Franco Solinas

Writing

Franco Solinas

Born — Died

1927-01-19 — 1982-09-14

Place of birth

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

Known for

Writing

Credits

22 titles

Franco Solinas was an Italian writer and screenwriter. He is best known for the screenplay of The Battle of Algiers, which was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Known for

The Battle of Algiers poster
7.9

Former petty criminal Ali la Pointe becomes a commander of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directing a guerilla insurgency against the colonial French occupation. Paratrooper commander Colonel Phillippe Mathieu, a veteran of World War II and the First Indochina War, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings.

The Battle of Algiers

1966

Burn! poster
6.8

The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada in order to help improve the British sugar trade. Years later he is sent again to deal with the same rebels that he built up because they have seized too much power that now threatens British sugar interests.

Burn!

1969

A Bullet for the General poster
6.6

El Chuncho's bandits rob arms from a train, intending to sell the weapons to Elias' revolutionaries. They are helped by one of the passengers, Bill Tate, and allow him to join them, unware of his true intentions.

A Bullet for the General

1967

Tepepa poster
6.5

The Mexican guerilla leader Tepepa and his gang fight against the chief of police, Cascorro.

Tepepa

1969

Mr. Klein poster
7.2

Paris, France, 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Robert Klein, a successful art dealer who benefits from the misfortunes of those who are ruthlessly persecuted, discovers by chance that there is another Robert Klein, apparently a Jewish man; someone with whom he could be mistakenly identified, something dangerous in such harsh times.

Mr. Klein

1976

The Wide Blue Road poster
6.2

Squarciò, a fisherman, lives with his family on a small island off the Dalmatian coast of Italy. Like his fellow villagers, Squarciò struggles against harsh living conditions, a scarcity of fish in nearby waters and exploitation by the local wholesaler. But while the other fishermen continue to use nets, he goes out to the open sea to fish illegally with bombs. But Squarciò borrows money, loses his boat, and in a moment of supreme desperation, has to bomb directly off-shore, causing the hatred and rejection of his fellow fishermen. Trying to save his family, Squarciò and his young sons sail their new boat out beyond the local waters and bomb-fish again. But this time, the sea exacts a terrible toll…

The Wide Blue Road

1957

Behind the camera

The Battle of Algiers poster
7.9

Former petty criminal Ali la Pointe becomes a commander of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directing a guerilla insurgency against the colonial French occupation. Paratrooper commander Colonel Phillippe Mathieu, a veteran of World War II and the First Indochina War, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings.

The Battle of Algiers

1966

Burn! poster
6.8

The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada in order to help improve the British sugar trade. Years later he is sent again to deal with the same rebels that he built up because they have seized too much power that now threatens British sugar interests.

Burn!

1969

A Bullet for the General poster
6.6

El Chuncho's bandits rob arms from a train, intending to sell the weapons to Elias' revolutionaries. They are helped by one of the passengers, Bill Tate, and allow him to join them, unware of his true intentions.

A Bullet for the General

1967

Tepepa poster
6.5

The Mexican guerilla leader Tepepa and his gang fight against the chief of police, Cascorro.

Tepepa

1969

Mr. Klein poster
7.2

Paris, France, 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Robert Klein, a successful art dealer who benefits from the misfortunes of those who are ruthlessly persecuted, discovers by chance that there is another Robert Klein, apparently a Jewish man; someone with whom he could be mistakenly identified, something dangerous in such harsh times.

Mr. Klein

1976

The Wide Blue Road poster
6.2

Squarciò, a fisherman, lives with his family on a small island off the Dalmatian coast of Italy. Like his fellow villagers, Squarciò struggles against harsh living conditions, a scarcity of fish in nearby waters and exploitation by the local wholesaler. But while the other fishermen continue to use nets, he goes out to the open sea to fish illegally with bombs. But Squarciò borrows money, loses his boat, and in a moment of supreme desperation, has to bomb directly off-shore, causing the hatred and rejection of his fellow fishermen. Trying to save his family, Squarciò and his young sons sail their new boat out beyond the local waters and bomb-fish again. But this time, the sea exacts a terrible toll…

The Wide Blue Road

1957

Salvatore Giuliano poster
7.5

Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano's bullet-riddled corpse is found facedown in a courtyard in Castelvetrano, a handgun and rifle by his side. Local and international press descend upon the scene, hoping to crack open the true story behind the death of this young man, who, at the age of twenty-seven, had already become Italy’s most wanted criminal and celebrated hero.

Salvatore Giuliano

1962

Kapo poster
6.9

Determined to survive at any price, Edith, a young Jewish woman deported to an extermination camp, manages to survive by accepting the role of kapo, a privileged prisoner whose mission is to ruthlessly guard other prisoners.

Kapo

1960

The Assassination of Trotsky poster
5.3

A Stalinist assassin tracks exiled revolutionary Leon Trotsky to Mexico in 1940.

The Assassination of Trotsky

1972

State of Siege poster
7.2

Assigned to South America, US official Philip Michael Santore is employed by a counterinsurgency agency. His position makes him a target for a local band of guerrillas, and, before long, Santore is kidnapped. As a prisoner, he undergoes interrogation, shedding light on the violent situation in the country. Once the insurgents are done with their questioning, they must decide whether Santore lives or dies.

State of Siege

1972

Engaged to Death poster
7.0

A tale of love, rivalry and passion set in the 50s, in the madcap world of motorcycle speed races, shot on the occasion of the main competitions of that time, such as Monza’s Moto GP and the last edition of the legendary Milano-Taranto race. With also very rare footage of the Moto Guzzi wind tunnel and factories. The film features, alongside popular actors Rik Battaglia and Sylva Koscina, many of the most important champions of those years: Geoffrey Duke, Libero Liberati, Bill Lomas, Enrico Lorenzetti, Reg Armstrong, Stanley Woods, Ken Cavanagh, Dickie Dale, Thomas Campbell, Pierre Monneret, Albino Milani, Walter Zeller, Bruno Francisci, all of them riding amazing Moto Guzzi, Gilera, Mondial and Norton bikes with the so charming and dangerous dustbin fairings that were going to be banned in 1958.

Engaged to Death

1957

Beautiful But Dangerous poster
5.9

Lina, a music hall singer, has fallen in love with Sergei, a Russian prince. Maestro Doria, who gives her voice lessons and who hopes to make her his mistress, takes her to Paris where she becomes the star of the "Folies-Plastiques".

Beautiful But Dangerous

1955

Madame poster
5.8

Catherine Hubscher, who washes the shirts of young Napoleon and other soldiers fighting the Revolution, falls in love with Sergeant Lefebvre. Circumstances bring Lefebvre a noble title and even more -- Napoleon decides to make him the local ruler over a large territorial fiefdom. But trouble brews when Madame Sans-Gene, now elevated to the nobility along with her man -- cannot keep her frank observations under control.

Madame

1961

The Camp Followers poster
6.7

In WWII, Lieut. Martino and his men are assigned to lead a group of prostitutes through the mountainous ways to serve in brothels for Italian soldiers in Albania.

The Camp Followers

1965

Violent Life poster
7.2

Tommaso Puzzilli is a boy who grew up in the suburb of Pietralata outside Rome. Not having a job, Tommaso and his friends are committing crimes to make money.

Violent Life

1962

Vanina Vanini poster
6.0

Vanina Vanini, a bored, spoiled Roman countess, falls in love with a dedicated young patriot who is in Rome to assassinate a traitor to the brotherhood of the Carboneria.

Vanina Vanini

1961

Behind Closed Shutters poster
6.8

Middle class Sandra, engaged to be married and living in Turin, searches for her missing sister that is estranged from her family. For this, she enters the morally degraded back allies of the port city of Genoa and is exposed to the world of sex trafficking.

Behind Closed Shutters

1951

The Wind Rose poster
6.0

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.

The Wind Rose

1957

Di qua, di là del Piave poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Di qua, di là del Piave

1954

Hanna K. poster
6.2

Israeli attorney Hanna Kaufman's beliefs are challenged when she's appointed to the defense of Selim Bakri. Kaufman, born in the United States to survivors of the Holocaust, has always accepted Israel's right to exist. However, she bears witness to some of its sovereign costs when she meets Bakri, a dispossessed Palestinian man facing serious criminal charges who wants the same thing as his supposed enemies: to reclaim his family home.

Hanna K.

1983

The Suspect poster
6.6

Fascism has forced the leadership of the Italian Communist Party to settle in Paris. In Italy arrests of militants are decimating the organization, so Emilio is sent on a mission in the area of Turin, to put out of harm whistleblowers.

The Suspect

1975

Giovanna poster
7.0

This short is set in the early 1950s in a small textile factory in central Italy (Prato). Giovanna and her fellow female workers decide to enact a protest against the direction of the factory's dismissal plan, by occupying the factory and continuing to work until the proprietor cancels the dismissals. None of these women can really afford to lose their jobs, as it is the only income in the family. All workers receive moral and material support from their families, apart from Giovanna, who bravely endures her husband's disapproval. Almost all the women hold out for thirty-five days in spite of the proprietor's attempts to break their resistance. At first he blocks the road to the factory, then he cuts off electric power to increase their isolation; finally, he tries to convince them to accept the dismissal of at least a smaller number of them. But the women overcome these obstacles, determined to resist...

Giovanna

1955