History: Best movies about Italian Renaissance
by sofiaponomareva | created - 17 Nov 2014 | updated - 27 Sep 2019 | PublicI prefer with perfect dresses.
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1. Romeo and Juliet (1968)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Romance
When two young members of feuding families meet, forbidden love ensues.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, John McEnery, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 34,775 | Gross: $38.90M
2. Romeo and Juliet (1954)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, Romance
In Shakespeare's classic play, the Montagues and Capulets, two families of Renaissance Italy, have hated each other for years, but the son of one family and the daughter of the other fall desperately in love and secretly marry.
Director: Renato Castellani | Stars: Laurence Harvey, Susan Shentall, Flora Robson, Norman Wooland
Votes: 634
3. Romeo and Juliet (1936)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, Romance
Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Conway Tearle
Votes: 2,229
4. The Taming of The Shrew (1967)
Approved | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Brutish, fortune-hunting scoundrel Petruchio tames his wealthy, shrewish wife, Katharina.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern
Votes: 8,685 | Gross: $8.00M
5. Otello (1986)
PG | 118 min | Drama, Music
Verdi's famous opera is brought to life in this production. The immortal tale of the noble Moor and his beautiful young wife, and of his lieutenant, whose jealousy and lust for power lead him to commit the ultimate treason.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli, Justino Díaz, Petra Malakova
Votes: 617 | Gross: $0.19M
6. The Merchant of Venice (2004)
R | 131 min | Drama, Romance
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 38,257 | Gross: $3.77M
7. Dangerous Beauty (1998)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A Venetian courtesan becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.
Director: Marshall Herskovitz | Stars: Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Fred Ward
Votes: 19,638 | Gross: $4.53M
8. The Borgias (2011–2013)
TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, History
In the fifteenth century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war, and marriage alliances.
Stars: Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud, Holliday Grainger, Peter Sullivan
Votes: 53,953
9. The Borgias (1981)
50 min | Biography, Drama, History
The ruthless Rodrigo Borgia intends to become Pope and will not let anything stand in his way.
Stars: Oliver Cotton, Maurice O'Connell, Louis Selwyn, Adolfo Celi
Votes: 195
10. Borgia (2011–2014)
TV-MA | 52 min | Biography, Drama, History
Story of the rise and the fall of the Renaissance dynasty.
Stars: Mark Ryder, Isolda Dychauk, Diarmuid Noyes, John Doman
Votes: 7,218
11. Lucrèce Borgia (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Action, Drama, History
In the early 16th century, Italy is ruled by the powerful Borgia family, led by César Borgia and his sister Lucrètè. In a ruthless power play, César plots to have his sister's husband ... See full summary »
Director: Christian-Jaque | Stars: Martine Carol, Pedro Armendáriz, Valentine Tessier, Arnoldo Foà
Votes: 205
12. Bride of Vengeance (1949)
Approved | 92 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A female Borgia is sent out to live up to the family name by killing someone, but falls in love with her intended victim.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: John Lund, Paulette Goddard, Macdonald Carey, Raymond Burr
Votes: 168
13. The Borgia (2006)
120 min | Biography, History
A portrait of the bloody dynasty that spawned a pope, Alexander VI, as well as the role model for Machiavelli's "The Prince," his son Cesare Borgia, and a legend of femme duplicity, daughter Lucrezia Borgia.
Director: Antonio Hernández | Stars: Lluís Homar, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, María Valverde, Sergio Múñiz
Votes: 1,659
14. The Black Duke (1963)
Not Rated | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Cesare Borgia--a cardinal in the Catholic church, a confidant of the Pope and a member of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in 16th-century Italy--must deal with a host of ... See full summary »
Director: Pino Mercanti | Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Conrado San Martín, Maria Grazia Spina, Franco Fantasia
Votes: 66
15. Prince of Foxes (1949)
Approved | 107 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
An unscrupulous agent for the Borgias suffers a change of heart when asked to betray a noble count and his much younger, very beautiful wife.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Wanda Hendrix, Marina Berti
Votes: 1,977 | Gross: $2.55M
16. Caterina Sforza, la leonessa di Romagna (1959)
100 min | Drama, History
Giovanni Medici, the future leader of the Black Bands, has a last meeting in a convent with his dying mother Caterina Sforza, listening to the re-enactment of her life.
Director: Giorgio Walter Chili | Stars: Virna Lisi, Carlo Giuffrè, Sergio Fantoni, Pierre Cressoy
17. The Profession of Arms (2001)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, History, War
The history of the first victim of modern artillery and its moving agony, amidst conspiracies and betrayals of the powerful. Life and death of Giovanni De' Medici, a young brave captain in ... See full summary »
Director: Ermanno Olmi | Stars: Christo Jivkov, Sergio Grammatico, Dimitar Rachkov, Fabio Giubbani
Votes: 1,908
18. Il soldato di ventura (1976)
111 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Medieval soldier of fortune Ettore is travelling through Europe with his partners looking for fight where they can earn some money. When they come across a Spanish castle under siege by the... See full summary »
Director: Pasquale Festa Campanile | Stars: Bud Spencer, Franco Agostini, Enzo Cannavale, Frédéric de Pasquale
Votes: 2,107
19. La mandragola (1965)
95 min | Comedy
Adaptation of the comic play by Macchiavelli about a man's attempt to bed a woman unable to have a child by pretending to be a doctor.
Director: Alberto Lattuada | Stars: Rosanna Schiaffino, Philippe Leroy, Romolo Valli, Nilla Pizzi
Votes: 318
Machiavelli's play
20. The Pagans (1953)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, History
Rome, 1527. Massimo Colonna is in love with Angela, a member of the Orsinis, the Colonnas'arch enemies. As she is officially engaged to Tancredi Serra, the latter, a faithless individual, ... See full summary »
Director: Ferruccio Cerio | Stars: Pierre Cressoy, Hélène Rémy, Vittorio Sanipoli, Luigi Tosi
Votes: 41
21. Pope Joan (2009)
149 min | Drama, History, Romance
A woman of English extraction born in the German city of Ingelheim in the ninth century disguises herself as a man and rises through the Vatican ranks.
Director: Sönke Wortmann | Stars: Johanna Wokalek, David Wenham, John Goodman, Iain Glen
Votes: 9,113
22. The Decameron (1971)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, History
An adaptation of nine stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron".
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini | Stars: Franco Citti, Ninetto Davoli, Jovan Jovanovic, Vincenzo Amato
Votes: 12,088
23. Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
PG | 121 min | Biography, Drama, History
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.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Graham Faulkner, Judi Bowker, Leigh Lawson, Kenneth Cranham
Votes: 4,947
24. The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci (1971)
300 min | Biography, History
Miniseries dramatizing the life of the Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Stars: Philippe Leroy, Giulio Bosetti, Giorgio Piazza, Bruno Piergentili
Votes: 436
25. The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
Approved | 138 min | Biography, Drama, History
The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews
Votes: 8,050
Michaelangelo
26. Caravaggio (1986)
93 min | Biography, Drama, History
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Noam Almaz, Dexter Fletcher, Nigel Terry, Sean Bean
Votes: 7,023 | Gross: $0.00M
27. Artemisia (1997)
R | 98 min | Biography, Drama, History
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was one of the first well-known female painters. The movie tells the story of her youth, when she was guided and protected by her father, the painter ... See full summary »
Director: Agnès Merlet | Stars: Valentina Cervi, Michel Serrault, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Luca Zingaretti
Votes: 2,206 | Gross: $0.38M
28. A Season of Giants (1990– )
Biography, Drama, History
At the turn of the sixteenth century, Michelangelo (Mark Frankel), Raphael (Andrea Prodan), and Leonardo Da Vinci (John Glover) create their masterpieces, while dealing with religious prosecution, political turmoil, and the discovery of America.
Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Steven Berkoff, Juliette Caton, Vernon Dobtcheff
Votes: 108
29. Cellini: A Violent Life (1990)
118 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), a soldier and one of the most important craftsmen and artists of Renaissance Italy, whose life was marked by many achievements and adventures, but also crimes.
Director: Giacomo Battiato | Stars: Wadeck Stanczak, Max von Sydow, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 128
Benvenuto Cellini
30. Il magnifico avventuriero (1963)
93 min | Adventure
Benvenuto Cellini knows no obstacles when it comes to creating a work of art or conquering the heart of a woman.
Director: Riccardo Freda | Stars: Brett Halsey, Claudia Mori, Françoise Fabian, José Nieto
Votes: 104
Benvenuto Cellini
31. The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
Approved | 79 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The 16th-century sculptor woos the Duchess of Florence despite the duke.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Constance Bennett, Fredric March, Frank Morgan, Fay Wray
Votes: 484
32. El Greco (2007)
119 min | Biography, Drama
The story of the uncompromising artist and fighter for freedom, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known to the world as "El Greco".
Director: Yannis Smaragdis | Stars: Nick Clark Windo, Juan Diego Botto, Laia Marull, Lakis Lazopoulos
Votes: 4,946
33. Giordano Bruno (1973)
123 min | Biography, Drama, History
Fleeing from his enemies in the Catholic Church, the free thinking philosopher, poet and scientist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) has found some protection in Venice. But the Roman Inquisition,... See full summary »
Director: Giuliano Montaldo | Stars: Gian Maria Volontè, Hans Christian Blech, Mathieu Carrière, Renato Scarpa
Votes: 980
34. L'abito nero da sposa (1945)
88 min | Drama, History
In Renaissance Rome, the captain of Strozzi mercenary kills the banker Chigi that has refused the hand of his daughter Berta, girlfriend of Giuliano de 'Medici, brother of Cardinal Giovanni... See full summary »
Director: Luigi Zampa | Stars: Fosco Giachetti, Jacqueline Laurent, Enzo Fiermonte, Carlo Tamberlani
35. Libertas (I) (2006)
130 min | Biography, Drama, History
The film is set in mid-16th century, at a time when the entire eastern Mediterranean is dominated by two great empires, the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, with the small but ... See full summary »
Director: Veljko Bulajic | Stars: Sven Medvesek, Sandra Ceccarelli, Zarko Potocnjak, Goran Grgic
Votes: 161
36. The Nun and the Devil (1973)
R | 100 min | Drama, Horror
During the 1570s, in the convent of Sant'Arcangelo di Baiano, after the death of the mother superior, a power struggle rages on, as one nun, who comes from a powerful family, is willing to do anything to become the new abbess.
Director: Domenico Paolella | Stars: Anne Heywood, Luc Merenda, Ornella Muti, Martine Brochard
Votes: 552
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