The Star Maker

Description

This critically acclaimed motion picture from the creator of the Academy Award(R)-Winning favorite CINEMA PARADISO, was heralded as a masterpiece by critics from coast to coast. Joe Morelli is the "star maker" -- a con man who travels from one small town to the next, claiming to be a talent scout for a top movie studio. And wherever Joe goes, people turn out in droves for a chance at being seen and becoming the world's next big-screen sensation! A lively and entertaining story about the magic of movies and the extraordinary dreams of everyday people, THE STAR MAKER earned a 1995 Academy Award nomination as Best Foreign Language Film!

Customer Reviews:

Post WWII Italy with the good and the bad; , humor, satire and a few tears .......2007-07-17

Another one of Tornatore's journeys, beutifully filmed and narranted. This time, it's a con man travelling through Sicilly (Tornatorre's birthplace) following the war. As usual, that's the canvas over which Tornatorre paints a critical picture of Italy of the period - full of hope (all towns and village people who want to try out for the movies), satire (the bandits, who also want to pose for the camera) and tragedy (a love story).

Tornatorre remains true to his exceptional skill to weave the beautiful, the profane and the ugly - all with a blend of sarcasm, nostalgia and human understanding.

This is another wonderful of Tornatore's movies - fans of the director will appreciate it subtle beauty, as will the general viewer who is looking for a richly painted canvas of Italian life in the poor south following the war. For the Tornatore fans, I also recommend "Everybody's fine" if you can find it ("Cinema Paradiso", "Malena" and "The Legend of 1900" being the more well known of the director's movies).

Super!.......2007-06-25

One of my favorite films. It sweeps you into the drama of a fake moviemaker and a village girl in Italy. The end is surprinsingly correct.
A lesson to be learned.
Marcelo Lanat Júnior.

Star Maker.......2007-05-07

If you liked Cinema Paradiso, this is another one I would say you see.

I would recommend it.

Another one of Tornatore's dark fables.......2006-12-16

Ever since Miramax edited the dark last act out of Cinema Paradiso to make a more sentimental film, Giuseppe Tornatore has been written off by many as something of a lightweight. On the face of it, The Star Maker would seem to have the perfect setup for a whimsical comedy of love and redemption as it follows a conman winding his way through post-war Sicily charging the locals 1,500 lira for screen tests he never even bothers to develop. The locals unburden their souls and confess their desperation to him as his camera becomes a confessional, building up a vivid portrait of a desperate place in a desperate time, but it makes little impression on him. In fact, despite the beautiful photography and the `cute' setup as one simple local girl follows him in the hopes of stardom and escape, it's resolutely unsentimental - redemption is denied and he never really learns anything from the experience. Even in the final scenes, he never really gets it.

Unfortunately, this very misleadingly packaged DVD appears to be cut by some seven minutes from the Italian version (with one of the most gaping jumps in continuity I've seen in a film since Tom Horn), but there's more than enough surviving to mark this out as a winner, more bitter than sweet.

No extras (aside from some promos for other Miramax releases) but the good subtitled 2.35:1 widescreen transfer shows off the ambitious and accomplished camerawork well.

did we even see the whole movie?.......2004-03-23

I LOVE tornatore, I liked this film. i think anyone who loves seeing italy and italian culture should add a star too. that being said, i wonder, how much of this film did we see? the box does, as a reviewer pointed out, feature a ruby-lipped woman that just does not sell this movie for what it is. but what gets me, is there are three pictures on the back, and two of them arent in the film!
i know that every copy other than the italian original and the korean version of "Malena" (highly reccommended for tornatore fans) were shortened by 11 minutes by miramax.. perhaps there was too much sex in the film for american censure; perhaps now there's not emough character development in the movie to completely fall in love with it. the other reviewers hit the nail on the head about the sobering effect of witnessing people expose their lives for the chance at fame, but either way, before the cutting room floor or after, there's something missing from the main character of this film. if any of you know where it is please tell me.

The Lucy Show: Lucy, The Star Maker/Lucy Meets Robert Goulet

Average customer rating:

The Lucy Show: Lucy, The Star Maker/Lucy Meets Robert Goulet
Starring: Lucille Ball
Manufacturer: Madacy
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

Television | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005UQ8Y
Release Date: 2001-12-10

DVD:

DVD

DVD