I Laureati (The Graduates)
Story: Four 30 something university students live together in an apartment in Florence. Their lives flow between parties and lazy moments, until a dramatic episode provides them with an opportunity to reflect on the future and the commitment needed to be mature.
Technical Specs: Directed by Leonardo Pieraccioni in 1995. With Leonardo Pieraccioni, Rocco Papaleo and Gianmarco Tognazzi.
Reasons to Watch:
- Because it’s set in the beautiful city of Florence.
- For the comic performances by the film’s actors.
Basilicata Coast to Coast
Story: An entertaining road trip type of film, that tells the story of a group of musicians, each with their eccentric personalities and a personal history, crossing the Basilicata on foot to play at a small local festival.
Technical Specs: Directed by Rocco Papaleo in 2010. With Rocco Papaleo, Alessandro Gassman and Max Gazzè.
Reasons to Watch:
- For the beautiful pictures of Basilicata, a region of southern Italy yet to be discovered.
- For the film’s soundtrack. It’s great!
- For the spontaneity and slight melancholic mood of the story.
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (Cinema Paradiso)
Story: A major film director living in Rome, who’s country of origin is Sicily, where he hasn’t been in 30 years. One day, however, the protagonist discovers that Alfredo, the projectionist of a tiny local cinema he loved to visit, has died, and the news leads him to relive the memories of his childhood, when Alfredo taught him the tricks of the trade, and allowed him to see the secrets behind the screen.
Technical Specs: Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore in 1988. With Philippe Noiret and Jacques Perrin.
Reasons to Watch:
- It is among the most famous Italian films in the world and won an Academy Award and the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes.
- It tells of what life is like in the ’40s in a small village in Sicily, and how film was the only distraction in the time.
- For the moving story and relationship between Alfredo and the child.
Novecento (1900)
Story: It tells the story of two Italians, both born in 1901: One is the son of a farmer, and other born of a wealthy landowner. Both become adults through the first and then the Second World War and the Resistance.
Technical Specs: Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci in 1976. With Robert de Niro, Gerard Depardieu and Burt Lancaster.
Reasons to Watch:
- Because it tells the story of Italy over a century, as seen through the eyes of a great director.
- Because it has been labelled as one of the “100 films to save in Italy”.
- Because it focuses on some of the most emblematic areas of Italy.
Undoubtedly, these films showcase some of the most beautiful Italian imagery, as well as inspires a holiday in this wonderfully magical country. Are you inspired? Get away and explore Italy with Opodo!
