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'
"Three Men and a Leg" is the feature film debut of popular Italian comics - Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, and an Italian box office smash hit. As a brot... Read more
Aka "L'Ultimo Bacio". Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) are a couple in their late twenties who realise they've crossed the fi... Read more
The tale of a boy who grows up to become a linguistics professor, thereby escaping the despotic tyranny of a father who wants him to train as a shephe... Read more
Academy-Award winner Juliette Binoche gives one of the finest performances of her career in this dazzling and emotionally rich debut feature from Ital... Read more
"Not since the glory days of Fellini and Antonioni has Italian cinema enjoyed such a creative and critically acknowledged resurgence, with films like.... Read more
With a lineup of non-professional actors and made in the neo-realist style, this lyrical view of Germany in the immediate postwar period has some magn... Read more
A decade before 'Caligula', this director crafted a visually stunning look at the decadence and debauchery of ancient Rome. Complete with hermaphrodit... Read more
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
An engrossing and intimate epic, originally produced as a miniseries for Italian television, following the divergent paths taken by brothers Nicola (L... Read more
Sexy, romantic, adventurous and very funny, "Ages of Love" examines three different couples united in their quest for love. The first installment, tit... Read more