Good Italian Films

[Virtual_Aardvark]

This summer I will be departing for the wilds of Italy. I have an alright grasp of Italian in text but am at a complete loss when it comes to understanding it when spoken. I have heard that watching films in a foreign tongue can be helpful but know little about Italian film. Does anyone have recommendations for good films from Italy? I'm not picky about genres so don't feel too bound to European arthouse types.

[Zohar]

I haven't seen a lot of Italian films. Cinema Paradiso is a wonderful movie, Life is Beautiful (La Vita è bella) is also very good.

[jaap]

I really enjoyed La Scorta. A tense naturalistic movie about a group of bodyguards protecting a judge who is fighting corruption.

[Pez Dispens3r]

Johnny Stecchino! It's a comedy that partly relies on your understanding that the Italian word for "assurance" isn't dissimilar from the Italian word for "insurance".

Shenanigans ensue.

[Microscopic cog]

You could try watching some films by Fellini.

[sje46]

Not a film, but I heard Jersey Shore is filming there next season.

[Nooseybear]

If you don't mind watching some classics:

Ladri di biciclette - Vittorio De Sica
Amarcord - Frederico Fellini
8½ - Frederico Fellini
La dolce vita - Frederico Fellini
Rocco e i suoi fratelli - Luchino Visconti
Il Gattopardo - Luchino Visconti
L'Avventura - Michelangelo Antonioni

Otherwise more recent films:

Gomorra - Matteo Garrone
Il Divo - Paolo Sorrentino

These are the ones I can name off the top of my head... I'm sure there's plenty of other good movies I missed.

[podbaydoor]

Second recommendation for Il Gattopardo (the Leopard) - an aging Burt Lancaster doing his best impression of an aging Italian nobleman coming to the realization that the time of the landed gentry is coming to an end. Some great period ballroom scenes if you like looking at dresses from that period.

[Spiny Norman]

Reading some of the replies makes me realise you can find any kind of film. Cheap spaghetti rip offs, peplums, costume drama, comedy, incomprehensible arthouse movies, really perverse stuff. You will simply have to be more specific!

[Virtual_Aardvark]

How bout' this then.

Italian horror. I am unfamiliar with any Italian horror directors but I'm certain they exist. Who are they? What have they made?
Comedy. Europe is well known for it's black or satirical comedies, show me Italy's.
Animation. I just think animation is pretty neat.

I was avoiding asking for specific genres because I try not to limit myself when encountering a new country. Too much Swedish arthouse for example almost turned me off of Scandinavia entirely. And since the main purpose of this exercise is to get a feel for the language pretty much anything would serve.

[SirMustapha]

Italian horror. I am unfamiliar with any Italian horror directors but I'm certain they exist. Who are they? What have they made?

Most obvious choice is Dario Argento. Classics include Profondo Rosso and Suspiria.

Comedy. Europe is well known for it's black or satirical comedies, show me Italy's.

I've heard positive comments about Pranzo di Ferragosto, but I'm yet to watch it.

[Malice]

How bout' this then.

Italian horror. I am unfamiliar with any Italian horror directors but I'm certain they exist. Who are they? What have they made?

The big Italian horror genre is the "giallo", which are basically stylish, colorful (literally) thrillers. Dario Argento is one of the leading filmmakers in the genre, with movies such as Suspiria and Bird with the Crystal Plumage. There's also Lucio Fulci, best known for his unofficial Night of the Living Dead sequel, the gorefest "Zombi 2" (notable for, among other things, a scene where a zombie fights a shark), and Mario Bava, who made a bunch of well-done horror/thrillers in his day (of which I've only seen "Blood and Black Lace", which was pretty good).

[Tinman42]

I haven't seen a lot of Italian films. Cinema Paradiso is a wonderful movie, Life is Beautiful (La Vita è bella) is also very good.

now THOR is a good film. Vita e bella is excellent.

[Midnight]

Italian horror... they had a bit of an ultra-gory cannibalism movement in the 80s, as far as that goes. "Cannibal Holocaust" comes to mind.

Also, movies like "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and "A Fistful of Dollars" are Italian, even though they're westerns with American actors. Spaghetti Westerns, yo.

[lanicita]

I've mostly seen classics that I didn't enjoy much, but I did absolutely love "La Meglio Gioventu". It's a 6 hour miniseries. The story traverses 30 years so you actually learn a lot of Italian history while you watch. All the rest of my favorites have already been said... I haven't seen any horror or comedy.

[Malice]

Italian horror... they had a bit of an ultra-gory cannibalism movement in the 80s, as far as that goes. "Cannibal Holocaust" comes to mind.

Also, movies like "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and "A Fistful of Dollars" are Italian, even though they're westerns with American actors. Spaghetti Westerns, yo.

Actually, they were made by Italians but filmed mostly in Spain with Spanish actors redubbed into English; only the stars were American. And the movies themselves were based on Japanese movies. Spaghetti sushi taco Westerns.

[Nattlinnen]

1900 is a fantastic film. Can't remember much though as I was quite young when I watched it, but the feeling remains.

[Midnight]

Spaghetti sushi gazpacho Westerns.

Tacos are most definitely Mexican, my friend.
Anyways, Italians directing Americanized Japanese movies with American stars, in Spain.

1900 is a fantastic film. Can't remember much though as I was quite young when I watched it, but the feeling remains.

Fixed it. Don't need quotation marks around the URLs with url tags.

[Nattlinnen]

Fixed it. Don't need quotation marks around the URLs with url tags.

oops, thank you