The Star Maker () is a 1995 Italian film. It was produced by Rita Cecchi Gori, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore and starring Sergio Castellitto. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Plot In 1953, petty fraudster Joe Morelli travels rural Sicily, claming to work for big Roman film studios and scamming aspiring actors by taking their screen tests for a fee. He meets several people who express their deepest feelings and secrets in front of the camera. At one of his stops he meets a young girl, Beata, a convent girl who becomes attached to him despite his protestations.
Joe and Beata's relationship gradually evolves into a romantic one, when he's exposed as a fraud, beaten, and arrested. After serving his prison term, Joe comes back to seek Beata, but finds her in a mentally disturbed state assuming Joe died. Pretending to be Joe's friend, he conveys to her a message that she was the love of his life, and promises he shall come back with money and take care of her.
Cast Sergio Castellitto as Joe Morelli (Giuseppe Romolo) Tiziana Lodato as Beata Leopoldo Trieste as The Mute Leo Gullotta as Vito Franco Scaldati as Brigadiere Mastropaolo Salvatore Billa as The Prince Jane Alexander as The Princess Clelia Rondinella as Anna's Mother Tony Sperandeo as Primo Badalamenti Tano Cimarosa as Bordanaro
Production Tornatore initially imagined the main character as an American stranded in Italy, and considered casting Joe Pesci. However, the negative reception of his film A Pure Formality prompted him to shoot his next project as soon as possible. At the time, Pesci was unavailable for a long period as he was filming Casino; Tornatore subsequently rewrote the protagonist as an Italian, and the role went to Sergio Castellitto. Lead actress Tiziana Lodato said she was still a minor when filming began, but had turned 18 by the time she filmed the explicit sex scene with Castellitto.
Release Following its success at the Venice Film Festival, the film was released on 22 September 1995 in Italy, grossing $371,000 in its opening weekend from 49 screens in Italy's key cities. Reception The Star Maker has an approval rating of 75% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 reviews, and an average rating of 6.5/10.
See also List of submissions to the 68th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film List of Italian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
The Star Maker at Variety Distribution