Joan Lui (also known as Joan Lui - Ma un giorno nel paese arrivo io di lunedì) is a 1985 Italian musical comedy film by Adriano Celentano. It was the fourth and the last films Celentano wrote, starred in and directed.

Joan Lui
Italian theatrical release poster by Renato Casaro
Directed byAdriano Celentano
Written byAdriano Celentano
Produced byMario & Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Starring
CinematographyAlfio Contini
Edited byAdriano Celentano
Music byAdriano Celentano
Pinuccio Pirazzoli
Ronny Jackson
Gino Santercole
Distributed byVariety Distribution
Release date
  • 1985 (1985)
Running time
163 min
133 min (cut edition)
125 min (Home Video cut)
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

Plot

edit

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 band composed of young and inexperienced musicians 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

edit

Soundtrack

edit
  1. L'uomo perfetto
  2. Sex without Love
  3. Il tempio
  4. Mistero
  5. Lunedì
  6. Qualcosa nascerà
  7. Splendida e nuda
  8. L'ora è guinta
  9. La prima stella

Production

edit

The film was the center of a dispute between Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori and Celentano as the producers decided, a month after theatrical release, to replace the original cut with another version with a different editing and 30 minutes shorter.[1][2]

Reception

edit

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", "a personal delusion of omnipotence", and "a mock-apocalyptic madness that is just able to list the worst clichés of indifference".[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Giusti, Marco (1999). Dizionario dei film italiani stracult (in Italian). Milan: Sperling & Kupfer. ISBN 88-200-2919-7.
  3. ^ Morandini, Laura; Morandini, Morando; Morandini, Luisa (1999). Il Morandini: dizionario dei film 2000 (in Italian). Bologna: Zanichelli. ISBN 88-08-02037-1.
  4. ^ Mereghetti, Paolo (2010). Il Mereghetti: dizionario dei film 2011 (in Italian). Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai. ISBN 978-88-6073-626-0.
edit