SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

paul2001sw-1 In Guiseppe Tornatore's 'The Starmaker', Dr. Morelli travels around post-war Sicily offering to turn people into movie stars. He is, of course, a con-man, but in giving the people a space to vent their dreams, he actually performs a kind of public service. It's a nice idea, and there are some charming details in the film, but as a whole, this movie is somewhat contrived and it runs of the risk of representing the Sicilian peasantry as little more than idiots. Some of the same themes (the death of traditional but impoverished societies, the desire of their inhabitants to escape to a new life, the semi-racist superiority of money-making outsiders) are dealt with more obliquely, but also more cleverly and in a broader context, by Guilo Amelio's breathtaking 'Lamerica', another Italian film made at about the same time, which I would heartily recommend.

CaptionsGirl An Italian con man goes around all of Sicily, tricking people out of their money for a chance at stardom. I know from experience, this is something that happens every day. The main character is unsympathetic, and has very little depth until the end. The characters who confess their sins, their hopes, their dreams, their fears, in front of the camera are interesting, often emotional. However, the plot is missing, or at least weak. Also, the view of women portrayed in this movie is sexist, and I'm sorry to say, one that is common in Italy and Italian cinema that I've seen. Women are either virgins or whores. The "daughter of the Virgin Mary" shows herself to men for money, and says it's for love when she offers to give sexual favors to the main character. Another woman who gives payment with sex instead of money is treated degradingly. None of the sex in this movie is about love, it's all about giving sex to the main character to get something in return.I see some links to Cinema Paradiso, but overall, I can't believe this is by the same filmmaker.

xrellerx Emotions of enthusiasm break down in sensitive portraits of poor Sicilians who reveal their inner self in two minutes they have in front of a camera. Realism all the way and yet i had to think of the enthusiasm Kusturica had in Black Cat White Cat although none of the characters are that absurd. If you see European movies like this after all the American commercial rubbish you get a glimpse of what film can give us! Good acting and writing, beautiful locations, a lot of strong character studies and very, very impressive camera work. Absolutely not a waste of your time!

camel-9 After the sicilian-themed "Cinema Paradiso" and "Stanno Tutti Bene", Giuseppe Tornatore returns with another motion picture heaviliy imbued into sicilian themes and modern history. The vehicle he uses expose the audience of what Sicily is, is by showing the daily travails of an intinerant quack who claims to be a movie talent scout that collects fees from the gullible audience for the expenses of the film trials and proofs. This ploy reminds Fellini's "Il Bidone", in which a populace of northern Italy of the 1950's is shown through the experiences of a group of four swindlers. In front of the camera, the individuals recite stories that are spontaneous to them. It may be a family story. It may be something they memorized. And sometimes it is something that in normal circumstances they would never reveal, but here, in front of a camera and a chance to be seen by the Rossellinis and the De Sicas of Rome, in just two minutes of trial length, they literally confess their lifetime secrets and beings to the screening record. All sorts of characters are displayed: Male and Female, Young and Old, Straight and Gay, Talkers and Mutes, Carabiniere and Brigand, Humble and Cocky. The Man from Rome, after listening to days and days from his "clients", he concludes that the sicilian populace is an ignorant one, something that is echoed by the doctor to whom he gives a lift with his truck to a rural site where a farmer was dying. The scene of the doctor arriving in a hopeless medical situation is reminiscent of "Cristo Si e' Fermato a Eboli". Interestingly enough, in that film, the main character *is* a doctor, who is advised by the Priest "not to waste time with these ignorant people". Interesting parallels between these two films. Moving from town to town with his beat-up truck, transporting his wares, setting up a makeshift tent in public squares, announcing his arrival through loudspeakers, and collecting money from the audience, we see Sicily. And just like Zampano' in "La Strada" by Fellini, he teams up with a woman that ends up in a mental institution. We see all the sicilian characters: the Carabiniere may be like one in "Giorno della Civetta"; the Brigand may be like one in "Salvatore Giuliano", the Dongiovanni may be like one in "I Basilischi", and the indoor cafe crowds may be like the ones seen in "L'Avventura". Sicily is a state of mind. So many motion pictures have tried to portray it.While the stories in "Salvatore Giuliano", "I Basilischi", and "L'Avventura" were current to when these motion pictures were made (early sixties), more recently made motion pictures about Sicily retroactively show a "how it once was" attitute by showing a nostalgic remembrance of the populace and their lifestyles. "Kaos" (1984) by the Taviani brothers shows an antiquated Sicily, contrasted with their more current "Uomo da Bruciare" (1962). "Cinema Paradiso" is also a retrospective of since-gone lifestyles and relationships. And this nostalgic attitude on the past, as if the old days were better, is a trademark of Giuseppe Tornatore, exemplified in "Stanno Tutti Bene" in which a father is deceived by his children on their professional career status. Even in "Cinema Paradiso" we get the impression that movie-going was better in the old days. The modern age and machine age brought us a detachment from each other. In rural societies, people are used to talk to each other. So are craftmen working in small apprentice shops. But in this modern age, telephone operators working in cubicles are not allowed to socialize ("Stanno Tutti Bene"). And out of loneliness, one can even die ("Stanno Tutti Bene"). So the old days of the rural south were better because people socialized. And our itinerant equivalent of Zampano' is here to show us, the audience, who his audience is, this populace of 1950s Sicily is. This motion picture shows great outdoor scenery of stone towns in Sicily. Great street scapes. Great town squares. Great ambience of small crowds in piazzas, and indoor inside bars and cafes. There are also some beautiful detailed scenes shot in architecturaly-interesting spaces, indoors and outdoors. The camera is moved around to show the dynamism of people moving about in a hill town. Historically accurate, there are outdoor scenes showing political party flags and posters of the Democrazia Cristiana of the 1950's and the Comunist Party congregations in the countryside attempting to regain farmland (seen intensively in "Uomo da Bruciare"). But that is all I would reccomend seeing the movie for. Otherwise, I found the story weak, and the portrail of the characters silly, simplistic, and stupid. While in "I Basilischi" the characters are funny but intelligent, here we encounter people that we must assume are idiotic. The brigand, for example, is no Salvatore Giuliano. Even the kid that is asked to simulate orgasm is portrayed in a silly manner. With a large budget on filming a story about Sicily, I think here there was a wasted opportunity to make a potentially good movie, but lost its chance in silly portrail of its characters.