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'
Inspector Montalbano: Volume 1 (1999)
8.5/10
Starring: Luca Zingaretti, Peppino Mazzotta, Angelo Russo, Cesare Bocci, Marcello Perracch...
He's a bit grumpy, he dresses superbly well, and no-one can get inside the criminal's head like Montalbano can. Read more
Fiorile (1993)
7/10
Director: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani
Starring: Claudio Bigagli, Galatea Ranzi, Michael Vartan
U.S. title; 'Wild Flower'. This film of immense elegance set in Tuscany focuses on the Benedetti family who preserve their time-honoured ways, includ... Read more
Boccaccio 70 (1962)
7.2/10
Director: Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, Mario Monicelli
Starring: Marisa Solinas, Anita Ekberg, Peppino De Filippo, Romy Schneider, Tomas Milian,...
This loose modern retelling of Boccaccio's Decameron is essentially four short films from four of Italy's finest directors. Fellini, Visconti, Monicel... Read more
Italy: Love It or Leave It (2011)
6.6/10
Director: Luca Ragazzi, Gustav Hofer
The lease on their apartment is up and Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi must decide whether to stay in Italy or leave. Having witnessed the exodus of man... Read more
I Vitelloni (1953)
8/10
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi
This early Fellini masterpiece, and one of the great works of Neo-Realism, deals with the young, restless men in a small town on the Adriatic who are,... Read more
L'Innocente ( The Innocent ) (1976)
7.5/10
Director: Luchino Visconti
Starring: Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli
Aka 'The Innocent'. An elegant, visually beautiful exploration of the constraints of marriage and its disintegration. Featuring a remarkable, sensuous... Read more
Umberto D. (1952)
8.2/10
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Starring: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari
One of the masterpieces of Italian Neo-Realist cinema - the Italian postwar Renaissance. The story centres on a retired civil servant, living only on... Read more
I'm Not Scared (2003)
7.5/10
Director: Gabriele Salvatores
Starring: Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Dino Abbrescia, Giorgio Careccia, Giuseppe Cristiano
Something sinister is lurking under the surface of 10-year-old Michele's (Giuseppe Cristiano) idyllic summer. While the days in his remote southern It... Read more
The Tiger and the Snow (2005)
7.1/10
Director: Roberto Benigni
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Jean Reno, Tom Waits, Emilia Fox, Giuseppe B...
Roberto Benigni directs and stars in this romantic comedy-drama set at the outbreak of the US invasion of Iraq. Benigni is an Italian poet who meets... Read more
Mamma Roma (1962)
7.9/10
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Anna Magnani, Franco Citti, Ettoro Garofolo
Pier Paolo Pasolini's neo-realist masterpiece stars the great Anna Magnani ('Open City') as a middle-aged prostitute who saves money to buy an apartme... Read more