Biography of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci Biography

Monica Bellucci was born on September 30th, 1968, in the village of Citta di Castello, in Umbria, Italy. Initially pursuing a career as a lawyer, Monica Bellucci decided to start modeling in order to help pay for her tuition while at the University of Perugia. But of course, the glamorous life of a model -- which includes travel and a sweet income -- tempted Monica away from her law studies. In 1988, Monica Bellucci moved to one of Europe's fashion centers -- Milan. There, she signed with Elite Model Management and found plenty of modeling work. By 1989, Monica Bellucci was making it big in Paris and across the Atlantic, in New York. But although she had achieved huge success in so little time as a model (posing for Dolce & Gabbana and French Elle), Monica thrived for more.

Monica's classic and elegant good looks are matched only by an equally sophisticated and refined fashion sense. Monica Bellucci made her film debut in 1990, with roles in Vita coi figli and Briganti (a.k.a Bandits: Love and Liberty). The following year, Monica Bellucci starred as Francesca in the film La Riffa, and made her American film debut with the role of Dracula's Bride in 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula, co-starring Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder. Roles began to pour in for the Italian beauty. After a role in Ostinato destino, she appeared in I Mitici (a.k.a. The Heroes) in 1994, and Palla di neve in 1995. Monica Bellucci also starred as the Pharaoh's wife in the made-for-TV movie, Joseph. But it was her role in the 1996 film, L'Appartement, that earned Monica Bellucci her acting accolades. In 1997, Monica Bellucci was cast in Come mi vuoi (a.k.a As You Want Me), Dobermann and Mauvais genre. After roles in more European films such as 1998's L'Ultimo capodanno, A los que aman, and Compromis, she starred in 1999's Comme un poisson hors de l'eau (a.k.a. Like a Fish Out of Water). But it was the critical success of the Italian film Malena (2000), in which Monica Bellucci starred in the title role, that really catapulted her to fame. In 2001, Monica Bellucci starred in Brotherhood of the Wolf (co-starring her husband Cassel) and as Cleopatra in Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatre. The following year she starred in Tears of the Sun, with Bruce Willis, and of course, as Persephone in the highly anticipated sequels to 1999's The Matrix. In 2004, Monica Monica Bellucci was seen as Magdalene in Mel Gibson's controversial blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ, and returned to French film with Agents secrets. Monica Bellucci can also add 2004's The Brothers Grimm (with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger), Spike Lee's She Hate Me, and 2005's Lord of War (with Nicolas Cage) to her filmography.

With over 20 movies to her credit she isn't a novice to film, unfortunately her fame comes from Italian cinema. Monica Bellucci has not benefited from the Hollywood marketing machine that movie studios are capable of. Although the model-turned-actress has reached incredible heights in both streams of her career, she still dreams of working with the legendary Monica Bellucci. Critics are quick to compare Monica Bellucci to previous Italian beauties, but she has her own brand of sensual style. With roles as a topless vampire in "Dracula", and her recent role as a sci-fi vixen in the Matrix sequels, Monica Bellucci has proven to be a bold blend of a seductive actress and a talented star.

Filmography of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci Filmography

• Combien tu gagnes? (2005) (announced)
• Brothers Grimm, The (2005) (post-production) Monica Bellucci plays Queen Mirror
• She Hate Me (2004) Monica Bellucci plays Simona Bonasera
• Agents secrets (2004) Monica Bellucci plays Barbara/Lisa
  ... aka Secret Agents (2004) (International: English title)
• Passion of the Christ, The (2004) Monica Bellucci plays Magdalen
• Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) Monica Bellucci plays Persephone
  ... aka Matrix Revolutions: The IMAX Experience, The (2003) (USA: IMAX version (promotional title))
• Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) (voice: french version) .... Marina
• Enter the Matrix (2003) (VG) Monica Bellucci plays Persephone
• Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) Monica Bellucci plays Persephone
  ... aka Matrix Reloaded: The IMAX Experience, The (2003) (USA: IMAX version (promotional title))
• Tears of the Sun (2003) Monica Bellucci plays Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks
• Ricordati di me (2003) Monica Bellucci plays Alessia
  ... aka Remember Me (2003) (International: English title)
  ... aka Remember Me, My Love (2004) (USA)
  ... aka Souviens-toi de moi (2003) (France)
• Irréversible (2002) Monica Bellucci plays Alex
  ... aka Irreversible (2002) (International: English title)
• Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002) Monica Bellucci plays Cléopâtre
  ... aka Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) (UK) (USA)
  ... aka Asterix & Obelix: Mission Kleopatra (2002) (Germany)
  ... aka Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra (2002) (USA: new title)
• Pacte des loups, Le (2001) Monica Bellucci plays Sylvia
  ... aka Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002) (USA)
• Malèna (2000) Monica Bellucci plays Malena Scordia
• Franck Spadone (2000) Monica Bellucci plays Laura
• Under Suspicion (2000) Monica Bellucci plays Chantal Hearst
  ... aka Suspicion (2000/II) (France)
• Méditerranées (1999) Monica Bellucci plays Marguerite
• Comme un poisson hors de l'eau (1999) Monica Bellucci plays Myrtille
  ... aka Like a Fish Out of Water (1999) (USA: video title)
• Compromis (1998) Monica Bellucci plays Monique, la jeune première
• A los que aman (1998) Monica Bellucci plays Valeria
  ... aka Heure des nuages, L' (1998) (France: TV title)
  ... aka Those Who Love (1998)
• Ultimo capodanno, L' (1998) Monica Bellucci plays Giulia
  ... aka Humanity's Last New Year's Eve (1998)
  ... aka Ultimo capodanno dell'umanità, L' (1998) (Italy)
• Plaisir (et ses petits tracas), Le (1998) Monica Bellucci plays La jeune fille éplorée
  ... aka Pleasure (And Its Little Inconveniences) (1998) (USA)
• Stressati (1997)
• Come mi vuoi (1997) Monica Bellucci plays Nellina
  ... aka As You Want Me (1997) (USA)
  ... aka Embrasse-moi Pasqualino! (1997) (France)
• Mauvais genre (1997) Monica Bellucci plays Camille
• Dobermann (1997) Monica Bellucci plays Nathalie/Nat the gipsy
• Sorellina e il principe del sogno (1996) (TV) (uncredited) .... Princess
  ... aka Im Brunnen der Träume (1996) (TV) (Italy)
  ... aka Prinzessin Alisea (1996) (TV)
• Appartement, L' (1996) Monica Bellucci plays Lisa
  ... aka Apartment, The (1996)
  ... aka Appartamento, L' (1996) (Italy)
  ... aka Flash-back (El apartamento) (1996) (Spain)
• Cielo è sempre più blu, Il (1995)
  ... aka Bits and Pieces (1995)
• Palla di neve (1995) Monica Bellucci plays Melina
  ... aka Snowball (1995) (USA: cable TV title)
• Joseph (1995) (TV) Monica Bellucci plays Pharaoh's Wife
  ... aka Bibel: Josef, Die (1995) (TV) (Germany)
  ... aka Bible: Joseph, The (1995) (TV)
  ... aka Joseph in Egypt (1995) (TV) (UK)
• Mitici, I (1994) Monica Bellucci plays Deborah
  ... aka Colpo gobbo a Milano (1994) (Italy: subtitle)
  ... aka Heroes, The (1994)
  ... aka Mitici - Colpo gobbo a Milano, I (1994) (Italy)
• Ostinato destino (1992) Monica Bellucci plays Marina and Angela
• Dracula (1992) Monica Bellucci plays Dracula's bride
  ... aka Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) (USA: complete title)
• Riffa, La (1991) Monica Bellucci plays Francesca
• Briganti (1990)
  ... aka Amore e libertà (1998) (Italy)
  ... aka Bandits: Love and Liberty (1990) (UK)
• Vita coi figli (1990) (TV)

Photo gallery of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci Photo Gallery and Wallpapers

News, Gossip and Trivia Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci News. Gossip and Trivia

Monica Bellucci in "Remember Me"

"Remember Me, My Love": Family drama. Starring Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Laura Morante, Monica Bellucci and Nicoletta Romanoff. Directed by Gabriele Muccino. (In Italian with English subtitles. Not rated. 125 minutes. At the Opera Plaza.)

"Remember Me, My Love'' is hard to forget. I caught the first half of the Ristuccia family's story -- every bit as captivating a saga as the Forsyte's or the Soprano's -- a year ago at the Toronto International Film Festival. With a spare hour before I had to leave for the airport, I wandered into a screening knowing nothing about the film and became so caught up in the lives and loves of one man's tumultuous Italian family that I almost missed my flight.

When I finally got to see "Remember Me, My Love" in its entirety, the Ristuccias felt like the kind of old friends you can resume a relationship with a year later as if it were only yesterday. I eagerly waited to find out whether the vaguely discontented parents and their teenage son and daughter, suffering from a similar malaise, ever find the happiness they seek outside the confines of home. But Italy's fast-rising director Gabriele Muccino, working from his own quixotic story, is too wise to proffer a simple answer to that question.

Muccino -- whose sensibility comes closest to Woody Allen in his "Annie Hall''/ "Manhattan'' period -- revisits the theme of "The Last Kiss,'' Muccino's memorable 2001 film about male buddies on the cusp of 30 who worry that passion is about to pass them by. Carlo, the father in "Remember,'' has even more reason to fear a loss of passion.

The movie opens with Carlo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) dead asleep a minute before an alarm clock goes off in their Rome apartment, reminding him and his wife, Guilia (Laura Morante) that they're alive. They need reminding. The juice has gone out of their marriage -- apparent from the back to back positions of their bodies in bed and the lack of so much as a buss on the cheek to begin the day. Carlo is seriously unhappy in his job as some kind of marketing or ad executive. An unfinished novel is a constant reminder of his unfulfilled ambitions.

Guilia gave up her acting career to raise two children, now in the surly stage where gratitude is the last thing on their minds. Daughter Valentina (Nicoletta Romanoff) wants to dance on a truly awful TV show where the chorus line is hired based on sex appeal rather than talent, while their son aspires only to get a certain girl to show interest in him.

The family goes into a kind of free fall after Carlo spots an old flame, Alessia (Monica Bellucci), at a party. Muccino is wonderfully adept at portraying the initial signs of lust. The two eye each other intensely and eagerly plan to get together soon for "lunch,'' which they both realize is code for something more primal.

"Remember Me, My Love" often is on the verge of spilling over into melodrama, but that doesn't bother me because life is the same way. The movie is packed with recognizably human interchanges when each family member becomes, as Sam Shepard so memorably put it, a "fool for love.'' My favorite moment comes as Guilia, seduced to return to acting by a hypnotic stage director, mistakes his fervor to cast her as fervor for her. She dashes over to his apartment to offer her body, only to have him break the news, ever so gently, that he's gay.

Monica Bellucci, the best known of the film's pitch-perfect cast because of her role in "The Passion of the Christ,'' exhibits another kind of passion here. She's a walking example of how sensuality needn't diminish with the years. But then so is Morante, who reminds me of Melina Mercouri at her "Never on Sunday'' best. Morante plays her part with an appealing earthiness, while Bellucci comes across as tougher, able to take or leave the attention of men.

Bentivoglio, an actor whose charms are mainly known to European audiences, should get more Hollywood attention after this movie. His Carlo has that hangdog expression typical of people, especially the male variety, who aren't happy but can't specifically say why. Bentivoglio plays him with a gambler's bravado -- his Carlo seems willing to roll the dice and risk losing everything. But is he, really?

It's impossible to watch "Remember Me, My Love'' without thinking about getting older. Carlo exhibits the classic signs of a midlife crisis, but Muccino delves far deeper than any case study. Above all, he makes us care about this family and want only the best for them, even when they seem clueless about what that might be.