The Sleazy Uncle (1989) Lo zio indegno (original title)

Director:

Franco Brusati

Writers:

Franco Brusati (story)
Piero De Bernardi (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 August 1989 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

To him fun is a four letter word...LIFE!

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Vittorio Gassman	...	Uncle Luca
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Riccardo
Andréa Ferréol	...	Teresa
Kim Rossi Stuart	...	Andrea
Beatrice Palme	...	La Chanteuse
Simona Cavallari	...	Marina
Stefania Sandrelli	...	Isabella
Massimiliano Palmese
David Maunsell	...	Piero
Paco Reconti	...	Young uncle Luca
Clelia Rondinella	...	Luca's mother young
Caterina Boratto	...	Passante che aiuta Luca
Bruno Corazzari	...	Il medico
Christine Joan Johnson	...	Sara
Niels Gullov	...	William
Richard Berkeley
Livia Bonifazi
Carla Cassola
Roberto Corbiletto
Pasquale Corrente
Barbara Folchitto
Rosa Genovese
Anne Maj Montonen		(as Anna May Montonen)
Claudia Pozzi
Daniele Rocchi
Elia Schilton
Robert Spafford
Herma Wagner
Paola Mannoni	...	Voice double: Andréa Ferréol (voice)

Directed by
Franco Brusati

Writing credits
Franco Brusati		(story)
Piero De Bernardi		(screenplay) &
Leonardo Benvenuti		(screenplay) &
Franco Brusati		(screenplay)

Produced by
Guido De Laurentiis	....	producer
Enzo Doria	....	producer
Luciano Martino	....	producer
Leo Pescarolo	....	producer

Original Music by
Stefano Marcucci

Cinematography by
Romano Albani

Film Editing by
Gianfranco Amicucci

Casting by
Pepi Romagnoli

Production Design by
Dante Ferretti

Set Decoration by
Francesca Lo Schiavo

Costume Design by
Paola Marchesin

Makeup Department
Maria Vittoria Cascioli	....	hair stylist
Gino Zamprioli	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Annabella Andreoli	....	production manager
Alessandro Doria	....	production supervisor
Claudio Gaeta	....	production manager
Massimo Santorsola	....	unit production manager
Fabrizio Toti	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Antonio Gesualdi	....	third assistant director
Rinaldo Ricci	....	first assistant director
Pepi Romagnoli	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Nazzareno Piana	....	assistant production designer
Bruno Tempera	....	property master

Sound Department
Romano Checcacci	....	sound mixer
Sandro Pallottini	....	dubbing technician
Roberto Petrozzi	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Gianni Caramanico	....	still photographer (as Giovanni Caramanico)
Bernard De Vries	....	second assistant camera
Paolo Di Stefano	....	electrician
Roberto Gengarelli	....	first assistant camera
Stefano Ricciotti	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Maria Luisa Montalto	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Roberto Amicucci	....	assistant editor
Christian Calitri	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Raffaello Angellini	....	musician: cello

Other crew
Anita Borgiotti	....	script supervisor (as Maria Anita Borgiotti)
Vincenza Capone	....	administrator
Ivana Fedele	....	assistant dubbing director
Dorina Mari	....	administrator
Matteo Spinola	....	publicist
Nicoletta Vegezzi	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Dania Film
• Ellepi Films
• PMV
• Reteitalia
• Surf Film

Distributors

• Quartet Films (1991) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Triboro (1993) (USA) (video)

Also Known As:

"Lo zio indegno" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

USA:105 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Dania Film

Twisted and hilarious. Nietzschean morality and uncanny charm.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I would say it's a bad title but he really is sleazy--and beautiful. This is a great example of the you-forgive-his-sins-because-he's-an-artist movie. Like The Horse's Mouth but darker, deeper and funnier. Vittorio Gassman as the poet who won't draw the line at molesting women, stealing, lying yet his charm, innocence and life force conquer all. There's still something painful in the sins, and he has to go through a trial to work some of that out, for the viewer. Yet there's always another yet. Giancarlo Giannini shows humanity as the bourgeois foil. The movie isn't quite consistent: Gassman's crude hitting on women in a movie theater in the beginning seems unnecessary when you later see his seductive charm at work. He tries to sell, literally, a black mistress, who won't be sold. This odd scene seems more written than lived. He lies to a sympathetic niece, shaming her for suspecting his actual crime. Hard to take--but that's part of the point. You laugh, give in, and wonder about morality versus life. This guy really seems beyond good and evil. The end is touching, both sad and happy.