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 by Adriano Celentano. It was the fourth and the last films Celentano wrote, starred in and directed.

Plot
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

 * 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: Temple singer
 * Haruhiko Yamanouchi: Jarak
 * Piero Nuti: Franky
 * Edoardo Romano: Prime Minister
 * Sal Borgese: Frank
 * Gino Cogliandro: Bartender
 * Francesco Salvi: Journalist
 * Romano Puppo: Assassin

Soundtrack

 * 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
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.

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". 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".