Italian Films at Ames Public Library
Today is 7/29/2010
In Italian with English captions, unless otherwise noted.
Amarcord (DVD FOREIGN AMA) 127 min. 1973.
In this carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Fellini satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of adolescent desires, male fantasies, rituals, sensations, and emotions. Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 1974.
The Best of Youth (DVD FOREIGN BES) 368 min. 2003.
Originally produced as a miniseries for Italian television and subsequently released as a motion picture. A family epic spanning four decades from the 1960s to the 1990s. Focusing on two brothers, Nicola and Matteo, the film incorporates defining events in Italy’s history, including the hippie movement, the flood of Florence, the Red Brigades, Mafia scandals, kidnapping and political assassinations.
The Bicycle Thief (DVD FOREIGN BIC) 89 min. 1948.
An unemployed man in Rome finds a job as a billposter for which he needs a bicycle. When the bicycle is stolen, he and his son search for the thief in one of the most devastating weeks of their lives. Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 1949.
Big Deal on Madonna Street (DVD FOREIGN BIG) 106 min. 1958.
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.
Bread & Tulips (DVD FOREIGN BRE) 112 min. 2000.
When a harried housewife is accidentally left behind while on a family vacation, she decides to take a holiday of her own in Venice. She becomes charmed by the city and her newfound freedom. She decides to extend her stay, finding a job in a flower shop, renting a room from a wistful waiter, and rediscovering her love for playing the accordion.
Brief Vacation (DVD FOREIGN BRI) 112 min. 1973.
For anyone who's ever yearned for respite from a life of loveless drudgery–or just a break from the daily routine–this is a breath of fresh air. Clara (Florinda Bolkan) is an exhausted factory worker in Milan, unappreciated by her family and suffering from the onset of tuberculosis. Sent to a sanitarium in the Italian Alps for rest and treatment, she's befriended by wealthy and working-class patients alike, and falls in love with a charming Frenchman (Daniel Quenaud) who promises everything she's denied by her selfish, jealous husband.
Caterina in the Big City (DVD FOREIGN CAT) 106 min. 2003.
Caterina moves from a small seaside town to an ailing aunt’s apartment in Rome. Her private school reflects modern-day Italy in all its political and class-skewed complexity.
Ciao, Professore (DVD FOREIGN CIA) 93 min. 1993.
The story of an upper-class teacher from conservative Northern Italy who, due to a computer error, finds himself teaching third-grade truants at a ramshackle school in the south.
Cinema Paradiso (DVD FOREIGN CIN) In Italian with Italian, English, Spanish, or French captions. 121 min. 1988.
A young boy in a small Italian village is befriended by the projectionist at the movie theater, the Cinema Paradiso. As the boy grows up, he learns to love films and is encouraged by his good friend to pursue his dream of one day making movies. Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of 1989.
The Conformist (DVD FOREIGN CON) 111 min. 1970.
A 30-year old Italian man is targeted by a Fascist espionage organization to lead a deadly mission in France. He has to arrange an assassination attempt on his former teacher, who is now a political threat. On his journey, his wife will see his troubled past and current moral dilemma violently collide.
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