Why go
Films can make Italy’s streets and social history more legible before or after a visit. Start with postwar Neorealism to see ordinary life filmed on location, then compare the very different worlds of Fellini, Antonioni and Leone. The contrast tells a richer story than a list of famous actors.
The full story
Italian film companies grew in Rome, Turin, Milan and Naples in the early 20th century. Their large historical spectacles found audiences abroad, but the industry changed sharply after the Second World War. Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini and Luchino Visconti turned their cameras toward ordinary lives and social hardship. Filming on location, sometimes with nonprofessional actors, gave Neorealism its direct, almost documentary feel. In the 1950s and 1960s, Italian cinema moved in several directions at once. Comedies brought performers such as Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni to international audiences. Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni developed distinct ways of portraying modern life, while Sergio Leone reshaped the Western through films made by Italian directors. Watching across these periods reveals changes in both Italy and the stories its filmmakers wanted to tell.