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'
Heaven (2001)
6.5/10
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Remo Girone, Mattia Sbragia, Alberto Di Stasio,...
Working from a script by late filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski ("Three Colours" trilogy), director Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") directs Cate Blanchett as... 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 Vitelloni (1953)
8/10
Director: Federico Fellini
Starring: Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi
This early Fellini masterpiece, and one of the great works of Neo-Realism, deals with the young, restless men in a small town on the Adriatic who are,... Read more
I'm Not Scared (2003)
7.5/10
Director: Gabriele Salvatores
Starring: Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Dino Abbrescia, Giorgio Careccia, Giuseppe Cristiano
Something sinister is lurking under the surface of 10-year-old Michele's (Giuseppe Cristiano) idyllic summer. While the days in his remote southern It... 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
Identification of a Woman (1982)
6.8/10
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring: Tomas Milian, Daniela Silverio, Christine Boisson
Michelangelo Antonionis Identification of a Woman is a body- and soul-baring voyage into one mans artistic and erotic consciousness. After his wife... Read more
Il Grido (1957)
7.8/10
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring: Alida Valli, Betsy Blair, Steve Cochran, Gabriella Pallotta
A cinematic "cry" from one of the most revered of all auteurs, Italian maestro Michelangelo Antonioni (L'avventura, La notte, Il deserto rosso) depict... 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
In The Eye Of The Hurricane (Blu-ray) (1971)
6.2/10
Director: José María Forqué
Starring: Jean Sorel, Rosanna Yanni
Ruth and Michel separate after Ruth finds another man, Paul. Ruth and Paul go to her sunny, idyllic beach side villa to spend summer. They are having... 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