Italian Cinema
The history of Italian cinema began with a few seconds footage of Pope Leo XIII blessing the camera. Historical dramas were most popular in these early years before sound. During and after WWI, funds were short and nothing much of interest was made until the 1920s. With the rise of fascism the film industry was encouraged and in 1937 Cinecitta was built on the outskirts of Rome. Literally a 'cinema city', it contained everything a film maker could need or want, including theatres, and even a cinematography school. The slogan on posters at the time read "Cinema is The Most Powerful Weapon". Newsreels and propagandistic documentaries were filmed here but by 1939, feature film productions were underway. Visconti ('Ossessione'), Rossellini (Rome, Open City') and De Sica ('Bicycle Thief') all began their careers here. Post-war, two distinct trends emerged in Italian cinema: on the one hand, the neo-realist films of Rossellini and De Sica, made chiefly on location in the streets of Rome and surrounding towns; and on the other, the American megaproductions, filmed almost entirely on sets constructed in the Cinecitta studios. In 1948, 'Quo Vadis?', 'Roman Holiday (1952), 'Three Coins in a Fountain' (1954), 'Farewell to Arms' (1957), 'Ben Hur' (1958) and 'Cleopatra' (1961), to cite only the most famous. Federico Fellini shot most of his films, at least in part at Cinecitta and to this day the studios are used for television and film productions.
Mention must also be made of Pasolini, Bertolucci, Zeffirelli, Antonioni, Sergio Leone - Italy has given cinema some of its greatest individuals and auteurs.
Pictured: The lost kisses from 'Cinema Paradiso'
Bread and Tulips (2001)
7.4/10
Director: Silvio Soldini
Starring: Licia Maglietta, Bruno Ganz, Antonio Catania, Giuseppe Battiston
Aka "Pane e Tulipani". After being left behind by her tour bus a bored housewife decides to hitchhike home, and after a few rides finds herself in Ven... Read more
Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979)
7.8/10
Director: Francesco Rosi
Starring: Gian Maria Volonte, Paolo Bonacelli, Alain Cuny
Rosi's BAFTA-winning epic stars Gian Maria Volonte as Carlo Levi, an artist and political exile banished to a southern Italian village by Mussolini's... Read more
Cinema Paradiso ( Blu-ray ) (1988)
8.5/10
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Jacques Perrin, Leopoldo Trieste, Philippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio
A charming, bittersweet tribute to the power of movies which won 1989's Best Foreign Film Academy Award. A filmmaker returns to his Sicilian hometown... Read more
Cinema Paradiso (Special Edition) (1988)
8.5/10
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret, Leopoldo Trieste
Winner of 1989's Best Foreign Film Academy Award this bittersweet drama sees a filmmaker returns to his hometown in Sicily for the first time in 30 ye... Read more
Cinema Paradiso: Director's Cut (1988)
8.5/10
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Salvatore Cascio, Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin
A charming, bittersweet tribute to the power of movies which won 1989's Best Foreign Film Academy Award. A filmmaker returns to his Sicilian hometown... Read more
Concrete Romance (2007)
6/10
Director: Marco Martani
Starring: Nicolas Vaporidis, Giorgio Faletti, Carolina Crescentini, Pietro Ragusa
Average guy Diego becomes the target of a dangerous gangster after accidentally damaging the car of gangland kingpin, 'The Chief'. Oblivious to the da... Read more
Danger: Diabolik (1967)
6.5/10
Director: Mario Bava
Starring: Adolfo Celi, John Phillip Law, Michel Piccoli, Marisa Mell, Terry-Thomas
The suave, psychedelic-era thief, Diabolik, can't get enough of life's good - or glittery - things. Not when there are currency shipments to steal fro... Read more
De Sica Collection: Bicycle Thieves / Miracle in Milan / The Roof (1948)
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Emma Gramatica, Paolo Stoppa
The father of Italian neorealism, master director Vittorio de Sica won three Best Foreign Language Film Oscars for his compelling portraits of working... Read more
Dear Diary ( Caro Diario ) (1994)
6.5/10
Director: Nanni Moretti
Starring: Nanni Moretti, Renato Carpentieri, Jennifer Beals
Nanni Moretti's hilarious and intimate film diary, which follows his personal experiences over 18 months, was received rapturously at Cannes where it... Read more
Dogman (2018)
7.3/10
Director: Matteo Garrone
Marcello is a mild-mannered dog groomer who commits petty crimes for Simoncino, a former boxer who terrorizes the neighborhood. When Simoncino's abuse... Read more