Medusa Film (Italy): 14

Youth (2015) is a comedy-drama film by writer and director Paolo Sorrentino. This marks his second English-language work. The story follows septuagenarian friends Fred Ballinger and Mick Boyle, who are currently vacationing at a luxurious spa in the Swiss Alps called Wiesen. Fred, a retired classical music composer, is approached by a representative for Queen Elizabeth II during their stay. The Queen wishes to grant him a knighthood and invites him to perform his popular composition ‘Simple Song #3’ at Prince Philip’s birthday concert. However, Fred declines the offer, stating that he has no interest ...

Paolo Sorrentino’s film, The Great Beauty (2013), is a thought-provoking art drama co-written and directed by the Italian filmmaker. It begins with a quote from Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s novel, Journey to the End of the Night, which highlights the power of imagination in travel. The story follows Jep Gambardella, a 65-year-old journalist and theater critic known for his enigmatic charm and love for the vibrant social scene in Rome. He navigates through a city steeped in rich history but defined by its superficial inhabitants, creating a striking ...

To Rome with Love (2012) is a romantic comedy that incorporates elements of magical realism. The film was written and directed by Woody Allen, who also makes his first on-screen appearance since 2006. It tells the story through four distinct vignettes: a clerk’s sudden rise to fame, an architect’s nostalgic visit to his old college neighborhood, a newlywed couple’s honeymoon adventures, and an Italian funeral director’s captivating singing talent that impresses his American future relative, an opera director. Hayley’s Story. While ...

This Must Be the Place (2011), an Italian-French-Irish drama directed and written by Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello respectively, tells the story of Cheyenne. The former wealthy rock star has been living a mundane and uninspired life in Dublin for the past two decades. His retirement was prompted by the tragic suicides of two of his teenage fans. Seeking some sort of redemption, he makes the journey to New York to make amends with his dying father, only to arrive too late. His justification for not being in contact for 30 years was due to his father’s rejection when he began experimenting with goth ...

Somewhere (2010) is a film written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It tells the story of Johnny Marco, a newly famous actor recovering from an injury at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. The opening scene features a black Ferrari speeding around a desert race track before coming to a stop and revealing Johnny Marco stepping out. Despite his rise to fame, he feels unfulfilled in his daily life as a recently divorced actor. He resides at the Chateau Marmont, nursing his broken wrist in a plaster cast. While he occasionally drinks and socializes with his childhood friend Sammy, also an actor, Marco spends most of his time ...

Mother of Tears (2007) is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Dario Argento. The Catholic Church uncovers the remains of a 19th-century official, whose casket is bound to a box-shaped urn. Within the urn lie artifacts belonging to Mater Lachrymarum, the last remaining member of an ancient and powerful trio of witches. One item in particular stands out – a magical tunic that greatly enhances Mater Lachrymarum’s abilities. The urn is transported to the Museum of Ancient Art in Rome, where Sarah Mandy, a young American studying art restoration, happens to work. Sarah is romantically involved with Michael Pierce, the museum’s curator and ...

The Italian film, The Family Friend (2006), was directed by Paolo Sorrentino and was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Geremia, an elderly tailor and money lender, lives alone with his ill-tempered mother in a rundown house. Known for his selfish and frugal ways, Geremia develops a peculiar obsession with money and uses it to meddle in others’ affairs under the guise of being their ‘family friend’. One day, he is approached by a man seeking a loan for his daughter Rosalba’s wedding. Instantly smitten with the charming young woman, Geremia enters into an unconventional relationship ...

Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is a historical drama, directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. In medieval France, Balian, a grief-stricken blacksmith, is approached by a band of Crusaders visiting his village. Their leader, Balian’s father Baron Godfrey, invites him to join their journey to the Holy Land, but he declines. That night, Balian learns the truth about his wife’s death from his half-brother, the town priest, and in a fit of anger kills him. The next day, seeking redemption for his actions and peace for his wife’s soul ...

The Italian psychological thriller film, The Consequences of Love (2004), was written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Its main character, Titta Di Girolamo, has been living in an upscale hotel in Lugano, Switzerland for the past eight years. Every day, he puts on his suit and roams around, intentionally avoiding any interactions with people. In the morning, he solves chess puzzles from the newspaper and in the evening he plays Grabber with a bankrupt aristocratic couple who are also staying at the hotel. Occasionally, he calls his family back in Italy but his wife always seems uninterested in talking to him and his ...

Directed by Dario Argento, The Card Player (2003) is a giallo film featuring Stefania Rocca and Liam Cunningham. It is Argento’s second giallo movie of the decade. The plot revolves around a serial killer called ‘The Card Player’, who has been abducting young women in Rome. To taunt the authorities, the killer challenges them to a game of online poker through a webcam. If they lose, the victim is brutally killed on camera. When one of the murder victims ...

Sleepless (2001) is an Italian giallo film directed by Dario Argento. It begins with Angela, who has just had sex with a man and is being verbally attacked by him for not satisfying him. As she collects her belongings, she accidentally knocks over a chest filled with bladed weapons, causing her to flee in fear. In her haste, she takes a blue scrapbook that belongs to an unknown serial killer in Turin, known as ‘The Dwarf Killer’. The killer then contacts Angela and threatens her life. Unable to find help from the train conductor, she turns to her friend Marta at the station to retrieve the scrapbook. ...

The Italian romantic-horror film, The Phantom of the Opera (1998), directed by Dario Argento, is an adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, Le Fantôme de l’Opéra. In 1877 Paris, a group of rats rescues a baby from a river and raises him in the underground of the Opéra de Paris. This child grows up to become the Phantom of the Opera, known for his misanthropy and tendency to kill anyone who enters his underground chambers, mirroring how rats are killed when they emerge above ground. One night, while singing alone on stage, Christine Daaé captures the ...

The American horror film, The Night Flier (1997), is an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story from 1988 with the same title. It follows Richard Dees, a skeptical journalist who lives by the motto ‘Never publish what you believe and never believe what you publish’. His boss at Inside View, Merton Morrison, tasks him with investigating a string of murders at small airports. The killer, known as Dwight Renfield, fancies himself a vampire. At first, Dees declines the assignment and it gets passed on to rookie reporter Katherine Blair. However, after two more killings occur at another airfield with ...

The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) is an Italian giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento, starring his daughter Asia Argento. Detective Anna Manni travels to Florence in pursuit of Alfredo Grossi, a serial rapist and murderer. During a museum visit, Anna experiences Stendhal syndrome – a condition that causes overwhelming emotions when viewing art. Taking advantage of her vulnerability, Alfredo kidnaps and brutalizes her, leaving her deeply traumatized. Despite escaping, Anna is relentlessly pursued by Alfredo until she finally turns the tables on him. In a ...