Great Films For Those Who Love Italy
With English Subtitles:
Il Postino - 1995, Michael Radford -Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi), the mailman on an Italian island, pines from afar for a beautiful waitress. When exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret) comes to live on the island, Ruoppolo delivers Neruda's mail and picks up lessons on love, life and poetry. With director Michael Radford's commentary, a featurette about the real-life Neruda and more, Il Postino is a sun-splashed romantic comedy.
Life is Beautiful - 1997, Roberto Benigni- In this poignant tragicomedy, a clever Jewish Italian waiter named Guido (Roberto Benigni, who also directs and won an Oscar for his role) is sent to a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, along with his wife (Nicoletta Braschi) and their young son (Giorgio Cantarini). Refusing to give up hope, Guido tries to protect his son's innocence by pretending that their imprisonment is an elaborate game, with the grand prize being a tank.
Cinema Paradiso - 1988, Giuseppe Tornatore - A Sicilian boy named Salvatore (played by Salvatore Cascio and Marco Leonardi) is mesmerized by the American movies shown at the local theater and befriends Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), the gruff but warmhearted projectionist. Mentored by Alfredo, the boy grows up to become a famous movie producer -- but never forgets his roots. Tremendously affecting on nearly every level, Cinema Paradiso won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Mediterraneo - 1991, Gabriele Salvatores -With a sun-burnished Aegean isle as a backdrop, this breezy, escapist comedy (which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) follows eight misfit Italian soldiers dispatched to defend the remote island during World War II. Next thing you know, the garrison ends up stranded on the seemingly deserted paradise. When the men discover the island's many charms -- including its preponderantly female population -- their fighting spirit melts away.
La Dolce Vita - 1960, Federico Fellini - Federico Fellini's lush and intoxicating masterpiece, La Dolce Vita, is a meditation on the meaning of life and love and stars Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello, a gossip writer who seeks the fleeting excesses and decadence of life and sex. He sleeps with the beautiful Maddalena (Anouk Aimee), alienating and driving his lover, Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), to attempt suicide. When he meets an elusive actress, Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), he dives deep into the abyss.
Bread and Tulips - 2000, Silvio Soldini - A cosseted, unhappy housewife (Licia Maglietta) taken for granted by her philandering, self-centered husband (Antonio Catania) finds bella fortuna when she hitchhikes to Venice and starts to construct a new life for herself. Blossoming with her newfound independence, the woman begins a tentative relationship with a lonely, suicidal waiter (Bruno Ganz) that bodes well for both of them.
The Bicycle Thief - 1948, Vittorio de Sica - Widely considered a landmark Italian film, Vittorio De Sica's tale of a man who relies on his bicycle to do his job during Rome's post-World War II depression earned a special Oscar for its devastating power. The same day Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) gets his vehicle back from the pawnshop, someone steals it, prompting him to search the city in vain with his young son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola). Increasingly, he confronts a looming desperation.
In English:
Tea With Mussolini - 1999, Franco Zeffirelli - Based on director Franco Zeffirelli's childhood in 1930s Italy, this film follows a group of Englishwomen living in Italy who believe that fascist leader Benito Mussolini will protect them from war's gathering storm clouds. When a boy's mother dies, Mary (Joan Plowwright), Arabella (Judi Dench), Lady Hester (Maggie Smith), Elsa (Cher) and Georgie (Lily Tomlin) will do anything they must to protect the child and preserve their way of life.
Dangerous Beauty - 1998, Marshall Herskovitz - Prevented from marrying her nobleman lover (Rufus Sewell) because of her commoner status, real-life historical heroine Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack) is left with two choices: join a convent or become a courtesan. Following in mother's (Jacqueline Bisset) footsteps, she chooses the latter. Set in 16th-century Venice, this biographical drama follows Franco as she rises to power and fearlessly fights off accusations of witchcraft.
Room with a View - 1986, James Ivory - On a trip to Italy, prim aristocrat Lucy Honeychurch (Elaine Cassidy) steals a kiss from a handsome commoner (Rafe Spall) but pays a heavy emotional price when she sees him again in stuffy Edwardian England in this spirited adaptation of E.M. Forster's classic novel. The talented cast includes Elizabeth McGovern as Lucy's mother, Timothy Spall as the socialist Mr. Emerson and Sinéad Cusack as the flamboyant Miss Lavish.
Roman Holiday - 1953, William Wyler - Audrey Hepburn (in an Oscar-winning performance) stars as a cosseted European princess who goes AWOL in Rome and is soon taken under the wing of tabloid journalist Gregory Peck and his photographer sidekick Eddie Albert. She thinks the boys don't suspect who she really is ... but they're clued in and sense a sensational story if they can just keep Audrey's handlers from retrieving her too soon. The essence of 1950s chic.
Under the Tuscan Sun - 2003, Audrey Wells - In this movie loosely based on Frances Mayes's best-selling memoir of the same title, Diane Lane stars as Frances, a newly divorced American writer who heads for the Italian region of Tuscany to make limonita out of life's lemons. Having just quit her high-pressure job and ended her heartbreaking marriage, she buys a decrepit-but-charming house in Cortona on impulse, rebuilding it piece by piece -- and herself along with it.
Much Ado About Nothing - 1993, Kenneth Branagh - Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson star as Benedick and Beatrice, two marriage-phobic rivals in Florence, Italy, in a lively plot involving complications, pranks and peerless wordplay. This must be Shakespeare! Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) try to hook up the two B's despite tenacious resistance. Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves round out a cast that cavorts amid sumptuous Tuscan scenery.
All films can be found on Netflix.com
