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Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
KaosEnglish Translation: N/A
Run Time: 180 min.Five stories by Luigi Pirandello set in turn-of-the-century Italy.
Ladri di Bicicletta, IEnglish Translation: Bicycle Thieves
Run Time: 90 min.1948 story of a poor father searching post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which he will lose the job which
was to be the salvation of his young family.
Ladri di SaponetteEnglish Translation: The Bicicle Thief
Run Time: 84 min.The film tells the story of a director who is drawn into a television set
while watching one of his films. Like the television version, the action is cut at 11-minute intervals by commercials. Gradually, the
cast begins incorporating the commercials into their own lines, entirely changing the original concept of the film.
LamericaEnglish translation: America
Run time: 116 min.Summary: Two Italian racketeers come to Albania just after the fall
of the communists to set up a fictive firm and pocket the grants. They need a stooge. They choose an old one in a jail : Spiro. But the
youngest italian, Gino, once alone with Spiro, encounter a few problems.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Leonardo Da VinciRun Time: 30 min.
The story of the brilliant Italian artist, sculptor, architect and engineer is told in this informative program. Leonardo's legacy to the world
came in so many forms; in the breathtaking beauty of The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa; his rich collection of drawing; the
mirror-written notebooks containing original thoughts on astronomy, biology and physiology.
Life and Works of MichelangeloRun Time: 28 min.
Loncandiera, LaEnglish Translation: The Mistress of the Inn
Run Time: 120 min.A 1753 three-act comedy by the Venetian playwright Carlo
Goldoni about a coquette.
Luciano Serra PilotaEnglish Translation: N/A
Run Time: 89 min.Successful WWI pilot Luciano Serra has problems adjusting to an ordinary life in peace, so he leaves his family and becomes a pilot in America. Years later, his son becomes a pilot as well and soon
finds himself in the same battlefield as his father.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Madame ButterflyRun time:
Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton is on shore-leave in Japan. He and his buddy Lieutenant Barton, out for a night on the town, stop
in at a local establishment to check out the food, drink and girls. Pinkerton spies Cho-Cho San and immediately falls in
lust. Barton counsels Pinkerton that he can 'marry' this beautiful Japanese girl, enjoy himself with cultural approval,
then sail happily on back to America unshackled,
Magnificent ItaliaEnglish Translation: Magnificent Italy
Run Time: 652 totalShot in glorious High Definition, and particularly acclaimed for
its aerial cinematography, MAGNIFICENT ITALIA is the next best thing to being there. Contains hours of sun kissed food for
thought. Episodes: Basilicata, Toscana, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sicilia, Marche, Puglia, Campania, Valle D’Aosta, Lazio, Liguria,
Umbria, Trentino
MalenaEnglish Translation: N/A
Run Time: 92 min.A woman provokes sensual awakenings in a group of
adolescent boys.
Mamma RomaEnglish translation: Mother Rome
Run time: 88 min.Mamma Roma is a middle-aged whore of Roma. Now she can
quit her job to become a fruit seller. And she can take back her 16-year-old son, Ettore. For him, she dreams of a good
position. But it is perhaps too late for Ettore, whose company includes mostly teenaged louts.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)Run Time: 134 min.
A story of doomed romance between a chivalrous noble man, Chevalier Des
Grieux and his working class lover, Manon Lescaut.
Masterpieces of Italian Art 15th CenturyRun time: 53 mins.
Masterpieces of Italian Art Series: Caravaggio and the Baroque (Based on the Book "Storia dell' Arte Italiana")
Mastroianni, Marcello: I RememberRun Time: 199 min.
In 1996, Marcello Mastroianni talks about life as an actor. It’s an anecdotal and philosophical memoir, moving from topic to topic, fully conscious of a man looking back. He tells stories about Fellini and De
Sica’s direction, of using irony in performances, of constantly working. He’s diffident about prizes, celebrates Rome and Paris, salutes Naples
and its people.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Matrimonio all’ItalianaEnglish Translation: Marriage Italian-Style
Run Time: 102 min.Summary: A 1964 film that tells the story of a cynical, successful businessman named Domenico, who after meeting a naïve country girl, Filomena, one night in a Neapolitan brothel, keeps frequenting
her for years in an on-off relationship.
Medici, The Godfathers of the RenaissanceRun time: 22 mins.
From a base in 15th-century Florence, the Medici family used charm, patronage, duplicity, and ruthlessness to amass
wealth and power. The Medicis also ignited Western history's most important cultural and artistic revolution, the
Renaissance, but doomed their own ordered world. This epic drama in the courts, cathedrals, and palaces of Europe
traces a family's powerful ambition and a continent's tortured struggle to emerge from the Dark Ages.
Meglio Gioventu, LaEnglish Translation: The Best of Youth
Run Time: 368 min.An Italian epic that follows the lives of two brothers, from the
1960’s to the 2000’s.
Mestiere delle ArmiEnglish Translation: The Profession of Arms
Run time: 100 mins.The history of the first victim of modern artillery and its moving agony, amidst conspiracies and betrayals of the powerful. Life and death of Giovanni De' Medici, a young brave captain in the war of Charles V against the Pope, in
the first half of 1500.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Mi Manda PiconeEnglish Translation: Where’s Picone?
Run Time: 110 min.During a session of the council of Naples, a worker, Pasquale
Picone, sprinkles himself with gasoline and sets himself on fire to protest his dismissal. His wife and children also assist the
session and when they cannot reach him in the time he is loaded to the ambulance, they attempt to look for him in every hospital
in the city.
Michaelangelo: Revealed Secrets of the DeadRun time: 60 mins.
Michelangelo's involvement with a clandestine fellowship trying to reform the Catholic Church from within put him at odds with powerful officials who held his livelihood and life in their hands. 'Michelangelo Revealed' paints a new picture
of brave religious expression, personal vendettas, careful cover-ups and a most gifted artist desperately trying to
reconcile his loyalty to the church with his own belief about salvation.
Michaelangelo & Leonardo Da Vinci
Run Time: 89 min.
Mio Fratello e Figlio UnicoEnglish Translation: My Brother Is an Only Child
Run Time: 100 min.Two brothers come of age in a small Italian town in the 60’s and 70’s. Both brothers support different political parties and
experience conflicts throughout their lives.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Mondo Parla Italiano, Il by Flavia Laviosa
Run Time: 50 min.
Mussolini & FascismRun time: 60 min.
Explore the history of Mussolini and Fascism in Italy.
Mussolini: Italy’s NightmareRun time: 50 min.
The career and personal life of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. He quickly became one of Italy's most
intelligent and menacing young Socialists. He broke with Italian Socialist Party after advocating intervention in
World War I. In 1922, he became prime minister, and by 1925, he had established himself as dictator.
Mussolini e la storia del FascismoRun time: 32 mins
This film interprets the story of Mussolini’s ascent to the power-the severance from socialism, the gamble of the 1922
“March on Rome,” and the maneuvers that brought him dictatorical powers by 1926.
Neorealism Up to 1945 & 1950Run time: 55 mins and 60 mins
The birth of the renissance neorealism movement in 1943 is explored, directed by Carlo Lizzani. The second portion of this series focuses on the challenges men and
women faced duing this movement
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Night of the Shooting StarsEnglish Translation: The Night of the Shooting Stars
Run Time: 107 min.Summary: In 1944, a group of Italians flee their town after
hearing rumors that the Nazis plan to blow it up and that the Americans are about to arrive to liberate them.
Notti di Cabiria, LeEnglish Translation: Nights of Cabiria
Run Time: 110 min.Summary: A waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome
looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.
Notte d’estate
Nozze di FigaroRun time: 190 min.
Stephen Medcalf's superb production of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera opened on the 60th anniversary of
the first performance at Glyndebourne, inaugurating the new opera house. Mozart's comedy presents a scenario whose society overcomes its differences - social, sexual, generational - through
the exercise of the humane values of mutual understanding, respect and forgiveness.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
NuovomondoEnglish Translation: Golden Door
Run Time: 118 min.Summary: Salvatore, a very poor framer, and a widower, decides
to emigrate to the U.S. with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. For unknown
reasons, Lucy wants to marry someone before they arrive to Ellis Island. Salvatore accepts the proposal, but tests are not simple for
poor farmers coming from Sicily.
Orfeo, II by MonteverdiEnglish Translation: Orfeo, II by Monteverdi
Run Time: 101 min.Summary: In this opera you will find several different
types of pieces, in the tradition of early Baroque opera. They fall into two general categories:
instrumental (Toccata, Ritornello, Sinfonia) and vocal pieces (Arias, Recitatives, Choruses, etc.). Solo vocal pieces with instrumental accompaniment that
closely reflect the content of the text are called monodies.
L’Oro di NapoliEnglish Translation: The Gold of Naples
Run Time: 87 min.Summary: This is a collection of 6 Napolitean episodes: a clown
exploited by a gangster ; an inconstant pizza seller (Sofia) loosing her husband's ring ; the funeral of a dead child ; the gambler Count
Prospero B. defeated by a kid ; the unexpected and unusual wedding of Teresa, a prostitute ; the "professor" Ersilio Micci, a
"wisdom seller".
Open City (Citta Aperta)Run time: 105 min.
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.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Ossessione, I & IIEnglish Translation: Obsession
Run Time: 140 min.Summary: Gino, a young and handsome tramp, stops in a small roadside inn run by Giovanna. She is unsatisfied with her older husband Bragana : she only married him for money. Gino and
Giovanna fall in love. But Bragana is inhibiting for their passion, and Giovanna refuses to run away with Gino.
OtelloEnglish Translation: Othello
Run Time:123 min.Summary: Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an
Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first
performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887.
Padre PadroneEnglish Translation: Father Padrone
Run Time:113 min.Summary: The true story of the life of Gavino Ledda, the son of
a Sardinian shepherd, and how he managed to escape his harsh, almost barbaric existence by slowly educating himself,
despite violent opposition from his brutal father.
Gobbi in PagliacciEnglish Translation: Pagliacci, Gobbi in
Run Time: 81 min.Summary: Love of a Clown, or Pagliacci, is a 1948 Italian
film based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Mario Costa. The film stars Tito Gobbi and Gina Lollobrigida.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
PiasaEnglish Translation: Country
Run Time: 118 min.Summary: Six vignettes follow the Allied invasion from July 1943 to winter 1944, from Sicily north to Venice. Communication is fragile.
A woman leads an Allied patrol through a mine field; she dies protecting a G.I., but the Yanks think she killed him.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Pane e cioccolataEnglish Translation: Bread and Chocolate
Run Time: 110 min.Summary: Italian immigrant tries to become a member of Swiss
society but fails as a waiter and even as a chicken plucker. He then becomes involved with shady wealthy character and tries to hide his
Italian identity. He refuses to give up no matter how awful his situation.
Pane e tulipaniEnglish Translation: Bread and Tulips
Run Time: 116 min.Being forgotten in a highway café during a bus trip, a housewife
decides to start a new life by herself in Venice.
Parliamo ItalianEnglish Translation: We Speak Italian
Run Time: 60 minsA young woman packs up her car and abruptly prepares to leave town
and start a new life. Before she goes, she carries out a plan to confront her mother and re-claim what is rightfully hers.
Pomi d'Ottone e Manici di ScopaEnglish Translation: Bedknobs and Boomsticks
Run Time: 98 minsAn apprentice witch, three kids and a cynical conman search for the missing component to a magic spell useful to the defense of Britain.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Portaborse, IlEnglish translation: The Yes Man
Run time: 88 min.Cesare Botero (Nanni Moretti) is a young minister well-known to be corrupted and corrupter. He is looking for an appropriate spokesman. He finds the right person in Prof. Luciano Sandulli
(Silvio Orlando).
Postino, IlEnglish Translation: The Postman
Run Time: 108 minsSimple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering
mail to a famous poet; he uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice
The Power of the Past with Bill MoyersEnglish Translation: The Power of the Past with Bill Moyers
Run Time: 90 minsA documentary of Florence narrated by Bill Moyers
Prisoners Among Us, Ital-Amer Identity & WWIIEnglish Translation: Prisoners Among Us, Ital-Amer Identity &
WWIIRun Time: 88 mins
This documentary examines the place of Italian immigrants in American culture from the 19th century through World War II.
Through the use of photographs, music, poetry and the commentary of historians, the changing Italian identity is
explored along with the prejudices that it faced in American society.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Promessi Sposi, IEnglish Translation: The Betroved
Run Time: 111 minsThis film deals with a variety of themes, from the cowardly, hypocritical nature of one prelate (Don Abbondio) and the
heroic sainthood of other priests (Padre Cristoforo, Federico Borromeo), to the unwavering strength of love
Puccini, GiacomoEnglish Translation: Giacomo Puccini
Run Time: 35 minsItalian composer, one of the greatest exponents of operatic
realism, who virtually brought the history of Italian opera to an end. His mature operas include "La Bohème" (1896), "Tosca"
(1900), "Madama Butterfly" (1904), and "Turandot" left incomplete.
PummaroEnglish translation: Pummaro
Run time: 98 min.Kwaku, a young African medical student, arrives in Italy where
he is to meet his brother Job (nicknamed Pummarò.) This one is a tomato picker in the Naples region and works in extreme
conditions to be able to pay his brother's studies. But to Kwaku's dismay, Job has disappeared.
Madame ButterflyEnglish Translation: Madame Butterfly
Run Time: 144 minsMadama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts
(originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini,
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
The Red DesertRun Time: 115 mins
Cold, rain, and fog surround a plant in Ravenna. Factory waste pollutes local lakes; hulking anonymous ships pass or dock and raise quarantine
flags. Guiliana, a housewife married to the plant manager, Ugo, is mentally ill, hiding it from her husband as best she can. She meets Zeller, an engineer en route to Patagonia to set up a factory. He pursues her, they joing friends for a dinner party of sexual play, then, while Ugo is away on business, she fears that her son has polio. When she discovers the boy is
faking, she goes to Zeller, panicked that no one needs her. He takes advantage of her distress and she is again alone and ill.
Le Quattro GiornateEnglish Translation: The Four Days of Naples
Run Time: 110 minsThe film shows the history of the Neopolitan popular revolt against the
invading Germans, during the second world war. During the four days in Naples the revolt turns over in just a few hours. Gennario Capuozzo, a ten
year old child killed on a barricade while he was fighting agains the invasors, is remembered by people as a hero.
Ragazza di Bube. LaEnglish Translation: Bebo’s Girl
Run Time: 106 minsIn this sentimental romance scripted by director Luigi Comencini
and Marcello Fondato, the leading-lady is played by Claudia Cardinale. Set in a small Italian village in the 1940s, La Ragazza di Bube tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a complete
stranger.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Renaissance, TheEnglish Translation: Renaissance, The
Run Time: 55 minsFrom a small Italian community in 15th century Florence, the Medici
family would rise to rule Europe in many ways.
ResprioEnglish Translation: Breath
Run Time: 95 minsOn an impoverished Italian island, a free-spirited woman is accused of madness by townspeople fed up with her antics.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Rick Steves European ChristmasEnglish Translation: Rick Steves’ European Christmas
Run Time: 45 minsRick and his crew experienced 12 carol concerts, 11 mugs of glühwein, 10 living mangers, 9 happy families, 8 Christmas
feasts, 7 Euro-cultures, 6 mistletoe kisses, 5 alternative Santas, 4 pounds of weight gain, 3 midnight Masses, 2 exhausted cameramen, and a very merry Christmas for one and all!
Rick Steves Italy’s CitiesEnglish Translation: Rick Steves Italy’s Cities
Run Time: 210 mins 6 episodes, 3.5 hrs: Venice, Best of Veneto, Milan & Lake Como,
Caesar’s Rome, Rome: Baroque, Naples & Pompeii
Rick Steves’ Italy’s CountrysideEnglish Translation: Rick Steves’ Italy’s Countryside
Run Time: 180 mins6 episodes, 3 hours: Cinque Terre, Siena & Assisi, Tuscany,
Great Hill Towns, Amalfi Coast, and Sicily.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Il RinascimentoEnglish translation: The Renaissance
Run time: 58 minHistory of the Spanish court during the Italian Renaissance.
RigolettoEnglish Translation: Gobbi
Run Time: 101 mins. Italian/ 90 mins. EnglishOpera by Giuseppe Verdi
Rigoletto con PavarottiEnglish Translation: Rigoletto with Pavarotti
Run Time: 116 minsRigoletto is a jester in the court of the Duke of Mantua.
Riso AmaroEnglish Translation: Bitter Rice
Run Time: 80 minsFrancesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice
worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters
become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Rocco and His Brothers (Part 1 & 2)Run Time: 170 min.
Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco and his four brothers each look for a
new way in life when a prostitute comes between Rocco and his brother Simone.
Roman HolidayEnglish translation: Roman Holiday
Run time: 118 min A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and
falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
Romanzo di una strageEnglish translation: Piazza Fontana: The Italian
ConspiracyRun time: 124 min.
A chronicle of the 1969 bombing at a major national bank in Milan and its aftermath.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Rome citta apertaEnglish Translation: Open City
Run Time: 105 minsThe Nazis occupy 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
Rome Art and ArchitectureEnglish Translation: Rome Art and Architecture
Run Time: 39 minsIn this unique appraoh to hstory, the art and the architecture of
the Eternal City the narrorator chose to follow the ideal itinerary charted by the many famous fountains ereced from classical
time to the late renissance
Rome: Portrait of a CityEnglish Translation: Rome: Portrait of a City
Run Time: 50 minsA connoisseur's tour of Rome and the Alban Hills featuring the most important art and architecture. Insights into the Roman world as well as a feature on how Napolean copied Roman art
for the city of Paris.
Italian Movie Summaries- Title J-R
September 1, 2015
Romeo e GiuliettaEnglish Translation: Romeo and Juliet
Run Time: 138 minsWhen the now famous "star crossed lovers" of two enemy
families meet, forbidden love ensues.
