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dariosoldatini
Reviews
L'ultimo giorno di scuola prima delle vacanze di Natale (1975)
The dark side of an untold page of history
Brief synopsis North Italy, spring 1945, during the nazi-fascist occupation. A gang of fugitive republican fascists (John Steiner, Macha Meril and Lino Capolicchio) kidnaps a metrobus full of civilians and tries to escape to the Swiss's border, in order to recover from the advancing allies and partisans. During the journey, we are able to see (throughout some flash-backs) the fascists's activities prior to their runout (Macha Meril, in the role of Egle, a female volunteer for Italian Social Republic, in the attempt to humiliate a nude prisoner before sentencing him to death) alongside the captured civilians (remebrances of their "normal" lives under allies' bombs and everyday's troubles of wartime). As the movie rolls on and the Swiss's border approaches, the three kidnappers decide to kill their hostages anyway: one by one they're picked up and executed and, at the end of the movie, the three villains arrive at the border...but all the area has been already taken under control by the partisans.... "The last day of school before the Christmas' holidays" is a small, rare and raw documentary about cruelty of the war, especially civil ones (expecially Italy's civil war, very often ignored by researchers and film makers). This movie is actually unreleased on homevideo and it's a shame: it anticipates Pasolini's "Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma". I had been lucky enough to see it once on a latenight show, but I still remember it for its strong mood and documentary style. The lead stars are top-notch artists of 70's Italian subgeneres, Lino Capolicchio (The house with the laughing windows), Macha Meril (Deep Red) and John Steiner (Shock, Tenebrae, Action, Tinto Brass's Caligula). I recommend you to have a peer to it. Dario
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Funny movie
I think this is a very funny movie, even thought it's a million miles away from the concept of the Romero's world. It's a fast, well-paced action movie, but I woudln't call it a real horror. It's just....action. No social commentary, no sense of claustrophobia, nothing...just action. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, I own it on DVD, I saw it 2 times on Theater...but it's not Romero. I liked the tributes showed in it (e.g. the chopper from the original Dawn, the Wooleys and Gaylen Ross's shops, the cameos of Savini/Reiniger/Foree), the idea of the guy on the gun-shop's roof (cool!!). These're the ups...the downs are the zombie-baby (ugly idea), the running zombies...the soundtrack (excpet for Johnny Cash of course) and those stinky "blockbuster alike" funny alike lines of some characters (Ty Burrell overall..a classic blockbusters actor, yet talented). I would like to known if everyone noticed the subliminal frame in the ending credits (just after Kenneth dies - seen through Terry's camera): it's a 1 second-long frame showing Ana and Nicole kissing. Did everyone spotted or noticed it? Please answer me, I didn't see any mention of this particular in any specialized website. Thanx Dario
La casa dalle finestre che ridono (1976)
A damn chilling masterpiece
Nothing much left to add to the exhaustive reviews here on the DB. But lemme translate the male voice at the beginning of the movie, 'cuz knowing the meaning of its words is important, it's the leit-motiv who introduces us into the story and into its morbid mood. (Please note: the voice we hear in the opening credits scene, with the guy stabbed, it's Buono Legnani's voice, anyway it's actually Gianni Cavina's (who plays Coppola, the drunken driver) and it sounds like that: "My colors...they're so beautiful...my colors...they exit from my veins and go through people's eyes...my colors...here it is: he's dying, he's dying..hold him tight...he's dying...Deus Meus Deus Meus...he dies..hold him tight Deus Meus...my colors, my colors.." Well, other useful things to know about this cult-movie: the movie was actually shoot in a small country village near Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, northeastern Italy. According to the 25th anniversary edition's featurette, after filming the scene in which Stefano (Capolicchio) desperately seeks for some help aboard Coppola's motorcycle (I mean after being stabbed by Legnani's sisters) a tremendous earthquake occurred. It was the infamous 1976 Friuli Earthquake, who made several casualties and terrible damage on northeastern Italy.