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'
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A gripping based-on-fact drama about 17-year-old Rita Atria, who back in 1991 came forward to denounce the mafia violence that had claimed the lives o... 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
A gentle slice of Italian life comedy, in which a middle aged man has to look after four elderly women for a few days. Still living with his 93-year-o... Read more
Film exec Pietro (Nanni Moretti) faces tragedy when his wife dies in a freak accident. Now left with a ten-year-old daughter to raise alone, he takes... Read more
Matteo Garrone's stark, shocking vision of contemporary gangsterdom, is one of cinema's most authentic depictions of organized crime. A tour de force... Read more
Passionate trysts, endless summer days, glorious architecture, great artists, mouth-watering pasta, vino with friends... the Italy we all dream of esc... Read more
Growing up in small-town Italy during the '60s and '70s, brothers Accio and Manrico embody and celebrate opposing political stances, but share an impa... Read more
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
This lavish, epic romantic drama is set at the dawn of the 20th century where an Italian widower (Vincenzo Amato) makes the momentous decision to upro... Read more