Best of Italian Cinema
by sudorum | created - 09 Mar 2014 | updated - 09 Jun 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Obsession (1943)
TV-14 | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna, and they plan to get rid of her older husband.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani, Elio Marcuzzo
Votes: 8,270
2. The Children Are Watching Us (1943)
Not Rated | 84 min | Drama
Four-year-old Pricò becomes the subject of emotional folly by his capricious parents and negligent relatives.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Emilio Cigoli, Luciano De Ambrosis, Isa Pola, Adriano Rimoldi
Votes: 3,049
3. Rome, Open City (1945)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Thriller, War
During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi, Marcello Pagliero, Vito Annichiarico
Votes: 28,953
4. Shoeshine (1946)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama
Two shoeshine boys in postwar Rome, Italy save up to buy a horse, but their involvement as dupes in a burglary lands them in juvenile prison; the experience take a devastating toll on their friendship.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Rinaldo Smordoni, Franco Interlenghi, Annielo Mele, Bruno Ortensi
Votes: 8,110
5. Paisan (1946)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, War
American military personnel interact warily with a variety of Italian locals over a year and a half in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces make their retreat.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Carmela Sazio, Gar Moore, William Tubbs, Robert Van Loon
Votes: 9,546
6. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Elena Altieri
Votes: 175,067 | Gross: $0.33M
7. Germany Year Zero (1948)
Not Rated | 78 min | Drama
A young German boy faces the problems of the tough life in the immediate post-WWII Berlin.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Edmund Moeschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraud Hinze, Franz-Otto Krüger
Votes: 13,706
8. Bitter Rice (1949)
Not Rated | 108 min | Crime, Drama
Two criminals on the run end up working in a rice field and decide to recruit other workers for their next robbery.
Director: Giuseppe De Santis | Stars: Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone
Votes: 4,873
9. Miracle in Milan (1951)
Not Rated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An open-hearted, unrelentingly energetic orphan struggles to make the best of his life on the streets of Milan.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano, Paolo Stoppa, Guglielmo Barnabò
Votes: 8,536
10. Rome 11:00 (1952)
107 min | Drama
Based on an actual incident, this is the story of five girls (told in a slow beginning) who are among the 200 women who answer a want ad for a modest secretarial position one rainy morning ... See full summary »
Director: Giuseppe De Santis | Stars: Lucia Bosè, Carla Del Poggio, Maria Grazia Francia, Lea Padovani
Votes: 854
11. Umberto D. (1952)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
An elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova
Votes: 28,162 | Gross: $0.07M
12. The Road (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani
Votes: 66,555
13. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,163 | Gross: $19.52M
14. L'Avventura (1960)
Not Rated | 144 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari, Dominique Blanchar
Votes: 32,624
15. Two Women (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, War
In WWII Italy, a widow and her lonely daughter seek distance between themselves and the horrors of war.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raf Vallone, Eleonora Brown
Votes: 12,420
16. Divorce Italian Style (1961)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
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 with his wife.
Director: Pietro Germi | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Leopoldo Trieste
Votes: 14,168
17. Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
Not Rated | 125 min | Crime, Drama, History
The unclear and complicated twists between governal powers, independentist party and Mafia in the Sicily of the '40s culminate with the death of Salvatore Giuliano.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Frank Wolff, Salvo Randone, Frederico Zardi, Pippo Agusta
Votes: 3,705
18. The Easy Life (1962)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
An impulsive braggart takes a shy law student with him for a two-day road trip from Rome to Tuscany.
Director: Dino Risi | Stars: Vittorio Gassman, Catherine Spaak, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Claudio Gora
Votes: 12,405
19. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,146 | Gross: $0.05M
20. Red Desert (1964)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
In an industrial area, unstable Giuliana attempts to cope with life by starting an affair with a co-worker at the plant her husband manages.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Monica Vitti, Richard Harris, Carlo Chionetti, Xenia Valderi
Votes: 17,627
21. Hands Over the City (1963)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama
Prior to a city council election, the collapse of a building leaves a land developer and his political backers defending themselves against a scandal.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Rod Steiger, Salvo Randone, Guido Alberti, Marcello Cannavale
Votes: 3,283
22. Before the Revolution (1964)
105 min | Drama, Romance
Following the death of his friend, an Italian youth grows increasingly closer to his young aunt.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Adriana Asti, Francesco Barilli, Allen Midgette, Morando Morandini
Votes: 3,058
23. For a Few Dollars More (1965)
R | 132 min | Drama, Western
Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a gang of outlaws led by a psychotic Mexican bandit, who is plotting an audacious bank robbery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè, Mara Krupp
Votes: 274,512 | Gross: $15.00M
24. Seduced and Abandoned (1964)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A desperate Sicilian man, whose 15-year-old daughter was seduced and impregnated by his older daughter's fiancé, tries to find a way to save the family's honor.
Director: Pietro Germi | Stars: Saro Urzì, Stefania Sandrelli, Aldo Puglisi, Lando Buzzanca
Votes: 3,861
25. The Moment of Truth (1965)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama
The rise and fall of a famous torero, Miguelin, inside and outside of the bullfighters ring.
Director: Francesco Rosi | Stars: Miguel Mateo 'Miguelín', José Gómez Sevillano, Pedro Basauri 'Pedrucho', Linda Christian
Votes: 1,022
26. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 810,735 | Gross: $6.10M
27. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 348,948 | Gross: $5.32M
28. The Spider's Stratagem (1970)
100 min | Drama, Mystery
A man returns to the place where his father was murdered and tries to find closure. But he finds himself in a similar predicament as his late father instead.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Giulio Brogi, Alida Valli, Pippo Campanini, Franco Giovanelli
Votes: 3,144
29. The Conformist (1970)
R | 113 min | Drama
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
Votes: 33,670 | Gross: $0.54M
30. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama
A chief of detectives, homicide section, kills his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to prove his own responsibility for the crime.
Director: Elio Petri | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Florinda Bolkan, Gianni Santuccio, Orazio Orlando
Votes: 13,325 | Gross: $0.27M
31. La Notte (1961)
Not Rated | 122 min | Drama
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti, Bernhard Wicki
Votes: 24,024 | Gross: $0.04M
32. Love & Anarchy (1973)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a friend is murdered by the Facists, a melancholy farmer takes up residence in a Roman brothel as he and an anarchist prostitute plot to assassinate Mussolini.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Lina Polito, Eros Pagni
Votes: 3,529
33. Bread and Chocolate (1974)
100 min | Comedy, Drama
Italian immigrant Nino steadfastly tries to become a member of Swiss Society no matter how awful his situation becomes.
Director: Franco Brusati | Stars: Nino Manfredi, Anna Karina, Paolo Turco, Ugo D'Alessio
Votes: 1,972
34. Seven Beauties (1975)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Elena Fiore
Votes: 6,480 | Gross: $0.01M
35. Ugly, Dirty and Bad (1976)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
Four generations of a family live in a shantytown in the outskirts of Rome. The household engages in various forms of sexual idiosyncrasies, land swindles, incest, drugs and adultery.
Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Francesco Anniballi, Maria Bosco, Giselda Castrini, Alfredo D'Ippolito
Votes: 9,110 | Gross: $0.01M
36. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 282,718 | Gross: $11.99M
37. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When 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.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 742,794 | Gross: $57.60M
38. Gomorrah (2008)
Not Rated | 137 min | Crime, Drama
Scampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.
Director: Matteo Garrone | Stars: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo, Simone Sacchettino
Votes: 51,200 | Gross: $1.58M
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