Toxic Love

Last updated
Toxic Love
Amore-tossico-locandina-film.jpg
Directed by Claudio Caligari
Written byClaudio Caligari
Guido Blumir
Cinematography Dario Di Palma
Music by Detto Mariano
Release date
  • 1983 (1983)
CountryItaly
Language Italian

Toxic Love (Italian : Amore tossico) is a 1983 Italian drama film directed by Claudio Caligari. The film depicts a realistic and graphic portrayal of the heroin addiction that afflicted many young drifters in the eighties. The cast was entirely made of amateur actors, of whom most were or had been drug addicts. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The film premiered at the 40th Venice International Film Festival, in which it won the De Sica Award. [4] It was also screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, in which Michela Mioni was awarded best actress. [4]

Plot

Cesare, Enzo and Ciopper are a group of heroin addicts whose main occupation is to find money for their daily fix. Cesare hopes that his girlfriend, Michela, would help them but she has already bought drugs on her own from Teresa, a prostitute in Ostia, and the two have an argument. Cesare, Ciopper and Enzo eventually manage to score from a local pusher, nicknamed Dartagnan. When Michela test Teresa's heroin, and finds out that she's been ripped off, she tries to convince Cesare to get her money back. Cesare reluctantly agreed on confronting Teresa, but her pimp steps in and protects her. The next day, Michela, Cesare, Ciopper and Enzo take the train to Rome, to go to a methadone clinic. Here they meet a group of friends, including Donna, a transvestite, her boyfriend Debora, and Massimo, a fellow heroin-addict who has just been released from prison. Massimo talks Cesare into the idea of sticking up a local shop, but the results are poor, and Cesare lets Massimo taking all the money so that he can score. Meanwhile, Enzo meets a local pusher, Mario, who is looking for a young heroin-addicted girl he is smitten with called Loredana. Taking advantage of Mario's temporal vulnerability, Enzo manages to get four heroin doses with the promise of selling them and give Mario the profits, but eventually he shoots them all himself. The next day the group pay a visit to Patrizia, a local artist who is willing to share her stash, and they all do drugs in her studio. During the course of the night Cesare and Michela break away from the group and return to Ostia. Unsatisfied with their life, they talk about their future and agree on kicking their addiction. To celebrate, they shoot dope for one last time, this time cocaine, but Michela unexpectedly overdoses. Cesare rushes her to the hospital, and consumed by guilt and anxiety, returns to the beach and shoots the rest of their drugs before frantically running back to the emergency room where a doctor is trying to save Michela. A police car spots him and intimates him to stop, but as he refuses, they shoot him. The film ends with a series of flashbacks of Enzo, Michela and Cesare's initiation to drugs as teenagers.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Peaceful Air of the West</i> Film

The Peaceful Air of the West is a 1990 Italian comedy film directed by Silvio Soldini.

<i>The Suspicious Death of a Minor</i> 1975 film

The Suspicious Death of a Minor, a.k.a. Too Young to Die, is a 1975 Italian giallo film directed by Sergio Martino.

<i>The Grey Zone</i> (1997 film) 1997 Italian film by Franco Bernini

The Grey Zone is a 1997 Italian drama film written and directed by Franco Bernini. It entered into the competition at the International Critics' Week of the 50th Cannes Film Festival. The film won the Grolla d'oro for best screenplay.

<i>Donna... cosa si fa per te</i> 1976 film

Donna... cosa si fa per te, is a 1976 Italian comedy film directed by Giuliano Biagetti.

<i>They Stole a Tram</i> 1954 film

They Stole a Tram, aka We Stole a Tram, is a 1954 Italian comedy film written by and starring Aldo Fabrizi, and directed by Fabrizi and his assistant director Sergio Leone after director Mario Bonnard) left the film midway completed. Sergio Leone also appeared in a brief scene as a contest presenter, Mario Bava was the film's cinematographer and future horror film director Lucio Fulci contributed to the screenplay. The film's music score was by Carlo Rustichelli.

<i>Il tifoso, larbitro e il calciatore</i> 1983 film

Il tifoso, l'arbitro e il calciatore is a 1983 Italian comedy film written and directed by Pier Francesco Pingitore.

<i>I barbieri di Sicilia</i> 1967 film

I barbieri di Sicilia is a 1967 Italian war-comedy film written and directed by Marcello Ciorciolini starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.

<i>The Lion of Thebes</i> 1964 film

The Lion of Thebes is a peplum film written and directed by Giorgio Ferroni.

<i>Il trafficone</i> 1974 film by Bruno Corbucci

Il trafficone is a 1974 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana written and directed by Bruno Corbucci and starring Carlo Giuffré.

<i>I Always Loved You</i> 1953 film by Mario Costa

I Always Loved You is a 1953 Italian melodrama film directed by Mario Costa. It is based on a stage play by Enrico Ragusa.

<i>Triumph of the Son of Hercules</i> 1961 Italian film

Triumph of the Son of Hercules is a 1961 Italian peplum film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Kirk Morris.

<i>I due assi del guantone</i> 1971 Italian film

I due assi del guantone is a 1971 comedy film directed by Mariano Laurenti and starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.

<i>What if Gargiulo Finds Out?</i> 1988 Italian film

What if Gargiulo Finds Out? is a 1988 Italian comedy film written and directed by Elvio Porta and starring Giuliana De Sio and Richard Anconina.

<i>Scusa se è poco</i> 1982 Italian film

Scusa se è poco is a 1982 Italian comedy film written and directed by Marco Vicario and starring Monica Vitti, Ugo Tognazzi and Diego Abatantuono.

<i>Play Motel</i> 1979 film

Play Motel is a 1979 Italian giallo film written and directed by Mario Gariazzo and starring Anna Maria Rizzoli and Ray Lovelock.

<i>La tua donna</i> 1954 film

La tua donna is a 1954 Italian melodrama film co-written and directed by Giovanni Paolucci and starring Patricia Neal, Massimo Girotti and Lea Padovani. It grossed 63 million lire at the Italian box office.

<i>Pirates of Malaya</i> 1941 film

Pirates of Malaya is a 1941 Italian historical adventure film directed by Enrico Guazzoni and starring Massimo Girotti, Clara Calamai and Camillo Pilotto.

<i>Pierino medico della Saub</i> 1981 film

Pierino medico della S.A.U.B. is a 1981 Italian comedy film directed by Giuliano Carnimeo and starring Alvaro Vitali.

La fidanzata di papà is a 2008 Italian comedy film directed by Enrico Oldoini.

References

  1. ↑ Giusti, Marco (1999). Dizionario dei film italiani stracult. Sperling & Kupfer,1999. ISBN   8820029197.
  2. ↑ Mereghetti, Paolo. Il Mereghetti - Dizionario dei film. B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010. ISBN   8860736269.
  3. ↑ s. r. (17 March 1984). "Si muore di droga a Ostia". La Stampa . No. 65.
  4. 1 2 Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 2000. ISBN   8877424230.
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.