''Red Wood Pigeon'' ( it, Palombella rossa) is a

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

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 ...

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

written and directed by

Nanni Moretti Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His films have won accolades including a Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for ''The Son's Room'', a Silver Bear at the ...

. The film won the

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

for best original story.

Plot summary

Michele Apicella, an MP for the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

, is involved in a car accident and consequently loses his memory. Michele is also a player for the Monteverde

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

team; he joins the team on a trip to play an important match in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

which will decide who wins the league, despite being uncertain of his own identity. The match lasts all day and well into the night, and throughout, Michele engages in conversations with other players, a trade unionist, the referee, a Catholic, a journalist and his daughter, in an attempt to reconstruct his sense of self. It becomes apparent that earlier in the week, he had given a momentous speech, the content of which he cannot remember. As the match drags on, the spectators and players become increasingly engrossed by the film '' Doctor Zhivago'', which is playing on a TV screen in the bar. Michele misses a penalty and the match ends; he is left feeling disappointed not just with the match, but with life. Driving back to Rome with his daughter, he loses control of his car and the film ends with a dream-like sequence as a crowd gathers on a hill, looking up to the sun.

Cast

as Michele Apicella *

Silvio Orlando Silvio Orlando (born 30 June 1957) is an Italian actor. Orlando was born and raised in Naples, where he started acting in theatre in 1976. He made his film debut in 1988 with a supporting role in the comedy '' Kamikazen: Last Night in Milan'' ...

as Mario *

Mariella Valentini Mariella Valentini (born 23 June 1959) is an Italian actress. Life and career Born in Milan, Valentini studied acting at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici and in a mime school.Giorgio Dell'Arti, Massimo Parrini. ''Catalogo dei viventi''. Marsil ...

as the journalist *

Marco Messeri Marco Messeri (born 15 December 1948) is an Italian actor, comedian, stage director, singer-songwriter and voice actor. Life and career Born in Livorno, Messeri studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and acting at the drama s ...

as Michele's father * Luisanna Pandolfi as Michele's mother *

Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with ...

as Valentina *

Fabio Traversa Fabio Traversa (born 17 November 1952) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Naples, a real life friend of Nanni Moretti, Traversa appeared in Moretti's debut medium length film ''Pâté de bourgeois'' (1973) and made his feature film ...

as Michele's friend * Raoul Ruiz as the guru

References

External links

* 1989 films Italian comedy-drama films Films directed by Nanni Moretti 1989 comedy-drama films Water polo films Films scored by Nicola Piovani 1980s Italian-language films 1980s Italian films {{1980s-comedy-drama-film-stub