Anna Magnani is at her raucous best, playing a mother hoping that her daughter would become a child star, as this early comedy-drama by Visconti reveals the exploitative nature of the film industry.
Largely satisfying as a personal-political journey of an Italian sailor trying to escape his working-class background by dreaming about being an intellectual writer.
Fellini’s first solo feature as director would lay some of the artistic groundwork for his career in this sporadically entertaining comedy about a newlywed’s rendezvous with a ‘romantic ideal’ on her honeymoon in Rome.
Frammartino’s first feature in more than a decade, this dialogue-less wonder of a film is an immersive journey into one of the world’s deepest caves where Man must treat scientific discovery and human mortality with the same curious brushstroke.
A delightful comical romp by Moretti, who channels both the personal and the political in this sly ‘documentary’ masquerading as a drama about a filmmaker-turned-father having an existential crisis.
A patient, sensitively-drawn portrait of grief and loss in a family, though this Cannes Palme d’Or winner doesn’t seem to truly hit right in the gut.
This early Antonioni features a compelling performance by Lucia Bose, playing a newcomer actress who is conflicted about the roles various men in the industry want her to play.
Bava put Italian giallo movies on the world map with this ominous serial-killer mystery, packed with solid scares and features the breathtaking use of colours and shadows.
Tarkovsky’s penultimate feature (stunningly shot in rural Italy during a self-imposed exile) might be his most ponderous work, yet it could also be his sharpest take on faith.
It’s not easy to do a documentary about the life and work of arguably the world’s most extraordinary film composer, but Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore just about makes it work as it captures the sheer breadth and range of the maestro’s legacy.
Eternality Tan 