The plot revolves around a group of ex-high school friends that reunite in their 30s for a long journey together, and has been compared to Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill and Kevin Reynolds' Fandango. The soundtrack, that contributes to the nostalgic atmosphere of the movie, features original songs by blues guitarist and songwriter Roberto Ciotti as well as Italian evergreens from the 1970s such as L'anno che verrà by Lucio Dalla and La leva calcistica del '68 by Francesco De Gregori.
Marco (Bentivoglio) is visited at home by a girl named Teresa (Marsillach) who claims to be the girlfriend of Rudy (Massimo Venturiello), an old college and friend of Marco's. She tells Marco that Rudy has been jailed in Morocco for possession of hashish, and has sent her over to his old friends to collect the 30 million lire that are needed to bribe a judge and buy his acquittal.
Marco reconnects with two more members of the old company, Maurizio Ponchia (Abatantuono) and Paolino (Cederna), and they eventually resolve to bring the money to Rudy in Morocco in person. Ponchia, who is a used car dealer, provides a Mercedes offroad car for the journey, with a hiding spot for the money. Along the way, they also pick up Cedro, a fourth friend who has chosen to abandon everything and live in isolation somewhere on the Alps (inspired by the reading of Kerouac's Desolation Angels). Marco, Ponchia, Paolino, Cedro, and Teresa thus begin their journey through France and Spain and across the Strait of Gibraltar to Marrakech.
Once in Marrakech, the four men are shown around by Teresa while they are supposedly waiting for Rudy to get out of jail. Amongst other things, they experience a turkish bath and get a tattoo. Meanwhile Teresa disappears, and much to their dismay, they realize that the money and the car are also gone. At the time due for Rudy's liberation from jail, another Italian comes out in his place, Salvatore (Ugo Conti). He knows nothing about Rudy or Teresa, but helps them find out the truth. Rudy was never jailed, the whole story was a fabrication, and he actually lives in an oasis in the desert.
The friends resolve to search for Rudy, Teresa, and their money. Having lost their car, they have to adapt to travelling on a local bus and then by bike. As they try to cross the desert towards Rudy's oasis, fatigue and dehydration eventually knocks them off, but they are timely saved by Rudy himself who brings them to his place. Rudy reveals that he needed the 30 million to install a drill and start an orange plantation. After a first reaction of anger, the friends enjoy themselves participating in the installation and first activation of the drill, which finally finds water. This marks however also the end of their journey, and the time for going back their normal life and reality.
On their way back home, the four friends mention reuniting the group somehow (more specifically, reuniting the futsal team); but along the way their enthusiasm fades away as they realize that these aspirations are not going to be realised. The group finally disbands as Cedro and Paolino choose to stop over at Cedro's place in the Alps, and Marco and Ponchia drive back home alone.
References in popular culture
In a scene, while they are on their way in Morocco, the company loses the pipe where the money is hidden. They then find out that the pipe has been taken by some Moroccans who use it as a pole for a soccer goal. As the Moroccans refuse to give the pipe back, it is eventually settled that it will be the trophy for those who win a soccer game. This scene is directly quoted by an analogous scene in the 1997 movie Tre uomini e una gamba ("Three men and a leg") by Italian comedians Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo.
Marrakesh or Marrakech is the fourth largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi region. It is west of the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
I'm Not Scared is a 2003 Italian crime mystery thriller film directed by Gabriele Salvatores. Francesa Marciano and Niccolò Ammaniti wrote the script, basing it on Ammaniti's successful 2001 Italian novel with the same name. The story is set during Italy's "Years of Lead", a time in the 1970s riddled with terrorism and kidnapping, and tells the story of a nine-year-old boy who discovers a terrible crime committed by the entire population of his southern Italian town. Although selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, it was not nominated.
Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.
Michele Placido is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Bellocchio, winning the Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Actor for his performance in the 1979 film Ernesto. He is known internationally for portraying police inspector Corrado Cattani on the crime drama television series La piovra (1984–2001). Placido's directorial debut, Pummarò, was screened Un Certain Regard at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Three of his films have competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He is a five-time Nastro d'Argento and four-time David di Donatello winner. In 2021, Placido was appointed President of the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara.
3000 Leagues in Search of Mother is a Japanese animated television series directed by Isao Takahata that aired in 1976. It is loosely based on a small part of the Italian novel Heart created by Edmondo De Amicis, i.e., a monthly tale From the Apennines to the Andes, widely expanded into a 52-episode epic.
Diego Abatantuono is an Italian cinema and theatre actor, and screenwriter, three-time winner of the Nastro d'Argento.
Gabriele Salvatores is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter.
The Caiman is a 2006 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Nanni Moretti and starring Silvio Orlando and Margherita Buy. Focusing on Silvio Berlusconi's vicissitudes, it was released just before the beginning of the 2006 elections, in which Berlusconi lost. It was one of the most successful films of 2006 in Italy. It was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Mediterraneo is a 1991 Italian war comedy-drama film directed by Gabriele Salvatores and written by Enzo Monteleone. The film is set during World War II and concerns a group of Italian soldiers who become stranded on an island of the Italian Dodecanese in the Aegean Sea, and are left behind by the war. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1992.
This article describes notable landmarks and architecture in the city of Marrakesh, Morocco.
Gomorrah is a 2008 Italian crime film drama directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Roberto Saviano, who also collaborated in the screenplay. It deals with the Casalesi clan, a crime syndicate within the Camorra — a traditional criminal organization based in Naples and Caserta, in the southern Italian region of Campania.
On Tour is a 1990 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Gabriele Salvatores. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. It is the second installment of Salvatores' "escape trilogy", after Marrakech Express; like its predecessor, it is a road movie, and features Diego Abatantuono playing the protagonist.
Puerto Escondido is a 1992 Italian comedy film directed by Gabriele Salvatores. For this film Diego Abatantuono and Renato Carpentieri were awarded with Silver Ribbons for best actor and best supporting actor.
Popular culture references to Marrakech, Morocco:
The history of Marrakesh, a city in southern Morocco, stretches back nearly a thousand years. The country of Morocco itself is named after it.
Camerieri (Waiters) is a 1995 Italian comedy-drama film written and directed by Leone Pompucci. The film won two Silver Ribbons, for best screenplay and best supporting actress.
Giuseppe Cederna is an Italian actor and author.
Rose Island is a 2020 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Sydney Sibilia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
