Splendor NEW PAL Arthouse DVD Ettore Scola Marcello Mastroianni M. Vlady Italy

Marcello Mastroianni

Marcello Mastroianni

Director: Ettore Scola Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Lauren Hutton Plot: A story of a simple soul from an Alaskan mining town adrift in Chicago starts in a charming humorous way as Rocco finds himself cut off from his travelling companions and undertaking a series of increasingly bizarre and complex events which threaten and finally destroy his childlike friendliness and eternal optimism. He meets a variety of strange people, some sympathetic but mostly unfriendly, and the City itself, depicted as grinding down the lives of its inhabitants, is characterized by the harsh attitude of the policeman who patrols the rundown area that Rocco finds himself in. Marcello Mastroianni, always a reliable performer, interprets one of his best roles as Rocco, and there is a fascinating array of mainly unknowns depicting the varied group of defeated citydwellers he has of necessity thrown his lot in with.

SYNOPSIS: Subversive Italian satirist Marco Ferreri directed and co-wrote (with Rafael Azcona) this grotesquely amusing French black comedy about four men who grow sick of life, and so meet at a remote villa with the goal of literally eating themselves to death. The quartet comes from various walks of life a pilot (Marcello Mastroianni), a chef (Ugo Tognazzi), a television host (Michel Piccoli), and a judge (Philippe Noiret) but all are successful men with excessive appetites for life's pleasures (food is used as mere metaphor here, as graphic as that metaphor becomes). Sinopsis: Cuatro exitosos hombres maduros: Marcello; un piloto, Michel; un productor ejecutivo de televisión, Ugo; un chef y, Phillipe; un juez, deciden, sin más, reunirse en la villa de este último (Phillipe) para participar en una comilona que los lleve al límite de la saciedad; hasta el encuentro con la muerte. Después de la primera noche, Marcello insiste en que deberían incluir en su festín a algunas mujeres. Tres prostitutas aceptan acompañarlos por un día o dos, pero sólo Andrea, una profesora de la localidad, resiste hasta el final. La villa, la comida y un lujoso convertible clásico serán esenciales para completar la enloquecida obra.

Plot summary: An evening at an Italian restaurant. Hosted by tolerant and relaxed Flora, various parties of middle-class people come in -- large and small, young and old, regulars and tourists, married and single -- to dine, converse, argue, celebrate, make confessions; to overhear other people's discussions, to interrupt them, to sing, listen to music, and enjoy life. The camera, just like the people, moves constantly from table to table, into the kitchen and the back room to observe the staff's petty jealousies and frustrations -- until two hours later it's time for everybody to go home.

Plot summary: Splendor is the name of an old movie theater managed by Jordan (Mastroianni), who inherited it from his father. The theater is in decay and only generates debts and trouble, but Jordan gets aid in his almost quixotian quest from projectionist Luigi (Troisi) and ushurette Chantale (Vlady). However, Jordan is finally forced to sell the Splendor to businessman Lo Fazio (Piperno), which plans to transform it in some kind of furniture store. When Jordan leaves the theater for the last time (the very first scene), he recalls the glorious days of Splendor and movies in general.