Closed
Captioned

8 ½

1963

Master animator Bruno Bozzetto offers his irreverent tribute to Disney’s Fantasia. Transcending parody, this erotic and delirious animated feature represents Bozeetto’s vision of the world. In six distinct episodes, fantastic cartoon creatures march, slither, and bounce to classical rhythms. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Allegro Non Troppo

1976

In six distinct episodes, fantastic cartoon creatures march, slither, and bounce to the classical rhythms of Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius, Vivaldi, and Stravinsky. Perhaps most entrancing is the visualization of Ravel’s “Bolero” in which the dregs of a Coke bottle set forth a frenzied animal evolution across a surreal landscape. Maurizio Nichetti stars in the equally wild live-action sequences that introduce each piece. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Amarcord

1974

Through the story of Titta, a boy on the brink of manhood, the director looks back on his own youth through a dreamlike memory. Set in a small coastal village in the 1930’s, this ode to the past recalls the time, the place, and especially the people: Titta’s bickering parents, the egotistical theater owner, the town’s sexy beautician, and a throng of lust-filled teenagers Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Behind the Scenes

1994

Walk with a prominent historian through the ancient ruins of Rome and Pompeii. Experience the spirit and tradition of Venice’s Regatta and marvel as a master glassblower spins his craft. Discover the artistic legacy of Florence through the eyes of a local painter and share the art of wine making with a master vintner in Chianti. From Tuscany to Sicily, Verona to Capri, treasures unveil themselves. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Bellissima

1951

1951 comedy about a working-class woman who is determined to get her plain seven-year-old daughter into movies. A wonderful send-up of the Italian film industry and the illusions that it fosters, delineated in near-epic proportions with style and brio. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Big Deal (I Soliti Ignoti)

1960

Comedy spoof of complicated heist films. The bumbling thieves in Big Deal on Madonna Street are too distracted by everyday joys to execute a method to crime. Shot in location in Rome’s slums, the film balances broad physical comedy with neorealism. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Satyricon

1969

A film with feverishly brilliant successions of grotesque and macabre images which make the fantasies of his other film childish. The film is a spectacle in color, recreating the bawdy and lecherous days of Nero’s reign in ancient Rome. It immerses you in a universe inconcered with human dignity and obsessed with perverse sex—forced or purchased. But, in Fellini’s own words, it is also “an allegorical satire of our present-day world…a science-fiction film projected into the past, not the future…a journey into the unknown.” Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Florence–
Cradle of the Renaissance

1992

Offers a tour of Florence, Italy seen through the eyes of its artists, architects and poets. Looks at Florence in the year 1436 and reveals how Florence came to be the landscape that led the Western World into the light of the Renaissance. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Ginger and Fred

1989

Two ex-dancers, Ginger and Fred made their living imitating the incomparably graceful Rogers and Astaire in Italian dance halls. Now, thirty years later, they are reunited, along with a bizarre cast, for a nostalgic TV variety show. Fred is the same, drunk and chasing women. Ginger has grown up and gotten married, yet fond remembrances of more romantic days still gleam in her eyes. Two innocents in the world of TV, they travel to a rediscovery of their importance to one another and learn they can never leave the past behind. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

In giro per L’Italia

Introduction to Italian
2002

Accompanies text. Video introduces main regions of Italy. Follows the story of Peppe in his day-to-day activities and his University life. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

N

La Dolce Vita

1960

Follows the descent of a notorious gossip into the decadent world of Rome’s pampered rich. Searching only for a new scandal to expose, the writer instead finds himself hopelessly seduced by the non-stop revelry and pleasure of the high-life. But his growing addiction to superficial pursuits puts the journalist on a crash course with tragedy and forces him to examine the values of genuine love and selfless virtue. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Love in City

(Amore nella Città)
1953

True episodes taken from newspaper reports were filmed in the locales where the events took place with some of the people involved in them. The most poignant episode finds a Sicilian girl seduced and abandoned in Rome. The bleakest from Antonioni features interviews with young girls who survived suicide attempts. The most exhilarating comes from Fellini who presents a reporter at a matrimonial agency claiming to be a doctor representing a werewolf who thinks that marriage might cure him! Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Open City

(Città Aperta)
1946

Filmed in the first weeks of the Allied liberation, Open City placed itself at the vanguard of the Italian neorealist movement, brilliantly evoking the conflicting feelings of weary despair and steely determination that bound together the embattled partisan resistance in the face of certain death. Yet it was not merely the proximity to the actual events that made the films so spellbinding, but the sure-handed blend of gentle humor and terrifying violence, a melding of documentary-style camerawork with other more boldly melodramatic ingredients to create a cinematic milestone. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Open Doors

(Porte Aperte)
1990

A brutal triple murder puts justice on trial in Fascist Italy. Palermo, 1973. Fascists promise that their campaign of harsh capital punishment laws-and climate of fear-will let citizens sleep with “open doors.” One morning an embezzler calmly murders the boss who fired him, the clerk who replaced him, and then rapes and murders his wife. The town cries for execution under the Fascist law, and the murderer himself demands death. But one judge and one juror are determined to see justice, not vengeance served. Before the trial is over, they may risk their own futures and perhaps their lives in an unflinching examination of the law. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Padre Padrone

1977

This powerful true tale of one boy’s struggle out of isolation and silence is captured on film by the renowned Taviani brothers, Paolo and Vittorio. Based on the autobiography by Gavino Ledda, who at the age of six was taken from school into the mountains where his father enslaved him as a shepherd. Gavino eventually broke free discovering the outside world and his own identity within it. A Grand Prize winner at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival, PADRE PADRONE is an incredible story of perseverance and is “an exhilarating example of filmmaking.” Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Paisan

1946

One of the first post-war ‘realistic’ style Italian films. Six connected stories dealing with Italian and American soldiers meeting under battle conditions during the War. Brutal; a true-to-life-slice of war as it affects real people. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Roma

1972

Without a straightforward plot, this largely ignored movie provides another autobiographical glimpse into Fellini's life through an entertaining array of visual impressions. In fact, Fellini appears in a cameo as himself, directing a production recording images of modern Rome. Another way to view Roma is to adopt your "film student" persona to study this work as part of the Fellini canon—Roma is representative of the way this auteur crafts his work, using a bare outline and relying on creativity and improvisation. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Rome: The Eternal City

1989 

Begin your visit to Rome on Palatine Hill, home to emperors, kings, and pontiffs. Stroll through the Roman Forum, passing the Curai, where the Senate met, and the Rostra, where Cicero spoke, and admire the ruins of once magnificent temples, arches, and columns. Toss a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain to guarantee your return to Rome. Major landmarks of Rome, including the coliseum and the Via Condotti are visited during this tour of the city. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

N

Seduced and Abandoned
(Sedotta E Abbandonata)
1964 

In this twist on Sicilian family mores, the father of four girls struggles to salvage the family honor when one of them is seduced by a scoundrel. Papa Don Vincenzo goes berserk when he finds out his youngest daughter is pregnant by his eldest daughter’s fiance. The hypocrite refuses to marry the girl, complaining that he will never marry a woman who is not a virgin. From there the laughs are swift as the father employs every trick imaginable to ensnare the rascal and spare the family public humiliation. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Swept Away

1974

Set against the backdrop of the Mediterranean, Swept Away is a controversial film about sex, love, politics and role reversals. Raffaella, a rich and stunning capitalist, who particularly enjoys tormenting Gennarino, a Communist deckhand who works on her husband’s yacht. Stranded on a deserted island, Gennarino reverse roles and become master over Raffaella. She finds herself submitting to her new role culminating in a dramatic climax when they are rescued and must determine if their love can survive the harsh realities of civilization. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Children are Watching Us

(I Bambini Ci Giuardano)
1942

The Children Are Watching Us records the unintentional cruelties that shatter a four-year-old boy’s vulnerable world. His mother, consumed by an extramarital affair, and his suicidal father abandon the child emotionally and physically. Unwanted and unloved, he drifts away from any attachment with the adult world. The film uses real locations and deals with social issues. The result is a timeless, emotional, and sharply realistic work that paved the way for Italian Neorealism. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Family

(Il Familia)
1987

Nominated for a 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. As Carlo dresses for his 80th birthday party, generations of family arrive to celebrate. As so often is the case, milestones trigger memories and provide a sense of history that can only be interpreted with the wisdom that comes from age and life itself. As Carlo reflects upon his past, he relives personal triumphs, family comedies and tragedies, volatile politics and a war-torn world. But most importantly, he remembers the people and the passions that have changed his life. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

1971

Amid the ravages of WWII, the Finzi-Continis, a cultured Jewish family, languish in aristocratic splendor in their Eden-like estate in Ferrara, Italy. As the political atmosphere becomes increasingly hostile to Jewish citizens, the handsome and carefree Finzi-Contini children turn their home into a refuge for their young friends. Amidst emotional instability, they play out a series of heartbreaking romantic rituals which spiral into tragedy as Fascism gradually descends upon their world. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Icicle Thief

1989

You’re sitting in your living room, watching a vintage movie interrupted by a million commercials…Suddenly, a sexy swimsuit model disappears from a car ad and reappears in the movie-in full color! You’ve entered a mind-bending world—a wildly altered state of television fantasy packaged in a clever satire. The film blasts away at the small screen with the tragedy of a bleak vintage drama. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Pool Hustlers
(Io, Chiara e lo Scura)

1983

An amateur billiards wizard repeatedly challenges the national champion, but can only beat him when not playing for money. To pay his debts, he “borrows” cash from safe deposit boxes in the hotel where he works days, facing jail if he can’t win the grand prize in the big tournament. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Story of Boys and Girls

1991

An intoxicating mix of friends and families meet to celebrate an engagement over a banquet that fondly recalls the endless meal in Babette’s Feast. Between the twenty delicious courses and flowing wine, the guests loosen their belts as well as their tongues spilling family secrets and revealing romantic intrigues. Even the maid gets caught between courses in a lusty tryst that leaves her flushed and rumpled when she serves the next dish. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The Tree of Wooden Clogs

1978

The story of a small community of peasants in Italy near the turn of the century. It follows four families through the seasons and lovingly portrays the events of their lives, from the momentous – marriage and birth – to the minor – a small but pivotal incident where a young boy breaks one of his clogs on the way home from school. In order for his son to continue his education, the boy’s father must risk punishment by cutting down one of his landlord’s trees to make a new pair of clogs. Though the punishment is severe, the feeling we are left with is that this united family will not be shaken and that life goes on in spite of hardship. Their love of life and land is inspiring and their strength leaves a lasting impression. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

The White Sheik
(Lo Seicco Bianco)

1952

A provincial Italian plans a conventional honeymoon, including an audience with the Pope, until his bride sneaks off in pursuit of her fantasy hero. Unfortunately, her White Sheik is no more than an actor whose chivalry is matched by his lechery. Alberto Sordi, one of Italy’s greatest comedians, is unforgettable as the Sheik. The film whisks us through a world of illusion and self-delusion, leaving us to wonder whether fantasy or reality is the biggest sham. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Vanina Vanini

1961

In this Rosselli film Princess Vanina Vanini falls for young revolutionary Pietro, and she has no option but to elope, leaving Rome's life of high society parties to which she is accustomed and moving to Italy's much harsher north. What starts off as an amiable costume drama quickly turns into melodrama as Vanina Vanini, riddled with guilt over the illicit affair, realizes that her dream is turning sour while Pietro begins to reveal his true colors. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

Y

Venice

1989

How do I get around Venice? What should I see? Where should I stay and shop? These are just a few of the questions Laura McKenzie answers in this thrilling tour of Venice. You’ll see the famed Canals, ride in a Gondola, visit St. Mark’s Square, the Doges Palace, the Venetian glassworks plus many other wonders. You’ll enjoy the shops and cuisine of Venice, the pageantry of its Big Carnival and much, much more. Perfect for armchair traveling, planning your upcoming vacation or business trip…or reminiscing about the trip you’ve already taken. Property of Ruth Honer, Italian Instructor

N