his old friend and...
- 8/31/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Venice film festival
Gianni Amelio’s saga is set in 1918, when a pair of Italian doctors take very different approaches to treating the wounded that pass through their wards
Here is the upstanding infantryman of this year’s Venice film festival competition: dogged and decent, doomed to be gunned down by the judges. The festival likes to find room for the occasional domestic production in the main programme, a film that’s happy to ride its home-turf advantage but is otherwise there to make up the numbers. Gianni Amelio’s tense wartime saga is better than most but that counts for little when the battle heats up.
It is 1918, “the Year of Victory”, although in smalltown Italy it feels more akin to defeat. Alessandro Borghi and Gabriel Montesi play Giulio and Stefano, two childhood friends who work as doctors in a military hospital that has become a battleground of its own,...
Gianni Amelio’s saga is set in 1918, when a pair of Italian doctors take very different approaches to treating the wounded that pass through their wards
Here is the upstanding infantryman of this year’s Venice film festival competition: dogged and decent, doomed to be gunned down by the judges. The festival likes to find room for the occasional domestic production in the main programme, a film that’s happy to ride its home-turf advantage but is otherwise there to make up the numbers. Gianni Amelio’s tense wartime saga is better than most but that counts for little when the battle heats up.
It is 1918, “the Year of Victory”, although in smalltown Italy it feels more akin to defeat. Alessandro Borghi and Gabriel Montesi play Giulio and Stefano, two childhood friends who work as doctors in a military hospital that has become a battleground of its own,...
- 8/31/2024
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Principal photography has begun on “The Captive,” a historical epic from “The Others’” Alejandro Amenábar, starring Julio Peña (“Berlin”) as “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes, a prisoner of Ottoman corsairs, seen in a very first still from the film, alongside Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”), playing his captor, which has been shared in exclusivity with Variety.
Paris and London-based production, finance and sales house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales. Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture is on board to release the film in Spain in 2025.
If Peña look spruce but worse for wear, little wonder. An origins story of the early flowering of literary genius in Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote” and slice of mean street life “Rinconete and Cortadillo,” this story is wrapped in a historical thriller.
“The Captive,” no ordinary bio, turns on an episode in Cervantes life which was to shape not only his gift for storytelling...
Paris and London-based production, finance and sales house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales. Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture is on board to release the film in Spain in 2025.
If Peña look spruce but worse for wear, little wonder. An origins story of the early flowering of literary genius in Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote” and slice of mean street life “Rinconete and Cortadillo,” this story is wrapped in a historical thriller.
“The Captive,” no ordinary bio, turns on an episode in Cervantes life which was to shape not only his gift for storytelling...
- 5/15/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Italian media company Be Water, which is in Cannes for the first time, has announced its full roster of partners and scope of business activities comprising film, documentary and scripted TV production as well as theatrical film distribution, podcasts and live events.
While details of the company’s scripted productions are being kept under wraps, Be Water has announced the lineup of films they are releasing locally theatrically in collaboration with Italy’s Medusa, which is handling booking and billing. Besides “Oh, Canada,” the Be Water lineup includes Nicolas Cage horror-thriller “Longlegs,” directed by Osgood Perkin; Russian-American director Michael Lockshin’s “The Master and Margarita” with Claes Bang and August Diehl; and action family adventure “Jim Button and the Wild 13.”
The Rome-based shingle is operating with what is being described as a holistic approach to content production that is congenial to the digital age, which is certainly a novelty for Italy.
While details of the company’s scripted productions are being kept under wraps, Be Water has announced the lineup of films they are releasing locally theatrically in collaboration with Italy’s Medusa, which is handling booking and billing. Besides “Oh, Canada,” the Be Water lineup includes Nicolas Cage horror-thriller “Longlegs,” directed by Osgood Perkin; Russian-American director Michael Lockshin’s “The Master and Margarita” with Claes Bang and August Diehl; and action family adventure “Jim Button and the Wild 13.”
The Rome-based shingle is operating with what is being described as a holistic approach to content production that is congenial to the digital age, which is certainly a novelty for Italy.
- 5/13/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Descubre todos los detalles de la película. © Disney
Comienza el rodaje de “El Cautivo”, la nueva película de Alejandro Amenábar (“Los Otros”) que narra las vivencias y aventuras del joven Miguel de Cervantes durante su cautiverio en Argel.
La película se sitúa en el año 1575 cuando el joven Miguel de Cervantes, herido en combate naval, es capturado en alta mar por corsarios argelinos a su regreso a España. Consciente de que le espera una muerte cruel en Argel si no paga pronto su rescate, Miguel descubre un refugio inesperado en su pasión por contar historias. Sus fascinantes relatos devuelven la esperanza a sus compañeros de prisión y acaban atrayendo la atención de Hassan, el misterioso y temido Bajá de Argel, con quien empieza a desarrollar una extraña afinidad. A medida que crece el conflicto entre sus compañeros de prisión, Miguel, impulsado por su inquebrantable optimismo, comienza a idear un audaz plan de fuga.
Comienza el rodaje de “El Cautivo”, la nueva película de Alejandro Amenábar (“Los Otros”) que narra las vivencias y aventuras del joven Miguel de Cervantes durante su cautiverio en Argel.
La película se sitúa en el año 1575 cuando el joven Miguel de Cervantes, herido en combate naval, es capturado en alta mar por corsarios argelinos a su regreso a España. Consciente de que le espera una muerte cruel en Argel si no paga pronto su rescate, Miguel descubre un refugio inesperado en su pasión por contar historias. Sus fascinantes relatos devuelven la esperanza a sus compañeros de prisión y acaban atrayendo la atención de Hassan, el misterioso y temido Bajá de Argel, con quien empieza a desarrollar una extraña afinidad. A medida que crece el conflicto entre sus compañeros de prisión, Miguel, impulsado por su inquebrantable optimismo, comienza a idear un audaz plan de fuga.
- 5/6/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
On March 6, 2024, Netflix launched “Supersex,” the true story of how Rocco Tano, a simple guy from Ortona, Italy, became Rocco Siffredi, the most famous porn star in the world. The Italian drama series written by Francesca Manieri stars Alessandro Borghi as Rocco and has received rave reviews from critics.
Holding fresh at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, the scandalous series is a critically acclaimed hit with an equally impressive audience score. The ensemble cast includes Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini, Enrico Borello and Vincenzo Nemolato. Read our full review round-up below.
See ‘The Gentlemen’ review round-up: Theo James leads cast of ‘colorful characters’ in Netflix crime drama
Meghan O’Keefe of Decider writes, “’Supersex’ manages to weave together smut and art in intoxicating measure. It could very well be the first foreign language show since ‘Squid Game’ to dominate Netflix’s other programming for weeks at a time. It’s also, thankfully, bringing back the kind of artsy,...
Holding fresh at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, the scandalous series is a critically acclaimed hit with an equally impressive audience score. The ensemble cast includes Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini, Enrico Borello and Vincenzo Nemolato. Read our full review round-up below.
See ‘The Gentlemen’ review round-up: Theo James leads cast of ‘colorful characters’ in Netflix crime drama
Meghan O’Keefe of Decider writes, “’Supersex’ manages to weave together smut and art in intoxicating measure. It could very well be the first foreign language show since ‘Squid Game’ to dominate Netflix’s other programming for weeks at a time. It’s also, thankfully, bringing back the kind of artsy,...
- 3/17/2024
- by Vincent Mandile
- Gold Derby
Supersex, which premiered on Netflix on March 6, tells the story of Rocco Siffredi, who came from the small coastal town of Ortona, Italy to become one of the most famous porn stars of all time. Born Rocco Tano in 1963, Siffredi has starred in more than 1,300 pornographic films since beginning his career in 1986 with the soft-core porn film Belle d’Amour.
Supersex, which was created by veteran Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri and premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February, chronicles Siffredi’s life, starting as a child whose world is upended with the death of his brother, only to discover the adult film industry, eventually becoming a global superstar whose first name becomes synonymous with pornography. The winner of 40 Adult Video News Awards (ofter referred to as the “Oscars of porn”), Siffredi, nicknamed the “Italian Stallion,” is portrayed in Supersex by Italian actor Alessandro Borghi, who described the Netflix series as,...
Supersex, which was created by veteran Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri and premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February, chronicles Siffredi’s life, starting as a child whose world is upended with the death of his brother, only to discover the adult film industry, eventually becoming a global superstar whose first name becomes synonymous with pornography. The winner of 40 Adult Video News Awards (ofter referred to as the “Oscars of porn”), Siffredi, nicknamed the “Italian Stallion,” is portrayed in Supersex by Italian actor Alessandro Borghi, who described the Netflix series as,...
- 3/15/2024
- by Boris Sollazzo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Supersex is here to tell the story behind one of the biggest male pornstars this world has ever seen. The Netflix series follows the life story of popular pornstar Rocco Siffredi, from his childhood in Ortona, Italy to becoming a sexual sensation. Alessandro Borghi stars in the leading role of Siffredi, and he puts everything into his performance to portray a complex and damaged character. If you loved the character-based drama, themes of deep-seated psychological issues, and sex in Supersex then you should check out these similar shows next.
The Naked Director (Netflix) Credit – Netflix
It’s Supersex but Japanese and much more comedic and raunchy. Yes, we are talking about The Naked Director. Based on a novel titled Zenra Kantoku Muranishi Toru Den by Nobuhiro Motohashi, the semi-biographical Netflix series follows the life of Toru Muranishi, a very important figure in the Japanese porn industry. The series delves into...
The Naked Director (Netflix) Credit – Netflix
It’s Supersex but Japanese and much more comedic and raunchy. Yes, we are talking about The Naked Director. Based on a novel titled Zenra Kantoku Muranishi Toru Den by Nobuhiro Motohashi, the semi-biographical Netflix series follows the life of Toru Muranishi, a very important figure in the Japanese porn industry. The series delves into...
- 3/8/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
A steamy teaser for Netflix’s Supersex hit Instagram today with a cheeky one-word caption, “morning!” The clip — posted to promote the seven-episode Italian series inspired by the real life of porn icon Rocco Siffredi — features actor Alessandro Borghi as Siffredi, surrounded by a harem of at least four women.
The shirtless Borghi is focused on one woman as he kisses her, and then wraps his hands around her buttocks and grinds away in a highly suggestive manner. Well, some of Netflix’s Instagram followers found it to be a lot to swallow along with their morning coffee. The comments section quickly filled up with nearly 12,000 comments (and 286,695 likes) as of press time, with many questioning whether such a post was in violation of community guidelines.
The short answer: No. According to Instagram’s community guidelines, the platform encourages users to “respect everyone on Instagram, don’t spam people or post nudity.
The shirtless Borghi is focused on one woman as he kisses her, and then wraps his hands around her buttocks and grinds away in a highly suggestive manner. Well, some of Netflix’s Instagram followers found it to be a lot to swallow along with their morning coffee. The comments section quickly filled up with nearly 12,000 comments (and 286,695 likes) as of press time, with many questioning whether such a post was in violation of community guidelines.
The short answer: No. According to Instagram’s community guidelines, the platform encourages users to “respect everyone on Instagram, don’t spam people or post nudity.
- 3/8/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Marketing for Netflix's new Italian-language limited series Supersex revolves largely around its frequent, relatively explicit sex scenes. I personally stopped counting around two dozen, and that’s just including penetrative sex involving our lead, not alleyway BJs or brief glimpses of depraved acts in sex clubs. Star Alessandro Borghi estimates that he has “between 40 and 50” such scenes in the show, and he would know — although it says something that he also lost precise count.
- 3/7/2024
- by Katie Rife
- Primetimer
Rocco Siffredi’s Thoughts on Netflix’s Supersex ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
When it comes to making shows inspired or based on real-life personalities, no one can beat Netflix. From documentaries to movies and web shows, the streaming platform has brought to life the stories of people who have inspired or shocked everyone with their actions and behaviour. The latest addition to their library is Supersex, an Italian adult drama series inspired by the life of adult star Rocco Siffredi.
The Netflix series was written by Francesca Manieri. Francesca directed the show with Francesca Mazzoleni and Matteo Rovere. The official Netflix synopsis reads, “Inspired by true events, this is the story of how Rocco Siffredi escaped a humble life and emerged as the world’s greatest adult movie star.”
Ever since Supersex was released, netizens haven’t stopped talking about it. The explicit content in it has baffled everyone. However, in an interview last year,...
When it comes to making shows inspired or based on real-life personalities, no one can beat Netflix. From documentaries to movies and web shows, the streaming platform has brought to life the stories of people who have inspired or shocked everyone with their actions and behaviour. The latest addition to their library is Supersex, an Italian adult drama series inspired by the life of adult star Rocco Siffredi.
The Netflix series was written by Francesca Manieri. Francesca directed the show with Francesca Mazzoleni and Matteo Rovere. The official Netflix synopsis reads, “Inspired by true events, this is the story of how Rocco Siffredi escaped a humble life and emerged as the world’s greatest adult movie star.”
Ever since Supersex was released, netizens haven’t stopped talking about it. The explicit content in it has baffled everyone. However, in an interview last year,...
- 3/7/2024
- by Pooja Darade
- KoiMoi
In the world of Italian cinema, one name has been making waves in recent years – Alessandro Borghi. Born on September 19, 1986, in Rome, Italy, Borghi has emerged as a talented and versatile actor, captivating audiences with his powerful performances. With a height of 1.86 meters (6 ft 1 in) and a charismatic presence, Borghi has become a rising star in the Italian film industry. In this article, we will delve into Borghi’s journey, exploring his filmography, accolades, and the impact he has made on the silver screen.
Growing up in the vibrant city of Rome, Alessandro Borghi developed a passion for acting from a young age. After completing his education, he embarked on his professional acting journey in 2006, with his debut film “Cento giorni a Palermo.” Although his role was small, it marked the beginning of a promising career.
Borghi’s breakthrough came in 2015 when he starred in the critically acclaimed film “Suburra,...
Growing up in the vibrant city of Rome, Alessandro Borghi developed a passion for acting from a young age. After completing his education, he embarked on his professional acting journey in 2006, with his debut film “Cento giorni a Palermo.” Although his role was small, it marked the beginning of a promising career.
Borghi’s breakthrough came in 2015 when he starred in the critically acclaimed film “Suburra,...
- 3/5/2024
- by Molly Se-kyung
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Porn icon Rocco Siffredi claims that after making roughly 1,400 hardcore films — with titles like “The Ass Collector” and “Rocco’s Perfect Slaves” — over the past four decades, he has finally found “the peace of his senses.”
“I could crack a bad joke and say I can’t get it up anymore,” says Siffredi, 59, speaking on a video call from the Budapest office of his Rocco Siffredi Production company, which houses the Siffredi Hard Academy, touted as the world’s first “university of porn.”
“But that’s not the case. Quite the contrary,” the hardworking “Italian Stallion” hastens to add. I’ve asked Siffredi about being — or having notoriously been — a sex addict. And the many times he’s announced his retirement as a porn performer, only to make another comeback.
“I have to tell you that it was a mix of problems connected with my personal life and the dependency that this job,...
“I could crack a bad joke and say I can’t get it up anymore,” says Siffredi, 59, speaking on a video call from the Budapest office of his Rocco Siffredi Production company, which houses the Siffredi Hard Academy, touted as the world’s first “university of porn.”
“But that’s not the case. Quite the contrary,” the hardworking “Italian Stallion” hastens to add. I’ve asked Siffredi about being — or having notoriously been — a sex addict. And the many times he’s announced his retirement as a porn performer, only to make another comeback.
“I have to tell you that it was a mix of problems connected with my personal life and the dependency that this job,...
- 2/20/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Principal photography is set to begin in April on “The Captive” (“El Cautivo”), the period adventure epic from Alejandro Amenábar, whose “The Sea Inside” won an Oscar for best foreign language film. Film Constellation has boarded worldwide sales, and will introduce the project to buyers at the European Film Market.
The film centers on the origin story of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the iconic novel “Don Quixote.” At the age of 28, Cervantes was taken captive by the Moors in Algiers, leading to his creative birth.
The $15 million production will shoot at locations in Spain including Valencia, Alicante and Seville.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is on board to release the film in Spain next year.
The film is set in Algiers in 1575 when Cervantes, a wounded 28-year-old Spanish Navy soldier, is held prisoner by Ottoman corsairs. Faced with a ticking clock, a cruel death awaits him should his...
The film centers on the origin story of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the iconic novel “Don Quixote.” At the age of 28, Cervantes was taken captive by the Moors in Algiers, leading to his creative birth.
The $15 million production will shoot at locations in Spain including Valencia, Alicante and Seville.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is on board to release the film in Spain next year.
The film is set in Algiers in 1575 when Cervantes, a wounded 28-year-old Spanish Navy soldier, is held prisoner by Ottoman corsairs. Faced with a ticking clock, a cruel death awaits him should his...
- 1/30/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has dropped a teaser trailer for “Supersex,” the series freely inspired by the real life of global porn star Rocco Siffredi, which will world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and drop March 6 on the streamer.
“Every power is an enigma. It can give you light, or throw you into darkness. But every existence lived to its fullest always has a price to pay,” a voiceover says in the teaser as Siffredi is bombarded by fans and paparazzi.
The show looks at how “Rocco Tano — a simple guy from Ortona [a small town in central Italy] — became Rocco Siffredi, the most famous pornstar in the world,” according to its official synopsis.
The hotly anticipated series is created and written by prominent Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri, who is known for her feminist works.
At the center of “Supersex” – which is produced by Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment, a Fremantle company, and Groenlandia, which is part of...
“Every power is an enigma. It can give you light, or throw you into darkness. But every existence lived to its fullest always has a price to pay,” a voiceover says in the teaser as Siffredi is bombarded by fans and paparazzi.
The show looks at how “Rocco Tano — a simple guy from Ortona [a small town in central Italy] — became Rocco Siffredi, the most famous pornstar in the world,” according to its official synopsis.
The hotly anticipated series is created and written by prominent Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri, who is known for her feminist works.
At the center of “Supersex” – which is produced by Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment, a Fremantle company, and Groenlandia, which is part of...
- 1/15/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s Berlinale Specials program, the out-of-competition gala section of the Berlin Film Festival, will include a pair of high-octane action movies: Rose Glass’ crime actioner Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart, and Korean thriller The Roundup: Punishment from director Heo Myeong-haeng.
Love Lies Bleeding, which co-stars Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, Katy M. O’Brian, Ed Harris and Jena Malone, will have its international premiere in Berlin after its bow in Sundance later this month. The Roundup: Punishment, starring Train to Busan breakout Don Lee, will have its world premiere in Berlin.
Other Berlinale Special highlights, unveiled Monday, include Shikun, the latest drama from Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai (Kadosh); the documentary project Turn in the Wound, from acclaimed New York auteur Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant), about life in Kyiv since the start of the war in Ukraine; and Supersex, an Italian Netflix drama based on the life of notorious porn star Rocco Siffredi,...
Love Lies Bleeding, which co-stars Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, Katy M. O’Brian, Ed Harris and Jena Malone, will have its international premiere in Berlin after its bow in Sundance later this month. The Roundup: Punishment, starring Train to Busan breakout Don Lee, will have its world premiere in Berlin.
Other Berlinale Special highlights, unveiled Monday, include Shikun, the latest drama from Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai (Kadosh); the documentary project Turn in the Wound, from acclaimed New York auteur Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant), about life in Kyiv since the start of the war in Ukraine; and Supersex, an Italian Netflix drama based on the life of notorious porn star Rocco Siffredi,...
- 1/15/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled further titles for the 2024 edition of its Berlinale Special Presentations sidebar section alongside its classics program. Scroll down for the full list of titles announced today.
Highlights from the latest drop of Specials titles include Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The feature is directed by David Hinton and features rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger, and Scorsese.
Love Lies Bleeding, the latest feature from British filmmaker Rose Glass will debut in the Specials program. The feature stars Kristen Stewart alongside Katy O’Brian. A short synopsis describes the pic as “a romance fueled by ego, desire, and the American Dream.” The film will arrive at Berlin following it’s debut at Sundance.
Abel Ferrara is...
Highlights from the latest drop of Specials titles include Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The feature is directed by David Hinton and features rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger, and Scorsese.
Love Lies Bleeding, the latest feature from British filmmaker Rose Glass will debut in the Specials program. The feature stars Kristen Stewart alongside Katy O’Brian. A short synopsis describes the pic as “a romance fueled by ego, desire, and the American Dream.” The film will arrive at Berlin following it’s debut at Sundance.
Abel Ferrara is...
- 1/15/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has dropped its first key art and several new images for Supersex, the hotly anticipated biographical series on Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi.
Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s mafia drama series Suburra and 2022 Cannes jury prize winner The Eight Mountains, plays Rocco in the fictionalized take on the porn actor’s life. The seven-episode series — created and written by Francesca Manieri, Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle-owned The Apartment and Matteo Rovere for Banijay’s Groenlandia — will bow on Netflix worldwide March 6, 2024. Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni are directing.
Netflix has said the series is “freely inspired” by Siffredi’s life and career, as well as from direct testimony from Siffredi. Supersex plans to tell the soup-to-nuts story of Rocco from his childhood and family origins through his “relationship with love” that led him to pursue a career in porn.
Jasmine Trinca plays Lucia, a fictional female character who...
Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s mafia drama series Suburra and 2022 Cannes jury prize winner The Eight Mountains, plays Rocco in the fictionalized take on the porn actor’s life. The seven-episode series — created and written by Francesca Manieri, Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle-owned The Apartment and Matteo Rovere for Banijay’s Groenlandia — will bow on Netflix worldwide March 6, 2024. Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni are directing.
Netflix has said the series is “freely inspired” by Siffredi’s life and career, as well as from direct testimony from Siffredi. Supersex plans to tell the soup-to-nuts story of Rocco from his childhood and family origins through his “relationship with love” that led him to pursue a career in porn.
Jasmine Trinca plays Lucia, a fictional female character who...
- 12/15/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Netflix has set a March 6 premiere date for “Supersex,” the series freely inspired by the real life of global porn star Rocco Siffredi, who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name.
The series is created and written by prominent Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri who is known to be a militant feminist. It is described in promotional materials as a profound story that runs through Siffredi’s life since childhood and looks at his family, “his relationship with love” and how “Rocco Tano — a simple guy from Ortona [a small town in central Italy] — became Rocco Siffredi, the most famous pornstar in the world.”
“Supersex” directors are Matteo Rovere (“Romulus”), Francesco Carrozzini (“The Hanging Sun”) and Francesca Mazzoleni (“Punta Sacra”).
At the center of “Supersex” – which is being produced by Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment, a Fremantle company, and Groenlandia, which is part of the Banijay group – are unknown aspects of the Italian porn star, who...
The series is created and written by prominent Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri who is known to be a militant feminist. It is described in promotional materials as a profound story that runs through Siffredi’s life since childhood and looks at his family, “his relationship with love” and how “Rocco Tano — a simple guy from Ortona [a small town in central Italy] — became Rocco Siffredi, the most famous pornstar in the world.”
“Supersex” directors are Matteo Rovere (“Romulus”), Francesco Carrozzini (“The Hanging Sun”) and Francesca Mazzoleni (“Punta Sacra”).
At the center of “Supersex” – which is being produced by Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment, a Fremantle company, and Groenlandia, which is part of the Banijay group – are unknown aspects of the Italian porn star, who...
- 12/15/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist–moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As our year-end coverage continues, we must pay dues. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Jomo Fray)
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt slows down the cycle of life. The camera rests on hands, on backs, on people connected through touch, sound, and smell. There isn’t any rush, any intention to leave these moments. Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray find beauty, grace, and life in two people holding hands, dancing, skinning a fish, and the trees passing while a family drives down the road. The film doesn’t just feel like a...
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Jomo Fray)
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt slows down the cycle of life. The camera rests on hands, on backs, on people connected through touch, sound, and smell. There isn’t any rush, any intention to leave these moments. Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray find beauty, grace, and life in two people holding hands, dancing, skinning a fish, and the trees passing while a family drives down the road. The film doesn’t just feel like a...
- 12/6/2023
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Speaking at a panel held at the Mia Market in Rome, Netflix execs laid out a European strategy based on cultural and regional specificity alongside wider international format exchange.
“We want to create stories that are really rooted in our country’s culture and tradition,” said Italian content VP Eleonora Andreatta. “[And in order] to be authentic, that means recognizing the differences between one part of the country to the other.”
While Netflix’s recently wrapped adaptation of “The Leopard” is steeped in Sicilian history, the Matilda De Angelis-led returning series “The Law According to Lidia Poët” finds female emancipation in 19th century Turin. And if both titles look backward, both also share an impetus to shade Italian history in a more modern light.
Per Andreatta, Italian cinema’s glorious dolce vita boom had also left a bitter aftertaste by way of cultural stereotypes that lingered for years. Andreatta and her Rome-based...
“We want to create stories that are really rooted in our country’s culture and tradition,” said Italian content VP Eleonora Andreatta. “[And in order] to be authentic, that means recognizing the differences between one part of the country to the other.”
While Netflix’s recently wrapped adaptation of “The Leopard” is steeped in Sicilian history, the Matilda De Angelis-led returning series “The Law According to Lidia Poët” finds female emancipation in 19th century Turin. And if both titles look backward, both also share an impetus to shade Italian history in a more modern light.
Per Andreatta, Italian cinema’s glorious dolce vita boom had also left a bitter aftertaste by way of cultural stereotypes that lingered for years. Andreatta and her Rome-based...
- 10/13/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix on Tuesday unveiled four new Italian originals – two feature films and two series – that confirm its continued investment in Italy as local subscribers grow. The new projects also bolster the fact that the bulk of the streamer’s Italian productions are not high end and have a primarily local focus.
During a Rome presentation Eleonora Andreatta – affectionately known as Tinny – who is Netflix’s VP of Italian originals, said that Netflix remains “committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.”
Andreatta, who owing to having caught Covid-19 was speaking remotely to the packed room, described Netflix’s lineup as being characterised by “Authentic stories, able to speak to the present [and] about the present and [which can] emotionally touch the audience on issues closest to the lives they live.”
According to data released last month by Italy’s...
During a Rome presentation Eleonora Andreatta – affectionately known as Tinny – who is Netflix’s VP of Italian originals, said that Netflix remains “committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.”
Andreatta, who owing to having caught Covid-19 was speaking remotely to the packed room, described Netflix’s lineup as being characterised by “Authentic stories, able to speak to the present [and] about the present and [which can] emotionally touch the audience on issues closest to the lives they live.”
According to data released last month by Italy’s...
- 9/19/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
This is a rare week of heavy hitters in the world of streaming, with a few movies that could factor into the fast-approaching Oscar race making their digital debuts. First up is one of Sundance’s big breakouts, a mature love story that managed to gross a decent $10.8 million at the box office.
The contender to watch this week: “Past Lives“
One of summer’s breakout indies, A24’s “Past Lives” could be a legitimate contender in the Best Original Screenplay field. It certainly accelerated the career of first-time filmmaker Celine Song, a noted playwright who wrote for the Prime Video fantasy series “The Wheel of Time.” Song cast the great Greta Lee to portray a New York-based writer who reunites with her long-lost childhood love (Teo Yoo) as an adult. “Past Lives” is sweet and swoony without sinking into clichés that would weigh down a lesser film. It’s...
The contender to watch this week: “Past Lives“
One of summer’s breakout indies, A24’s “Past Lives” could be a legitimate contender in the Best Original Screenplay field. It certainly accelerated the career of first-time filmmaker Celine Song, a noted playwright who wrote for the Prime Video fantasy series “The Wheel of Time.” Song cast the great Greta Lee to portray a New York-based writer who reunites with her long-lost childhood love (Teo Yoo) as an adult. “Past Lives” is sweet and swoony without sinking into clichés that would weigh down a lesser film. It’s...
- 8/26/2023
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation (Youssef Chebbi)
Realized with a formally exacting chilliness, Youssef Chebbi’s slow-burning noir concerns police officers investigating the mysteries behind corpses who have died from immolation. While the nebulous, metaphor-heavy script leaves much to be desired, Chebbi’s Cannes, TIFF, and Nd/Nf selection excels at conjuring an atmosphere of dread and isolation amidst a derelict apartment complex.
Where to Stream: VOD
Carpet Cowboys (Emily MacKenzie and Noah Collier)
The tiny city of Dalton, Georgia, has left a large footprint in the daily lives of millions who most wouldn’t have stopped for a second to consider. Well, it’s probably more appropriate to say that millions have left large footprints in Dalton’s biggest export: this city...
Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation (Youssef Chebbi)
Realized with a formally exacting chilliness, Youssef Chebbi’s slow-burning noir concerns police officers investigating the mysteries behind corpses who have died from immolation. While the nebulous, metaphor-heavy script leaves much to be desired, Chebbi’s Cannes, TIFF, and Nd/Nf selection excels at conjuring an atmosphere of dread and isolation amidst a derelict apartment complex.
Where to Stream: VOD
Carpet Cowboys (Emily MacKenzie and Noah Collier)
The tiny city of Dalton, Georgia, has left a large footprint in the daily lives of millions who most wouldn’t have stopped for a second to consider. Well, it’s probably more appropriate to say that millions have left large footprints in Dalton’s biggest export: this city...
- 8/25/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Cinema Italiano is on a roll, as reflected by the fact that this year Italy has scored three Cannes competition slots.
Despite the persisting sore spot that sees the country still lagging behind other European territories in terms of post-pandemic box office returns, Italy “continues to produce and invest heavily in film and is overcoming the crisis,” noted Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux after announcing the lineup.
The robust Croisette contingent marks the second time in 20 years that Italy lands three Cannes competition berths. Though the trio of selected directors — Marco Bellocchio, Nanni Moretti and Alice Rohrwacher — are all Cannes regulars “they represent three different generations of auteurs,” said Paolo Del Brocco, chief of state broadcaster Rai’s Rai Cinema arm that co-produced all three titles. And each of these films, he went on to point out, displays “very different ideas and cinematic visions.”
Moretti is back on the Croisette...
Despite the persisting sore spot that sees the country still lagging behind other European territories in terms of post-pandemic box office returns, Italy “continues to produce and invest heavily in film and is overcoming the crisis,” noted Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux after announcing the lineup.
The robust Croisette contingent marks the second time in 20 years that Italy lands three Cannes competition berths. Though the trio of selected directors — Marco Bellocchio, Nanni Moretti and Alice Rohrwacher — are all Cannes regulars “they represent three different generations of auteurs,” said Paolo Del Brocco, chief of state broadcaster Rai’s Rai Cinema arm that co-produced all three titles. And each of these films, he went on to point out, displays “very different ideas and cinematic visions.”
Moretti is back on the Croisette...
- 5/18/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
At once epic and intimate, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains spans several decades, but isn’t about any grand historic figures or events. Instead, it tells the story of two boys whose friendship fades as they become men, only for their bond to revive as life unpredictably marches on. The film is a beautiful work not only for its stunning outdoor cinematography (make an effort to see it in a cinema), but for its ability to capture the magic, regret, love and befuddlement that emerge as we grow older.
The film is framed as the memories of an Italian man named Pietro (Luca Marinelli), who recounts his relationship with his friend Bruno (Alessandro Borghi). The narrator begins during childhood, when his family leave the city for annual summer vacations in a dying mountain village in the Alps. Every other family with a child had already abandoned the town,...
The film is framed as the memories of an Italian man named Pietro (Luca Marinelli), who recounts his relationship with his friend Bruno (Alessandro Borghi). The narrator begins during childhood, when his family leave the city for annual summer vacations in a dying mountain village in the Alps. Every other family with a child had already abandoned the town,...
- 5/11/2023
- by Jeremy Mathews
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama The Eight Mountains and veteran Marco Bellocchio’s Exterior Night topped the 68th edition of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards on Wednesday evening.
The Eight Mountains won best film as well as best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.
Based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, it stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as two men from different backgrounds who form a life-long bond during summers spent together as children in a remote mountain village.
The film world premiered in Competition at Cannes last year where it co-won the Jury Prize. Read the Deadline review here.
It is the second time in the history of the awards that a film by non-Italian directors has clinched the best film prize.
The last time was in 1971 when the Dino de Laurentiis-produced epic Waterloo by Russian director Sergei Bonderchuk,...
The Eight Mountains won best film as well as best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.
Based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, it stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as two men from different backgrounds who form a life-long bond during summers spent together as children in a remote mountain village.
The film world premiered in Competition at Cannes last year where it co-won the Jury Prize. Read the Deadline review here.
It is the second time in the history of the awards that a film by non-Italian directors has clinched the best film prize.
The last time was in 1971 when the Dino de Laurentiis-produced epic Waterloo by Russian director Sergei Bonderchuk,...
- 5/11/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch took to Italy’s beautiful Aosta Valley to make their transcendental movie about male friendship – but couldn’t avoid their own personal issues
“You’re out of focus!” I’ve just logged in to Zoom to talk to Belgian directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, and they’re laughing already. “Like in Deconstructing Harry, you know that film?” says Vandermeersch I flap around, fiddling with my webcam, but nothing will correct the me-shaped smear on the screen. Like Robin Williams in the Woody Allen film, blurred outside of the cameras even when he goes home, I feel a flush of existential humiliation creeping up.
I could use a long stay in Van Groeningen and Vandermeersch’s transcendentally clarifying new film The Eight Mountains. A parable of the forking paths of two childhood friends – urbanite Pietro (Lupo Barbiero) and shepherd kid Bruno (Cristiano Sassella...
“You’re out of focus!” I’ve just logged in to Zoom to talk to Belgian directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, and they’re laughing already. “Like in Deconstructing Harry, you know that film?” says Vandermeersch I flap around, fiddling with my webcam, but nothing will correct the me-shaped smear on the screen. Like Robin Williams in the Woody Allen film, blurred outside of the cameras even when he goes home, I feel a flush of existential humiliation creeping up.
I could use a long stay in Van Groeningen and Vandermeersch’s transcendentally clarifying new film The Eight Mountains. A parable of the forking paths of two childhood friends – urbanite Pietro (Lupo Barbiero) and shepherd kid Bruno (Cristiano Sassella...
- 5/11/2023
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Sideshow/Janus Films is estimating a $36k gross or $18k per theater average for The Eight Mountains on two NYC screens, the strongest opening weekend to date for the team behind Drive My Car and Eo.
The Cannes co-Jury Prize-winning film by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeesch follows the profound friendship over decades of Pietro (Luca Marinelli) from Turin, and Bruno (Alessandro Borghi), who grew up in an isolated village in the Alps. It was Film at Lincoln Center’s highest-grossing new release opening of 2023 and marks the biggest per screen average of any new European release so far this year.
It’s is also the best opening of an Italian move Stateside since The Great Beauty, said producer Ira Deutchman. The Fine Line Features founder and Columbia prof is the head of Cinema Made In Italy, a initiative sponsored by Cinecitta’ that contributes P&a funds to Italian films for U.
The Cannes co-Jury Prize-winning film by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeesch follows the profound friendship over decades of Pietro (Luca Marinelli) from Turin, and Bruno (Alessandro Borghi), who grew up in an isolated village in the Alps. It was Film at Lincoln Center’s highest-grossing new release opening of 2023 and marks the biggest per screen average of any new European release so far this year.
It’s is also the best opening of an Italian move Stateside since The Great Beauty, said producer Ira Deutchman. The Fine Line Features founder and Columbia prof is the head of Cinema Made In Italy, a initiative sponsored by Cinecitta’ that contributes P&a funds to Italian films for U.
- 4/30/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Focus Features’ Sundance-premiering Polite Society opens on 927 screens, the feature debut of writer/director Nida Manzoor, creator of We Are Lady Parts, the Peacock comedy about the eponymous British punk rock band.
This comedic mash-up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, where martial artist-in-training Ria Khan tryies to save her older sister from an impending marriage, is 91% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Deadline review here.
It’s joined by a handful of other specialty titles with theatrical debuts ranging from 900 screens to one, following a week where specialty and independent film was showered with kind words at CinemaCon, the annual exhibitor conference. Focus chair Peter Kujawksi called the specialty audience passionate and the market a launching pad for exceptional talent and “unique and elevated stories.” No disagreement there. He also said the specialty business has “recovered better and faster’’ out of Covid than the overall box office. Indie...
This comedic mash-up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, where martial artist-in-training Ria Khan tryies to save her older sister from an impending marriage, is 91% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Deadline review here.
It’s joined by a handful of other specialty titles with theatrical debuts ranging from 900 screens to one, following a week where specialty and independent film was showered with kind words at CinemaCon, the annual exhibitor conference. Focus chair Peter Kujawksi called the specialty audience passionate and the market a launching pad for exceptional talent and “unique and elevated stories.” No disagreement there. He also said the specialty business has “recovered better and faster’’ out of Covid than the overall box office. Indie...
- 4/28/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch enter a new stage of their partnership, both professional and personal, through their co-direction of The Eight Mountains. Vandermeersch, primarily known for her work as an actress, had previously appeared in several of her husband’s other movies and received a screenplay collaboration credit on his Oscar-nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown. But as Van Groeningen began to approach shooting the adaptation of Paolo Coginetti’s novel that he’d co-written with his wife during pandemic lockdowns, he suggested that she join him in helming the film.
In many ways, their collaboration behind the camera gracefully complements the narrative that transpires in front of it. The Eight Mountains is a gentle two-hander following two friends, the impetuous Bruno and the introverted Pietro (played respectively as adults by Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli), that charts the ups and downs of their relationship over the course of four decades.
In many ways, their collaboration behind the camera gracefully complements the narrative that transpires in front of it. The Eight Mountains is a gentle two-hander following two friends, the impetuous Bruno and the introverted Pietro (played respectively as adults by Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli), that charts the ups and downs of their relationship over the course of four decades.
- 4/28/2023
- by Marshall Shaffer
- Slant Magazine
Editors note: This review was originally published May 18 after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival where it co-won the Jury Prize. It opens in New York theaters Friday.
After breaking out internationally in 2012 with his Oscar-nominated drama The Broken Circle Breakdown, and making his Hollywood debut in 2018 with Beautiful Boy, Felix van Groeningen makes his Competition debut in Cannes with The Eight Mountains, perhaps the most understated film of his career so far.
This is a gentle tale of a decades-spanning friendship that seems a little out of its depth in such a heavyweight showcase. With terrific cinematography and two engaging leads, it’s easy on the eye — as well it should be at two hours and 27 minutes — but it’s lackluster in its telling and pales next to Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, which covered similar themes of adolescence and young adulthood last awards season.
After breaking out internationally in 2012 with his Oscar-nominated drama The Broken Circle Breakdown, and making his Hollywood debut in 2018 with Beautiful Boy, Felix van Groeningen makes his Competition debut in Cannes with The Eight Mountains, perhaps the most understated film of his career so far.
This is a gentle tale of a decades-spanning friendship that seems a little out of its depth in such a heavyweight showcase. With terrific cinematography and two engaging leads, it’s easy on the eye — as well it should be at two hours and 27 minutes — but it’s lackluster in its telling and pales next to Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God, which covered similar themes of adolescence and young adulthood last awards season.
- 4/28/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
An intimate story of friendship projected across the vast alpine Italian landscape, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains is a stirring, at times spiritual experience of reconnection on both human and environmental levels. Starring Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi, the decade-spanning story adapted from Paolo Cognetti’s novel gives its audience the proper space to breathe in the surroundings while our characters attempt to find a footing in their lives.
Ahead of the U.S. release of the Cannes winner, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Belgian directors about the complex process of crafting a Dutch script that was then translated into English and then into Italian, what their collaboration process entails, their personal connections to the film, setting the perfect pace, and their visual inspirations.
The Film Stage: I love the juxtaposition in the movie, where you have the most beautiful, vast surroundings possible,...
Ahead of the U.S. release of the Cannes winner, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Belgian directors about the complex process of crafting a Dutch script that was then translated into English and then into Italian, what their collaboration process entails, their personal connections to the film, setting the perfect pace, and their visual inspirations.
The Film Stage: I love the juxtaposition in the movie, where you have the most beautiful, vast surroundings possible,...
- 4/27/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It can be surprisingly difficult to find a movie with an authentic, lived-in sense of how friendships truly unfold over the course of many years. What we so often get instead are hollow pastiches and tired tropes that hardly scrape the surface of what actually draws two individuals together from very different walks of life — and why. Maybe there's something to be said for a more matter-of-fact approach that gives such weighty topics room to grow, recede, and adapt at a glacial-like pace.
While that's usually considered a critique, this is at least one of the many reasons why "The Eight Mountains" stands in such stark relief from its peers. In the opening act set in 1984 Italy, two children become fast friends over the course of a single summer in the mountainous village of Grana — not through some shared trauma or because they instantly recognize some deep, soul-baring connection to one another.
While that's usually considered a critique, this is at least one of the many reasons why "The Eight Mountains" stands in such stark relief from its peers. In the opening act set in 1984 Italy, two children become fast friends over the course of a single summer in the mountainous village of Grana — not through some shared trauma or because they instantly recognize some deep, soul-baring connection to one another.
- 4/25/2023
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
The Hollywood Reporter Roma, the entertainment media brand’s first European edition, was launched in a majestic mansion in Rome on Thursday night.
The starry party at Palazzo Brancaccio attracted 1,000 buzzy Italian well-wishers that included Cinecittà CEO Nicola Maccanico; local Netflix content exec Tinny Andreatta; Piera Detassis, president of the Italian Academy of Cinema; Alessandro Michele, who recently exited his role as creative director of Gucci; and Italian actress Ornella Muti.
The gilded indoor-outdoor setting in Rome had the feel of a scene out of Federico Fellini’s Italian classic La Dolce Vita. Also walking the red carpet were Suburra star Alessandro Borghi, The White Lotus actress Beatrice Grannò and Isabella Ferrari of The Great Beauty.
Inside, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director, and Elisabeth Rabishaw, co-publisher and executive vice president of THR, congratulated THR Roma on its debut.
“This is only the beginning,” said Moody, who...
The starry party at Palazzo Brancaccio attracted 1,000 buzzy Italian well-wishers that included Cinecittà CEO Nicola Maccanico; local Netflix content exec Tinny Andreatta; Piera Detassis, president of the Italian Academy of Cinema; Alessandro Michele, who recently exited his role as creative director of Gucci; and Italian actress Ornella Muti.
The gilded indoor-outdoor setting in Rome had the feel of a scene out of Federico Fellini’s Italian classic La Dolce Vita. Also walking the red carpet were Suburra star Alessandro Borghi, The White Lotus actress Beatrice Grannò and Isabella Ferrari of The Great Beauty.
Inside, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director, and Elisabeth Rabishaw, co-publisher and executive vice president of THR, congratulated THR Roma on its debut.
“This is only the beginning,” said Moody, who...
- 4/21/2023
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"He's high up on his mountain, unaware of the problems we're facing down here." Janus has revealed the official US trailer for The Eight Mountains, made by the filmmakers Felix van Groeningen & Charlotte Vandermeersch. It's set to hit theaters in the US at the end of April, then open in UK cinemas in May. The film initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last year playing in the Main Competition. The Eight Mountains is set mostly in Italy. Pietro is a boy from the city, Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village. Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is the one who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, letting their destinies unfold, as Pietro and Bruno discover what it means to be friends for life. Starring Luca Marinelli as Pietro and Alessandro Borghi as Bruno.
- 4/7/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes last year, the U.S. trailer arrives today for Belgian directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains, adapted from the novel of the same name by Italian author Paolo Cognetti. The film stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as, respectively, Pietro and Bruno, two childhood best friends who first meet in the Italian Alps and then re-connect later in adulthood. The Eight Mountains will be released stateside this spring by Sideshow and Janus Films. The film’s official synopsis reads: Pietro, a city boy who visits the tiny mountain village of Grana […]
The post Trailer Watch: Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/7/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes last year, the U.S. trailer arrives today for Belgian directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains, adapted from the novel of the same name by Italian author Paolo Cognetti. The film stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as, respectively, Pietro and Bruno, two childhood best friends who first meet in the Italian Alps and then re-connect later in adulthood. The Eight Mountains will be released stateside this spring by Sideshow and Janus Films. The film’s official synopsis reads: Pietro, a city boy who visits the tiny mountain village of Grana […]
The post Trailer Watch: Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/7/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
As news about the 2023 Cannes lineup begins to trickle in, American audiences are finally getting a chance to catch up on some of the films that played at last year’s festival. Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s “The Eight Mountains” made waves when it competed for the Palme d’Or and won the Prix Jury prize in 2022, and now the film is just weeks away from premiering at arthouses in New York and Los Angeles.
The film tells the story of a close relationship between two young Italian boys who spent their childhoods together in a mountain village before going in different directions. At Cannes, critics praised the film’s attention to detail and the way it used elements of nature to conjure the feelings of magic that childhood friendships can create.
“Here, you feel it all, because there is so much heartfelt detail,” Ella Kemp wrote in...
The film tells the story of a close relationship between two young Italian boys who spent their childhoods together in a mountain village before going in different directions. At Cannes, critics praised the film’s attention to detail and the way it used elements of nature to conjure the feelings of magic that childhood friendships can create.
“Here, you feel it all, because there is so much heartfelt detail,” Ella Kemp wrote in...
- 4/7/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
"This place is wonderful. I never want to leave." Picturehouses in the UK has revealed their official trailer for the lovely film The Eight Mountains, the latest from filmmakers Felix van Groeningen & Charlotte Vandermeersch. It's set to hit theaters in the US at the end of April, then open in UK cinemas in May - and this one is a must watch on the big screen. Some of the most spectacular mountain cinematography I've ever seen. It initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last year playing in the Main Competition. The Eight Mountains is the story of a friendship. Pietro is a boy from the city, Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village. Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is the one who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, letting their destinies unfold,...
- 4/4/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Picturehouse Entertainment has debuted an exclusive trailer the Cannes Film Festival 2022 Jury Prize Winner ‘The Eight Mountains.’
The film is the story of a friendship. Of children becoming men who try to erase the footprints of their fathers, but who, through the twists and turns they take, always end up returning home.
Pietro is a boy from the city, and Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village. Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is the one who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, and letting their destinies unfold, as Pietro and Bruno discover what it means to be true friends for life.
Directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, the film stars Alessandro Borghi & Luca Marinelli.
Also in trailers – “I do not bend, I do not break…” Trailer drops for ‘White...
The film is the story of a friendship. Of children becoming men who try to erase the footprints of their fathers, but who, through the twists and turns they take, always end up returning home.
Pietro is a boy from the city, and Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village. Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is the one who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, and letting their destinies unfold, as Pietro and Bruno discover what it means to be true friends for life.
Directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, the film stars Alessandro Borghi & Luca Marinelli.
Also in trailers – “I do not bend, I do not break…” Trailer drops for ‘White...
- 4/4/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
There must have been something in the air at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where two of the top prizes went to Belgian films about the impossible standards set up by masculinity leading to tragedy. Lukas Dhont’s Close, which centers on the end of the friendship between two teenagers over a harrowing school year, won the Grand Prix. The Jury Prize went to Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains, which concerns the end of a friendship between two men who meet as boys during a summer that marks them for the rest of their lives.
Whatever its pictorial beauty, often significant, this adaptation of Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller exemplifies my distaste for films that depict toxic masculinity without questioning it, or even suggesting there is nothing heroic or brave about refusing to leave behind damaging practices as long as they perpetuate some limited idea of what constitutes manhood.
Whatever its pictorial beauty, often significant, this adaptation of Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller exemplifies my distaste for films that depict toxic masculinity without questioning it, or even suggesting there is nothing heroic or brave about refusing to leave behind damaging practices as long as they perpetuate some limited idea of what constitutes manhood.
- 2/3/2023
- by Jose Solís
- The Film Stage
Often, when embarking on the recent Variety tradition that is this feature — designed to highlight some of the year’s best yet least-Oscar-likely performances — one particular turn will emerge as the poster child. A performance that, for many reasons, really ought to have a shot at Oscar but, being in a language other than English, has little chance. This year, that slot goes to Vicky Krieps who, in Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage,” does not so much play Empress Elisabeth of Austria (a role previously defined by Romy Schneider in the saccharine “Sissi” trilogy) as entirely reimagine and reclaim her.
Rather like with Mads Mikkelsen in Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” Krieps has the kind of stateside profile that will help “Corsage” stay in the conversation for the best international feature film Oscar shortlist. But the odds of her getting an individual best actress nod remain far slimmer — a shame, given...
Rather like with Mads Mikkelsen in Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” Krieps has the kind of stateside profile that will help “Corsage” stay in the conversation for the best international feature film Oscar shortlist. But the odds of her getting an individual best actress nod remain far slimmer — a shame, given...
- 12/16/2022
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The life of global porn icon Rocco Siffredi is the subject of a new Netflix original series titled ‘Supersex’, which has started shooting in Rome.
The seven-episode drama is freely inspired by the real life of Siffredi, who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name. But, in an interesting career twist, Siffredi has also shot two arthouse pics, Catherine Breillat’s ‘Romance’ and ‘Anatomy of Hell’. His Budapest-based Rocco Siffredi Prods. is a porn industry powerhouse.
Siffredi was also the subject of the documentary ‘Rocco’, directed by French duo Thierry Demaiziere and Alban Teurlai, which screened at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.
At the centre of ‘Supersex’, which is being produced by The Apartment, a Fremantle company and Groenlandia, which is part of the Banijay group, are unknown aspects of the Italian porn star, who is being played by Italian A-lister Alessandro Borghi (‘The Eight Mountains’).
The series is created...
The seven-episode drama is freely inspired by the real life of Siffredi, who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name. But, in an interesting career twist, Siffredi has also shot two arthouse pics, Catherine Breillat’s ‘Romance’ and ‘Anatomy of Hell’. His Budapest-based Rocco Siffredi Prods. is a porn industry powerhouse.
Siffredi was also the subject of the documentary ‘Rocco’, directed by French duo Thierry Demaiziere and Alban Teurlai, which screened at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.
At the centre of ‘Supersex’, which is being produced by The Apartment, a Fremantle company and Groenlandia, which is part of the Banijay group, are unknown aspects of the Italian porn star, who is being played by Italian A-lister Alessandro Borghi (‘The Eight Mountains’).
The series is created...
- 9/27/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Click here to read the full article.
Netflix has greenlit a new Italian series, Supersex, based on the life and career of notorious Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi, aka “Buttman.”
Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s mafia drama series Suburra and 2022 Cannes jury prize winner The Eight Mountains, will play the lead character. Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini co-star with Saul Nanni playing the protagonist as a young man.
Netflix said the seven-episode series would be “freely inspired” by Siffredi’s life and career, as well as from direct testimony from Siffredi. Supersex plans to tell the soup-to-nuts story of Rocco from his childhood and family origins through his “relationship with love” that led him to pursue a career in porn. Created and written by Francesca Manieri, the series is directed by Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni.
“Supersex is the story of a man who takes seven episodes and...
Netflix has greenlit a new Italian series, Supersex, based on the life and career of notorious Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi, aka “Buttman.”
Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s mafia drama series Suburra and 2022 Cannes jury prize winner The Eight Mountains, will play the lead character. Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini co-star with Saul Nanni playing the protagonist as a young man.
Netflix said the seven-episode series would be “freely inspired” by Siffredi’s life and career, as well as from direct testimony from Siffredi. Supersex plans to tell the soup-to-nuts story of Rocco from his childhood and family origins through his “relationship with love” that led him to pursue a career in porn. Created and written by Francesca Manieri, the series is directed by Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni.
“Supersex is the story of a man who takes seven episodes and...
- 9/27/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Netflix has unwrapped its latest Italian series, Supersex.
Produced by Fremantle producer The Apartment and Banijay-owned Groenlandia, it is inspired by the real life of European pornstar Rocco Siffredi. The seven-episode show will be available on Netflix globally in 2023.
Here’s the synopsis: “At the center of the story are unpublished aspects of the pornstar, a profound story that runs through his life since childhood. His family, his origins, his relationship with love, the starting point and the context that led him to embark on his path in pornography.”
Alessandro Borghi will play Rocco Siffredi, and also stars Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini and Saul Nanni in the roles of Lucia, Tommaso and Rocco as a young man, respectively.
Francesca Manieri is creator and writer, with Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni the directors.
Manieri said: “Supersex is the story of a man who takes seven episodes and 350 minutes to say ‘I love you,...
Produced by Fremantle producer The Apartment and Banijay-owned Groenlandia, it is inspired by the real life of European pornstar Rocco Siffredi. The seven-episode show will be available on Netflix globally in 2023.
Here’s the synopsis: “At the center of the story are unpublished aspects of the pornstar, a profound story that runs through his life since childhood. His family, his origins, his relationship with love, the starting point and the context that led him to embark on his path in pornography.”
Alessandro Borghi will play Rocco Siffredi, and also stars Jasmine Trinca, Adriano Giannini and Saul Nanni in the roles of Lucia, Tommaso and Rocco as a young man, respectively.
Francesca Manieri is creator and writer, with Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni the directors.
Manieri said: “Supersex is the story of a man who takes seven episodes and 350 minutes to say ‘I love you,...
- 9/27/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
A reformed criminal goes on the run in The Hanging Sun, an adaptation of Jo Nesbo’s novel Midnight Sun. The author also co-writes the screenplay of this fiction feature debut from Francesco Carrozzini, the photographer who helmed the documentary Franca: Chaos and Creation. The closing film of Venice Film Festival, it’s well performed and gripping enough, though geographically confusing.
Filmed in northern Norway, where the novel is set, it stars an international cast, all speaking English with a variety of accents. Given that the conceit of the book revolves around 24-hour daylight at a certain time of year, the location is an honorable gesture, and handsomely filmed. But it’s hard to accept this as Nordic noir given the language and casting.
Italian actor Alessandro Borghi stars as John, a hitman who was adopted as a child and trained by a ruthless criminal, whose biological son (Frederick Schmidt) resents John. Their feud has come to a head now that John is trying to escape a life of crime, so he hides out in a remote religious community and meets Lea (Jessica Brown Findlay), the victim of an abusive husband (Sam Spruell).
With strong, understated performances from Borghi and Findlay, the unspoken attraction between John and Lea helps to keep the attention, as do the dramatic plot points, from suspicious deaths to chase scenes.
There’s also a sweet bond between John and Lea’s son Caleb (Raphael Vicas), who has developed an unusual way of speaking to cover up a stammer.
But the dramas feel familiar, and archetypes such as the abused wife, the trained killer and the fire-and-brimstone priest (Charles Dance) aren’t fleshed out enough to feel fresh. The Hanging Sun is a workable and good-looking thriller, but it stays on the surface rather than staying with you.
Filmed in northern Norway, where the novel is set, it stars an international cast, all speaking English with a variety of accents. Given that the conceit of the book revolves around 24-hour daylight at a certain time of year, the location is an honorable gesture, and handsomely filmed. But it’s hard to accept this as Nordic noir given the language and casting.
Italian actor Alessandro Borghi stars as John, a hitman who was adopted as a child and trained by a ruthless criminal, whose biological son (Frederick Schmidt) resents John. Their feud has come to a head now that John is trying to escape a life of crime, so he hides out in a remote religious community and meets Lea (Jessica Brown Findlay), the victim of an abusive husband (Sam Spruell).
With strong, understated performances from Borghi and Findlay, the unspoken attraction between John and Lea helps to keep the attention, as do the dramatic plot points, from suspicious deaths to chase scenes.
There’s also a sweet bond between John and Lea’s son Caleb (Raphael Vicas), who has developed an unusual way of speaking to cover up a stammer.
But the dramas feel familiar, and archetypes such as the abused wife, the trained killer and the fire-and-brimstone priest (Charles Dance) aren’t fleshed out enough to feel fresh. The Hanging Sun is a workable and good-looking thriller, but it stays on the surface rather than staying with you.
- 9/12/2022
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
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