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'
Tale of Tales (Blu-ray) (2015)
6.4/10
Director: Matteo Garrone
Starring: John C Reilly, Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Shirley Henderson, Stacy Martin, Tob...
Salma Hayek eating a serpents heart; Toby Jones cuddling a giant flea. Python meets Pasolini in this horrific, hilarious and very grown up fairy... Read more
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
8.1/10
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Starring: Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef, Brahim Haggiag
Director Gillo Pontecorvo brilliantly recreated the street riots and other events that led up to Algeria's independence from France in this astonishin... Read more
The Battle of Algiers (Special Edition) (1966)
8.1/10
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
One of the most influential political films in history, Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers" vividly recreates a key year in the tumultuous Alge... Read more
The Best of Youth (2003)
8.5/10
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Starring: Alessio Boni, Luigi Lo Cascio
An engrossing and intimate epic, originally produced as a miniseries for Italian television, following the divergent paths taken by brothers Nicola (L... Read more
The Best Offer (2013)
7.8/10
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Dermot Crowley, Donald Sutherland, Geoffrey Rush, Philip Jackson, Jim Sturgess,...
Acclaimed director Giuseppe Tornatore ("Cinema Paradiso") reunites with renowned composer Ennio Morricone for this dramatic mystery set in the high-st... Read more
The Best Offer ( Blu-ray ) (2013)
7.8/10
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Dermot Crowley, Donald Sutherland, Geoffrey Rush, Philip Jackson, Jim Sturgess,...
Acclaimed director Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) reunites with renowned composer Ennio Morricone for this dramatic mystery set in the high-stak... Read more
The Canterbury Tales (1972)
6.5/10
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Laura Betti, Ninetto Davoli, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Hugh Griffith, Josephine Chapl...
The second part of Pasolini's 'Trilogy of Life' (beginning with 'The Decameron' and ending with 'Arabian Nights') is based on the 14th century stories... Read more
The City Of Women (1980)
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Prucel, Bernice Stegers
Marcello Mastroianni stars as the bruised, baffled, bedazzled man who stumbles into a feminist convention, setting off a series of wild surrealistic f... Read more
The Conformist (1970)
8.1/10
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda, Pierre Clementi
Derived from the novel by Alberto Moravia, acclaimed director Bernardo Bertolucci's visually electrifying masterpiece about sex, politics, repression... Read more
The Consequences of Love (2004)
7.5/10
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Toni Servillo, Adriano Giannini
An introverted man's life changes completely when he finds himself attracted to a young bar-maid. Read more