Gaspare Palumbo

Non si scrive sui muri a Milano

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.

The Scavengers

Via the Chicago Reader: "After World War II an Italian soldier returns to his hometown near the Alps and, unable to find a job, hooks up with a crotchety hermit who scavenges buried shells and bombs for scrap metal."

Arcana

A Sicilian widow earns her living as a clairvoyant, in Milan, but she hasn't got any power at all. Her son instead holds supernatural powers and with the help of his mother he becomes a strong sorcerer. But he fails perhaps to understand the real strength he possesses inside and unbinds uncontrolled forces that lead people that surround him to go mad.

In the Summertime

A young man shares his fantasies with a young girl who is already on the threshold of disillusion. Will she respond to him?

Veruschka - Poetry of a Woman

Fashion photographer Franco Rubartelli's visually lush and moody head film about European supermodel Veruschka.

Matalo! (Kill Him)

A gang of cattle thieves rescue a criminal from the gallows, and later rob a stagecoach loaded with gold. When they get the loot, he is betrayed and left dying in the middle of the desert. In the escape they reach a mysterious ghost town, where they perceive there is something strange about ...

One Fine Day

A self-assured, middle-aged advertising executive has his life upset by an unforeseen accident.

The Crush

Broadcast on RAI television in 1967, this charming featurette about a teenage boy’s first crush on a girl reveals director Ermanno Olmi’s love and respect for the dilemmas of everyday people, along with an early example of the kind of stylistic and narrative experimentation seen in his later work.

A Man Named John

Based on the diary Pope John XXIII kept between the ages of 14 and 18, his lifelong concern for tolerance, the underprivileged, and world peace is told. Rod Steiger, in the central role, acts as "intermediary" between the Pope and the audience, interpreting John's words, thoughts and actions. Steiger visits the actual places in which John lived, recreating the conditions, environment, and forces that affected his development. Through this unusual technique, we are brought close to an extraordinary man - one who's able to win the love of many people of all faiths.

It's a Hard Life

Luciano Bianchi lives with his wife and son in the small town of Guastalla. As an intellectual and bibliophile, he works as head of cultural initiatives at a mining plant.