Romantic Movies Improve Italian Language Skills
Five Romantic Films to Practice Listening to Conversational Italian
Feb 10, 2009
Amore! What could be a better way to listen to and learn Italian than to watch a romantic Italian film? The five movies described below represent the Italian culture at its most romantic.
Foreign language students who want to challenge themselves and practice listening to conversational Italian can watch the films in their original language without subtitles. Those who simply want to enjoy some good romantic films can enable the subtitles.
Academy Award Winning Italian Romance Films
Nuovo cinema Paradiso [1988] won the 1990 Oscar for best foreign language film. The story revolves around a little boy’s love affair with the movies and his relationship with the projectionist in his post-WWII Sicilian town. It's as much about the romance of life as it is about love. Marco Leonardi plays the teenage Salvatore. Written and directed Giuseppe Tornatore; co-written by Vanna Paoli.
La Vita è bella [1997], known also by its English title Life is Beautiful, won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar as well as Best Lead Actor for its star Roberto Benigni. The story juxtaposes the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp with the efforts of a Jewish inmate to protect his young son from the realities of their situation through the use of humor and romance. A celebration of both life and love. Written and directed by Roberto Benigni; co-written by Vicenzo Cerami.
Oscar Nominated or International Award Winning Italian Romance Films
Il Postino [1994] stars Philippe Noiret, Massimo Troisi, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta. Set in 1950s Italy, and based on true events. A shy village postman who makes friends with the famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, living in exile, who helps him find his own voice in his pursuit the woman with whom he has fallen in love. Written by Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli, and Massimo Troisi; based on the novel Ardiente Paciencia by Antonio Skarméta; with poems by Pablo Naruda; directed by Michael Radford. Nominated for several Academy awards.
Le Notti Bianche [1957], White Nights in English, is an adaptation of a Dostoyevsky novel starring Maria Schell and Marcello Mastroianni. Mario enjoys three nights of romance and love when he meets Natalia, who is waiting for her lover who’s been gone for a year. Will the lover return? Will Natalia continue to pine for someone long gone, or will she accept the love of a man who is here for her now? Screenplay written by Suso Cecchi d’Amico and Luchino Visconti; directed by Luchino Visconti.
Pane e tulipani [2000], known in the U.S. as Bread and Tulips, stars Licia Maglietta and Bruno Ganz. In this romantic comedy Rosalba, an unappreciated housewife, is left behind at a highway café while on a family vacation and ends up having a romantic adventure in Venice. Written by Silvio Soldini and Doriana Leondeff; directed by Silvio Soldini.
With these outstanding Italian films, foreign language learning takes on a whole new context. Try these movies in Italian to improve listening skills and taste the culture of Italian cinema.
Enjoy foreign cinema? Check out these French and Spanish language film reviews.
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