Mamma Roma (1962), The Organizer (1963), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Umberto D. (1952), Rome, Open City (1945), Seduced and Abandoned (1964), I Vitelloni (1953), Miracle in Milan (1951) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Italian Neorealism movies.
Storyline: A prostitute (Anna Magnani) tries to go straight and help her son (Ettore Garofalo), but the past and corruption catch up with them.
Plot Keywords: social critique, mother-son relationship, moral dilemma, social injustice, struggle for survival, exploration of humanity, harsh reality ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Professor Sinigaglia (Marcello Mastroianni) is the title character in this darkly comedic Italian drama about mistreated factory workers in the city of Turin. Toiling away in appalling conditions in a textile mill, these employees have no one to stand up for them until Sinigaglia puts his academic career on the line by helping them to start a strike. Although the teacher comes under scrutiny by unsympathetic authorities, he maintains his dedication to the workers' cause.
Plot Keywords: working class, exploitation, poverty, protest, oppression, social injustice, class struggle ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The widow Rosaria moves to Milano from Lucania with her 4 sons, one of whom is Rocco. The fifth son, Vincenzo, already lives in Milano. In the beginning, the family has a lot of problems, but everyone manages to find something to do. Simone is boxing, Rocco works in a dry cleaners, and Ciro studies. Simone meets Nadia, a prostitute, and they have a stormy affair. Then Rocco, after finishing his military service, begins a relationship with her. A bitter feud ensues between the two brothers, which will lead as far as murder...
Plot Keywords: family drama, social realism, immigration, brotherhood, poverty, class conflict, moral dilemma ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Umberto Ferrari, aged government-pensioner, attends a street demonstration held by his fellow pensioners. The police dispense the crowd and Umberto returns to his cheap furnished room which he shares with his dog Flick. Umberto's lone friend is Maria, servant of the boarding house. She is a simple girl who is pregnant by one of two soldiers and neither will admit to being the father. When Umberto's landlady Antonia demands the rent owed her and threatens eviction if she is not paid, Umberto tries desperately to raise the money by selling his books and watch. He is too proud to beg in the streets and can not get a loan from any of his acquaintances. He contracts a sore throat, is admitted to a hospital and this puts a delay on his financial difficulty. Discharged, he finds that his dog is gone and, following a frantic search, locates him in the city dog pound. His room has been taken over by the landlady and the now-homeless Unberto determines to find a place for his beloved dog, and ...
Plot Keywords: loneliness, poverty, elderly, social marginalization, humanity, struggle for survival, emotional bond ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The location: Nazi occupied Rome. As Rome is classified an open city, most Romans can wander the streets without fear of the city being bombed or them being killed in the process. But life for Romans is still difficult with the Nazi occupation as there is a curfew, basic foods are rationed, and the Nazis are still searching for those working for the resistance and will go to any length to quash those in the resistance and anyone providing them with assistance. War worn widowed mother Pina is about to get married to her next door neighbor Francesco. Despite their situation - Pina being pregnant, and Francesco being an atheist - Pina and Francesco will be wed by Catholic priest Don Pietro Pelligrini. The day before the wedding, Francesco's friend, Giorgio Manfredi, who Pina has never met, comes looking for Francesco as he, working for the resistance, needs a place to hide out. For his latest mission, Giorgio also requests the assistance of Don Pietro, who is more than willing as he sees...
Plot Keywords: war, resistance, world war ii, fascism, poverty, sacrifice, collaboration ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Agnese, a 15-year-old Sicilian girl is seduced and impregnated by Peppino, her sister Matilde's fiancé. Soon Vincenzo, Agnese's father, discovers everything. He wants to force Peppino to marry the dishonored Agnese, but Peppino runs away and Vincenzo sends his son Antonio to kill him. At this point, Agnese goes to the police to try to stop events. They're all taken to court. But events can't be stopped, there's still time for a fake kidnapping. A happy end is still possible.—1felco
Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, italian cinema, social satire, family conflict, moral dilemma, gender roles ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Fausto Moretti, having seduced Sandra Rubini, the sister of his friend and companion Moraldo Rubini, is forced to marry her. After their honeymoon, he takes a job as a salesman of religious objects in a small shop. He isn't changed by his marriage and still looks for women, with his friends, when and where they can find them. He even tries to seduce the wife of his boss and is fired. After each episode, Sandra forgives him. He and his friends of similar temperament are content to be idle, chase girls and leave the work and job-hunting to others. After spending the night away from home with a girl, Sandra cannot forgive anymore and runs off with their child. Fausto and his friends search all over for them, fearing the worst.
Plot Keywords: coming of age, small-town life, friendship, youth, alienation, social criticism, 1950s ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: An old woman finds a baby among the cauliflowers in her garden; she takes care of him and calls him Totò. When she dies, he is sent to an orphanage, which he leaves as a teenager. When Totò goes out in the world, he expects everyone to be open-hearted as himself, but they aren't. Without belongings and a place to live, he soon turns up among other homeless people, living scattered in boxes and cement pipes on a vast, barren field outside Milan. With his energy and enthusiasm, Totò quickly engages the outcasts in transforming the place into a small shanty-town. The eccentric misfits are turned into a warm-hearted community. But when the wealthy Mr. Mobbi buys the land, he tries to get rid of them.—Maths Jesperson {maths.jesperson1@comhem.se}
Plot Keywords: fantasy, comedy, allegory, social critique, poverty, hope, surreal ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In a bleak rundown industrial area a young woman, Giuliana, tries to cope with life. She's married to Ugo the manager of a local plant but is soon having an affair with one of his co-workers, Corrado Zeller, who is visiting. Giuliana is unstable, not quite knowing anymore just what her role is, whether that be a wife, a mother or just another person. Her escape from life is short-lived however as Zeller is simply using her to satisfy his own needs and desires.—garykmcd
Plot Keywords: art film, existentialism, psychological drama, alienation, modernity, female protagonist, visual storytelling ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Domenico, a successfull businessman, with an eye for the girls, begins an affair with Filumena when she is 17 years old. She becomes a prostitute, but also becomes the mistress of Domenico. He eventually sets her up in an apartment, and she works for him in his various businesses. She secretly bears three children, who are raised by nannys. Domenico starts planning to marry a young employee. Filumena tricks him into marriage by pretending to be dying. Domenico annuls the marriage. Filumena then tells him of the three children. She says that one of the children belongs to Domenico, but will not say which one is his. You start to believe that all of the children could be his, and Domenico then marries Filumena again, this time willingly.—Steve Jordan <jordan@warwick.net>
Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, romance, italian cinema, classic, marriage, family ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The Night of San Lorenzo, the night of the shooting stars, is the night when dreams come true in Italian folklore. In 1944, a group of Italians flee their town after hearing rumours that the Nazis plan to blow it up and that the Americans are about to arrive to liberate them.—Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
Plot Keywords: war, world war ii, italy, countryside, childhood, memory, escape ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A women lives a miserable life in the basement of her Milan apartment, with her boring inlaws and three children (boys). Her husband has been injured. Her bleak life takes an unexpected turn when she is diagnosed with tuberculosis and has to go to a sanatorium in the Italian Alps. At the medical clinic in Milan she meets young mechanic with the similar health problems. At the sanatorium she meets again the same man and they start a passionate love affair. All good things must come to an end. When she is cured, she has to return to that rathole from which she only briefly emerged.—marty gottlieb <anangke@erols.com>, prokurator@gmail.com
Plot Keywords: drama, italian cinema, social issues, working class, female protagonist, illness, self-discovery ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Maddalena and Michele fall in love in Italy in the 1960s, while working at a meat factory in Emilia stormed by the workers' protest, but their love can't be, because he is married and Italy has no divorce. So she persuades him to move to the U.S., and joins him four years later, bringing a Mortadella (sort of salami, processed pork anyway) as a present. But Customs do not allow processed meat to enter the U.S., so she is held at JFK airport but refuses to give in (she indeed is a very strong woman). In the meantime, she discovers the truth about Michele and a few things about the US.—<minavagante@ciaoweb.it>
Plot Keywords: comedy, satire, social commentary, political, immigration, cultural clash, 1970s ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the slums of Rome, Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi (Franco Citti) supports himself as a pimp for his longtime girlfriend, Maddalena (Silvana Corsini), but when she goes to jail after being assaulted, Accattone struggles to survive.
Plot Keywords: poverty, crime, moral decay, struggle for survival, social outcasts, film noir, violence ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A petty crook forced to impersonate an Italian general identifies with the role and becomes a martyr for his country.
Plot Keywords: war, world war ii, italy, history, drama, resistance, nazi ...
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