The cinema of Italy comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film has been the most important factor in the history of Italian film. As of 2018, Italian films have won 14 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film as well as 12 Palmes d'Or, one Academy Award for Best Picture and many Golden Lions and Golden Bears.
Federico Fellini, was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. His films have ranked highly in critical polls such as that of Cahiers du Cinéma and Sight & Sound, which lists his 1963 film 8+1⁄2 as the 10th-greatest film.
Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such as Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), and Germany, Year Zero (1948).
Italian neorealism, also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They primarily address the difficult economic and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation.
Rome, Open City is a 1945 Italian neorealist war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Sergio Amidei and Federico Fellini. Set in Rome in 1944, the film follows a diverse group of characters coping under the Nazi occupation, and centers on a Resistance fighter trying to escape the city with the help of a Catholic priest. The title refers to Rome being declared an open city after 14 August 1943. It forms the first third of Rosselini's “Neorealist Trilogy”, followed by Paisan (1946) and Germany, Year Zero (1948).
La strada is a 1954 Italian drama film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina, a simple-minded young woman bought from her mother by Zampanò, a brutish strongman who takes her with him on the road.
Cinema of Europe refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Europe.
The Flowers of St. Francis is a 1950 film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film is based on two books, the 14th-century novel Fioretti Di San Francesco and La Vita di Frate Ginepro, both of which relate the life and work of St. Francis and the early Franciscans. I Fioretti is composed of 78 small chapters. The novel as a whole is less biographical and is instead more focused on relating tales of the life of St. Francis and his followers. The movie follows the same premise, though rather than relating all 78 chapters, it focuses instead on nine of them. Each chapter is composed in the style of a parable, and, like parables, contains a moral theme. Every new scene transitions with a chapter marker, a device that directly relates the film to the novel. When the movie initially debuted in America, where the novel was much less known, on October 6, 1952, the chapter markers were removed.
Europe '51 is a 1952 Italian neorealist film directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Alexander Knox and Ingrid Bergman as a woman who's declared insane after her son's suicide.
Stromboli, also known as Stromboli, Land of God, is a 1950 Italian-American film directed by Roberto Rossellini and featuring Ingrid Bergman. The drama is considered a classic example of Italian neorealism.
Renato Castellani was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
The Machine to Kill Bad People is a 1952 Italian fantasy comedy film directed by Roberto Rossellini and featuring Marilyn Buferd, William Tubbs and Clara Bindi. It is part of the tradition of neorealism of the post-war years. Having helped neorealism gain international recognition with his 1945 work Rome, Open City, Rossellini was trying to branch out into different styles.
SS Wandilla was a steamship built in 1912 for the Adelaide Steamship Company. The ship operated on the Fremantle to Sydney run until 1915, when she was acquired for military service and redesignated HMAT Wandilla. Initially used as a troop transport, the vessel was converted to a hospital ship in 1916. Wandilla was returned to her owners at the end of the war, then was sold to the Bermuda & West Indies SS Company and renamed Fort St. George in 1921. She was sold in 1935 to Lloyd Triestino and renamed Cesarea before being renamed Arno in 1938. At the start of World War II, the ship was acquired by the Regia Marina for use as a hospital ship. She was sunk by British aircraft on 10 September 1942.
Eraldo Da Roma was an Italian film editor best known for his work with Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Michelangelo Antonioni.
Sun is a 1929 Italian silent drama film directed by Alessandro Blasetti and starring Marcello Spada, Vasco Creti and Dria Paola. The film was set around the planned draining of the Pontine Marshes by Benito Mussolini's Fascist government. It was shot partly on location, which added a sense of realism. Mussolini was impressed by the result and described it as "the dawn of the Fascist film".
Luciano Serra, Pilot is a 1938 Italian war drama film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Germana Paolieri and Roberto Villa.
A Pilot Returns is a 1942 Italian war film directed by Roberto Rossellini and starring Massimo Girotti, Michela Belmonte and Piero Lulli. The film forms part of Rossellini's "Fascist trilogy" along with The White Ship (1941) and The Man with a Cross (1943). It was made with the co-operation of the Italian Air Force. The film's sets were designed by the architect Virgilio Marchi.
Michela Belmonte (1925–1978) was an Italian film actress. She was the younger sister of the actress Maria Denis, and briefly enjoyed a career as a leading lady during the Fascist era appearing in major films such as Roberto Rossellini's A Pilot Returns. Following the overthrow of Benito Mussolini's regime in 1943, she retired from acting.
The Man with a Cross is a 1943 Italian war film directed by Roberto Rossellini and starring Alberto Tavazzi, Roswita Schmidt and Attilio Dottesio. It was the final part of Rossellini's "Fascist trilogy" following The White Ship (1941) and A Pilot Returns (1942). It is loosely inspired by Reginaldo Giuliani, an Italian military chaplain who had been killed on active service.
Desire is a 1946 Italian drama film directed by Marcello Pagliero and Roberto Rossellini and starring Massimo Girotti, Elli Parvo and Carlo Ninchi. Interiors were shot at the Farnesina Studios in Rome while location shooting took place around Tagliacozzo in L'Aquila. The film's sets were designed by the art director Virgilio Marchi.
