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'
Angels of Evil (2010)
Director: Michele Placido
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Paz Vega, Kim Rossi Stuart, Valeria Solarino, Filippo Timi, Fr...
A.k.a. "Angel of Evil". Michele Placido's ("Romanzo Criminale") bio-pic of Renato Vallanzasca plays out like an Italian "Mesrine", charting the rise a... Read more
Le Quattro Volte ( Four Times ) (2010)
7.2/10
Director: Michelangelo Frammartino
Starring: Giuseppe Fuda, Bruno Timpano, Nazareno Timpano
An unclassifiably brilliant reverie on life, death, nature and the splendours of Calabria, "Le Quattro Volte" is a deceptively simple and playfully ph... Read more
The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2010)
6.3/10
Director: Saverio Costanzo
Starring: Luca Marinelli, Arianna Nastro, Tommaso Neri, Alba Rohrwacher, Martina Albano
Paolo Giordano's best-selling novel is given a unique screen adaptation in this drama from director Saverio Costanzo. As Giordano notes in his book, p... Read more
The Wolf's Mouth (2009)
Director: Pietro Marcello
" La Bocco del lupa". A touching tale of an enduring love found in the most improbable of places, Pietro Marcello's award winning docufiction hybrid c... Read more
The Double Hour ( La doppia ora ) (2009)
6.7/10
Director: Guiseppe Capotondi
Starring: Filippo Timi, Ksenia Rappaport, Antonia Truppo, Gaetano Bruno
Guido (Filippo Timi), a former cop, is a luckless veteran of the speed-dating scene in Turin. But, much to his surprise, he meets Slovenian immigrant... Read more
Memories of Anne Frank (2009)
5.8/10
Director: Alberto Negrin
Filmed in the Franks' apartment and their secret refuge, Miep Gies vividly recounts her experiences: working for Otto Frank: bringing food to the fugi... Read more
The Man Who Will Come (2009)
7.5/10
Director: Georgio Diritti
Starring: Maya Sansa, Alba Rohrwacher, Claudio Casadio
A powerful and engrossing drama based on the World War II tragedy known as the Marzabotto Massacre. This film confirms director and co-writer Giorgio... Read more
A Matter of Heart (2009)
Director: Francesca Archibugi
Starring: Antonio Albanese, Kim Rossi Stuart
"Un Questione de Cuore" Angelo and Alberto strike up a close friendship in hospital after suffering a heart attack. They are both Romans, but they liv... Read more
I Am Love (2009)
7/10
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Marisa Berenson, Tilda Swinton, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Gabriele Ferzetti, Pippo D...
The Recchi family are a well-bred and well-moneyed family of Milan whose lives are grand and cold as a museum - but all that's about to change. Eduard... Read more
I, Don Giovanni (2009)
7/10
Director: Carlos Saura
Starring: Emilia Verginelli, Lorenzo Balducci, Tobias Moretti, Lino Guanciale
Venice, 1763. Writer Lorenzo da Ponte is leading the life of a debauched libertine. Under the tutelage of Giacomo Casanova, he devotes himself to the... Read more