21 Nov
The most famous Italian movies to learn the language while having fun
Watching movies is a great way for you to improve or learn Italian and to put knowledge into practice!
In Italy all foreign films are dubbed, that’s why you can choose any movie, Italian films though are richer in idioms and collocations. They are created for native Italian speakers, therefore, the language is spoken quickly, with native accents and pronunciation and sometimes using idioms and regional expressions or even dialects.
Movies are useful tools during Italian L2 lessons because they are social documents, multi-sensory and immersive vehicles for experiencing living, “situated” language. A film or a clip properly didacticized constitutes extremely useful educational material for L2 learning. That’s why they are part of the didactic program of our Italian courses.
Choosing a film to watch that is suitable for your level of proficiency can be difficult. Don’t be afraid, you can start with a movie you already know or one that uses simple language. Gradually, you can train with more and more complex films.
For an authentic immersion in Italian culture, here’s a few titles of movies to learn Italian:
Comedy
Non ci resta che piangere, Roberto Benigni, Massimo Troisi -1984
A sudden storm brings two friends back to 1492. After the initial shock they clumsly try to intermingle with the society of the time.
Pane e tulipani , Silvio Soldini -2000
During a bus trip, a housewife is being forgotten in a highway café. She decides to start a new life by herself in Venice.
Basilicata Coast to Coast, Rocco Papaleo -2010
Four music enthusiasts friends and a journalist cross the region of Basilicata by foot to attend a music festival.
Tolo Tolo, Checco Zalone – 2019
Pierfrancesco “Checco” Zalone, a failed entrepreneur, seeks a new life as a waiter on a holiday village in Kenya, but the civil war forces him to travel again.
Drama
I cento passi, Marco Tullio Giordana -2000
The story of Peppino Impastato, a young left-wing activist who in the late seventies repeatedly denounced criminal activities and the whole Mafia system, by using a small local radio station to broadcast his political pronouncements in the form of ironic humour.
Mio fratello è figlio unico, Daniele Luchetti -2007
Two brothers of opposite political views come of age in a small Italian town in the ’60s and ’70s.
Il giovane favoloso, Mario Martone -2014
The short but fruitful life of Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi. A child prodigy locked in a house that is a library while his desire to know the world leads him to travel with the mind and imagination.
Il capitale umano, Paolo Virzì -2014
The destinies of two families are irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is hit off the road by a jeep in the night before Christmas Eve.
Classic
Ladri di biciclette, Vittorio De Sica -1948
In post-war Rome, a working-class man’s bicycle is stolen. He must find another one immediately in order to go to the just found job.
La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini -1960
A series of stories following a week in the life of Marcello a paparazzo journalist living in Rome.
Divorzio all’italiana, Pietro Germi -1961
A married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and wants to wed her, but in ‘60s Italy divorce is illegal so he must find a creative way to get rid of his wife.
Il sorpasso, Dino Risi -1962:
On the day of Ferragosto a shy law student and an immature forty-year-old, ride through the Roman and Tuscany countries.