20 best movies like Life Is Beautiful (1979)

After accidentally coming into contact with radioactive waste, small-time crook Enzo Ceccotti gains superpowers. A misanthropic, introverted brute, he uses his new powers for personal gain until he meets Alessia, a mentally challenged girl who believes Enzo’s the hero from her favorite Japanese anime series, Steel Jeeg.

Italy, early nineties. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived to everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.

Tom Ripley is a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser; but there's more to Tom Ripley than even he can guess.

1972, Milano. We are just a few days before the general elections. The daughter of a well-known professor is found dead. Mr Bizanti, and Mr Montelli, editor-in-chief and owner of newspaper Il Giornale try to derail the official police investigation in order to help the fascist candidates they support in the upcoming elections.

A look at the controversial riot cops unit, told through the stories of three veteran cops and a young recruit.

Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.

Peppino, a retired hitman for the Camorra, has now fully passed on his job and know-how to his single son, Nino. But when Nino is brutally assassinated, the old man is back in business to take revenge. Aside his everlasting love Rita and his longtime henchman Totò, Peppino will go to any lengths, even if it means bringing the Camorra down.

The Ciraulo family lives in the miserable district of Palermo called "Zen". When one of their children dies in a shootout between mafia gangsters they receive compensation and buy a luxury black Volvo. Things go wrong when Trancredi, another son, takes the car out and damages the car door.

An accident involving a 16-years old prompts private eye Corso to an investigation that will unearth a deep web of corruption in today's Rome.

The 1978 kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, president of the most important political party in Italy at the time, Democrazia Cristiana, as seen from the perspective of one of his assailants -- a conflicted young woman in the ranks of the Red Brigade.

Sean Haggerty only has an hour to deliver his illegal cargo. An hour to reassure a drug cartel, a hitman, and the DEA that nothing is wrong. An hour to make sure his wife survives. And he must do it all from the cockpit of his Cessna.

Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. To get around the law, he tries to trick his wife into having an affair so he can catch her and murder her, as he knows he would be given a light sentence for killing an adulterous woman. He persuades a painter to lure his wife into an affair, but Rosalia proves to be more faithful than he expected.

Salvo, a ruthless Sicilian Mafia hit man, changes his priorities after being involved in a bloody ambush.

The fates of an apparently random group of strangers who each come into contact with a mysterious figure who they believe possesses the power to grant any wish, in return for which they must carry out a task he assigns them.

Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.

Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.

A motorcycle gang arrives in a small town in search of a motorcycle that has been stolen by a rival gang; but, pursued by the police, one of its members is injured, an event that will cause an orgy of violence and destruction.

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.

A retired professor of American origin lives a solitary life in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. He is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa and her lover, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, and forced to rent to them an apartment on the upper floor of his palazzo. From this point on his quiet routine is turned into chaos by his tenants' machinations, and everybody's life takes an unexpected but inevitable turn.

Mirko and Manolo are best friends and live in the suburbs of Rome. They both live in poor conditions with their single parents, are still in school and struggle with occasional odd jobs to make ends meet. Together they share dreams of women, of sex and money, of a better life to come. Then, after killing a man in a hit-and-run one night, they get involved with the local mafia and their lives change dramatically.

Irena, a Ukrainian woman coming to Italy looking for a job as a maid. She does everything she to become a beloved nanny for an adorable little girl Thea. However, that is just the very beginning of her unknown journey.

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An ex-CIA agent is hired to protect the daughter of a rich American family.

Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change his life and the destiny of Cosa Nostra forever.

A gangster known as "Samurai" wants to turn the waterfront of Rome into a new Las Vegas. All the local mob bosses have agreed to work for this common goal. But peace is not to last long.

The hunt, capture and trial of Guy Georges, one of France's most notorious serial killer.

Across a language barrier, a Turkish groom-to-be on an engagement party in Kyev meets a Ukrainian that represents the 'other woman' for a marriage there.

A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.

Ciro's body is sinking in the dark waters of the Gulf of Naples. And as it sinks deeper and deeper, memories emerge. The sounds muffled by the water merge with the screams of fleeing people. It is 1980, the earth shakes, the palace collapses, but under the rubble you can hear the cry of a newborn baby still alive. Ten years later, we find that new-born baby as it survives as it can on the streets of Naples, nobody's son. Vivid memories of a criminal education that made him what he is: Ciro Di Marzio, the Immortal. Prequel of the "Gomorra" tv show.

A former narcotics smuggler, now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills, is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son.

A mosaic of several intertwined stories questioning the meaning of life, love and hope, set during the last six days in the life of Eluana Englaro, a young woman who spent 17 years in a vegetative state.

A prominent Boston family attempts to redefine itself in the wake of a chilling discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades — amid the mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice.

When hitchhiker Jack rescues Véronique from a road rage altercation, the twosome decide to travel together for safety’s sake after learning a serial killer is cutting a murderous swathe through the region. Tired and hungry, they decide against their better judgment to take up an offer to stay the night at a mysterious elderly couple’s mansion…

A cop investigates the murder of a beautiful teen girl left naked by a lake.

Prime leader of a campaign against a big government project is killed in what appears to be a road accident. An IAS officer is ordered to probe the incident and the veils of falsehood begin to drop.

Two French paras who had lived through deadly situations in Algeria, meet again in civil life. Frapier is a newspaper reporter, and one day finds his friend Porte - surrounded by the police after a car theft, and an accidental killing of a police officer. He helps him escape, and provides shelter with the complicity of his girlfriend Vera. Later, Frapier will have doubts about Vera's love, and lives a passionate night with beautiful Arabelle. However, he finds himself playing a game of life and death both with Vera, and Porte. It will end in sadness for one, and death for another.

Taurus City, The United States of Europe, 2023. Uly, a disillusioned soldier riddled with amnesia, returns home from a war in the Middle East, knowing only that he must desperately comb the city to find his beloved wife, Penelope. Fate fills this endless night with a series of chance meetings. Whether it be the wealthy Alcyde, the beastly cyclops Popov, Aeo the Gyspy, or Cici the Sorceress, good or evil that they be, each encounter fills in a missing piece of Uly's memory, so that he can finally face his past.

ACP Vishnu is sent on a mission to investigate and clean the underbelly of Goa. During his investigation, he uncovers a huge racket and discovers the involvement of various politicians.

An aging soccer fanatic faces down the reality of his past while struggling to give himself and a young follower very different futures.

An Italian diplomat's son follows and seduces English lovers in Venice.

Inspired by one of the longest and bloodiest real-life events in police history, Officer Mike Chandler and a young civilian passenger find themselves under-prepared and outgunned when fate puts them squarely in the crosshairs of a daring bank heist in progress by a fearless team of highly-trained and heavily-armed men.

Set ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, the film follows Liam (Sam Claflin), an ex-con trying to win back the love and trust of his family. He has lost everything at the hands of a local crime syndicate run by Clifford Cullen (Spall), who has high-level connections in politics, finance and the police force. Liam's drive for redemption sees him caught up in a web of conspiracy, crime, and corruption.

Murder in the First follows homicide detectives Terry English and Hildy Mulligan as they investigate a multitude of tragedies in San Francisco.

The story of a man who murdered thirty-two people, gained power, and then got afraid because too many people wanted to kill him. One August morning, he disappeared. For fifteen years, everyone believed him dead.

Pio Amato, a 14 year-old member of a small Romani community in southern Italian town of Gioia Tauro in Calabria, is in a hurry to grow up. Pio follows his older brother Cosimo everywhere and from him he learns how to hustle and how to navigate the streets of his hometown. One night Pio sets out to prove to his brother that he is as good or better than him but, when things go wrong, a series of events will forever change the way he sees the world.

In war torn Calcutta during the 1940's, Byomkesh Bakshy, fresh out of college, pits himself against an evil genius who is out to destroy the world.

Cal is a dedicated cop who also serves as a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve. When his reckless half brother lands in jail for accidentally killing a man, Cal and his buddies hatch a plan to break him out of prison -- no matter what the cost.

Shy and reserved, Claire Decker, 30ish, is a part-time investigator for Social Services. Typically, she solves cases where senior citizens have died alone, leaving no indication of who must handle their estate. This time however, Claire is reluctantly drawn into a puzzling murder case. The local police have been unable to solve the horrific crime, or even decipher the victim's true identity. A beautiful and enigmatic young blond, known only as "The White Orchid," has been brutally murdered. As Claire is drawn deeper and more intimately into the dead woman's life, she finds herself taking dangerous chances and pushing personal and professional boundaries. As she gets closer to the truth, Claire must effectively become the charismatic "White Orchid" in order to solve the mysterious crime.

Inspired from real life, this fiery crime thriller depicts the phenomenal rise to power of Paritala Ravi from Andhra Pradesh, a powerful killer. When a man's father and elder brother are murdered in cold blood due to the fatal mixture of caste, crime, jealousy and dirty politics, a fearless young man who has been kept away from his family's violent lifestyle, is left with no choice but to get into the fray. He hides in the forest and begins clinically exacting revenge upon those responsible for the death of his family members. Will he be successful in his mission? How will his future unfold?

Between 1978 and 1979, the inhabitants of the Oise are in fear of a maniac who kills several hitchhikers and escape the police. He was then dubbed "the killer of the Oise" is actually a shy young policeman who will investigate his own murder, only to lose control of the situation.