Jane Sloan Media Librarian jsloan@rci.rutgers.edu June 2006

Research Resources: Subject Research Guides: Media Collections:
Feature Films Italy

This guide is a browsing aid to selected titles in the video/DVD collections at Rutgers Libraries. The most up-to-date, accurate, and complete information regarding the libraries' holdings is available only through IRIS, our online catalog.

8 1/2 1988

A self-portrait of Fellini: Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, a film director who finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Everyone waits for him to "rest" at a spa, where he fantasizes and gradually returns to his former genius.

1 videocassette (138 min.) :

DANA MEDIA 949 2-122

Amarcord I remember 1998

Memories of episodes about love, sex, politics, family life and growing up in a small Italian town in the 1930's.

1 videodisc (127 min.) :

MEDIA MEDIA 10-77 2-296

Anna 1999

Performer Note: Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone, Vittorio Gassman, Gaby Morlay, Jacques DumesnilA novice nun recalls her former life and almost gives up her vocation.

1 videocassette (98 min.)

MEDIA 2-7429

Arabian nights 1989

The third film in Pasolini's "Trilogy of Life." Follows the adventures of a slave girl as she rises to power over a great city.

1 videocassette (128 min.) :

MEDIA 2-775

Bell' Antonio 1994

Performer Note: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia CardinaleAt the urging of his family, Antonio Magnano relinquishes his bachelorhood to the alluring Barbara Puglisi, unloosing an ominous secret that threatens to spoil the young couple's wedded bliss.

1 videocassette (101 min.)

MEDIA 2-1662

Bellissima 1985

A movie-struck mama puts on a frantic campaign to get her little girl into the movies.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1269

The Bicycle thief 1988

Simple story of an unemployed man and his family living in war devastated Rome. The father finds a job pasting up signs, work requiring a bicycle on which to get around. When his bicycle is stolen the father and his son are forced to steal one in desperation and are caught. The film won the Academy Award for the best foreign film in 1949 and is a prime example of the "Neorealist" school of Italian cinema.

1 videocassette (90 min.) ;

DANA. DANA. MEDIA. MEDIA 914 914 2-662 7-129

Blaise Pascal 2000

Shows the drama of a man who developed scientific thought in conflict with the dogmatism of his deep religious faith.

1 videocassette (130 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6003

C'eravamo tanto amati 2001

Ettore Scola examines the lives of three resistance fighters and their transformation over thirty years. Each of these friends falls in love with the beautiful Luciana, an aspiring actress, testing the friendship and idealism they all shared.

1 videodisc (124 min.)

MEDIA 10-597

The Canterbury tales I racconti di Canterbury 1998

An adaptation of four stories from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. These stories of romance, deception, murder and lust are told in a uniquely candid and ribald way.

1 videocassette (121 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3925

Charlemagne 1995

Contents: v. 1. Charles the prince -- v. 2. King of the Franks -- v. 3. To build an empire -- v. 4. Faith and betrayal -- v. 5. Emperor Charlemagne Performer Note: Christian Brendel, Anny Duperey Added Title: Charles the prince Added Title: King of the Franks Added Title: To build an empire Added Title: Faith and betrayal Added Title: Emperor CharlemagneThe life and times of Medieval Europe's most heroic and legendary figure are dramatized in Charlemagne. Intense passions, bloody betrayals and political intrigues surround an extraordinary leader who changes the course of history, and sets aside his own happiness for the greater good.

5 videocassettes (60 min. each)

MEDIA 2-7343 --7347

La chartreus de Parme The Charterhouse of Parme 2002

A young archbishop falls in love and wants to break his vows to the church. His aunt, the Countess of Sanseverina, is in love with him, and will stop at nothing to further his celibate career. An action/adventure film of Italian court life in the early 1800s, full of intrigue, ambition, duels, and passionate crimes.

1 videodisc (170 min.) :

MEDIA 10-193

Cinema paradiso 1990

The story of an Italian boy's love of the movies, and of the projectionist who teaches him the secrets of movie-making.

1 videocassette (121 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 334 2-2270

Commedia dell'arte 198

Presents the gallery of stock commedia characters focusing on the Maschere, the mask characters. Giovanni Poli provides the authentic voice quality, characteristic movements, and gestures of commedia dell'arte.

1 videocassette (14 min.) :

DANA 1363

La condanna The conviction 1994

A story which explores the sexual complexities of men and women; what constitutes coercion and consent? what constitutes force in a sexual relationship? what do men and women really want? A night of wild love-making in a locked museum leads to a rape trial and to further encounters that raise these questions.

1 videocassette (92 min.)

MEDIA 2-7313

The Conformist 1989

A rising young follower of Mussolini must assassinate his former professor, now in political exile, to demonstrate his loyalty to the Fascist state.

1 videocassette (108 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2737

Cosimo de' Medici 1980?

V. 1. pts. 1 & 2 -- v. 2. pts. 2 (cont.) & 3Documents the social structures, the rival factions, the economic machinery, the organizations of shops and tribunals of the Florentine state.

2 videocassettes (255 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-6001 cassette 1 2-6002 cassette 2

Cristo si è fermato a Eboli Christ stopped at Eboli 2003

Levi, an intellectual exiled by the Fascist government during World War II to a mountain village in southern Italy, discovers the resilience and dignity of people who live close to the land.

1 videodisc (145 min.)

MEDIA 10-506

Cymbeline 1982

The fanciful story of Imogen, daughter of Britian's King Cymbeline, whose evil second queen forces Cymbeline to banish Imogen's husband, Posthumus, because she wants to force Imogen to wed her thick-witted son, Cloten. Posthumus flees to Rome, where he is lured by a wily Italian, Iachimo, into wagering on Imogen's fidelity. Iachimo tricks Posthumus into believing that he has seduced the faithful Imogen, but as in all of Shakespeare's tragicomedies, everything is eventually redolved and tragedy is diverted by love and forgiveness.

2 videocassettes (174 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA. MEDIA. MEDIA. MEDIA. MEDIA 2-1077 cassette 1 2-1077 cassette 1 2-1077 cassette 1 2-1078 cassette 2 2-1078 cassette 2 2-1078 cassette 2

Day of anger 1968

A gunfighter rides into town and takes on a young outcast as an apprentice gunfighter. He learns his deadly lessons well and eventually realizes that someone has to stop his mentor from taking over the town. Pupil faces teacher in a violent climactic showdown.

1 videodisc (ca. 111 min.)

MEDIA 10-361

Death in Venice 1981

An aging, homosexual world-famous composer and conductor pursues his obsessional quest for ideal beauty in Venice, Italy circa 1911. Drawn to a lovely young boy, his secret love is unrequited, and he succumbs to cholera when an epidemic hits the Lido Isle.

1 videocassette (VHS) (131 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2866

The Decameron 1985?

Pasolini's rendition of several of Boccaccio's tales from The Decameron. Boccaccio's tales reflect on the eternal foolishness of man, but also display fasacinating details of 14th-century Italian life.

1 videocassette (116 min.) :

MEDIA 2-949

La dolce vita 1985

2 videocassettes (174 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 2-129, 2-130 962 cassette 1, 2

Era Notte a Roma Blackout in Rome 199

Tells the story of three Allied soldiers hiding in Italy during World War II and of the villagers who risked their lives to protect them.

1 videocassette (136 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6005

La fanciulla del West Girl of the golden West 1992

Puccini's opera, with an unusual setting for an Italian opera. Set in California during the Gold Rush, it features such Western characters as a sheriff, a Wells Fargo agent, miners, & a bandit.

1 videocassette (140 min.) :

MUSIC 252

Farinelli il castrato 1995

Based on the amazing true story of the famous castrato Carlo Broschi, this film examines his life and singing career, with particular focus on the turbulent relationship with his older brother.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

MUSIC 410

Fellini satyricon 1988

Fellini recreates the bawdy and lecherous days of Nero's reign in ancient Rome, a universe unconcerned with human dignity and obsessed with perverse sex.

1 videocassette (130 min.) :

DANA 469

Film d'amore e d'anarchia Love and anarchy 1997

Tells the story of a shy country peasant who goes to the city with a plan to assassinate Benito Mussolini. His underground contact in the network of anarchists offers him a hideout in her brothel where he meets a young prostitute and falls in love. When his lover prevents the plan's realization, he fires upon police, is imprisoned and murdered.

1 videocassette (129 min.) :

DANA 1538

A fistful of dynamite 1971

A Mexican peasant turned revolutionary (Steiger) teams with an Irish terrorist (Coburn) to stage a daring break-in to liberate political prisoners.

1 videocassette (138 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5479

For a few dollars more 1965

Western drama in which two bounty hunters join forces to capture an outlaw gang leader.

1 videocassette (130 min.)

MEDIA 2-7399

Four ways out 1998

Performer Note: Gina Lollobrigida, Cosetta Greco, Renato Baldini, Paul Muller, Fausto Tozzi, Enzo Maggio, Tamara LeesFour men plan separate escapes after stealing the receipts from a soccer match.

1 videocassette (74 min.)

MEDIA 2-7425

Francesco 2004

Dramatization of the passionately mystical life of Saint Francis of Assisi. The decadent son of a wealthy, 13th-century Italian merchant, Francesco experienced a religious awakening and set an enduring example of devotion and sacrifice.

1 videodisc (118 min.)

MEDIA 10-594

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis 1987

The story of an aristocratic Jewish family living under increasing Fascist oppression in pre-World War II Italy.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 2-485 2-485

Girl with a suitcase 1997

A rich young aristocrat abandons a young woman after a brief fling with her. She traces him to his home, where the sensitive younger brother of sixteen falls in love with her; she comes to have strong feelings for him, while realizing the relationship cannot last.

1 videocassette (96 min.)

MEDIA 2-7314

The good, the bad and the ugly 1966

An adventure drama set during the Civil War. Three ruthless outlaws search for a treasure chest containing 200,000 in gold. One of the trio of westerns that helped make Clint Eastwood a household name.

2 videocassettes (161 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-54 cassette 1 2-55 cassette 2

The Gospel according to St. Matthew 1990

The life of Christ filmed in style, using non-professional actors.

1 videocassette (142 min.) :

DANA 525

I Clowns 199

A semi-autobiographical documentary filmed partially in simulated cinema vérité style. Recalls Fellini's youthful fascination with clowns. Besides recreating some of the most famous clown acts in circus history, Fellini shows the two kinds of clowns that dominated the circus of his boyhood -- the Auguste and the Pierrot.

1 videocassette (ca. 90 min.) :

DANA 464

I soliti ignoti Big deal on Madonna Street 1990

Five men conspire to burglarize a small-time jeweler's safe. When the time comes to carry out the scheme, the men become hopelessly clumsy and have to eventually give up and go home.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3708

I Vitelloni The Young and the passionate 198

A portrait of discontented young men and their girlfriends, drifting aimlessly through life at an Italian resort.

1 videocassette (104 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1488

Identificazione di una donna Identification of a woman 1999

An unusual and contemporary love story based on a film maker's chance encounters with two women.

1 videocassette (125 min.)

MEDIA 2-7311

Il deserto rosso Red desert 1999

A young woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown as the result of an automobile accident, struggles to find peace and comfort in a bleak, industrialized town on the Sardinian coast.

1 videocassette (116 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5683

Il matrimonio segreto an opera buffa in two acts 1986

1 videocassette (140 min.) :

MUSIC 260

Il posto 2003

"When young Domenico ventures from the small village of Meda to Milan in search of employment, he finds himself on the bottom rung of the bureaucratic ladder in a huge, faceless company. The prospects are daunting, but Domenico finds reason for hope in the fetching Antonietta. A tender coming-of-age story and a sharp observation of dehumanizing corporate enterprise, Ermanno Olmi's Il Posto is a touching and hilarious tale of one young man's stumbling entrance into the perils of modern adulthood"--Container.

1 videodisc (93 min.)

MEDIA 10-520

The Italian straw hat Un chapeau de paille d'Italie 1985

Noted as one of the gems of comedy...a model of visual wit, jabbing fun at the pretensions of the middle class. This satirical comedy of manners concerning a young man who, on his wedding day, becomes entangled with a married lady and her lover and has to find an exact replica of a special straw hat, essential to saving the lady's honor.

1 videocassette (ca. 107 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1393

Joyful laughter Risate di gioia 1991

Performer Note: Anna Magnani, Totò, Ben Gazzara, Fred Clark Added Title: Passionate thiefTwo plotting pickpockets have an evening of petty larceny planned for New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, their bungling friend shows a positive genius for unintentional interference.

1 videocassette (106 min.)

MEDIA 2-7426

Juliet of the spirits 1989

Surrealistic fantasy triggered by wife's fears that her well-to-do husband is cheating on her.

1 videocassette (148 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2276

L'albero degli zoccoli The Tree of wooden clogs 1990

Deceptively simple tale of a small community of peasants in Italy at the turn of the century. It follows four families through the seasons, and shows the seemingly small events that influence their lives and the love they feel for the land and their families.

2 videocassettes (185 min.) :

DANA. DANA 992 cassette 1 992 cassette 2

L'Avventura 198-

The story of a group of rich Italians who land on a deserted island. One of the young women begins an affair with her best friend's lover, quarrels with him and subsequently disappears. Gradually the searchers become preoccupied with their own problems and the woman is never found.

1 videocassette (145 min.) :

MEDIA MEDIA 2-545 10-214

L'eclisse 2005

A young woman, after breaking off an affair with an older man, finds herself in Rome and alone. She becomes friends with a young stockbroker, but after he has an accident, she once again finds herself alone.

2 videodiscs (125 min.)

MEDIA. MEDIA 10-538 10-538

Leonardo a dream of flight 1999

A dramatization of the life of Leonardo da Vinci.

1 videocassette (ca. 49 min.)

MEDIA 2-7364

Love and anarchy 197

Tells the story of a shy country peasant who goes to the city with a plan to assassinate Benito Mussolini. Shows how his underground contact in the network of anarchists offers him a hideout in her brothel where he meets a young prostitute and falls in love.

1 videocassette (108 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1695

Luci del varietà Lights of variety 1919

Story of the hand-to-mouth existence of a troupe of engaging but not especially talented vaudeville performers who are joined by an ambitious, beautiful young girl of limited talents. She becomes the center of attraction for the company, but she deserts them all for a more upscale show.

1 videocassette (93 min.)

MEDIA 2-7303

Malena 2001

An unforgettable story of a 13-year-old boy's journey into manhood amid the chaos and intolerance of World War II.

1 videocassette (92 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6080

Mamma Roma 1995

In Pasolini's second feature, a woman attempts to leave her life as a prostitute and provide a middle class life for the teenage son with whom she's reunited after many years.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 915 2-5061

Medea 1970

Medea, high priestess of the Golden Fleece, falls in love with Jason, and, stealing the prized article, flees with him to Corinth. Jason eventually betrays her, however, when he falls in love with the daughter of Creon. In a white heat of anger, Medea murders Creon, his daughter, and finally her two sons by Jason, then flees, leaving him to face a wifeless, childless future.

1 videocassette (100 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 21 2-1453

Mery per sempre Forever Mary 1991

An idealistic school teacher tries to make a difference in a rigid reform school.

1 videocassette (100 min.)

MEDIA 2-7304

Miracle in Milan 1990

Comedy, satire, and realism are combined in a fantasy about the social conceits of man. An Italian orphan, with the aid of a miraculous dove, combats power and wealth and succeeds in bringing happiness to the inhabitants of a Milanese hobo camp.

1 videodisc (95 min.) :

MEDIA 7-91

The night porter 1999

The chance meeting of a woman and a former Nazi SS officer brings back memories of their sado-masochistic relationship in a concentration camp years before.

1 videodisc (118 min.)

MEDIA 10-585

Nights of Cabiria 1989

Cabiria, a simple-minded prostitute, searches Rome for true love. She is romanced and abandoned by men who exploit her. She endures even in the face of tragedy with the vain hope of finding marriage and happiness.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

DANA 333

La notte The night 2001

Captures a day in the life of a Milanese novelist and his wife, who after ten years of marriage have grown apart. During this day they visit a dying friend in hospital, go to a nightclub, meet a rich industrialist's daughter at a party, and face the emptiness of their lives and marriage.

1 videocassette (115 min.)

MEDIA 2-7189 2-7199

Nuovo cinema Paradiso 1999

The story of a lifelong love affair with the movies, Cinema Paradiso tells of a young boy in a small Italian village where the only pastime is a visit to the movies at the Cinema Paradiso. Enchanted by the flickering images, Salvatore yearns for the secret of the cinema's magic and is overjoyed when Alfredo, the projectionist, agrees to reveal the mysteries of movie making to him. As their friendship grows, so does Salvatore, growing older with his good friend and the movies he adores, learning from both of them how to court his first love, and dreaming of one day making movies of his own. When the day comes for Salvatore to leave the village and pursue his dream, Alfredo makes the young man promise to never look back, to keep moving forward. And so he does for thirty years, until the day a message arrives that beckons him back home ot a secret, beautiful discovery that awaits him.

1 videodisc (121 min.)

MEDIA 10-62

Oedipus Rex 198-

Sophocles' play, with added prologue and epilogue, set in modern times, is extended into the present and points out that the motives of the ancient tragedy still exist today.

1 videocassette (110 min.) :

MEDIA 2-524

Once upon a time in the West 1968

Original, uncut version of the story of a ruthless murderous psychopath who is hired to kill again.

2 videocassettes (165 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-631 cass. 1 2-632 cass. 2

Open city 1985

A graphic portrayal of the misery of Rome during the German occupation, telling of an underground leader who takes refuge with a friend.

1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA DANA 2-121 7-127 526

The organizer 1997

"In 19th century Turin, an itinerant professor unites a ragtag group of textile workers in a strike against their factory"--Container.

1 videocassette (127 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3635

Paisan 1987

Six stories dealing with Italian and American soldiers meeting under battle conditions during World War II.

1 videocassette (116 min.) : sd., b&w ;

DANA. MEDIA 1863 2-5235

Pane e tulipani Bread and tulips 2002

When a harried housewife is accidentally left behind while on vacation with her family, she decides to take a holiday of her own in Venice.

1 videocassette (112 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6051

Pasqualino settebellezze Seven beauties 1998

A small-time casanova with no political convictions and fewer brains shoots his sister's pimp to save the family honor. He is caught, tried, sent to an insane asylum, volunteers for the Italian army and ends up in a Nazi concentration camp, where he learns to survive at any cost.

1 videocassette (ca. 115 min.)

MEDIA 2-7319

Princesa 2002

"Fernando/Fernanda, a 19-year-old Brazilian transvestite, dreams of becoming a woman, meeting a prince and being swept off her feet into a fantastic life of middle-class normalcy. She goes to Milan and works as a prostitute to raise money for a sex-change operation. On the streets she is transformed into 'Princesa', a stylish and alluring figure who makes a lot of money and many friends. One night Fernanda is picked up by Gianni, a conventional, handsome Italian man. The two establish a passionate relationship very quickly and a whirlwind of romance ensues. Gianni leaves his wife and offers to pay for Fernanda's sex change operation. She turns away from her life on the streets and sets up home with Gianni. As time passes, Fernanda's ideal image of life as a housewife is tested. After much soul searching she is forced to re-examine the person she hopes to become"--Container.

1 videodisc (96 min.)

MEDIA 10-569

Riso amaro Bitter rice 198

In the rice fields of the Italian Po Valley a thief on the run meets a girl who tries to steal his loot.

1 videocassette (108 min.) :

MEDIA MEDIA 2-2649 2-7297

Roberto Rossellini's Flowers of St. Francis 198

A neo-realist recreation of legends surrounding St. Francis of Assisi and his band of friars as they strive to attain perfect harmony with nature.

1 videocassette (79 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6006

Roberto Rossellini's General della Rovere 1996

When Emanuele Bardone, a petty con man, is persuaded by the Germans to impersonate a partisan leader they have killed, he assumes the admirable qualities of the heroic officer and the German plan backfires.

1 videocassette (ca. 135 min.)

MEDIA 2-7430

Roma 1991

The filmmaker's memories of the past and predictions for the future are combined to produce this fantasy-ladened journey through Rome.

1 videocassette (129 min.) :

DANA 330

Salo 120 days of Sodom 1990

Pasolini adapted a work by the Marquis de Sade, transplanting the setting to Salo, Mussolini's Facist holdout set up in northern Italy after he was freed by SS commandos. In a vast mansion, a party of Facists have rounded up a group of attractive young people to satisfy their depraved desires. As in earlier works, Pasolini updates a traditional myth to modern times; here, he takes the early Christian notion of the "world upside down," and gives it a material, horrifying reality.

1 videocassette (115 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1132

Shoeshine 1946

One of the great films of Italian neorealism; in Nazi-occupied Rome, two young shoeshine boys get involved in a black market deal in order to raise money for a horse, are caught and sent to prison, where one of them betrays the other.

1 videocassette (ca. 110 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA. MEDIA 2-1275

Le soldatesse the soldierettes 1996

Shortly after Italy conquered Greece in 1941, impoverished Greek women survive by working in Italian military brothels. An Italian major falls in love with one of the women.

1 videocassette (ca. 97 min.)

MEDIA 2-7306

La Strada 1986

A circus strongman adopts a simple-minded peasant girl as his assistant and treats her rudely. This film is considered a classic of Italian neo-realism.

1 videocassette (107 min.) :

MEDIA DANA MEDIA 2-118 556 7-132

Stromboli terra di Dio = land of God 1991

A Lithuanian refugee girl marries a poor Sicilian fisherman to escape internment in post-war Italy, but finds herself imprisoned by the primitive and rigidly traditional society when the couple moves to a desert island.

1 videocassette (107 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2654

Swept away an unusual destiny in the blue sea of August 1989

A beautiful and selfish Italian jetsetter is shipwrecked with one of her employees, a despised and slovenly sailor. Cut off from the world on a desert island, he reverses their roles and soon controls her completely.

1 videocassette (116 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1257

Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto Swept away 1996

A wealthy upperclass capitalist and a working-class deckhand on her yacht are marooned on an uninhabited island for several weeks. The woman becomes totally dependent on the man for survival, falls in love with him, and the two temporarily reverse their roles.

1 videocassette (116 min.) :

DANA 1539

Two women 1998

Realistic drama of an Italian widow who, along with her young daughter, are brutally raped by Allied soldiers in World War II.

1 videodisc (93 min.) :

MEDIA 10-139

Umberto D 1991?

The story of a government pensioner living alone who strives to retain a sense of dignity in his elder years.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA MEDIA 541 2-663

La vita é bella 1999?

"In this extraordinary tale, Guido -- a charming but bumbling waiter who's gifted with a colorful imagination and an irresistible sense of humor -- has won the heart of the woman he loves and has created a beautiful life for his young family. But then, that life is threatened by World War II...and Guido must rely on those very same strengths to save his beloved wife and son from an unthinkable fate!"--Container.

1 videocassette (ca. 116 min.) :

DANA 1482

Zuppa di pesce Fish soup 1996

A funny and intimate fiew of a young firl's growing up in Tuscany., set against a tnagled web of ramily relationships.

1 videocassette (107 min.)

MEDIA 2-7424