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'
One Hundred Steps (2000)
7.7/10
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Starring: Luigi Lo Cascio, Luigi Maria Burruano, Lucia Sardo, Paolo Briguglia, Tony Speran...
Aka "I Cento Passi". An explosive story of betrayal, murder and intrigue, revolving around one Mafia family. The Impastatos live in Cinisi, a small Si... Read more
Malena (2000)
7.5/10
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro
From Giuseppe Tornatore ("Cinema Paradiso") comes this sexy and sensitive coming-of-age saga set in 1940s Sicily, where 13 year old Renalto (Giuseppe... Read more
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
Shopgirls: Series 1 (1999)
7.8/10
Director: Giorgio Capitani
Starring: Sabrina Ferilli, Nancy Brilli, Veronica Pivetti, Caterina Vertova, Anna Valle, E...
Six very different women work together in an elegant boutique in Rome in this quintessentially Italian soap opera. Through their daily struggles with... Read more
The Way We Laughed (1998)
Director: Gianni Amelio
Starring: Francesco Guiffrida, Enrico Lo Verso, Claudio Contartese, Rosaria Danze, Fabrizi...
A.k.a. "Cosi Ridevano". The epic story of two brothers who emigrate to the northern Italian city of Turin, to escape the poverty of their Sicilian hom... Read more
Life is Beautiful (1998)
8.6/10
Director: Roberto Benigni
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Receiving Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor, Roberto Benigni's celebrated and popular film boldly blends a sentimental and humourou... Read more
Three Men and a Leg (1997)
Director: Aldo Baglio, Giacomo Poretti, Giovanni Storti, Massimo Venier
Starring: Aldo Baglio, Giacomo Poretti, Giovanni Storti, Marina Massironi
"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
Like Two Crocodiles (1994)
Director: Giacomo Campiotti
Starring: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Giancarlo Giannini, Valeria Golino, Ignazio Oliva
Gabriele (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a successful Italian antique dealer living in Paris. He has wealth, status, a girlfriend - a life perfectly manufac... Read more
Dear Diary ( Caro Diario ) (1994)
6.5/10
Director: Nanni Moretti
Starring: Nanni Moretti, Renato Carpentieri, Jennifer Beals
Nanni Moretti's hilarious and intimate film diary, which follows his personal experiences over 18 months, was received rapturously at Cannes where it... Read more
Il Postino ( The Postman ) (1994)
7.7/10
Director: Michael Radford
Starring: Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, Linda Moretti
Aka 'The Postman'. Massimo Troisi stars as a humble postman in a small beautiful Italian village, whose life is transformed by the simple powers of po... Read more