The Invisible Collection
La Collezione Invisibile
 

Saturday, May 3, 2003

Camelot Theatres

Complimentary to all Desert Film Society Members
(Members use DFS Screening Coupon)

$15.00 per person for Non-Members

9:00 a.m. - Theatre Doors Open

9:30 a.m. - Screening of Film, following introduction by Dr. David Kaminsky

Q & A Session Following the Film

About the film:
A clever combination of social comedy and "whodunit."  Isernia's first film, The Invisible Collection is a mystery thriller in the grand tradition of the classic Hollywood genre film.  Ottavio (Felice Andreasi), a seventy-year-old ex-usurer, is cantankerous and blind.  He is the landlord of a large old building in Rome's historical Testaccio neighborhood where he hoards a collection of ancient junk.  He also keeps a group of very rare Dutch drawings by fifteenth-century painter and engraver, Maarten Van Hemskeerk, in his safe.  When his tenants discover the value of his possessions, everyone becomes embroiled in a complex network of plots to steal the old man's treasure.  Young architect Alexxandro (Alexxandro Zama) plans to replace the drawings with copies he has made.  Velia (Marisa Mantovani), a retired actress and Ottavio's former lover, schemes with two other wily widows to get rid of the nasty old man and grab his valuables.  At the same time, Ottavio has hatched a plot to rid himself of the three old women!  Ottavio's one living relative, Clara (Ana Valeria Dini) arrives and ruins everybody's plans, until she also joins the tenants' ranks.  When the plots turn deadly, the mystery begins.  Director-writer Isernia effectively develops a claustrophobic atmosphere in the dank, old Roman quarter, and the venerable Andreasi creates an unforgettably odious Ottavio. (Italian with English sub-titles).