Great Italian Movies
by dvasques | created - 09 Apr 2013 | updated - 01 Nov 2018 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 24,051 | Gross: $0.04M
2. L'Eclisse (1962)
Not Rated | 126 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman meets a vital young man, but their love affair is doomed because of the man's materialistic nature.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni | Stars: Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Francisco Rabal, Lilla Brignone
Votes: 22,084
3. 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: 32,651
4. 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: 14,181
5. Marriage Italian Style (1964)
Not Rated | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Wealthy businessman Domenico and penniless prostitute Filumena share a large part of their lives in post-WWII Italy.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Puglisi, Tecla Scarano
Votes: 11,038
6. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963)
Not Rated | 119 min | Comedy, Romance
Stories about three very different women and the men they attract.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Giuffrè, Agostino Salvietti
Votes: 10,125
7. A Special Day (1977)
Approved | 106 min | Drama
Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.
Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, John Vernon, Françoise Berd
Votes: 15,845
8. White Nights (1957)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance
A humble clerk courts a woman who awaits her lover's return night after night.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Maria Schell, Marcello Mastroianni, Jean Marais, Marcella Rovena
Votes: 9,010
9. 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: 9,115 | Gross: $0.01M
10. Terraferma (2011)
R | 88 min | Drama
A Sicilian family deals with the arrival of a group of immigrants on their island.
Director: Emanuele Crialese | Stars: Filippo Pucillo, Donatella Finocchiaro, Giuseppe Fiorello, Mimmo Cuticchio
Votes: 3,212
11. Respiro (2002)
PG-13 | 90 min | Drama
On an impoverished Italian island, a free-spirited woman is accused of madness by townspeople fed up with her antics.
Director: Emanuele Crialese | Stars: Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, Francesco Casisa, Veronica D'Agostino
Votes: 4,845 | Gross: $1.07M
12. The Best of Youth (2003)
R | 374 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: 23,216 | Gross: $0.27M
13. 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: 125,247 | Gross: $0.05M
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: 78,237 | Gross: $19.52M
15. 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: 28,216 | Gross: $0.07M
16. Mediterraneo (1991)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, War
In WW2, an Italian Army unit of misfits occupies an isolated non-strategic Greek island for the duration of the war.
Director: Gabriele Salvatores | Stars: Diego Abatantuono, Claudio Bigagli, Giuseppe Cederna, Claudio Bisio
Votes: 16,428 | Gross: $4.53M
17. Sunflower (1970)
G | 107 min | Drama, War
An Italian woman conducts a desperate search for her husband, a soldier considered missing in action in Russia during WWII.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Lyudmila Saveleva, Galina Andreeva
Votes: 4,494
18. Che ora è? (1989)
97 min | Comedy, Drama
The visit of a lawer to his military son is an opportunity to recall the past, discuss the future and find a meeting point between two diametrically opposite personalities.
Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Massimo Troisi, Anne Parillaud, Renato Moretti
Votes: 1,305
19. Nothing Left to Do but Cry (1984)
113 min | Comedy, Fantasy
In the 80s, two friends misteriously wake up in the XV century and clumsly try to intermingle with the society of the time.
Directors: Roberto Benigni, Massimo Troisi | Stars: Massimo Troisi, Roberto Benigni, Iris Peynado, Amanda Sandrelli
Votes: 7,095
20. The Son's Room (2001)
R | 99 min | Drama
A psychoanalyst and his family go through profound emotional trauma when their son dies in a scuba-diving accident.
Director: Nanni Moretti | Stars: Nanni Moretti, Laura Morante, Jasmine Trinca, Giuseppe Sanfelice
Votes: 21,448 | Gross: $1.01M
21. The Executioner (1963)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Comedy
An undertaker marries an old executioner's daughter and must continue his father-in-law's profession after his retirement, although he doesn't like it.
Director: Luis García Berlanga | Stars: Nino Manfredi, Emma Penella, José Isbert, José Luis López Vázquez
Votes: 7,439
22. Amarcord (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: 46,846 | Gross: $0.58M
23. I'm Not Scared (2003)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A young boy accidentally discovers a deep hole in the ground, where another boy is kept prisoner.
Director: Gabriele Salvatores | Stars: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Dino Abbrescia, Giorgio Careccia, Riccardo Zinna
Votes: 15,555 | Gross: $1.62M
24. Bread and Tulips (2000)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Romance
After being forgotten in a highway café during a bus trip, a housewife decides to start a new life by herself in Venice.
Director: Silvio Soldini | Stars: Licia Maglietta, Bruno Ganz, Giuseppe Battiston, Antonio Catania
Votes: 10,077 | Gross: $5.31M
25. Malena (2000)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, War
Amidst the war climate, a teenage boy discovering himself becomes love-stricken by Malèna, a sensual woman living in a small, narrow-minded Italian town.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana
Votes: 112,079 | Gross: $3.45M
26. The Little Devil (1988)
101 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
During an exorcism, father Maurice meets a little devil named Giuditta, who refuses to return to hell and decides to discover the world.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Walter Matthau, Stefania Sandrelli, Giacomo Piperno
Votes: 4,094
27. 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: 175,249 | Gross: $0.33M
28. Johnny Stecchino (1991)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A kindhearted but bumbling idiot who likes to steal bananas, is passed off for a snitch hiding from the mob.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Paolo Bonacelli, Franco Volpi
Votes: 11,558 | Gross: $0.57M
29. 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: 283,105 | Gross: $11.99M
30. The Monster (1994)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
After a series of bizarre actions, Loris is mistaken for a serial killer. Jessica, a policewoman in undercover, will try to induce him to commit a murder.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Michel Blanc, Nicoletta Braschi, Dominique Lavanant
Votes: 11,324 | Gross: $0.64M
31. The Postman (1994)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A simple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet, and then uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice.
Directors: Michael Radford, Massimo Troisi | Stars: Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Renato Scarpa
Votes: 39,011 | Gross: $21.85M
32. The Tiger and the Snow (2005)
110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love-struck Italian poet is stuck in Iraq at the onset of an American invasion.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Jean Reno, Nicoletta Braschi, Tom Waits
Votes: 14,437 | Gross: $0.01M
33. 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: 743,621 | Gross: $57.60M
34. Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Giulietta Masina, François Périer, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray
Votes: 51,967 | Gross: $0.75M
35. The Swindle (1955)
Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy, Crime, 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: 6,908
36. 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: 66,612
37. The Bullocks (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: 19,918 | Gross: $0.10M
38. 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: 14,727 | Gross: $0.08M
39. 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: 6,488 | Gross: $0.01M
40. 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: 12,439
41. Boccaccio '70 (1962)
Unrated | 205 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Inspired by Boccaccio's novellas, each episode focuses on sex, love and seduction in Italy in the 1960s, an era of economic growth and major cultural changes.
Directors: Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Mario Monicelli, Luchino Visconti | Stars: Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, Romy Schneider, Marisa Solinas
Votes: 5,049
42. The Pizza Triangle (1970)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A three-way love affair in the Rome of the early seventies.
Director: Ettore Scola | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti, Giancarlo Giannini, Manuel Zarzo
Votes: 2,252
43. 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: 12,433
44. The Monsters (1963)
Not Rated | 87 min | Comedy
The myths of the sixties are satirized in 20 episodes.
Director: Dino Risi | Stars: Ugo Tognazzi, Vittorio Gassman, Lando Buzzanca, Marino Masé
Votes: 2,780
45. 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: 13,345 | Gross: $0.27M
46. The Great War (1959)
Approved | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The Italian Army fought against the Austrians during World War I.
Director: Mario Monicelli | Stars: Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Bernard Blier, Folco Lulli
Votes: 4,607
47. The Seduction of Mimi (1972)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
Forced to leave his family in Sicily, Mimí finds a job in a factory in Turin, where he gets involved in an extramarital affair.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Agostina Belli, Luigi Diberti
Votes: 2,729 | Gross: $0.47M
48. 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: 6,785
49. Blood Feud (1978)
R | 112 min | Thriller
In pre-World War II Sicily, just as the fascists come to power, two men fall in love with the same woman. The changes in their country's politics ultimately take all three on a journey across the ocean to New York City.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Giancarlo Giannini, Turi Ferro
Votes: 718
50. 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: 3,530
51. Amici miei (1975)
R | 140 min | Comedy, Drama
Four inseparable friends try to face their midlife crisis with daytrips and pranks at the expense of their families and the people around them.
Director: Mario Monicelli | Stars: Ugo Tognazzi, Gastone Moschin, Philippe Noiret, Duilio Del Prete
Votes: 7,994
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