The opening star salvos have now slacked off temporarily which allows more time to get around to the business of actually seeing some motion pictures. Howecver -- not to worry -- more Hollywood star power in the wings ready to give this festa a glorious sendoff in the final days. Robert de Niro will be here tomorrow to introduce a film from trobecam which enjoys a "special relation" with this fest, and it will be a "meet the public2 show rather than a press conference as such. The closing gala will be hosted by Harrison Ford to wind things up in high style. Exactly what the ford connection is not quite clear as yet, but it's certainly not a drawback to have one of Hollywood's foremost actors and leading men leading the final show. In between, yesterday, there was a special appearance -- a sort of panel discussion, involving three famous graduates of the New York Actors Studio; Lee Grant, Eli Wallach (90) and Martin Landau. This was within the framework of an Actors Studio sidebar covering some thirty films featuring such screen legends as Brando. Cllift, Newman, and many others, besides the above mentioned. The Actors Studio selection is mouth-watering and would make a respectable film festival all by itself. The offerings here at this Rome extravaganza are simply incredible -- L' embarrass des Richesses -- an overload of riches in a big way. ."If one wanted to get Biblical about it, one might say "The cup runneth over in every direction". The films on view are so varied and so well selected that half a book could be written on that topic alone. Time limitations prohibit detailed comment at this point in the game, but the following is a partial list of films seen so far with brief remarks.

"The Departed", Scorcese -- a case of bigtime talent abuse that will probably make a lot of money for Warner Brothers. Mira Nair's "The Namesake" -- A beautiful Bengali family saga set in Calcutta and New York. Her best film ever and redeems the muck she made of "vanity Fair".
"Les Ambitieux" -- a french love drama set in the Parisian publishing world.
My favorite film so far -- totally satisfying in every way. "The Hoax" Le General Council of Stone Alatriste La Sconosciuta This Is England The Prestige...
Alex Deleon