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Updated with latest: The Venice Film Festival began August 30 with opening-night movie Comandante, an Italian World War II drama, kicking off a lineup for the venerable fest’s 80th edition that includes world premieres of Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, David Fincher’s The Killer, Ava DuVernay’s Origins, and new films from lightning-rod directors Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson.

Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films. Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded Laura Poitras’ documentary All The Beauty and the Bloodshed its Golden Lion for best film.

Click on the film titles below to read the reviews in full, and keep checking back as we add more movies throughout the fest, which runs through September 9.

Adagio

Section: Competition

Director: Stefano Sollima

Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino,...

Updated with more details: The 80th Venice Film Festival officially kicked off Wednesday evening with the world premiere screening of Edoardo De Angelis’ Italian World War II submarine drama Comandante. Running in competition, the film took over the slot vacated by Luca Guadagnino’s tennis drama Challengers, which backed out of the spot amid the actors strike.

Before the Pierfrancesco Favino-starring movie unspooled to a warm welcome and a brief post-credit standing ovation, Italian actress Caterina Murino launched the festival’s opening ceremony featuring a retrospective covering the 80 years of the event. That included glimpses of previous Golden Lion and awards winners, with the audience erupting when the late William Friedkin appeared in the montage.

Friedkin, who died August 7, has his final work, the Showtime film The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, screening later this week out of competition.

Biennalle president Roberto Cicutto then came on the stage to introduce Charlotte Rampling,...

The title character of “Comandante,” Salvatore Todaro (Pierfrancesco Favino), is a submarine commander in the Italian Royal Navy who has a different spirit from the military machos we tend to encounter in movies. He’s certainly tough enough — a bruiser with a dark edge. “Comandante” is set during the early days of World War II (September and October 1940), and as Salvatore leads the crew of the Cappellini, an iron hulk of an underwater vessel equipped with a dozen torpedoes and a pair of machine guns, he’s not shy about his dedication to blowing up his enemies.

But he’s also a saddened romantic warrior with the heart of a poet. As the men prepare to board the sub, Salvatore assembles them for a pep talk, and his look is striking: the double-breasted brown leather coat, the coiffed hair and thick goatee, the gleam of burning-eyed fatalism. Favino resembles a...

"Comandante" is a new 'submarine' thriller, set during 'World War II', directed by Edoardo De Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino, Johan Heldenbergh, Massimiliano Rossi, Johannes Wirix, Silvia D’Amico and Paolo Bonacelli, releasing in North America Spring 2024:

"...based on the real-life story of 'Salvatore Todaro', the naval officer and submariner who saved 26 Belgian merchant seamen during World War II, "Comandante', follows 'Salvatore Todaro', Captain of the 'Cappellini' who leads in his own way: the bow is reinforced with steel, in the off-chance an opportunity to ram a ship arises and his crew is armed with daggers, should an unlikely hand-to-hand battle occurs..."

Click the images to enlarge...

‘Comandante’ (The Commander) is a war drama film co-written and directed by Edoardo De Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino. The film is set to open the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival on September 30th.

Synopsis

During the onset of World War II, Salvatore Todaro assumes command of the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini. While navigating in the Atlantic on a dark October night in 1940, he encounters an unidentified merchant vessel sailing without lights. Employing his cannons, Todaro successfully sinks the ship. In a moment that would later be recorded in history, the Commander makes a crucial decision: he rescues the 26 shipwrecked Belgians who otherwise faced certain death in the vast ocean. Accommodating the survivors aboard his submarine necessitates three days of surface navigation, thereby exposing himself and his crew to enemy forces and placing their lives at risk.

Comandante (2023) The Director Edoardo De Angelis

Edoardo De Angelis is a director,...

‘Comandante’ (The Commander) is a war drama film co-written and directed by Edoardo De Angelis, starring Pierfrancesco Favino. The film is set to open the 80th edition of the Venice Film Festival on September 30th.

Synopsis

During the onset of World War II, Salvatore Todaro assumes command of the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini. While navigating in the Atlantic on a dark October night in 1940, he encounters an unidentified merchant vessel sailing without lights. Employing his cannons, Todaro successfully sinks the ship. In a moment that would later be recorded in history, the Commander makes a crucial decision: he rescues the 26 shipwrecked Belgians who otherwise faced certain death in the vast ocean. Accommodating the survivors aboard his submarine necessitates three days of surface navigation, thereby exposing himself and his crew to enemy forces and placing their lives at risk.

Comandante (2023) The Director Edoardo De Angelis

Edoardo De Angelis is a director,...

Rome-based sales agency True Colours has added Edoardo de Angelis’ “Comandante,” which opens the Venice Film Festival, to its slate. The film, which plays in the main competition section, stars Pierfrancesco Favino.

“Comandante” is based on the true story of Italian submarine commander Salvatore Todaro and the events that occurred in October 1940, when Todaro was in command of the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini.

One night, while navigating in the Atlantic, the Italian vessel sinks an armed Belgian merchant ship, and Todaro decides to take the 26 shipwrecked crew members on board his already crowded submarine, aiming for the nearest safe harbor to release them. It is an unexpected action in the context of war, but follows the law of the sea, and endangers his life as well as that of his men, since the submarine has to navigate on the surface of the water for three days, visible to the enemy forces.

It’s always a pleasure to see a screen legend return to starring roles. For Sophia Loren, we haven’t seen her on the screen in a major way in over a decade, since her supporting appearance in Nine. Now, she’s back as a lead, showcasing her talents in Netflix’s latest awards contender, the international feature The Life Ahead. A movie built around her, and one that aptly showcases her, it’s a contender not just potentially in Best International Feature, but in Best Actress for Loren as well. Hitting the streaming service today, it’s well worth a watch, if only to see Loren in action once again, proving she hasn’t missed a beat. The film is a drama, based on the novel The Life Before Us, which has twice been adapted already before this. Taking place in an Italian seaside town, a 12-year-old street kid...

Netflix has debuted the first trailer for Italian drama ‘The Life Ahead’ in which iconic actress Sophia Loren makes her comeback.

In the colourful Italian port city of Bari, the streetwise 12-year-old Senegalese orphan Momo (Ibrahima Gueye) has ambitions to make his fortune in the underworld of the town’s shady alleyways. One day, he steals a bag of items from the elderly Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren), a Holocaust survivor who makes a meagre living raising the children of prostitutes with whom she once shared the streets. When Momo is forced to apologize to Rosa, she reluctantly agrees to take him in temporarily and the two lonely individuals find an unlikely family in each other through a deep and unconventional bond. The kindred spirits become connected to a common destiny that will change the course of their lives.

Directed by Edoardo Ponti and adapted by Ponti, Ugo Chiti from Romain Gary’s novel,...

"It is precisely when you give up hope that good things happen." Netflix has released an official trailer for The Life Ahead, an emotional Italian drama made by filmmaker Edoardo Ponti starring the one-and-only glorious Sophia Loren. A contemporary adaptation of the international bestseller "The Life Before Us" by Romain Gary. In seaside Italy, a Holocaust survivor with a daycare business takes in a 12-year-old street kid who recently robbed her. the two lonely individuals find an unlikely family in each other through a deep and unconventional bond. In addition to Loren, the cast also includes Ibrahima Gueye, Renato Carpentieri, Iosif Diego Pirvu, Massimiliano Rossi, Abril Zamora, and Babak Karimi. This looks like a deeply moving and inspiring story of humility and empathy, something we all need more of right now. I have to say - I am very interested in watching. This looks wonderful, and of course now I...

Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights to Sophia Loren’s return to the screen and her first feature film in over a decade, a drama called “The Life Ahead,” the streaming service announced Monday.

Edoardo Ponti directed Loren in the film, and Netflix will debut it later this year.

Loren plays a Holocaust survivor named Madame Rosa who runs a daycare business living in seaside Italy and takes in a 12-year-old street kid named Momo after he robs her. The two loners become each other’s protectors, anchoring an unconventional family.

Ponti and Ugo Chiti adapted the screenplay from the book “The Life Before Us” by Romain Gary. “The Life Ahead” also stars Ibrahima Gueye, Renato Carpentieri and Massimiliano Rossi alongside Loren.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to be working with Netflix on such a special film. In my career, I...

Edoardo Ponti’s The Life Ahead, the Italian drama that marks the big screen return of Sophia Loren, has had its worlds rights snapped up by Netlfix, with the streamer planning to release later this year.

The pic, co-written by Ugo Chiti (Dogman) and Ponti, sees Loren play a Holocaust survivor who takes in a 12-year-old boy who recently robbed her. The film is a contemporary adaptation of Romain Gary’s novel The Life Before Us.

The project comes from Rome-based outfit Palomar, which has credits including Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde movie The Happy Prince and Claudio Giovannesi’s 2019 Berlinale premiere Piranhas.

Ibrahima Gueye, Renato Carpentieri and Massimiliano Rossi also star.

“In my career, I’ve worked with the biggest studios but I can safely say that none have had the breadth of reach and the cultural diversity of Netflix, and that’s what I love about them. They...

Netflix has acquired global rights to The Life Ahead, starring Sophia Loren.

The global streamer will release the film, directed by Edoardo Ponti and written by Ugo Chiti and Ponti, later this year. Ibrahima Gueye, Renato Carpentieri and Massimiliano Rossi star alongside Loren in the adaptation of the best-seller The Life Before Us by Romain Gary.

"In seaside Italy, a Holocaust survivor with a daycare business, Madame Rosa (Loren), takes in 12-year-old street kid Momo, the boy who recently robbed her," according to a plot description. "The two loners become each other's protectors, anchoring an unconventional family."...

Netflix has acquired global rights to The Life Ahead, starring Sophia Loren.

The global streamer will release the film, directed by Edoardo Ponti and written by Ugo Chiti and Ponti, later this year. Ibrahima Gueye, Renato Carpentieri and Massimiliano Rossi star alongside Loren in the adaptation of the best-seller The Life Before Us by Romain Gary.

"In seaside Italy, a Holocaust survivor with a daycare business, Madame Rosa (Loren), takes in 12-year-old street kid Momo, the boy who recently robbed her," according to a plot description. "The two loners become each other's protectors, anchoring an unconventional family."...

Sky Italia and Gomorrah producer Cattleya have unveiled the first look at their forthcoming big-budget drama Romulus, the founder and first king of Rome, which is being produced in archaic Latin.

The ITV-owned producer is producing the ten-part series, which was created by Matteo Rovere, who directed The First King feature. It marks Rovere’s television debut. The ten-part series is co-produced by Rovere’s Groenlandia and filming started in Rome last month.

It stars Andrea Arcangeli (Trust), Marianna Fontana (Indivisible) and Francesco Di Napoli (Piranhas) with Rovere directing alongside Michele Alhaique and Enrico Maria Artale. It is written by Rovere, Filippo Gravino (The First King) and Guido Iuculano (A Quiet Life).

The series is set in eighth century B.C., in a primitive and brutal world in which man’s fate is decided by the merciless power of nature and the gods. It is the story of Romulus and his twin brother Remus,...

Gomorrah producer Cattleya is making a TV drama about Romulus, the founder and first king of Rome, in archaic Latin for Sky Italia.

The ITV-owned producer is producing Romulus, created by Matteo Rovere, who directed The First King feature. It marks Rovere’s television debut. The ten-part series is co-produced by Rovere’s Groenlandia and will start filming in Rome in early June.

It will star Andrea Arcangeli (Trust), Marianna Fontana (Indivisible) and Francesco Di Napoli (Piranhas) with Rovere directing alongside Michele Alhaique and Enrico Maria Artale. It is written by Rovere, Filippo Gravino (The First King) and Guido Iuculano (A Quiet Life).

The series is set in eighth century B.C., in a primitive and brutal world in which man’s fate is decided by the merciless power of nature and the gods. It is the story of Romulus and his twin brother Remus, as seen through the...

Less than an hour from Naples, Italy is Castel Volturno, a place marred by newspaper headlines like “Forsaken Village” and “Sex, Drugs, and the Mafia.” It shouldn’t surprise then that director Edoardo De Angelis would use it as the setting for his latest film The Vice of Hope considering child trafficking and prostitution are prevalently at its back. These criminal enterprises are presented as this comune’s means for financial stability, everywhere we’re taken openly servicing one or both with little threat of consequences that aren’t personally enforced via the psychological trauma endured. This is the only life Maria (Pina Turco) knows and her own inability to bear children makes her a perfect, unsympathetic coyote to ferry those willing to sell their babies for survival.

We meet her as a teen floating in the river, motionless and broken. She’s plucked from the water by a man...

Indivisible (Indivisibili) Medusa Film Director: Edoardo De Angelis Written by: Nicola Guaglianone, Barbara Petronio, Edoardo De Angelis Cast: Angela Fontana, Marianna Fontana, Antonia Truppo, Massimiliano Rossi, Tony Laudadio Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/28/17 Opens: September 29, 2017 “Indivisible,” or “Indivisibili” in the original, might remind cinephiles of Josh Aronson’s film “Sound and Fury,” which […]

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Title: Indivisibili Director: Edoardo De Angelis Cast: Angela Fontana, Marianna Fontana, Antonia Troppo, Massimiliano Rossi, Tony Laudadio, Marco Mario De Notaris, Gaetano Bruno, Gianfranco Gallo, Peppe Servillo. Italian filmmaker Edoardo De Angelis presents a disquieting modern tale about ancestral exploitation of a physical distortion. Daisy and Viola are siamese twin sisters living in the suburbs […]

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