Best Italian Movies?

Yep. I wasn't that impressed - about a 6.

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I actually saw Bicycle Thieves earlier today, and I immediately fell in love with it ! I'll make sure to put his other movies on my watchlist, thanks.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

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I gave it 30 minutes and quit, I was able to sit through The Human Condition, Berlin Alexanderplatz and I will make it through the Decalouge but that was just to boring for me.

Not really watched anything Italian Italian for a while but I used to be a big fan of Dario Argento films.

Favorite 10

Eight And Half - Federico Fellini
La Strada - Federico Fellini
Nights of Cabiria - Federico Fellini
L'Avventura - Michelangelo Antonioni
Bicycle Thieves - Vittorio De Sica
Germany Year Zero - Roberto Rosellini
Theorema - Pier Paolo Pasolini
Il Posto - Ermanno Olmi
Juliette of the Spirits - Federico Fellini
The Son's Room - Nanni Moretti

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In chronological order:

Dante's Inferno (Liguoro, Bertolini, Padovan, 1911)
Bicycle thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)
La terra trema (Luchino Visconti, 1948)
Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951)
Miracle in Milan (Vittorio de Sica, 1951)
Umberto D. (Vittorio de Sica, 1952)
Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)
The Great War (Mario Monicelli, 1959)
The adventure (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
Il posto (Ermanno Olmi, 1961)
Il sorpasso (Dino Risi, 1962)
Mamma Roma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962)
The success (Mauro Morassi & Dino Risi, 1963)
A fistful of dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
For a few dollars more (Sergio Leone, 1965)
Almost a man (Vittorio de Seta, 1966)
The good, the bad and the ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
Once upon a time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
Investigation on a citizen above suspicion (Elio Petri, 1970)
Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
The consequences of love (Paolo Sorrentino, 2004)

A solid filmography so far, yet not thoroughly explored at all. I haven't watched any of the post-Neorealist Fellinis, or Visconti's work beyond the ones I list here (same with Antonioni), or most giallo, 80s-90s, many important authors I still haven't tried (Ettore Scola being probably the most relevant). This thread is quite nice to get recommendations.

Oh, and de Sica > Rossellini. Let's have some fun.

Love me some Sergio Leone.

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The Best of Youth (2003)

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I had this, but knowing it was 4 or 5 hours long, I passed it up.. On a score, of 1-10, what would you give it? And second, how is the writing and acting?

It's actually split into two parts for the theatrical version, while the TV version is a mini-series of four parts. It's quite a bit longer than most films - I believe the total length of the TV version is over six hours, with the theatrical version having over half an hour of this cut out. Really difficult to give it an exact score, it's been several years since I watched it now, but it's definitely in the 8-9 range if to be specific. The writing and acting are both spot on. I encourage you to allocate time and watch it.

I've heard great things about it... How is the pace?

Fistful of dollars, for a few dollars more, the good the bad and the ugly.

Rome, Open City (1945)
Mafioso (1962)
Salvatore Guliano (1962)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
The Conformist (1970)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) (Does this count?)
Il Divo (2008)
Gomorrah (2008)

The plot covers almost 40 years of different events and happenings, so the pacing is pretty hefty. Regardless, that doesn't matter as you'll be hooked within the first half hour. One of the beautiful (or scary, if you like) messages of the film is how small occurrences often end up becoming crucial to the choices you make in life. It's a long watch, but most definitely worth it.

I'm convinced.. I've had it for a year, but I think I'm going to watch it today. Thank you!

Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood's movies.

I gave "Best of Youth" a 7....

I'd love to hear an elaboration on this. What did you think of the atmosphere/pacing? I know it was a really long watch - it's one of those films you have to set aside a good amount of time to properly enjoy, both for the film itself and afterthought. Hopefully the length didn't impair your experience.

The pacing was fine.. It went by pretty fast, except those last two hours.