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ITALIAN FILMS – Addlestone Library (Updated April 2011, C. Evans)

In addition to the films listed below, also see the Italian, or “IT” section in the Media Room for some other titles.

L'albero degli zoccoli (), 1979 PN1995.9.F35 A423 1990 (pts. 1 & 2); PN1995.9.F35 A423 2004 A deceptively simple tale of a small community of peasants in at the turn of the century. It follows four families through the seasons, and shows the seemingly small events that influence their lives and the love they feel for the land and their families.

Amarcord (I remember), 1973 PN1997 .A3337 1990; PN1997 .A3337 2006 satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of social rituals in this portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period.

Before the revolution (Prima della rivoluzione), 1964 PN1997 .B355 1989 The plot, based loosely on Stendhal's "The charterhouse of Parma," concerns a young man who flirts intellectually with communism and incestuously with his young aunt. He finally realizes that for him life will always be "before the revolution."

Brother Sun, Sister Moon (Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna), 1972 VIDEO 2664 This is a dramatization of events in the life of St. Francis of Assisi from before his conversion experience through his audience with the pope, including his friendship with St. Clare.

Cabiria, 1914 PN1995.75 .C32 2000 This story tells the personal adventures of a Roman girl, Cabiria, and her two benefactors in the third century B.C. during the Second Punic War. Includes scenes of the eruption of Mt. Etna, sea battles, and Hannibal crossing the Alps.

Cento passi (One hundred steps), 2000 PN1995.9.M23 C36736 2001 This film is based on the true story of Peppino Impastato, a young left-wing activist, who in the late seventies repeatedly denounced the crimes of Mafia boss Tano Badalamenti and the whole Mafia system using a small local radio station. In 1978 Peppino was killed by an explosion. The police archived the case as an accident or a suicide, which his friends never accepted.

C'eravamo tanto amati (We all loved each other so much), 1977 PN1995.9.C55 C472 2001 (2 copies) In a retrospective allegory, Ettore Scola examines the lives of three resistance fighters and their transformation over thirty years. Each of these friends falls in love with the beautiful Luciana, an aspiring actress, testing the friendship and idealism they all shared.

Cinema Paradiso, 1990 VIDEO 2075 A young boy in a small Italian village is befriended by the projectionist at the movie theater, the . As the boy grows up, he learns to love films, and is encouraged by his good friend to pursue his dream of one day making movies.

Il conformista (The conformist), 1970 PN1995.9.F67 C664676 2006 A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes to Paris to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.

Il Deserto rosso (Red desert), 1964 PN1995.9.F67 D47 1989 Antonioni's first color film depicts a woman traumatized by an auto accident who finds herself permanently alienated in her urban milieu.

Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all’italiana), 1961 IT 4012 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.

E la nave va (), 1983 PN1995.9.F67 E43 1999 In 1914, a colorful melange of celebrities embark on a funeral voyage for a dead opera star. An allegorical film blending spectacle, humour, poignance and grotesquerie.

Edipo Re (Oedipus Rex), 1967 VIDEO 2651 Sophocles' play, with added prologue and epilogue set in modern Italy, is extended into the present and points out that the motives of the ancient tragedy still exist today.

Enchanted April, 1992 PR6035.U8 E571 2009 (two copies) Four women in 1920s London rent an Italian seaside castle drenched in wisteria and sunshine. The women find themselves in a transformative beauty so enchanting that they experience changes in themselves they never thought possible.

Excellent Cadavers (In un altro paese), 2005 HV6453.I82 P35 2005 Documentary based on the book by Italian-American author Alexander Stille and featuring the photos of Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia, it chronicles the recent history of the Mafia and its integral -- and seemingly ineradicable -- relationship to postwar Italian politics. The film focuses on the events leading up to the historic anti-Mafia trials in Palermo mounted by Italian prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in the mid 1980s and 1990s, and questions why so much of anti-Mafia legislation they fought and died for has since been undone by the Italian government.

Fellini: I'm a born liar, 2002 PN1998.3.F45 F45 2003 Biography of Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.

I fidanzati, 1963 PN1995.9.M27 F333 2003 A young Milanese couple's relationship is tested when the man accepts a new job in , causing them to be separated for long periods of time.

Film d'amore e d'anarchia (Love and anarchy), 1973 PN1995.9.F67 F45 1982; PN 1995.9.F67F45 1997 Tells the story of a shy country peasant who goes to the city with a plan to assassinate Benito Mussolini. Shows how his underground contact in the network of anarchists offers him a hideout in her brothel where he meets a young prostitute and falls in love.

Francesco, 1989 PN1995.9.B55 F72 2004 Dramatization of the passionately mystical life of Saint Francis of Assisi. The decadent son of a wealthy, 13th-century Italian merchant, Francesco experienced a religious awakening and set an enduring example of devotion and sacrifice.

The garden of the Finzi-Continis, 1970 PQ4807.A79 G5 1997 The drama is set in Italy in 1938, when Mussolini's anti-Semetic edicts began to isolate the Jews from their communities. Among them were the Finzi-Continis, an aristocratic Jewish family forced for the first time to acknowledge the world beyond its fenced garden.

Giulietta degli spiriti (), 1965 PN1997 .G534 2002 (two copies) When she suspects her husband of infidelity, a housewife unleashes an unconscious ripe with erotic fantasies. In this film, Fellini's first feature-length color film, his examination of the sexual psyche unfolds via the surrealistic use of abrupt cut-aways to illustrate the woman' sexual fantasies.

Intervista, 1987 PN1998.3.F45 F43 2005 A Japanese film crew interviews Fellini about his career as he films the memories of his life as a young journalist walking into his beloved studio Cinecitta for the first time.

Italianissimo 1: beginners, 1994 PC1121 .I83 1994 This course combines a carefully designed language learning program with a colorful and fascinating insight into the daily life of Italy. History and culture of Italy are integrated throughout the course.

Italiensk for begyndere (feature film) PN1997 .I83 2002 Several Danish students of an class find romance in their studies of the language of love.

Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) or (); 1950 PN1995.9.F67 B53 1998; and PN1995.9.F67 B53 2007 In post-WWII poverty-stricken , a man struggles to earn a living for himself and his family. When his bicycle and main means of support is stolen, with his young son in tow, he attempts to find the thief.

Laviamoci il cervello (Rogopag: four stories by four writers who contain themselves to recounting the gay beginning of the end of the world), 1962 PN1997 .L38 1995 A collection of four short films which take a satirical and darkly humourous look at society and the conditions and circumstances of specific individuals in it.

Leri, Oggi, Domani (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow), 1964 PN1995.9.F67 Y47 2004 Three tales of women who use sex to get what they want out of the self-centered men in their lives.

Mafioso, 1962 PN1995.9.M23 M345 2008 Nino is an auto-factory foreman who takes his proper, modern wife and two blonde daughters from industrial to the antiquated, rural Sicily to visit his family and get back in touch with his roots. Nino gets more than he bargained for when he discovers some harsh truths about his ancestors and himself.

Mamma roma, 1962 PN1995.9.F67 M366 2004 A middle-aged prostitute attempts to extricte herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Mamma Roma offers an unflinching look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy.

La mariée était en noir (The bride wore black), 1968 PN1997 .M373 2001 After a bridegroom is shot on the steps of the church on his wedding day, his widow traces the group of men responsible and eliminates them one by one. This film was the original inspiration for Kill Bill.

La meglio gioventù (), 2002 PN1995.9.H5 B478 2006 (2 copies) Divided by politics but bonded by blood, Italian brothers Nicola and Matteo find their paths intersecting through some of the most tumultuous events in recent history.

Le mépris (Contempt), 1963 VIDEO 2291 A French dramatist writing a screenplay for an American producer disagrees with the producer on how film should be done. After an argument between her husband and the producer, the writer's wife has an affair with the producer and regards the writer with contempt, presumably because of his attitudes and behavior.

Le mépris (Contempt), 1963 PN1995.9.M27 M46 2002 (2-disc set) Features: Disc one: audio commentary by film scholar Robert Stam. Disc two: The dinosaur and the baby (1967): a conversation between Jean-Luc Godard and Fritz Lang (60 min.); Encounter with Fritz Lang (1963): a short film by Peter Fleischmann; two 1963 documentaries by Jacques Rozier featuring Godard on the set of Contempt: Bardot et Godard and ; Jean-Luc Godard interview excerpt from the French television program Cinepanorama (1964); interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard (2002); original theatrical trailer.

Mio fratello è figlio unico (My brother is an only child), 2007 PN1997.2 .M9 2008 The violent political unrest of 1960s Italy brings simmering tensions between two feuding brothers to the boiling point in this critically acclaimed film.

Il mio viaggio in Italia (), 1999 PN1998.2 .M56 2003 directs and narrates this personal documentary about Italian film and select Italian filmmakers and the influence they had on him.

Miracolo a Milano ( ), 1951 PN1997.M567 D48 1990 Comedy, satire, and realism are combined in a fantasy about the social conceits of man. An Italian orphan, with the aid of a miraculous dove, combats power and wealth and succeeds in bringing happiness to the inhabitants of a Milanese hobo camp.

Notti di Cabiria (), 1957 PN1995.9.F67 N54 1999 (2 copies) Cabiria, a prostitute, throws herself into endless love affairs with the frantic persistence of a trapped bird, dashing body and soul against the vain hope of securing marriage and a happy family life.

La Notte di San Lorenzo (The night of the shooting stars), 1982 D743.23 .N54 1991 Depicts the final days of World War II in Italy, seen mostly through the eyes of a six-year-old girl. It is a mythic recollection by the protagonist of life on the run when a group of Italian villagers flee from brutal Nazi occupiers in the summer of 1944.

Nuovomondo (Golden door), 2006 PN1995.9.H5 G65346 2008 A Sicilian farmer falls in love with a worldly British woman while both are attempting to immigrate to America.

Ossessione (Obsession), 1989 PN1995.9.M27 O88 1989, parts one and two (two VHS tapes) The story of the ill-fated love between a virile young drifter, who arrives by chance at a roadside restaurant and filling station, and the beautiful young wife of the old man who owns the place.

Otello, 1986 PR2829 .A23 1986 (VHS hi-fi, sung in Italian with English sub-titles) Otello, a Moor appointed governor of Cyprus on behalf of the 15th century Venetian Republic, loves and is loved by his young bride, Desdemona. Soon, however, he is deceived by the evil Iago, his ensign, into believing that Desdemona is unfaithful to him. Otello's jealousy overwhelms him and he murders Desdemona. Upon learning the truth, he kills Iago and himself.

Otto e mezzo (8 ½), 1963 PN1997 .O77 2001 (2 copies) Fellini's autobiographical film about a famous film director who loses his inspiration in the midst of making a film.

Padre, padrone (My father, my master), 1977 VIDEO 1840 A powerful story of a son's development under an oppressive father. lives in solitude as an illiterate Sardinian shephard. His father is the brutal instrument of that solitude. Year after year Gavino is isolated alone with his flock in the mountains; separated from family, schools and the collectivity of his town. Finally, he rebels against his father and his own illiteracy. Studying by himself, Gavino earns his degree and writes a book about himself.

Paisan, 1946 D743.23 .P336 1987 Six stories dealing with Italian and American soldiers meeting under battle conditions during World War II. Also available in improved format in: ’s War Trilogy. PN1995.9 .W3 R634 2009, vol. 2

Pasqualino settebellezze (Seven beauties), 1975 PN1995.9.C55 P3762 1998; PN1995.9.C55 P3762 2006 A small-time casanova with no political convictions and fewer brains shoots his sister's pimp to save the family honor. He is caught, tried, sent to an insane asylum, volunteers for the and ends up in a Nazi concentration camp, where he learns to survive at any cost.

Placido Rizzotto, 2000 PN1995.9.F67 P524 2001 Based on the true story of a trade union organizer, Placido Rizzotto, who struggled against the Mafia's corruption and control of the union in 1940s Sicily.

Il Postino (The Postman), 1994 PN1995.9.F67 P668 1995; PN1995.9.F67 P668 1995a A shy postman enlists the aid of the poet Pablo Neruda to conquer the heart of a beautiful woman.

Il Posto, 1961 PN1997 .P678 2003 Ermanno Olmi's Il Posto is a touching and hilarious tale of one young man's stumbling entrance into the perils of modern adulthood, and it provides a sharp observation of dehumanizing corporate enterprise.

Prova d'orchestra (), 1979 PN1995.9.F67 P76 1997 A controversial yet comical film, it depicts the turmoil of Italian society through events that take place during a rehearsal gathering set in a 13th century chapel, as the musicians rebel against their conductor.

Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy PN1995.9.W3 R634 2009 Vol. 1 - Rome open city (1945): When the Nazis occupied Rome, a brave few fought against it. An underground agent who is cornered by the Germans in a certain quarter of Rome, flees the Germans. In the course of his flight he imperils his resistance friends. Vol. 2 – (1946): Set during the liberation of Italy at the end of World War II, looks at the struggles of different cultures to communicate and of people living their everyday lives in extreme circumstances. Vol. 3 - Germany year zero (1948): A portrait of an obliterated Berlin seen through the eyes of a 12-year old boy.

Rocco e i suoi fratelli (), 1960 PN1997.R57533 R641 2001 The story of four poor Italian brothers and their mother who leave their country home and move to bustling Milan with hopes of improving their bitter fortune. The family is thrown into chaos when two of the brothers are torn apart by their love for the same woman and their struggles to succeed in a viciously competitive world.

La sconosciuta (), 2006 PN1995.9.F67 S366 2006 A young Ukranian woman living in an Italian city has a horrendous past of violence and humiliation. She manages to get a job as a house servant for a wealthy couple with a little girl. As she grows closer to the child and her family, her past returns to her. (Human trafficking is the topic of this film.)

La scrota (The bodyguards), 1993 PN1995.9.M23 S26 2006 When a judge and his bodyguards are brutally murdered by the Mafia, four reluctant young cops are assigned to protect the new prosecutor where the only thing that lies ahead of them is more danger. Based on a true story.

Seduced and abandoned (Sedotta e abbandonata), 1964 PN1995.9.F35 S43 1997 A young girl is seduced by her sister's fiancé, setting in motion a chain of events which explore the Sicilian code of honor.

I soliti ignoti (Big deal on Madonna Street), 1958 PN1995.9.C55 S65 1980; PN1995.9.C55 S65 2001 Five men conspire to burglarize a small-time jeweler's safe. When the time comes to carry out the scheme, the men become hopelessly clumsy and have to eventually give up and go home.

Sotto, sotto: strapazzato da anomala passion, 1984 VIDEO 1940 Oscar's wife Ester says she's in love with someone else and Oscar brawls his way up one side of the Coliseum and down the other to find out who has stolen his wife's heart.

Stanno tutti bene (Everybody's fine), 1990 PN1997 .S73556 1992. A retired Sicilian bureaucrat who has seen the best and the brightest - including his own five children - leave his island for success on the Italian mainland is determined to reunite the family. He travels to Italy to surprise his children but is forced to realize that his children are hiding a wrenching family secret.

La Stanza del figlio (The son's room), 2001 PN1995.9.F67 S66 2002 A family struggles to go on after a devastating loss.

The story of boys and girls (Storia de ragazzi e di ragazze), 1989 VIDEO 2160 An intoxicating mix of friends and families meet to celebrate an engagement over a banquet that fondly recalls the endless meal in Babette's Feast.

La Strada (The road), 1954 PN1997 .S774 1986; PN1997 .S774 2003 (3 copies) A pathetic, impressionable little woman is sold by her mother to the brutal strong man in a travelling sideshow. She falls in love with him, but her love is not returned until it is too late.

La tigre e la neve (), 2005 PN1995.9.C55 T5474 2007 Soon after the start of hostilities in Iraq, Rome-based, love-struck poet and lecturer Attilio heads to Baghdad when he learns from his friend, an Iraqi poet, that the woman he loves has been critically injured in a bomb explosion. Attilio does everything in his power to save her, risking his own life amidst the chaos of war.

Tre fratelli (Three brothers), 1981 PN1995.9.F67 T74 2001 A story about the lives and dreams of three brothers reunited in their small home town on the occasion of the funeral of their mother.

Two Women (La ciociara), 1960 PQ4829.O62 T881 1994; IT 4072 Realistic drama of an Italian widow who, along with her young daughter, are brutally raped by Allied soldiers in World War II.

Vangelo secondo Matteo, Il (The Gospel According to St. Matthew), 1964 PN1997 .V378 1990 (two copies) The birth, life, teachings and death on the cross of Jesus Christ presented almost as a cinema-verité documentary. Pasolini's second feature ... is an attempt to take Christ out of the opulent church and present him as an outcast Italian peasant. (from the container)

Vita è bella (), 1997 D743.23 .L574 2002 (2 copies) In 1930s Italy a bumbling Jewish waiter who's gifted with a colorful imagination and an irresistible sense of humor has won the heart of the woman he loves and has created a beautiful life for his young family. But that life is threatened by World War II.