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'
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
Jean Renoir explores the complex relationship between theatre and life in this highly stylised account of the travels of a commedia dell'arte troupe i... Read more
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
A working class mother blinded by pride hatches unrealistic plans for her daughter's show business career when a famous director comes to town and sta... Read more
Compassionate, neo-realist masterwork from Vittorio De Sica is set in post WWII Italy, where beggars roam the streets. A young orphan is given a magic... Read more
Fellini's first film as director chronicles the adventures of a provincial couple honeymooning in Rome and the wife's involvement with a cartoon hero,... Read more
A series of vignettes depicting the lives of the original Franciscan monks, including their leader and the bumbling Ginepro. Read more
An early masterpiece from then documentary-maker director Michelangelo Antonioni, said to be one of Martin Scorsese's favourite films. Setting the to... Read more
A.k.a. "Francis, God's Jester". Roberto Rossellini and co-writer Federico Fellini lovingly render the very spirit of Franciscan teaching in this extr... Read more
Aka 'The Bicycle Thief.' Vittorio De Sica's remarkable 1948 drama of desperation and survival in Italy's post-war depression earned a special Oscar fo... Read more