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'
Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio All'italiana) (1961)
7.9/10
Director: Pietro Germi
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Leopoldo Trieste
A married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must concoct a crime of passion to do away wit... Read more
Dogman (2018)
7.3/10
Director: Matteo Garrone
Marcello is a mild-mannered dog groomer who commits petty crimes for Simoncino, a former boxer who terrorizes the neighborhood. When Simoncino's abuse... Read more
Don Matteo: Series 4 (2004)
6.7/10
Director: Guilio Base, Andrea Barzini
Starring: Terence Hill, Nina Frassica, Flavio Insinna, Nathalie Guetta, Milena Miconi
Terence Hill stars in this award-winning and popular Italian detective series as Father Matteo, a 'special' investigator whose profound knowledge of t... Read more
Don't Move (2004)
7.1/10
Director: Sergio Castellitto
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Sergio Castellitto, Claudia Gerini, Angela Finocchiaro
A surgeon recalls the crucial moments of his life as his own teenage daughter lies on the operating table, hovering between life and death in this ten... Read more
Dov'e la Liberta...? ( Where is Freedom ? ) (1953)
7/10
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Starring: Toto
Italy's favourite comic son, Toto, stars as Salvatore Loicano, a convict who has just been released from prison after 22 years behind bars. The former... Read more
East West East (2009)
7.3/10
Director: Gjergj Xhuvani
Starring: Noricim Xhepa, Gentian Hazizi, Helidon Fino
Albania, 1990: A former cycling champion is assigned by the government to assemble a team of five young cyclists to represent the country in an amateu... Read more
Ecce Bombo (1978)
7/10
Director: Nanni Moretti
Starring: Nanni Moretti
An ironic peek into the life of a group of Italian university students in the 1970s. Read more
Facing Windows (2003)
7.4/10
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Raoul Bova, Massimo Girotti, Filippo Nigro
A young working-class wife and mother, Giovanna, has no time for the senile elderly man her husband has rescued from the streets. But as she uncovers... Read more
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Capucine
A decade before 'Caligula', this director crafted a visually stunning look at the decadence and debauchery of ancient Rome. Complete with hermaphrodit... Read more
Fellini's Casanova (1976)
7.1/10
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, Cicely Browne
Federico Fellini's account of the sexually bogus Venetian nobleman is a surreal journey into self-obsession and deviance. Casanova (Donald Sutherland)... Read more