World War II: Focus on the Italian view
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- DirectorGabriele SalvatoresStarsDiego AbatantuonoClaudio BigagliGiuseppe CedernaIn WW2, an Italian Army unit of misfits occupies an isolated non-strategic Greek island for the duration of the war.
- DirectorEnzo MonteleoneStarsPaolo BrigugliaPierfrancesco FavinoLuciano ScarpaWar seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel and the Axis forces are bogged down; it's October, the British prepare an offensive. At first, boredom, heat, hunger, and thirst bedevil the Italians; then the Brits attack, and there's no luck or heroism in death. Finally, it's retreat in confusion. Serra, his sergeant Rizzo, and his lieutenant Fiori take a last walk toward home. It's said that each soldier gets three miracles; when Serra's are used up, what then?
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsMonica BellucciGiuseppe SulfaroLuciano FedericoAmidst the war climate, a teenage boy discovering himself becomes love-stricken by Malèna, a sensual woman living in a small, narrow-minded Italian town.
- DirectorPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiStarsOmero AntonuttiMargarita LozanoClaudio BigagliIn 1944, the residents of a small Italian town under Axis control flee their homes to seek out the liberating Allied forces.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsFernandelGino CerviVera TalchiA determined priest and a Communist mayor develop a grudging friendship in spite of their official rivalry.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsMaggie SmithJudi DenchJoan PlowrightAn orphaned Italian boy is raised amongst a circle of British and American women living in Mussolini's Italy before and during World War II.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsNicolas CagePenélope CruzJohn HurtWhen a fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek army during World War II, his fiancée falls in love with the local Italian commander.
- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsRobert De NiroGérard DepardieuDominique SandaThe epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth-century Italy as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
- DirectorMarco BellocchioStarsGiovanna MezzogiornoFilippo TimiFausto Russo AlesiThe story of Mussolini's secret lover, Ida Dalser, and their son Albino.
- StarsSusan SarandonAnthony HopkinsBob HoskinsA compelling drama and documentary chronicling the life and death of Il Duce (Bob Hoskins), from his days as a terrorist, to his alliance with Hitler, to the betrayal of his son-in-law, and untimely demise.
- DirectorCarlo LizzaniStarsRod SteigerFranco NeroLisa GastoniIn 1945, the dictator of fascist Italy and Hitler's close ally Benito Mussolini faces defeat. In a desperate attempt to avoid capture, he tries to flee the country with his lover Claretta Petacci, but Italian partisans are on their tail.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsJohn TurturroRade SerbedzijaMassimo GhiniBased on Primo Levi's autobiographical "The Reawakening".
- DirectorLeone PompucciStarsKen DukenJasmine TrincaEnnio FantastichiniThis is a true story about 40 Jewish children on their way to Palestine who were blocked by the German and Italian occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941. Before finding a haven at Villa Emma in Nonantola in northern Italy, where they arrived on June 17, 1942, the children spent several adventurous months in Slovenia, caught up in the ongoing fight between the partisans and the Italian army. In April 1943, another 33 children, some from the Balkans, others from France, joined the original group. All were orphans who had lost their parents in concentration camps and had subsequently been smuggled out of Germany by Recha Freier, a well-known Zionist. The group ranged in age from six to 21 and settled in at Villa Emma with their chaperones and teachers, Josef Indig, Marco Schoky and pianist Boris Jochverdson. The children lived in modest, but quite acceptable conditions. They attended class and courses in agriculture and craftsmanship prepared them for their impending departure for Palestine and a future on a Kibbutz. The orphans were under police supervision and forbidden to go out alone, but even so Nonantola took their plight to heart and firm friendships were established between the townspeople and the young Jews. After Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943, German troops arrived in Nonantola and the situation changed dramatically. In less than 48 hours, Villa Emma was abandoned and the fugitive boys and girls found refuge in the seminary of the Abbey, and in the homes of local farmers, craftsman and shopkeepers. The local priest, Father Arrigo Beccari, showed great courage in these circumstances. The threat of raids by the German police provoked much anxiety and between September 28 and October 16, 1943 all the young refugees were successfully smuggled into Switzerland, fording the fast-flowing Tresa River under cover of darkness. In Switzerland, Zionist organizations hosted them in an institute in Bex in the Rodano Valley and it was from there that most of the group reached Palestine in May 1945 after an odyssey that had lasted five years. One of the boys who contracted TB and had to be admitted to a sanatorium was unable to escape and his name appears on a list of deportees to Auschwitz. Subsequently, Arrigo Beccari and Giuseppe Moreali, the local doctor in Nonantola, were cited in the Yad Vashem for their courage and they have their own tree in the Avenue of Just Men.
- DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio CantariniWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
- DirectorGabriele MainettiStarsClaudio SantamariaAurora GiovinazzoPietro CastellittoRome, 1943: Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario are the main attractions of the "Mezza Piotta Circus" run by Israel, meanwhile someone starts looking for the four freaks with a plan that could change the fate of the whole world.