Discoveries from Italy World Cinema

Opposition of male and female stereotypes

In a Tyrolean village in the first half of the 17th century. Luisa, Miller’s daughter, and Carlo, a young man she met in the village, are deeply in love. When Wurm, a courtier who is also in love with Luisa, asks Miller for his daughter’s hand in marriage, Miller replies that he cannot give his daughter away against her will. Offended, Wurm then reveals Carlo’s true identity: he is Rodolfo, the son of Count Walter. ‘Luisa Miller’ is an opera in three acts, the fourteenth by Giuseppe Verdi, then aged 36. It premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 8 December 1849. Taken from the ‘Tutto Verdi’ box set of 27 Verdi operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on 20 and 22 October 2007.

The Turin area is devastated by floods: the Pô River has overflown and toxic waste from a local dump is now being carried by the stream. Which is why Augusto Vigano, the co-owner of a pub and a dedicated environmentalist, blocks, in the company of a group of friends, the train on which minister Antonelli is traveling. The politician, agrees to listen to the protesters'complaints and , filmed by television cameras, follows Vigano all the way to the dump. It is on this occasion that Vigano is noticed by a politician who sees at once the interest he can derive in having him elected. Augusto, who thinks that being elected to parliament is the best way to protect the environment more effectively, accepts his offer, without realizing that the cynical politician intends to manipulate him.

Four people are killed in a saloon hold-up. The townspeople pin the murders on local no-count black sheep Chester Conway. Lawyer Jeff Plummer and prostitute Polly Winters don't believe that Chester is guilty of these crimes, so they hire smooth and suave gunman Silver to prove Chester's innocence and find the real killers.

The blossoming young love between two teenagers is brutally disrupted by retreating Nazi soldiers who occupy their small village in rural Italy.

A comedy based on fourth novel out of "Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio.

Five episodes: A professor decides to murder her husband to win a woman. A hotelier seduces a boarder. A man convinces a friend to marry his lover, so as not to arouse his wife's suspicions. A man borrows money from a loan shark to pay for the services of his wife. Two couples try in vain to take a trip to the seaside.

1600, Southern Italy is under the Spanish Government. A few years before an attempt at rebellion, inspired by the preaching of the philosopher and monk Tommaso Campanella, is severely quelled by the Government. Campanella, under the charge of the plot, is put into a prison in Naples and waits for the conclusion of an endless process. Throughout the Calabrian countries his name is wrapped up in legend, he becomes almost a myth. Someone believes he has escaped from prison and wanders about under a false name.

Nico and Ray are surrounded by a gang of friends who love to have fun and brighten up the gray days of Milan's suburbs. They believe that love and friendship are the key ingredients for escaping the slums where they live. Between rap songs, Nico and Ray's friends try to survive day by day.

Alessandro and Anna meet by chance. Same night, different tables, both on a date where the other person does not show up. Initially Alessandro cannot stand Anna, but things change when he gets to know her.

Coriolanus leads the plebians in a revolt against Roman oppression.

After a car accident, a professor, trapped and awaiting help, hears a student recount the life of Milarepa. The tale unfolds in three parts: dark vengeance, spiritual discipline, and ultimate transcendence, reflecting a journey of inner transformation.

The film takes place over the course of a single night: the longest night of the year, between December 21 and 22 (the winter solstice), when the sun sets around 4:30 p.m. and rises the next day at 7:30 a.m. A long night in which the stories, destinies, anxieties, and dramas of a provincial town in the south (Potenza) intertwine, even if only briefly. Fifteen hours of uninterrupted darkness in which human destiny becomes exceptional, as the night causes the anchors of the day to be lost and four personal stories suddenly accelerate.

In Faenza, Italy, a dysfunctional family gathers for occasional dinners, and as untold truths are revealed, things gradually become rocky.

At the request of the CIA, British secret agent Lester follows the ominous scientist George King, who, after successfully sabotaging an American rocket launch, has announced to the world's powerful that he can disable any nuclear weapon...

Guido and Cristina fall in love, but she is betrothed to a solider. When he is reported killed they hope to marry, but his reappearance without his limbs makes matters difficult for all concerned.

A man's daughter is killed by thieves during a bank robbery. Due to the incompetence of the corrupt authorities, he decides to take to law into his own hands and track down the killers.

Ernest Hemingway is an almost mythical figure. In addition to being an author, he is literary work himself - a real rock star ante litteram. Much of his life has been an eternal holiday, minutely documented and continues to be a source of inspiration for himself. Wherever there are places that share their quotes: true or presumed. The pictures that portray him are thousands. Hemingway had built a fame as a captain of ventura, expressing a strong personality, man and myth, joining the life lived in the imagination of his characters.

The story of a young couple who live in a small town with their four-year-old daughter. The husband is so caught up in his work as a policeman that he gradually becomes increasingly alienated from his wife and daughter who become ever closer to one another as they discover the new town. It is only a matter of time before the conflicts within the family manifest themselves.

A group of young archaeologists flies to Mexico to study the Mayan culture, but they find trouble when they stumble upon an unknown cursed temple.

Gianni Alberti is a journalist who is sent to Palestine. He decides to fake a fatal accident so he can then return home as a hero. But things don't turn out as planned, Gianni end up coming back to Italy, but only as a ghost.

After the death of his parents in an auto accident Giovanni Bernardi is invited to see his grandpa Count Marco Anselmi.During his stay in the old villa John sees a mysterious and ethereal girl named Veronique.She died during the First World War and now her spirit haunts the living...

The island paradise of San Felipe has undergone a revolution! The charismatic General Siqueiros has assumed control! Those assisting him though have an agenda far beyond a simple dictatorship of a inconsequential banana republic! They’re scheming to put the entire world at their mercy through the mad scientist Karlesten’s efforts to develop a deadly missile-carried gas! And only one man can stop him! Walter Ross, Agent 3S3! And he not only has a license to kill, but also a license to spank!

In a small town in southern Italy lives the Di Gennaro family. Gennaro, the householder, is a noted dentist, married to Anna, a housewife, a few years away from converting to Buddhism. They have two sons: Roberto, last year medical student and guitarist in a small band, and Mattia who attended the first year of high school. The Di Gennaros appear to be a perfect family, but each character hides flaws and excesses.

Old fashioned opera adaptation: A feisty and free spirited woman of the Tyrol withdraws to a mountain peak when she is separated from the man she loves. When he later attempts to rejoin her, disaster results.

Ignorance and inexperience in sexual relations afflict many couples. The film aims to deal with a kind of conductor that lists and exposes situations and problems, gradually illustrated that engage several pairs.

A young and shy girl Celestina arrives from her small home village to Rome to become a housemaid. Her inexperience and naivety causes her to change her employers quite frequently. As she is moving from one family to another she makes friends with other Roman maids and falls desperately in love with a handsome plumber Fernando. But Fernando isn't telling Celestina that he is already engaged to another woman.

Aldo, recently turned 40, is left out of the blue and without explanation by Alessia after a 15-year relationship. On the advice of a friend, Aldo decides to begin a course of therapy. During the sessions, his psychologist Carlo, a 70-year-old introvert, discovers that he has had the same experience that prompted Aldo to turn to him.

The daughter of Jessica Barrett discovers she is carrying a child that is growing abnormally and begins to experience the same symptoms as her mother. It is up to her family to save her from her demonic offspring.

A racewalking athlete Maria runs a petrol station with a takeaway shop in a desolate mountain village, she is almost 30 years old, she may have little chance to fulfill her lifelong dream of success but at what cost?

In Perugia, Luca, a lawyer investigates mysterious facts that happened in the city and even got emotionally involved. The rather complicated cases are those of a jealous murderess girl, of a surgeon who kills a colleague who had helped him to face a dangerous intervention to become a woman, of a plumber who is suspected of murdering an heiress while the real guilty is the nephew who would like to take possession of a huge fortune.

Italian comedy

Jimmy Logan, a detective, tries to retrieve a diamond from the British crown stolen by the traitorous chief of the English Secret Service. After carrying out dangerous investigations at Montecarlo, Beirut and Hamburg, he discovers that the headquarters of the thieves is located in a mental hospital and sets about infiltrating their ranks.

"La Bohème" is one of Giacomo Puccini's most popular and timeless works and the second-most performed opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera. This production, directed by the legendary Franco Zeffirelli, features José Carreras, Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto and Richard Stilwell. The opera is replete with extraordinary visual beauty as it presents the tragic story of young bohemians struggling to make it in the world.

In the study of a lawyer, two young spouses tell their story. The singer Tony manages to reach the much coveted success, and can thus marry his girlfriend. But a clause in his record contract obliges him to remain a bachelor for two years.

Antonio, a former shipyard worker, leads a mild and peaceful life: he plays bowls with friends, takes care of his elderly mother, has an ex-wife with whom he is on excellent terms and Emilia, his only and beloved daughter When Emilia announces to him one day that she has decided to get married, Antonio is filled with joy, he can finally fulfill his dream by giving her the reception they have always dreamed of together being able to count on the savings of a lifetime.However, the bank of which he has always been a client seems to be hiding something, the employees are suddenly elusive and the director inexplicably changes constantly.The task of paying for his daughter's wedding will prove increasingly difficult and Antonio will discover, against his will, that those who keep our treasures don't always keep our dreams as well.

The real masterpiece, among these early works by Risi, is certainly 1848 . Made to order for the centenary of the Milan uprising against Austrian rule, the film opens with a group of soldiers apathetically attending the dress rehearsal for a ballet at La Scala. Who knows if Visconti remembered it for the opening of Senso at the Fenice in Venice - when he certainly had in mind a little film directed by Corrado D'Errico in 1941, La Compagnia della teppa , in which a group insurgents use a Rossini premiere at La Scala to launch leaflets against the Napoleonic occupation.

A diplomatic meeting between Western and Arab diplomats goes wrong, and a black gold dossier is firmly pushed across a desk. Against a background of hostages taken in an embassy, a covert operations agent, Benson, is given a mission in Paris. He is going into an Arab Emirate with a chosen group of operatives, and blow up an oil refinery.

A young physician becomes lonely when his workaholic wife ignores him to concentrate on her professional career. He is befriended by an older female artist who is fond of hallucinogenic mushrooms. When his wife is late for their anniversary celebration, he drinks and takes mushrooms with the artist. He wakes up to find she has died and is fearful he may have accidentally killed her.

The melting love story between two old men, one of them is sick and stays in bed all day, the other is a gambler who takes care of him, visit him everyday and has a hard relationship with his daughter. Sometimes love is the only solution but we realize it when it's too late.

In a curious-looking old hospital, an elderly couple, Carlo and Clara, is waiting for their turn tenderly holding hands. There is a choice to be made, and the woman begins to hesitate. Only the words of the loving Carlo will be able to transform fear into courage. At one point the setting makes way for animation, suggested and overlapped by the words of Clara. It leads the listener to a deep reflection on life. The brief evocation of the magic of existence is imprinted in the deeply moved smile of the woman, certain that life on Earth is nothing but a stage of eternity.

Johnny fights the banker Burton, who tries to acquire with the help of the strange bandit Martinez, in an unlawful way, all the gold mines in the nearer environment.

Luna is a young embalmer with a strange passion for everything concerning death. One day, during a trip in the woods, she finds two bodies. The first one is a dead woman, the other one is a man who is still barely breathing.

No-budget satire on the bleak state of Italian film industry & distribution circa late-'80s-to-early-'90s. Mercurio, a down-to-earth, perennially underseen independent filmmaker, tries to get a distribution company to release his latest movie.

Giovanna Dei, a young cartoonist, works on the violent comic strip "Doctor Dark". Unfortunately, young women are being killed in the style of the comic strip character and she becomes the main suspect.

A former General comes back to Trieste to live with his cousins.

Mourning the death of her father, Giulia is contacted by him from the other dimension.

A beautiful girl plans to seduce, then murder, the brutal conqueror who has taken over her city.