World Language Resources

In his carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Federico Fellini satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of social rituals, adolescent desires, male fantasies, and political repartee, all set to Nino Rota's classic, nostalgia-tinged score. The Academy Award-winning Amarcord was one of Fellini's most popular films and remains one of cinema's enduring treasures. "Not only a great movie, it's a great joy to see... this is a movie for everybody." - Roger Ebert

In the award-winning epic tradition of The Godfather and Cold Mountain, The Best Of Youth has wowed critics and earned honors at numerous fi lm festivals worldwide. As Italy explodes in an era of social unrest, a single ill-fated incident sends the lives of equally idealistic brothers Nicola and Matteo Carati careening in opposite directions. Divided by politics but bonded by blood, the next 40 years will find the brothers' divergent paths intersecting through some of the most tumultuous events in recent history! A stunning cinematic achievement - you don't want to miss this incredible motion picture!

A beautiful, simple story of a man in post-war Rome who needs his bicycle in order to work at his job. No sooner does he retrieve it from pawn, then it is stolen. The heartwrenching search teaches the man and his son much about the meaning of life and just how far we will go when pushed to the edge. Winner of a special Academy Award.

A famous Italian filmmaker, haunted by the memories of his first love, returns to his hometown after an absence of 30 years. Upon his return, he reconnects with the community and remembers the highlights and tragedies that shaped his life and inspired him to follow his dream of becoming a filmmaker. For those who have never seen it -- and those who have never forgotten it -- director Giuseppe Tornatore's (BAARIA, THE STAR MAKER) cherished Academy Award®-winning motion picture (1990, Best Foreign Language Film) is now in high definition, fully restored and digitally remastered.

Winner of an Academy Award and the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Federico Fellini’s masterpiece gave the world the term “paparazzi”, and catapulted Fellini to the pantheon of visionary directors. Marcello Mastroianni stars as a tabloid reporter Marcello, the role that made him an international sensation. Marcello’s beat is Rome’s international jet-set, an exotic world indelibly brought to life by Fellini’s iconic images and composer Nino Rota’s classic score. In pursuit of the next bi scandal, Marcello is continually seduced and repulsed by the hedonistic lifestyle of rich, amoral and bored to whom nothing is sacred. Marcello’s unforgettable encounters with an American sexpot (Anita Ekberg), his wealthy lover (Anouk Aimée), his suicidal girlfriend, his cultured mentor, and his estranged father lay bare the emptiness behind the glitz of “the sweet life”. The most talked about film of its day, La Dolce Vita is a towering achievement in world cinema, and one of the most popular influential films of all time.

Upstaging the neorealist masterworks of Rossellini and Bertolucci, Gianni Amelio’s Lamerica triumphs. A visually arresting tale of moral conflict and the journey that leads to atonement, Lamerica has been hailed by critics everywhere as one of the best films of this past decade.
After nearly half a century of communist rule, a poverty stricken Albania falls subject to the invasion of two exploitive capitalists looking to prosper within the changing economy. As Albania’s people try desperately to flee destitution, Gino (Enrico Lo Verso) and Fiore arrive from Italy with plans to use a makeshift manufacturing plant to front their next scam. Forced to name an Albanian citizen as their company’s acting "chairman," Gino and Fiore turn to Spiro–a prisoner of war for over fifty years, Spiro emerges as the perfect pawn. However, when Spiro suddenly disappears, Gino finds himself on a journey that will ultimately reshape the integrity of his soul. Beautifully photographed in Cinemascope, Lamerica has garnered director Gianni Amelio (Stolen Children and Open Doors) with a record third consecutive Felix Award for Best European Film.

An inspired motion-picture masterpiece, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL was nominated in 1998 for 7 Academy Awardsr - winning 3 Oscarsr, including one for Best Actor Roberto Benigni. In this extraordinary tale, Guido (Benigni) - a charming but bumbling waiter who's gifted with a colorful imagination and an irresistible sense of humor - has won the heart of the woman he loves and created a beautiful life for his young family. But then, that life is threatened by World War II...and Guido must rely on those very same strengths to save his beloved wife and son from an unthinkable fate! Honored with an overwhelming level of critical acclaim, this truly exceptional, utterly unique achievement will lift your spirits and capture your heart!

This was Roberto Rossellini’s revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it. Though told with a bit more melodramatic flair than the other films that would form this trilogy and starring well-known actors — Aldo Fabrizi as a priest helping the partisan cause and Anna Magnani in her breakthrough role as the fiancée of a resistance member — Rome Open City (Roma città aperta) is a shockingly authentic experience, conceived and directed amid the ruin of World War II, with immediacy in every frame. Marking a watershed moment in Italian cinema, this galvanic work was an international sensation, garnering awards around the globe and leaving the beginnings of a new film movement in its wake

Cheered by critics and audiences everywhere, IL POSTINO (THE POSTMAN) is the record-breaking Academy Award(R)-winning (Best Dramatic Score, 1995) romantic comedy that delivers heartfelt laughs! Mario is a bumbling mailman who's madly in love with the most beautiful woman in town ... and who's too shy to tell her how he feels. But when a world-famous poet -- Pablo Neruda -- moves into town, Mario is inspired. With Neruda's help, he finds the right words to win the woman's heart! This unforgettably funny comedy proves that passion ... with some artful deception ... can win the most improbable love!

"The camera strips woman right down to her skin," proclaimed the ads, "...lays bare the secrets of her mind and body!" Using outtakes from MONDO CANE as their foundation, Directors Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi created this leering yet lyrical study of women's roles in the international culture of the bizarre. Here is the female of the species as mothers, murderers, warriors and whores, respected as high-powered executives and objectified as bodacious bombshells, grasping for eternal beauty and even engaging in "unnatural friendships." From love in the streets of Paris to death on the African plain, the MONDO masters turn their unflinching eye on all the things never before known - and never before shown - about WOMEN OF THE WORLD.
WOMEN OF THE WORLD features sly English narration by two-time Academy Award(r) winning actor Peter Ustinov (TOPKAPI, SPARTACUS) as well as a remarkable score by Oscar(r)-nominated MONDO CANE composers Nino Oliviero and Riz Ortolani. Unseen for decades, this still-daring documentary has been fully restored from the original vault negative and is presented here completely uncut and uncensored.