Before the Sunset

A documentary about the making of "Buongiorno, notte" and the films and politics of director Marco Bellocchio.

The portly meter reader Crecenzio is first seen blowing up a building. The reasons for this drastic, desperate act provide the basis for the story, which is told in flashback.

Leonardo Vitale was the first Cosa Nostra turncoat to cooperate with the authorities. In 1973, he denounced Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, Michele Greco, and Vito Ciancimino to the police, but he could not withstand imprisonment and lost his sanity. He ended up spending a full ten years in a criminal lunatic asylum. Yet, upon his release, the Mafia—which has a long memory—showed that it had not forgotten him.

Three episodes. In the first, Aurora lives in a luxurious apartment. Among some workers called to her house, she recognizes an old lover, who returns to courting her, but then empties her house. In the second, a boy released from reform school discovers that his mother is actually his father: a transvestite. In the third, a newsagent, suspecting her husband, who constantly pretends to be ill, is cheating on her, places a video camera in her room. She records his sexual encounters on a videotape that she sells at newsstands. In his directorial debut, Corsicato demonstrates a sharp and poetic talent (he was Almodovar's assistant) in creating three portraits of women that are also portraits of his city, Naples.

A wealthy dentist who spends the weekend wargaming with friends provokes a dangerous reaction from his wife, who slips a real gun among the fake ones. An old couple turns to child kidnapping to cover their gambling debts. A young librarian saves the mother of the kidnapped children and confesses her long-standing love for her, expressed through anonymous letters that sustained each other's lives. A college professor who captivates his students with lectures on what is truly important in life finds himself as usual lonely and forgotten on his birthday. A mosaic of souls searching for the meaning of life.

Naples, 1959. Pure Mathematics professor Renato Caccioppoli, Bakunin's grandson, is a tortured soul. Recently discharged from the psychiatric hospital, left by his wife, and increasingly disillusioned with academia and the Communist Party, he lives his last days with painful detachment.

Five Neapolitan directors depict life in the city under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius for this anthology film of comedy, drama, surrealism, and political commentary.

Argentina, 1978. On the occasion of the World Cup, two Italian journalists travel to the South American country to provide a report on the event: instead, they will learn about the tragedy of Plaza de Mayo.

Marino Pacileo has a soft spot for gambling. When he discovers that Lila's father, the young Chinese girl that he is in love with cannot pay a debt, the gambler steals money from the jail he is in to help the love of his life.

Two boys and a girl perform a violent act in the name of the ideals they believe in, but a tragic accident will challenge their convictions.

Donato is traveling in a green station wagon. Perhaps he is searching for the loot from a long-forgotten heist when he finds himself coming to the aid of Norah, a woman who has been dumped and then pursued by a small-time gangster. He decides to take her along on his mysterious journey, and she stays by his side until the very end—until she discovers the reasons behind his quest.

A woman decides to start her own business and open a salon in the Spanish Quarter, but a rivalry with her former owner will begin.

Celeste is sixteen years old, a body like many others and a secret of her own. Every now and then, driven by no one knows what need, she goes down the seafront and waits. When a car stops, she gets in. Davide Heller is a successful criminal lawyer. He lives alone in a large apartment, he is a young, handsome, taciturn man. He too has always had a secret. Their meeting is like a faulty bomb that never goes off. One morning Davide Heller leaves home in a jogging outfit, with a big backpack on his shoulders: inside, the corpse of a little girl. Celeste follows him and from then on, she’ll never let go of him… In a crescendo of tension, their two ordinary and sick existences mirror each other noiselessly. Until the end.