41 Movies to Watch If You’re Dreaming of Italy
by elena_steffanova | created - 30 Apr 2020 | updated - 30 Apr 2020 | Publicas seen on Condé Nast Traveler https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/best-italian-movies?utm_medium=social&mbid=social_facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_social-type=owned&utm_brand=cnt&fbclid=IwAR2iMPNzPRKn77V90gEkI_iSHMX-J41TTBPRricTZCW79rU9ex9_wZacIoo
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1. 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: 125,252 | Gross: $0.05M
2. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
R | 139 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In late 1950s New York, a young underachiever named Tom Ripley is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 243,765 | Gross: $81.30M
3. 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: 175,261 | Gross: $0.33M
4. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,014,079 | Gross: $134.97M
5. The Great Beauty (2013)
Not Rated | 141 min | Drama
Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino | Stars: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso
Votes: 97,443 | Gross: $2.85M
6. Suspiria (1977)
R | 92 min | Horror
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bosé
Votes: 105,524
7. The Two Popes (2019)
PG-13 | 125 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins, Juan Minujín, Luis Gnecco
Votes: 133,046
8. The Trip to Italy (2014)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
Two men, six meals in six different places on a road trip around Italy. Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and ending in Capri.
Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Rosie Fellner, Claire Keelan
Votes: 16,179 | Gross: $2.87M
9. Rome, Open City (1945)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Thriller, War
During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi, Marcello Pagliero, Vito Annichiarico
Votes: 28,992
10. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Frances Mayes, a 35-year-old San Francisco writer, gets a divorce that leaves her with terminal writer's block and depression. Later, she decides to buy a house in Tuscany in order to change her life.
Director: Audrey Wells | Stars: Diane Lane, Raoul Bova, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Duncan
Votes: 59,653 | Gross: $43.61M
11. The Omen (1976)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, David Warner
Votes: 132,706 | Gross: $4.27M
12. Call Me by Your Name (2017)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
Director: Luca Guadagnino | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar
Votes: 316,227 | Gross: $18.10M
13. Eat Pray Love (2010)
PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".
Director: Ryan Murphy | Stars: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis
Votes: 105,971 | Gross: $80.57M
14. 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: 283,120 | Gross: $11.99M
15. The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
PG | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Lizzie McGuire has graduated from middle school and takes a trip to Rome, Italy with her class. And what was supposed to be only a normal trip, becomes a teenager's dream come true.
Director: Jim Fall | Stars: Hilary Duff, Adam Lamberg, Clayton Snyder, Hallie Todd
Votes: 42,103 | Gross: $42.73M
16. 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: 46,849 | Gross: $0.58M
17. Roman Holiday (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power
Votes: 147,732
18. A Bigger Splash (2015)
R | 125 min | Drama, Music, Thriller
A famous rock star's vacation in Italy with her boyfriend is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.
Director: Luca Guadagnino | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson
Votes: 32,898 | Gross: $1.98M
19. 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: 743,666 | Gross: $57.60M
20. It Started in Naples (1960)
Approved | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
Days before his wedding, a Philadelphia lawyer travels to Naples in Southern Italy to settle the estate of his late brother, only to find that he has an Italian nephew who is being cared for by his maternal aunt, a cabaret singer.
Director: Melville Shavelson | Stars: Clark Gable, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, Marietto
Votes: 3,150
21. Gomorrah (2008)
Not Rated | 137 min | Crime, Drama
Scampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.
Director: Matteo Garrone | Stars: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo, Simone Sacchettino
Votes: 51,224 | Gross: $1.58M
22. 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: 28,218 | Gross: $0.07M
23. I Am Love (2009)
R | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Emma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day, Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend, makes her senses kindle.
Director: Luca Guadagnino | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher
Votes: 24,006 | Gross: $5.01M
24. Chasing Liberty (2004)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Romance
Anna wants to be like other girls her age (18): date a guy etc. but she's the US president's daughter and always guarded. In Prague he breaks his promise of only 2 agents following her to a concert and she runs away with Ben to see Europe.
Director: Andy Cadiff | Stars: Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode, Mark Harmon, Stark Sands
Votes: 41,074 | Gross: $12.19M
25. 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: 78,242 | Gross: $19.52M
26. The English Patient (1996)
R | 162 min | Drama, Romance, War
At the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 201,162 | Gross: $78.65M
27. 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: 14,728 | Gross: $0.08M
28. Enchanted April (1991)
PG | 95 min | Drama
Four English women, after World War I, who are unhappy with their lives, and their time away on vacation in a beautiful Italian villa.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Alfred Molina, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker
Votes: 7,139 | Gross: $13.20M
29. The Voice of the Moon (1990)
Not Rated | 126 min | Comedy, Drama
The amusing and entertaining adventures of a recently released mental patient and his band of misfits, who discover conspiracies to participate in while looking for love.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Paolo Villaggio, Nadia Ottaviani, Marisa Tomasi
Votes: 3,306
30. Like Crazy (2016)
Not Rated | 116 min | Comedy, Drama
Two quite different women escape a mental institution to see Tuscany in a stolen car and get to know each other.
Director: Paolo Virzì | Stars: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Micaela Ramazzotti, Valentina Carnelutti, Sergio Albelli
Votes: 10,283 | Gross: $0.11M
31. Letters to Juliet (2010)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Sophie travels to Verona where she finds an old unanswered letter asking for love advice. She answers it and when the recipient shows up along with her grumpy grandson, they head off to find the old long lost love while a young love sparks
Director: Gary Winick | Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave, Marcia DeBonis
Votes: 107,241 | Gross: $53.03M
32. A Room with a View (1985)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands
Votes: 47,896 | Gross: $20.97M
33. National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
PG-13 | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy
The Griswolds win a vacation tour across Europe where the usual havoc ensues.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Hill, Jason Lively
Votes: 71,609 | Gross: $49.40M
34. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale
Votes: 52,031 | Gross: $22.55M
35. 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: 112,085 | Gross: $3.45M
36. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure
In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 811,317 | Gross: $197.17M
37. The Italian Job (1969)
G | 99 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A comic caper movie about a plan to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin by creating a traffic jam.
Director: Peter Collinson | Stars: Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone
Votes: 50,370
38. Ocean's Twelve (2004)
PG-13 | 125 min | Crime, Thriller
Daniel Ocean recruits one more team member so he can pull off three major European heists in this sequel to Ocean's Eleven (2001).
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Votes: 414,284 | Gross: $125.54M
39. Only You (1994)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, Romance
As a teen, Faith was told that her destiny is a man named Damon Bradley. Years later - Faith is about to marry another man - a Damon Bradley calls to wish them all the best. Faith blows off the wedding and follows Damon to Italy.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Bonnie Hunt, Joaquim de Almeida
Votes: 25,699 | Gross: $20.04M
40. Stealing Beauty (1996)
R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
After her mother commits suicide, a young woman travels to Italy in search of love, truth and a deeper connection with herself.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Liv Tyler, Carlo Cecchi, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 30,438 | Gross: $4.57M
41. Quantum of Solace (2008)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
James Bond descends into mystery as he tries to stop a mysterious organisation from eliminating a country's most valuable resource.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench
Votes: 470,974 | Gross: $168.37M
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