The Dinner 1998

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.

Graduation Party 1985

The endearing efforts of a divorced, simple baker to capture the attentions of a bourgeois society woman.

Petomaniac 1983

The real story of a French man who was able to control his own farts.

Acapulco, Last Beach... on the Left 1983

Verdi 1982

This 1982 biographical television miniseries, as seen on PBS's Great Performances, dramatizes the life of this classic Italian composer known for operas including La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Aida and his Requiem.

The Venus of Ille 1981

A wealthy landowner uncovers a bronze statue of Venus on his property. He asks an antique expert to examine the statue and confirm its wealth. Upon arrival, the expert is striken with love by the landowner’s daughter-in-law who bears an uncanny resemblance to the statue.

Lobster for Breakfast 1979

Marco is married to Carla, a rich businesswoman. She's off to Geneva for two days; he has a tryst with Monique, a Swedish air hostess. Carla's flight is canceled, so she heads home about to catch Mario en flagrant. Mario's salvation is Enrico, an old school mate and hapless salesman who shows up to beg Mario to buy toilets so he won't lose his job. Mario signs an order in exchange for Enrico's posing as Monique's husband. Carla invites them to stay overnight and join a business dinner party catered by Enrico's wife, Matilde. Enrico spends the evening trying to avoid her, Mario spends it chasing the willing Monique, and Carla wants to close a deal. Can this farce end happily?

One Can Say It Without Getting Angry 1978

Pauline intends to end her days and meticulously prepares her suicide, but she meets Peppo, an Italian immigrant, who will change her mind.

The Cat 1977

Amedeo and Ofelia, middle aged brother and sister, own jointly an old decadent, but still attractive, condominium. They want to sell it, but before they have to evict all the tenants. Of course, these don't want to leave at all. The cat (Il Gatto), mascot and beloved by all, dies and this gives the two an excuse to enter the tenants' life. Amedeo starts to court the young Wanda and Ofelia seduces the priest Don Pezzolla. In the meantime police is looking for the cat killer...

Dear Michele 1976

Michael is the younger son of a middle-class family, a strong-willed and free-thinking fellow, who is off in some distant country fighting for a revolutionary cause. Everyone in the family writes to him, describing the events of their lives, as they drift into a kind of conventionality which would perhaps have horrified them earlier. Only Michael’s girlfriend Mara, the mother of his child, retains her independence, even though it is through the help of Michael’s increasingly conventional friends and family that she survives.

Non si scrive sui muri a Milano 1975

Luciana, a country girl who has moved to Milan, is married to Mario, an intellectual type who avoids her since an accident forced him to live with his torso permanently in a cast. Lonely and depressed because also of her recent dismissal, she asks for help through a letter and becomes friends with elementary school teacher Anna, who also resents the negativity of her workplace and the world around her. Meanwhile, blue collar worker Marco waits for his fellow paisan Luciana to reciprocate his feelings. The vicissitudes of this quartet intertwine with the comical interludes of a commune of hippies who live in the tunnels of the Milan subway and spend their time pulling pranks on the passers-by.

Eye of the Cat 1975

Biting, sadistic satire punctuates this dark comedy about a feckless musician named Marcello Ferrari (Nino Manfredi) whose wife Giulia (Mariangela Melato) and kids are stolen away by the domineering, fascist madman Cesare (Eli Wallach).