Italian All Time Cinema
by KajaB | created - 9 months ago | updated - 1 month ago | PublicChosen Italian films from 1940s until today. The list includes both classics and some less famous, but still worth watching, movies.
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1. The Hand of God (2021)
R | 130 min | Drama
In 1980s Naples, young Fabietto pursues his love for football as family tragedy strikes, shaping his uncertain but promising future as a filmmaker.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino | Stars: Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert
Votes: 45,154
"La realtà è scadente. La vita è scadente. Come mai questa città non ti ispira?"
2. 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: 705,204 | Gross: $57.60M
"Guarda i girasoli, si inchinano al sole, ma se ne vedi qualcuno che è inchinato un po' troppo, significa che è morto."
3. Love and Bullets (2017)
TV-14 | 133 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
In order to avoid the death of the husband (the criminal boss Don Vincenzo, "King of the Fish"), Donna Maria sends her henchmen to kill a lookalike (a shoe-seller) and then she sets up a ... See full summary »
Directors: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti | Stars: Claudia Gerini, Carlo Buccirosso, Serena Rossi, Giampaolo Morelli
Votes: 1,231
"Vedere morire e non piangere, non sai quanta pena mi fa"
4. Freaks Out (2021)
141 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Rome, 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.
Director: Gabriele Mainetti | Stars: Claudio Santamaria, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto, Giancarlo Martini
Votes: 5,678
5. 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: 166,113 | Gross: $0.33M
"A tutto si rimedia, meno che alla morte."
6. 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: 26,596 | Gross: $0.07M
7. The Great Beauty (2013)
Not Rated | 141 min | Drama
Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino | Stars: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso
Votes: 93,221 | Gross: $2.85M
"Finisce tutto così, con la morte. Prima però c'era la vita, nascosta dal bla bla bla...", "Che cosa avete contro la nostalgia? L'unico svago che resta contro la paura del futuro"
8. La strada (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: 64,414
"Lui è come i cani. Hai mai visto i cani che ci guardano e pare ci vogliono parlare e pure abbaiano soltanto?", "Tutto quello che c'è a questo mondo serve a qualcosa. Ecco, prendi quello sasso li per esempio. Questo, uno qualunque. (...) Non lo so a cosa serve questo sassolino ma a qualcosa deve servire, perché se questo è inutile, allora e inutile tutto, anche le stelle."
9. Everybody's Fine (1990)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama
Matteo decides to take a trip across Italy to go visiting his five children.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Michèle Morgan, Valeria Cavalli, Marino Cenna
Votes: 4,165 | Gross: $1.75M
10. Cinderella the Cat (2017)
86 min | Animation, Crime, Drama
Cenerentola struggles to escape the shadow and evil schemes of her stepmother and six stepsisters who all live aboard the Megaride, a ship stuck in the port of a decaying future Naples.
Directors: Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Alessandro Rak, Dario Sansone | Stars: Massimiliano Gallo, Maria Pia Calzone, Alessandro Gassmann, Daniele Bigliardo
Votes: 1,008
11. Two Women (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, War
In the Italy of WWII, a widow and her lonely daughter seek for distance between them and the horrors of war.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raf Vallone, Eleonora Brown
Votes: 11,542
12. Swept Away (1974)
R | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Riccardo Salvino, Isa Danieli
Votes: 6,496
13. Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Not Rated | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Visions, memories, and mysticism all help a 40-something woman to find the strength to leave her cheating husband.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese
Votes: 14,095 | Gross: $0.08M
14. 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: 74,943 | Gross: $19.52M
"A me invece Roma piace moltissimo: è una specie di giungla, tiepida, tranquilla, dove ci si può nascondere bene"
15. Napoli, sole mio! (1958)
Comedy, Musical
Lorella must marry Dr. Matteini, but when she goes to Naples to meet him, she meets Michele, who sings in restaurants. The fateful spark is ignited, and although Michele is poor, Lorella ... See full summary »
Director: Giorgio Simonelli | Stars: Maurizio Arena, Lorella De Luca, Tina Pica, Virgilio Riento
Votes: 15
"Bisogna vedere le cose dal loro giusto verso. Se voi vi mettete un paio di occhiali con le lenti affumicati vedete il cielo nero anche se splende il sole."
16. Scent of a Woman (1974)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
A young private is assigned to accompany a blind captain. It soon becomes clear that they are both complex personalities.
Director: Dino Risi | Stars: Vittorio Gassman, Alessandro Momo, Agostina Belli, Moira Orfei
Votes: 4,726
17. Tutto quello che vuoi (2017)
106 min | Comedy, Drama
A young man named Alessandro begrudgingly accepts a job as a companion for Giorgio, an elderly poet with Alzheimer's. As they banter during their daily walks, they slowly piece together ... See full summary »
Director: Francesco Bruni | Stars: Andrea Carpenzano, Giuliano Montaldo, Arturo Bruni, Vittorio Emanuele Propizio
Votes: 1,507
"Quel Totti, lo conosco, un giovane centrattacco di valore, ne sentirete ancora parlare, vedrai"
18. The First Beautiful Thing (2010)
Not Rated | 122 min | Comedy, Drama
A misanthropic professor returns to his hometown to assist his dying mother.
Director: Paolo Virzì | Stars: Valerio Mastandrea, Micaela Ramazzotti, Stefania Sandrelli, Claudia Pandolfi
Votes: 5,331
19. The Best of Youth (2003)
R | 366 min | Drama, Romance
An Italian epic that follows the lives of two brothers from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana | Stars: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Jasmine Trinca, Adriana Asti
Votes: 22,460 | Gross: $0.27M
20. It Was the Son (2012)
93 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1970s, the Ciraulos are modest scrap-dealers whose uneventful lives are turned upside-down the day their youngest daughter is accidentally killed by clumsy killers. Their immense grief ... See full summary »
Director: Daniele Ciprì | Stars: Toni Servillo, Giselda Volodi, Alfredo Castro, Aurora Quattrocchi
Votes: 1,293
21. We Have a Pope (2011)
Not Rated | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A story centered on the relationship between the newly elected Pope and his therapist.
Director: Nanni Moretti | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Nanni Moretti, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa
Votes: 13,835 | Gross: $0.48M
22. 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: 2,879
23. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 155 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: 265,724 | Gross: $11.99M
24. The Star Maker (1995)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance
A photographer and the types of people he encounters.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Sergio Castellitto, Tiziana Lodato, Franco Scaldati, Leopoldo Trieste
Votes: 5,285 | Gross: $0.12M
25. The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (2013)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Inspired by real events, this is a black comedy about 20 years of history of Sicily from 1970s to 1990s, mocking Mafia Bosses and restoring the generosity of the heroes of Antimafia. It's ... See full summary »
Director: Pif | Stars: Cristiana Capotondi, Pif, Alex Bisconti, Ginevra Antona
Votes: 8,603 | Gross: $0.04M
26. 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: 7,693
27. Journey to Italy (1954)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance
An unhappily married couple attempts to find direction and insight while vacationing in Naples.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban, Anna Proclemer
Votes: 11,309
28. 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: 8,922
29. 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: 7,729
30. 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: 27,394
31. Stromboli (1950)
Approved | 81 min | Drama
Karin, a young woman from the Baltic countries, marries fisherman Antonio to escape from a prison camp. But she cannot get used to the tough life in Antonio's volcano-threatened village, Stromboli.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Mario Vitale, Renzo Cesana, Mario Sponzo
Votes: 7,461
32. Il Bidone (1955)
Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy, Drama
A trio of con-men led by a lonesome swindler must deal with their job and family pressures.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, Giulietta Masina, Franco Fabrizi
Votes: 6,414
33. An Average Little Man (1977)
122 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A meek middle-aged man finally takes justice into his own hands.
Director: Mario Monicelli | Stars: Alberto Sordi, Shelley Winters, Vincenzo Crocitti, Renzo Carboni
Votes: 2,856
34. Il Sorpasso (1962)
Not Rated | 105 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: 11,556
35. I Remember (1973)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of comedic and nostalgic vignettes set in a 1930s Italian coastal town.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Magali Noël, Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia
Votes: 44,701 | Gross: $0.58M
36. Human Capital (2013)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Drama
The destinies of two families are irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is hit off the road by a jeep in the night before Christmas Eve.
Director: Paolo Virzì | Stars: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Matilde Gioli, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Guglielmo Pinelli
Votes: 13,062 | Gross: $0.16M
37. Libero (Along the Ridge) (2006)
108 min | Drama
A young father and his two children struggle to find harmony after his wife leaves them for another man.
Director: Kim Rossi Stuart | Stars: Alessandro Morace, Kim Rossi Stuart, Barbora Bobulova, Marta Nobili
Votes: 2,642
38. Ennio (2021)
156 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A documentary on the legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, John Williams, Oliver Stone
Votes: 3,615
39. I Vitelloni (1953)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
A character study of five young men at crucial turning points in their lives in a small town in Italy.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi, Leopoldo Trieste
Votes: 19,009 | Gross: $0.10M
40. Beautiful (1951)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
A woman from the lower class desperately tries to get her daughter into the movies.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari, Tina Apicella, Gastone Renzelli
Votes: 4,828
41. Facing Windows (2003)
R | 102 min | Drama, Romance
Overburdened and stuck in a greying marriage, Giovanna takes to caring for the Jewish Holocaust survivor her husband brings home. As she begins to reflect on her life, she turns to the man who lives across from her ...
Director: Ferzan Özpetek | Stars: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Massimo Girotti, Raoul Bova, Filippo Nigro
Votes: 11,405 | Gross: $0.54M
42. L'arte della felicità (2013)
82 min | Animation, Drama
A taxi driver who lives in Napoli spend his time on his uncle's car thinking about happiness. His former brother took a road for happiness practicing Buddhism while he is always sad and ... See full summary »
Director: Alessandro Rak | Stars: Leandro Amato, Nando Paone, Renato Carpentieri, Jun Ichikawa
Votes: 1,039