Joan Lui
Joan Lui (also known as Joan Lui - Ma un giorno nel paese arrivo io di lunedì) is a 1985 Italian musical-comedy film written, directed and starred by Adriano Celentano. It is the last of the four films written and directed by Celentano.
Joan Lui | |
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Italian theatrical release poster by Renato Casaro | |
Directed by | Adriano Celentano |
Produced by | Mario & Vittorio Cecchi Gori |
Written by | Adriano Celentano |
Starring | Adriano Celentano Claudia Mori Federica Moro |
Music by | Adriano Celentano Pinuccio Pirazzoli Ronny Jackson Gino Santercole |
Cinematography | Alfio Contini |
Edited by | Adriano Celentano |
Release date | 1985 |
Running time | 163 min 133 min (cut edition) 125 min (Home Video cut) |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
Plot
Title character Joan Lui is a singer who has come from another world to condemn the hypocrisy and atrocities of the Western culture. When he arrives in Italy, he seeks to create a musical group composed of young beginners to better spread his message. After having exposed the deception of a major musical producer, Joan Lui disappears into thin air. Meanwhile, the world is plunged into a terrible apocalypse.
Cast
- Adriano Celentano: Joan Lui
- Claudia Mori: Tina Foster
- Marthe Keller: Judy Johnson
- Federica Moro: Emanuela Carboni
- Edwin Marian: Cap. Arthur
- Gian Fabio Bosco: Winston
- Mirko Setaro: Musico
- Rita Rusic: Singer into the temple
- Haruhiko Yamanouchi: Jarak
- Piero Nuti: Franky
- Edoardo Romano: Prime Minister
- Sal Borgese: Frank
- Gino Cogliandro: Bartender
- Francesco Salvi: Journalist
- Romano Puppo: Assassin
Soundtrack
- L'uomo perfetto
- Sex without love
- Il tempio
- Mistero
- Lunedì
- Qualcosa nascerà
- Splendida e nuda
- L' ora è guinta
- La prima stella
Production
The film was also the center of a dispute between Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori and Celentano as the producers decided, a month after the first release, to replace the original cut with another version, with a different editing and lasting 30 minutes less.[1][2]
Reception
The film was a box office bomb, grossing 7.3 billion lire at the Italian box office in spite of a budget of about 20 billion lire.
The film also received generally bad reviews. Morando Morandini described it as "an enormous music video based on visual shock, jam-packed with music, with some monumental sets and elaborate editing. A true festival of kitsch also on an ideological level".[3] According to Paolo Mereghetti the film, "a personal reading of Christianity in musicals", was "a personal delusion of omnipotence", "a mock-apocalyptic madness that is just able to list the worst clichés of indifference".[4]
References
- Poppi, Roberto (2000). I film - 5: Dal 1980 al 1989. 1, A-L. Dizionario del cinema italiano (in Italian). Rome: Gremese. ISBN 88-7742-423-0.
- Giusti, Marco (1999). Dizionario dei film italiani stracult (in Italian). Milan: Sperling & Kupfer. ISBN 88-200-2919-7.
- Morandini, Laura; Morandini, Morando; Morandini, Luisa (1999). Il Morandini: dizionario dei film 2000 (in Italian). Bologna: Zanichelli. ISBN 88-08-02037-1.
- Mereghetti, Paolo (2010). Il Mereghetti: dizionario dei film 2011 (in Italian). Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai. ISBN 978-88-6073-626-0.