''Notti magiche'' (''Magical Nights'') is an Italian

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film directed by

Paolo Virzì Paolo Virzì (; born 4 March 1964) is an Italian film director, writer and producer. Early life and work Virzì was born in Livorno, Italy in 1964, as the son of a Sicilian police officer in the Carabinieri and a former singer. After spending ...

, an homage to the season of the Italian-style comedy.

Plot

On 3 July 1990, during the semi-final between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, a film producer is found dead in the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...

and three young aspiring

screenwriters A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

are the main suspects in the murder. During a night in the barracks, their sentimental and ironic journey is traced, describing the splendour and misery of a glorious period of the

Italian cinema The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ha ...

that is slowly fading away.

Cast

Mauro Lamantia Mauro may refer to: Given name * Mauro (footballer, born 1932), Brazilian footballer * Mauro Silva (footballer, born 1978), Brazilian footballer * Mauro (footballer, born 1984), Portuguese footballer * Bruno Mauro (born 1973), Angolan footballer ...

as Antonino Scordia *

Giovanni Toscano Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

as Luciano Ambrogi *

Irene Vetere Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

as Eugenia Malaspina *

Roberto Herlitzka Roberto Herlitzka (born 2 October 1937) is an Italian theatre and film actor of Czechoslovak descent. He has appeared in 38 films since 1973. He was born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. In 2004 he won the David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor ...

as Fulvio Zappellini *

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...

as Leandro Saponaro *

Ornella Muti Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.'' Early life Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and ...

as Federica *

Giulio Berruti Giulio Berruti (born 27 September 1984) is an Italian actor and dentist, known for his roles in ''Monte Carlo'' (2011), '' Walking on Sunshine'' (2014), and '' Gabriel's Inferno'' (2020). Guiñol nerítico murió en 2021 Life and career Berruti ...

as Max Andrei *

Giulio Scarpati Giulio Scarpati (born 20 February 1956) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Rome, pretty active on stage, after several small film roles Scarpati had his breakout role in 1991 as Marco, the main character in the Giuseppe Piccioni's dra ...

as Salvatore Malaspina *

Paolo Bonacelli Paolo Bonacelli (born 28 February 1937) is an Italian actor. He is best known for his performance as the Duke de Blangis in Pier Paolo Pasolini's final film, ''Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom'' (1975). He was in '' Midnight Express'' (1978) as t ...

as Ennio

Distribution

The film has been presented on 27 October 2018 at the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'O ...

and came out in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

theatres on 8 November 2018.

References

External links

* {{Paolo Virzì 2018 films 2018 comedy films Italian comedy films 2010s Italian-language films Films directed by Paolo Virzì Films set in 1990 Films set in Rome Films about screenwriters