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Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni L’Avventura 1960. Cooly elegant study of emotional and psychological alienation, set in Sicily. The Eclipse 1962. Monica Viti stars in meditation on doomed relationships in a fractured world. (VHS) Identification of a Woman 1982. A love story based on a filmmaker’s chance encounters with 2 women. Rated R. La Notte 1961 The Mystery of Oberwald adaptation of Jean Cocteau's play "The Eagle Has Two Heads". (VHS) The Passenger 1975. Enigmatic tale of a man changing his identity, stars Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider. Red Desert/ Il Deserto Rosso 1964. Monica Vitti and Richard Harris star in starkly beautiful classic.
Directed by Pupi Avati - A Heart Elsewhere / Il cuore altrove Stars Giancarlo Giannini in a saga of a magnificently absurd obsession. Noi Tre One of the most delightful films ever made about Mozart. (VHS) A Story of Boys and Girls A wry and worldly slice of Italian domesticity - the joys of eating and lovemaking! (VHS)
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci - Before the Revolution 1966, middle-class youth “discovers” Marxism and tries to change his life. (VHS) Besieged 1998. Stars Thandie Newton & David Thewlis in a provocative and complex drama . (VHS) La Commare Secca/ The Grim Reaper 1962. Pasolini scripted from his own story. The Last Emperor 1987, epic tale of China’s last emperor, winner of 9 Academy Awards. Made in English. Last Tango in Paris 1972, Marlon Brando & Maria Schneider star in a controversial/ once banned sex melodrama. Rated R. Little Buddha 1994. Keanu Reeves stars. Made in English. 1900 Star-studded epic drama of Italy in the 20th century, using two contrasting families. 1977. The Spider’s Stratagem 1970, based on a short story by Jorge Louis Borges. (VHS) Stealing Beauty Stars Jeremy Irons and Liv Tyler. Romantic drama about a beautiful young American girl who spends the summer in Tuscany. In English. (VHS)
Directed by Vittorio De Sica - Bicycle Thieves 1948. Poignant classic of Italian Neo-Realism. Miracle in Milan 1951. Satire about the way displaced Europeans were treated after WWII. Two Women 1961. Sophia Loren & Jean-Paul Belmondo star. English language version. (VHS) Umberto D 1952. A retired bureaucrat on a meagre pension is about to be forced onto the streets. De Sica considered this his finest film. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 1963. Sophia Loren stars in Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film that year. English Language Version. (VHS)
Directed by Federico Fellini - And the Ship Sails On 1984, symbolic parable about a luxury liner filled with eccentric beautiful people. (VHS) Casanova 1976, stars Donald Sutherland. Rated R. La Dolce Vita 1960. The Vatican tried to ban it, the left championed it and the public adored it… Fellini’s 8 1/2 1963, many think it’s his masterpiece. Juliet of the Spirits 1965, stars Giulietta Masina. Love in the City Looks at the oldest profession and one section is directed by Fellini. (VHS) I Vitelloni 1953, bleakly funny & perhaps his best. Roma 1972. An extravagantly sentimental and grotesque tour of “his” Rome. Satyricon 1969. A wildly free-form adaptation of Petronius.
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini - Accattone 1964, his first film - a drama of Rome’s seedy underside. (VHS) The Decameron 1970. Boccaccio’s bawdy tales brought to the screen. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew 1964. Pasolini reworks Matthew’s gospel from a Marxist perspective. Hawks and Sparrows 1966. A Marxist parable told by a wise crow. (VHS) Mamma Roma 1962. Pasolini’s neo-realist masterpiece stars Anna Magnani as a middle aged whore who saves money to bury an apartment and retire from working the streets. Medea 1970, a fascinating collision of Freudian and Marxist themes. Maria Callas stars as Medea. Oedipus Rex 1967, unusual reworking of Sophocles’ tragedy. (VHS) Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom 1975. His last film before he was murdered, transports De Sade’s work to Mussolini’s Fascist republic of 1944. Rated R Theorem/ (Teorama) 1968, stars Terence Stamp. Pasolini achieves his most perfect fusion of Marxism and religion. (VHS)
Directed by Roberto Rossellini - Germany, Year Zero 1947, horrific story of a boy in post-war Berlin, & the influence of his Nazi teacher. In German/ English subtitles. (VHS) Rome, Open City 1945. The film which became synonymous with Italian Neo-Realism. Journey in Italy/ Viaggio in Italia 1953, stars Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders. In English.
Directed by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani - Fiorile Ambitious historical epic spans two centuries of Italian history. (VHS) Good Morning Babylon Stars Greta Scacchi, Charles Dance. Mainly in English. (VHS) Kaos Based on bizarre short stories by Pirandello. The Night of the Shooting Stars. One of the great films about WWII. Night Sun Based on short story by Tolstoy. (VHS) Padre Padrone Astounding debut feature - was the first film to win both major prizes at Cannes.
Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore - Cinema Paradiso Delightful multi award winning drama. This version is the extended director’s cut. Especially on Sunday Dirs. Tornatore, G.Bertolucci & Giordona. Magical vision from 3 of Italy’s most famous directors. Stars Philippe Noiret, Bruno Ganz & Ornella Muti. (VHS) Everybody's Fine Comedy with Marcello Mastroianni. (VHS) The Legend of 1900 Tim Roth stars as the legendary pianist who spent his entire life aboard the steamship “The Virginian”. Great score by Ennio Morricone. In English. Malena. Set in Sicily in 1941. The trials of a beautiful young woman, whose husband has gone off to war. (VHS) A Pure Formality Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore, stars Gerard Depardieu & Roman Polanski. In French. (VHS) The Star Maker Set in Sicily in 1953, a crooked filmmaker runs a “pay for your own screen-test” scam amongst the hopeful locals. (VHS)
Directed by Luchino Visconti - The Damned 1969, stars Dirk Bogarde. Made in English. Rated R. (VHS) Death in Venice 1971, Dirk Bogarde stars in this mesmerising adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novel. The Leopard 1963. Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale star in sumptuous historical drama dealing with the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of Garibaldi. L’Innocente 1976. This understated turn-of the-century melodrama about infidelity was his final film. Ossessione 1942, landmark in the development of Film Noir, based on James M. Cain’s “The Postman Always Rings Twice”. Rocco and His Brothers 1960, compelling drama of a poor southern Italian family beset by misfortune.
Agatha and the Storm Dir. Silvio Soldini, 2004. Quirky comedy about life changing events for two families. Allegro Non Troppo Dir. Bruno Bozzetto. Incredibly imaginative parody of Disney’s “Fantasia”. Angela Dir. Roberta Torre. Based on a true story of a woman who was married to the Mafia. The Battle of Algiers Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965. Much lauded landmark of political cinema. Bread and Tulips Dir. Silvio Soldini. A quirky “roadmovie” of the people met along the way by a middle aged housewife who decides to hitchhike to Venice. Il Ciclone Dir. Leonardo Pieraccioni. Italy’s biggest local box office hit is a great comedy. (VHS) Dear Diary/ Caro Diario Dir. Nanni Moretti, winner of Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival 1994. Fourteen in May Dir. Antonio Capliano. Tough tale of growing up. Rated R. (VHS) The Golden Door/ Nuovomondo Dir. Emanuele Crialese, 2006. A touching tale of poor Sicilian immigrants to the United States in the early 20th century. Gomorrah Dir. Matteo Garrone, 2008. Based on Roberto Saviano's best-selling exposé of the Naples Mafia. Icicle Thief Dir. Maurizio Nichetti. Wacky satire of the battle about the relative merits of film vs. television. (VHS) Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Dir. Elio Petri. Gian Maria Volonte in award winning thriller. (VHS) The Legend of the Holy Drinker Dir. Ermanno Olmi. English language original version. Stars Rutger Hauer, winner of Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival, 1988 (VHS) Life is Beautiful/ La Vita e Bella Dir. Roberto Benigni, 1997. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film tells the tale of a man who refuses to ever give way to adversity. Like Two Crocodiles Dir. Giacomo Campiotti. A man who has lost the power to love with passion still has the power to hate with a vengeance. (VHS) Mediterraneo Dir. Gabriele Salvatores. 1992 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film - a sheer delight! Melissa P Dir. Luca Guadagnino. Based on the novel, One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, it deals with raw emotions and frank sexuality. My Brother is an Only Child Dir. Daniele Luchetti, 2007. Comedy about two brothers in a small town in the 1960s. The Night Porter Dir. Liliana Cavani,1974 , starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling. In English, Rated R. One Hundred Steps / I cento passi Dir. Marco Tullio Giordana. Explosive tale of betrayal, murder and intrigue revolving around one Mafia family. Open Doors Dir. Gianni Amelio, political drama set in Palermo in 1937, stars Gian Maria Volonte. (VHS) Il Postino Dir. Michael Radford. Philippe Noiret stars in a touching drama about the exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and his simple Italian postman. (VHS) Quiet Chaos Dir. Antonello Grimaldi, 2008. Written by and starring Nanni Moretti, this is a touching film about the process of bereavement. Red, Like the Sky Dir. Cristiano Bortone, 2006. The film is inspired by the true story of Mirco Mencacci, one of the most gifted Italian sound editors working today, who happens to be blind. Respiro / Grazia’s Island Dir. Emanuele Criales. This eerie film depicts with languorous intimacy the textures of life in a small Sicilian fishing village. La Scorta Dir. Ricky Tognazzi. The film that united an entire country against the Mafia. Rated R. (VHS) The Son’s Room Dir. Nanni Moretti. Award winning drama about a family coming to terms with the death of a son and brother. The Stolen Children / Il Ladro Di Bambini Dir. Gianni Amelio, 1992. (VHS) Tea With Mussolini Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Co-scripted with John Mortimer, it’s an amusing and brilliantly cast historical drama with an ironic edge. Mainly in English. The Tiger and the Snow Dir. Roberto Benigni, 2005. Romantic comedy about a love struck Italian poet who is stuck in Iraq at the beginning of the American invasion. Tis Pity She's a Whore Dir. Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 1973. Charlotte Rampling stars in reworking of Ford's Jacobean tragedy. Shot in English. (VHS) The Tree of Wooden Clogs Dir. Ermano Olmi, 1978. Lyrical portrait of farm life in rural Italy at the turn of last century. Volere, Volare Dir. Maurizio Nichetti. Brilliantly inventive comedy. (VHS) Wounded Love/ L’Amore Molesto Dir. Mario Martone. A psychological thriller of uncommon inventiveness. (VHS)
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