Italian films about self-discovery

Elio Perlman is spending the summer with his family at their vacation home in Lombardy, Italy. When his father hires a handsome doctoral student, the curious 17-year-old finds himself developing a growing attraction to the young man.

The elections are approaching and the largest opposition party in the country do not look good. Its leader, Enrico Oliveri can not stand the pressure and disappears. Fearing a scandal, the eminence grise of the party had brought into play the twin brother of the politician. Even if looks like two drops of water with his brother Giovanni may have a different personality. His ideas are innovative and direct approach to get the party in the polls ...

An aspiring actor discovers that his spacious new apartment comes complete with eight friendly ghosts.

Gianni is sixty. He is retired but has not become lazy for all that. In fact he is a helpful fellow who gives a hand to all those who need one: shopping for his wife, walking the pretty neighbor's dog, and so on. Everybody likes Gianni, but is it for the right reasons? Doesn't his wife profit by the situation (she still works so it is only logical that Gianni do all the chores)? Isn't he subject to the excruciating whims of his rich mother?... Sure, everybody LIKES Gianni, but who LOVES him? Agreed, being kind to them, he is the ladies pet, but he does not attract them anymore. That is why, when his macho lawyer friend Alfonso blames him for not having young mistresses "like every other senior Italian male", Gianni, who is beginning to ask himself questions about what it is like to become old, starts chasing dames.

An adolescent girl, living with her mother and her grandmother, will have her first sexual experiences in a heavy and excessive way.

While trying to make his sister's wedding day go smoothly, Jack finds himself juggling an angry ex-girlfriend, an uninvited guest with a secret, a misplaced sleep sedative, and the girl that got away in alternate versions of the same day.

Meeting his handicapped son for the first time, a young father attempts to forge a relationship with the teenager.

The newly elected Pope suffers a panic attack just as he is about to greet the faithful who have gathered to see him. His advisors, unable to convince him he is the right man for the job, call on a renowned therapist who also happens to be an atheist. But the Pope's fear of his newfound responsibility is one he must face alone. Winner Best Film at the Italian Golden Globes.

An army cadet accompanies an irascible, blind captain on a week-long trip from Turin to Naples.

Based on the best-seller book 'The Little Prince', the movie tells the story of a little girl that lives with resignation in a world where efficiency and work are the only dogmas. Everything will change when accidentally she discovers her neighbor that will tell her about the story of the Little Prince that he once met.

This deceptively simple tale of a bored English couple travelling to Italy to find a buyer for a house inherited from an uncle is transformed by Roberto Rossellini into a passionate story of cruelty and cynicism as their marriage disintegrates around them.

Six boys race on their scooters through the narrow streets of their Sanità neighbourhood in Naples. They are fearless daredevils, desperate to make money like their role models, and wear designer clothes and the latest sneakers. These 15-year-olds use the city’s rooftops for assault rifle practice. They deal drugs and do not hesitate to use their weapons to take control of the neighbourhood. Their smart leader, Nicola, knows the rules: in order to get his gang into the game and quickly to the top, he challenges one of the old bosses. But whoever is in charge today may well be dead tomorrow. When his girlfriend causes Nicola to be caught between all fronts, he is forced to make a decision.

A retired lawyer becomes friends with a young wife who has just moved in the adjacent apartment with her family.

A Russian poet and his interpreter travel to Italy to research the life of an 18th-century composer.

The adventures and deceptions of a photographer who travels through the small villages of Sicily pretending that he is working for the big film studios in Rome.

An endearing light comedy about a woman who spontaneously becomes a resident of Venice after her family left her begin. While enjoying the wonderful people she meets she achieves a new life and the first time independent of her family.

Leo falls in love with Beatrice, a slightly older high-school student who has leukemia.

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history ; international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes : a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Sebastião's Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.

Sabina has a regular life. She is satisfied with her job and her love for Franco. Lately nightmares start disturbing her, and almost in the same time she discovers to be pregnant. Step by step she remembers her childhood spent within a severe middle-class family. But a big secret is hidden within her heart. Sabina wants to contact again her brother, a University teacher in the US, to try to understand what is happened in their past. What is the secret? She is determined to bring clarity and serenity in her life. She finally manages to free herself from her "beast in the heart".

Guido and Antonia are a young couple with opposing characters and working schedules: he works a night job as a doorman in a hotel, and she works as an employee for a rental car service. This is the story of what happens to Guido and Antonia when they decide to have a child.

Ayiva recently left his home in Burkina Faso in search of a way to provide for his sister and his daughter. He takes advantage of his position in an illegal smuggling operation to get himself and his best friend Abas off of the continent. Ayiva adapts to life in Italy, but when tensions with the local community rise, things become increasingly dangerous. Determined to make his new situation work he attempts to weather the storm, but it has its costs.

Irene, nicknamed 'Miele', has devote herself to people looking for help, and tries to alleviate their suffering even when they make extreme decisions. One day she has to cope with Grimaldi and his invisible malaise.

Virgil Oldman is a world renowned antiques expert and auctioneer. An eccentric genius, he leads a solitary life, going to extreme lengths to keep his distance from the messiness of human relationships. When appointed by the beautiful but emotionally damaged Claire to oversee the valuation and sale of her family’s priceless art collection, Virgil allows himself to form an attachment to her – and soon he is engulfed by a passion which will rock his bland existence to the core.

A reenactment of the final days of the 2001 G8 Summit.

A man dedicated to religion and very faithful husband suddenly finds himself single. The new shop assistant in his shop will overwhelm his life.

David's life is changed forever after his meeting with Marcello, a clever con man.

Featuring never-before-seen footage, concert performances and intimate interviews, filmmaker Ron Howard examines the life and career of famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

On December 12, 1969, a bomb kills 17 people and injures many more at a major national bank in Milan. Others bombings soon follow, marking the beginning of the Years of Lead. Local anarchists are scapegoated for the massacre by police and the media, but an investigator uncovers a larger subversive project made of far-right fringe groups, corrupt secret services, and other interests that seek to undermine democracy.

Tommaso is the youngest son of the Cantones, a large, traditional southern Italian family operating a pasta-making business since the 1960s. On a trip home from Rome, where he studies literature and lives with his boyfriend, Tommaso decides to tell his parents the truth about himself. But when he is finally ready to come out in front of the entire family, his older brother Antonio ruins his plans.

American tourist Frank (Johnny Depp) meets mysterious British woman Elsie (Angelina Jolie) on the train to Venice. Romance seems to bud, but there's more to her than meets the eye. Remake of the 2005 French film "Anthony Zimmer", written and directed by Jérôme Salle.

Inspired by real events, this is a black comedy about 20 years of history of Sicily from 1970s to 1990s, mocking Mafia Bosses and restoring the generosity of the heroes of Antimafia. Its focused on Arturo, a young boy who grows up in Palermo and tries to conquer his beloved Flora.

Five carpoolers travel in a motorhome to reach a common destination. Night falls, and to avoid a dead animal carcass, they crash into a tree. When they come to their senses, they find themselves in the middle of nowhere. The road they were traveling on has disappeared and there is only a dense, impenetrable forest and a wooden house in the middle of a clearing, which they discover is the home of a spine-chilling cult.

Bad Boy Bubby is just that: a bad boy. So bad, in fact, that his mother has kept him locked in their house for his entire thirty years, convincing him that the air outside is poisonous. After a visit from his estranged father, circumstances force Bubby into the waiting world, a place which is just as unusual to him as he is to the world.

A celebrated painter receives a visit from a cardinal's assistant, who informs him that his mother could become a saint.

Writer/director/actor Nanni Moretti offers a three-part film diary which takes a sharply satiric look at Italian life.

A bohemian artist travels from London to Italy with his estranged son to sell the house they inherited from his late wife.

A movie about Domenico Modugno, famous singer.

In a small mountain village lives a man with a challenging name, Giuseppe Garibaldi (one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland"), but everybody call him with the nickname Peppino. Love fishing, the company of friends, the library where he works as a precarious employee. He is an optimistic person even if his child accuse him of being a wannabe. One day, due to a mess of politicians, an amazing thing happens: Peppino is mistakenly elected President of the Italian Republic. Pulled out from his quiet life, is to play a role for which he knows he is obviously inappropriate, but his common sense and his instinctive gestures are incredibly effective, except for the etiquette, for which he is in trouble. The inflexible and fascinating Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Janis Clementi, is anxious to no avail in an attempt to regulate the unpredictable actions of the President...

We are all equal before the law, but some are just more equal than others.

In Verona, bad blood between the Montague and Capulet families leads to much bitterness. Despite the hostility, Romeo Montague manages an invitation to a masked ball at the estate of the Capulets and meets Juliet, their daughter. The two are instantly smitten but dismayed to learn that their families are enemies. Romeo and Juliet figure out a way to pursue their romance, but Romeo is banished for his part in the slaying of Juliet's cousin, Tybalt.

Two young boys, Valerio and Christian, form a powerful friendship over the summer.

In this live-action adaptation of the beloved fairytale, old woodcarver Geppetto fashions a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who magically comes to life. Pinocchio longs for adventure and is easily led astray, encountering magical beasts, fantastical spectacles, while making friends and foes along his journey. However, his dream is to become a real boy, which can only come true if he finally changes his ways.

A priest, after spending years in humanitary missions in Africa, reunites with his family, which is in worse conditions than when he left, and above all meets a young lady who will make him doubt both himself and his faith.

Italy, 1990. On the night when Italy's national football team is eliminated from the World Cup by Argentina on penalty kicks, a well-known film producer is found dead in the Tiber River. The main suspects for the murder are three young aspiring screenwriters, hauled in front of the Carabinieri to tell their version of what happened.

Set in 1950s Tuscany, Voice from the Stone is the haunting and suspenseful story of Verena, a solemn nurse drawn to aid a young boy who has fallen silent since the sudden passing of his mother.

A girl struggling with asthma is taken to a clinic in South Tyrol to be cured. After some time she decides to get out of this hell (that's how she feels about it) and soon she'll meet a new friend. Together they try to reach the peak of a mountain where, according to an old custom, she can be healed.

Paul reflects on the summer he met Angèle and Frédéric as he watches his friend being laid to rest.

Based on the novel 'Evolution Man' by Roy Lewis, this tells the story about the first man - young Edward - to descend from apes. Edward is ejected by his tribe, but is very resourceful. He learns to walk, discovers fire, manages to hunt - and we follow him as he evolves. He has a generous nature, and search for true humanity - a world where we don't eat our fathers.

The story of four friends Giulio, Gemma, Paolo, Riccardo, told over forty years, from 1980 to today, from adolescence to adulthood. Their hopes, their disappointments, their successes and failures are the intertwining of a great story of friendship and love through which Italy and the Italians are also told. A large fresco that tells who we are, where we come from and also where they will go and who our children will be. It is the great circle of life that repeats itself with the same dynamics despite the fact that years and even different periods pass in the background.

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