The Vesuvians

1997 · Movie · 140 min. · Italy

Comedy Drama

Offering a host of different visions--a quintet of fairytale visions of Naples by five of the city's most accomplished filmmakers: firstly, "La Stirpe di Iana/Iana's Descendants" concerns a tale of kidnapping and a group of modern-day warrior women on motorcycles, all named after Italian soap-powder brands; "Maruzella" centers on a maudlin, aging transvestite who lives above a porn theater and provides arcane services to 'her' patrons until an encounter with a romantically jaded woman changes her life; "Sofialoren" is a surrealistic tale about a poor fisherman and his beloved squid that turns into a beautiful woman at night; "Il Diavolo nella Bottiglia/The Devil in the Bottle" is a moral tale of covetousness and comeuppance; and finally, "La Salita/The Climb" follows the mayor of Naples as he schleps up Mt. Vesuvias, on the way meeting emblematic figures, and pondering the somewhat muddled mission of 'the left' in the current political climate.

Direction Antonio Capuano · Pappi Corsicato · Antonietta de Lillo · Stefano Incerti · Mario Martone

Cast Anna Bonaiuto · Iaia Forte · Enzo Moscato · Nunzia Di Somma · Tonino Taiuti · Flavio Brunetti · Clelia Rondinella · Antonio Pennarella · Teresa Saponangelo · Renato Carpentieri · Toni Servillo · Cristina Donadio