The Friends at the Margherita Café

The Friends at the Margherita Café

2009 · 90 min · ★ 5.6 · Drama, Comedy

Bologna, 1954. Taddeo, a young man of 18 whom everyone calls Kid, dreams of becoming one of the regulars of the mythical Margherita Café, located under the portico across from his family's home. Through a ploy, he manages to get work as the chauffeur for Al, the neighborhood's most glamorous and mysterious resident. Having been taken under Al's wing, Taddeo gets to witness the adventures of Bep, who is in love with Marcella the entraineuse; the trials and tribulations of Gian, an aspiring singer and the victim of a horrible practical joke; the crazy behavior of Manuelo, a small-time robber with a sex phobia; the meanness of Zanchi, inventor of the elastic necktie; and the bizarre manias of Sarti, a ballroom dancing champion who wears his tux day and night. And Taddeo's home life is no less out of the ordinary, considering his mother is being led on by the family physician while his grandfather has fallen head over heels for a well-built piano teacher.

Directed by Pupi Avati · Written by Pupi Avati

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 14m together

The Friends at the Margherita Café

Giovanna's Father

Both from Pupi Avati.

More from Pupi AvatiSee all →

Night Voices

Night Voices · 1995

A group of young people get in touch with an occultist sect which has been active since before W.W.II.

Christmas Present

Christmas Present · 1986

Christmas Present

On Christmas night, four estranged friends reunite to rip off a wealthy businessman in a game of poker, but old grudges get in the way.

The House with Laughing Windows

The House with Laughing Windows · 1976

The House with Laughing Windows

MovieMysteryThriller

Stefano, a young restorer, is commissioned to save a controversial mural located in the church of a small, isolated village.

Declarations of Love

Declarations of Love · 1994

Declarations of Love

A young, introverted boy falls in love with a more mature and captivating classmate. As the story unfolds through flashbacks, he reflects on the events leading to her tragic death, while dealing with jealousy, obsession, and the lasting emotional consequences of their complicated relationship.

Help Me Dream

Help Me Dream · 1981

MovieComedyRomance

In 1943, during the war, Francesca, widowed, moves with her three daughters to her country house, to get away from the bombing of Bologna. In the villa she finds her childhood friends and her old love Guido, who has not forgotten her. Francesca has a passion for everything that comes from America, like music and cinema. She even tells her daughters that her husband who died in the war would actually leave for the USA, where he would live.

The Mayor

The Mayor · 1997

MovieCrimeDrama

De Filippo 's tragedy of a politician presiding over criminal activities in Naples has been transferred to East Chicago.

Arcane Sorcerer

Arcane Sorcerer · 1996

Arcane Sorcerer

Shunned by his church, a seminary student takes refuge with an excommunicated priest who teaches him wizardry and black magic.

Where the Night Begins

Where the Night Begins · 1991

Where the Night Begins

This film tells the story about a young man, Irving, who returns to the house where he grew up - just after the death of his father, whose reputation got destroyed by the suicide of a young woman he had an affair with. Irving left his small-town home a long time ago, after breaking off relations with his father, who was capable of all kinds of wrongdoing. In particular, Irving's old man got a girl pregnant and didn't even begin to do the right thing by her. Now that the old coot is dead and he is the sole heir, Irving has come back to town determined to right past wrongs, and see to it that the girl's family benefits from his legacy. The young man soon gets obsessed by the house and the past of his dad...

Giovanna's Father

Giovanna's Father · 2008

Giovanna's Father

Michele Casali is a middle-class professor in Fascist Italy who teaches at the same high school attended by his only daughter, Giovanna. A shy and sensitive girl, her insecurities are only magnified by Michele's overprotectiveness—reaching a point of no return.

A Second Childhood

A Second Childhood · 2010

A Second Childhood

Lino and Chicca are an aging, childless middle-class couple whose life is disrupted after he's diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Revenge of the Dead

Revenge of the Dead · 1983

Revenge of the Dead

MovieHorrorMystery

A young journalist buys a used typewriter and notices some text still legible on the ribbon; he reconstructs the story of a scientist who discovered that some types of terrain have the power to revive the dead.

Incantato

Incantato · 2003

MovieDramaRomance

Rome, 1929. The Pope's tailor sends his only son, 35-year-old virgin Nello, to more liberal Bologna hoping he'll find a wife. His head brimming with ideas on romantic love induced by classical poetry, Nello falls for Angela, a beautiful blind woman who indulges him only to win back her fiancé.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom · 1976

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

MovieHorrorDrama

Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.

Bix

Biopic of troubled jazz musician/composer Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931), who played with the Paul Whiteman band, among others.

Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza

Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza · 1975

Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero Dracula in Brianza

MovieComedyHorror

A boorish, snobish toothpaste factory owner, Constantino Nicosia, gives his wife and everyone a hard time having let success and wealth go to his head. But after the superticous Nicosia has an encounter with an elderly gypsy aunt, and a business trip to Romania results in another encounter with a suave vampire, named Count Dragalescu, Nicosia returns with blood-sucking like qualities which makes him re-examine his life and existence.

Welcome Mr. President!

Welcome Mr. President! · 2013

Welcome Mr. President!

In a small mountain village lives a man with a challenging name, Giuseppe Garibaldi (one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland"), but everybody call him with the nickname Peppino. Love fishing, the company of friends, the library where he works as a precarious employee. He is an optimistic person even if his child accuse him of being a wannabe. One day, due to a mess of politicians, an amazing thing happens: Peppino is mistakenly elected President of the Italian Republic. Pulled out from his quiet life, is to play a role for which he knows he is obviously inappropriate, but his common sense and his instinctive gestures are incredibly effective, except for the etiquette, for which he is in trouble. The inflexible and fascinating Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Janis Clementi, is anxious to no avail in an attempt to regulate the unpredictable actions of the President...

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter