Salve ragazzi,
Having just been Covid quarantined, I amused myself making lists! If you have seen all of these movies, you can call yourself an Italian movie expert! Let me know!
First, if you need a bucket list, here are some Must-See Italian Movies.
1)La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) Winner of the 2014 Oscar, stars Toni Servillo and is recognized worldwide for excellence. Directed by Paolo Sorrentino.
2) Gomorra (Gomorrah) Matteo Garrone’s “no glamour” look at organized crime was a cinematic game-changer. It won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
3)La Meglio Gioventù (The Best Of Youth). Back in the early part of the new century, when critics had pronounced the Italian film industry dead, The Best of Youth came to the USA, and everyone took notice. It won the Prize Un Certain Regard at Cannes and was directed by Marco Tullio Giordana. It has a crazy impressive cast that includes Luigi Lo Casio and Jasmine Trinca.
4)Pane E Tulipani Do I really have to tell you why to watch this one AGAIN? 😄 Directed by Silvio Soldini, it won 9 David Di Donatellos (Including Best Picture) and 5 Nastri D’Argento. And it’s my favorite.
5)Nuovomondo (The Golden Door) If you are Italian American, this should be required viewing! Watch this startling portrait of a family who decides to come to America from Sicily.
6)Pranzo Di Ferragosto (Mid-August Lunch) Gianni Di Gregorio’s little gem has won more converts to Italian cinema than any other!
7)Buongiorno Notte (Good Morning Night) Marco Bellocchio imagines the last days of Aldo Moro, kidnapped and murdered by the Red Brigades.
8) A Ciambra. This film by Jonas Carpignano is important because it showcases the newest class of young directors and how they are changing Italian cinema - for the better. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and won the Europa Cinemas Label Award. It was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
9)La Mafia Uccide Solo D’Estate (The Mafia Only Kills In The Summer) This movie by Pierfrancesco Diliberto (Pif) pays tribute to the policemen and the magistrates who fought and gave their lives fighting the Sicilian Mafia. I cry at the end every time I watch it!
10) Lazzaro Felice (Happy As Lazzaro) Critics worldwide praised young Alice Rohrwacher for her stunning tale of farmhands’ work on a tobacco farm in a form of modern feudalism.
If You Are Dreaming Of An Italian Vacation, these films really take you there!
1)Baarìa This semi-autobiographical film takes you to director Giuseppe’s Tornatore’s home town of Bagheria in Sicily. It’s quite sentimental, but Italian Americans will find it heartwarming and BEAUTIFULLY filmed.
2)Maraviglioso Boccaccio (Wondrous Boccaccio) The Taviani Brothers take you to Tuscany for a retelling of the Boccaccio’s Decameron. It stars off in Florence and then ends up in Certaldo Alto, a medieval hilltop town near Siena that’s like a place out of time.
3) Letters To Juliet is a lukewarm romantic comedy but a super fun romp around Verona! Stars Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave.
4) Le Meraviglie (The Wonders) The countryside of Grosseto (in the center of Tuscany) is the location of the beekeeper’s farm in this film by Alice Rohrwacher.
5) A Room With A View Watching this old Merchant Ivory film that stars is like actually being in Florence! It has an A-MAZ-ING cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Judi Dench. If you haven’t seen it yet, I MUST INSIST YOU DO IT NOW!
6) Reality Matteo Garrone’s film shows you Naples at its best.
7) Effie Gray This true story of young Effie Gray, who became the unhappy wife of author John Ruskin. The plot is interesting enough, and the cast is great with Emma Thompson, Dakota Fanning, and Julie Walters. But the real star is VENICE in all its 19th-century glory.
8)Enchanted April Who doesn’t want a trip to Portofino? This is a lovely film about English ladies who are transformed by a getaway to a castle they rent. It stars Miranda Richardson and Joan Plowright.
9)L’Ultimo Paradiso (The Ultimate Paradise) Filmed in It was mostly filmed in the beautiful village of Gravina in Puglia, a town that has not changed much over the years. It’s a “love story” and stars Riccardo Scamarcio.
10)La Foresta Di Ghiaccio (The Ice Forest) For a more northern exposure, head up to the Italian Alps and snowy Trentino for this mystery.
Great English Language Italian Films By Italian Directors
They can’t all be winners (i.e. Paolo Virzì’s The Leisure Seeker 👎 starring Helen Mirren and Donald Southerland), but sometimes Italian directors nail it!
1) Call Me By Your Name I know we are supposed to cancel Armie Hammer, but don’t cancel this Luca Guadagnino masterpiece on account of him! It also stars Timotheé Chalamet and Michael Stulbarg, and it’s a positively exquisite coming of age/ love story.
2)Nico 1988. This outstanding biopic of ‘60s pop star Nico by director Susanna Nicchiarelli won the Orrizonti Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival.
3)Hannah This is a truly heartbreaking story of a lonely, outcasted woman played by Charlotte Rampling. It was directed by Andrea Pallaoro.
4)This Must Be The Place This Paolo Sorrentino film is SO VERY under-appreciated! It stars Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch, and Harry Dean Stanton, and it tells the story of a guy who makes a cross-country road trip to avenge his father’s mistreatment by a Nazi guard.
5)The Young Pope is the JUST ENOUGH over-the-top fictional story of the newly elected Pius XIII, aka Lenny Belardo, the first American Pope in history. The acting is FAVOLOSO (Jude Law, Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando).
6)Suspiria I’m not a big fan of the giallo movie genre, but I found Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the Dario Argento classic beautiful and fascinating. It stars Tilda Swinton and Dakota Johnson.
7)Hungry Hearts Alba Rohrwacher and Adam Driver star as a beautiful young couple who fall in love and get married. Everything’s wonderful until the baby comes…😬
8)The Best Offer Geoffrey Rush, Sylvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland, and Jim Sturgess star in a compelling mystery about an art collector who becomes obsessed with a young heiress. Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.
9) Youth. Paolo Sorrentino’s English language movie stars Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as old friends on holiday at a health spa in the Swiss Alps. Also stars Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano, with a cameo by Jane Fonda that is absolutely marvelous.
10) A Bigger Splash. This psychological drama from Luca Guadagnino is unpleasant on so many levels, but the cast is great (Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Dakota Johnson), and the scenery (island of Pantelleria) is breathtaking.
These Outstanding Performances In Italian Films Are Some Of My Favorites.
1)Non Ti Muovere. If you love Penelope Cruz and have not seen this one, you are in for a treat. This story of tainted love is her best performance ever. Sergio Castellitto co-stars and he also directed.
2)Vincere. American critics were particularly impressed with Filippo Timi’s portrayal of Benito Mussolini. This biopic also stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno and was directed by Marco Bellocchio.
3) Il Traditore. Probably my favorite movie of the last few years, it was directed by Marco Bellocchio and stars Pierfrancesco Favino, who gives the performance of his life. But that’s not all - Fabrizio Ferracane and Luigi Lo Cascio, too, have never been better.
4) Giorni e Nuvole (Days And Clouds), Margherita Buy’s performance of a woman on the verge of a breakdown is delicate and understated.
5) La Stanza Del Figlio, (The Son’s Room) Laura Morante is heartbreaking as the fragile mother who has just lost her only son.
6)Mia Madre (My Mother). Margherita Buy breaks her type-cast as a ball-busting movie director who is under a lot of pressure while her mother is dying. Directed by Nanni Moretti.
7) Il Capitale Umano (Human Capitol) Valeria Bruni Tedeschi plays a bored, rich housewife like she was born to it.
8)Reality Aniello Arena went straight from a prison sentence to stardom after being discovered by director Matteo Garone in a jailhouse production. He’s an established actor now, but he has never been better than as the Neapolitan fishmonger who tries out for the TV show Grande Fratello, the Italian version of Big Brother.
9)Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin), Alba Rohrwacher plays an Albanian woman who becomes what they call a “sworn virgin,” one who agrees to remain a virgin in exchange for enjoying the privileges that men enjoy and women do not.
10) Indivisibili (Indivisible), Real-life twins Angela and Marianna Fontana act their way through the entire film as conjoined twins and truly shine in this, their first acting experience.
If you enjoyed the first installment of Bang Bang Baby, remember that the rest of the episodes will drop in a couple of days, May 19, on Amazon Prime.
Whew! I went overtime!
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
Cara, aiuto! Such a great list of films, but the ones I haven't already seen are elusive to say the least. I can't find "Non Ti Muovere" ANYWHERE, and I really want to see it! Any advice?
Cheri, I can't thank you enough for offering us the wonderful, wonderful movie "Tutto Il Mio Folle Amore!" I LOVED it! - so much that when I came to the end I turned right back to the beginning and watched it again. The next day I watched it a third time. Giulio Pranno (first time on screen!) as Vincent was a continuous surprising delight in a very complex role. Claudio Santamaria as Willipoi, the modern Modugno, captured my heart completely. Valeria Golino as Elena was terrific, as always. And I fell in love with Diego Abantuono as Mario, the wise husband and unflappable, humorous, and loving adoptive father. For me, this was the best Insider movie you've ever chosen. Mille grazie e un grande bacio di gratitudine!