Language Learning Center
Hibbs Building, rooms 424 / 426
804-828-2320

Italian Language Resources

Italian Films


Beyond the Clouds

IF 011
DVD. 1995. 109 min. English, Italian, 
French/English subtitles              
Michelangelo Antonioni, co-directed by Wim Wenders John Malkovich, Sophie Marceau, Irene Jacob, Jean Reno and Vincent Perez.
Four separate stories about the mysteries of love, lust and interdependency are tied together by the European wanderings of a film director. Set in several beautiful European locales such as Portofino and Paris.
***Attention : Nude scenes.  

Bread and Tulips
IF 014
DVD.2002.116min. Italian w/English subtitles

Caro Diario
IF 013
VHS. 1994. 100 min.  
Nanni Moretti / Nanni Moretti
This magical, virtually indescribable comedy follows 
the travails of a simple man in search of the true meaning of life. The film's three episodes confront, respectively, the changing character of Rome and of Moretti's generation, the possibility (and impossibility) of solitude, and the nature of truth in medicine.

Ciao, Professore!
IF 001
VHS. 1993.  Italian/ English subtitles  
Lina Wertmüller / Paolo Villaggio, Isa Danieli
This brilliant comedy details the outrageous clash 
between a strict, no-nonsense teacher and his class of rambunctious, street-smart children. Ultimately it's the
teacher who ends up learning more about life from his
charges than the other way round.

Cinema Paradiso
IF 008
DVD.  1989. 121 min. Italian/choice of subtitles   
Giuseppe Tornatore / Philippe Noiret, Jaques Perrin,
Salvatore Cascio, Pupella Maggio
An affectionate salute to the magic of the movies and
the individuals who spend their lives in the projection
booth. A projectionist for a small Sicilian village movie
palace opens up new worlds for one very inquisitive 
child.

Fellini's Roma
IF 010
DVD.1972. 120 min. Italian/choice of subtitles 
Federico Fellini / Fiona Florence, Britta Barnes,
Pia de Doses, Marne Maitland, Peter Gonzales
In Roma, Fellini strings together a series of images of
Rome, and through his eyes this special city becomes
a living, breathing organism. Roma is quite possibly
Fellini's most avowedly autobiographical film to
date--a loving document of his own personal encounter
with Rome.

Fellini Satyricon
IF 002   VHS 
Federico Fellini /Martin Potter, Hiram Keller,
Capucine, Luigi Montefiori
Federico Fellini freely adapts the work of Petronius
Arbiter in this sexual odyssey through ancient Rome.
With an emphasis on spectacle and the grotesque,
we follow two young Romans in their pursuit of
pleasure and personal survival.

Fiorile
IF 005  VHS
1993. 118 mn. Italian/ English subtitles   
Paolo Taviani-Vittorio Taviani 
In the orange groves of Italy, the Benedetti family
preserves their time-honored ways, including the curse
that has followed them for generations. In this
provocative tale, greed, lust, romance and forbidden
love stalk the unsuspecting members of this clan in a
warmly nostalgic look at the process of history.

Il Postino
IF 007 DVD. 
1995. 108 min. Italian/English subtitles.
Michael Radford / Philippe Noiret, Massimo Troisi,
Maria Grazia Cucinotta
A humble postman in a small but beautiful Italian
village, sees his life transformed by the simple powers
of poetry. Pablo Neruda is poet-living-in-exile who gives
this bumbling mailman the right words to seduce the
woman of his dreams. Based on the novel Burning
Patience, by Antonia Skarmenta.  

Johnny Stecchino
IF 017 VHS
1993. 100 min. Italian/English subtitles
The Marx Brothers meet the Godfather in this
hilarious tale of mistaken identity that proves there's
nothing organized about organized crime.

Life is Beautiful  
IF 009 
DVD. 
1998. 118 min. Italian/English subtitles 
Roberto Benigni
Sentimental and humorous portrait of family love with a
stark Holocaust drama, while gracefully allowing the
star moments to showcase his gifts for physical
comedy. The film begins as a fairy tale romance, then
shifts dramatically when the hero and his family are
placed in a concentration camp. To get his young son
through the ordeal, the father tries to convince him that
the hardships they are enduring are all part of an
elaborate game.

Mediterraneo
VHS. 1991. 90 mn. Italian / English subtitles IF 006
Gabriele Salvatores / Diego Abatantuono,
Claudio Bigagli and Giuseppe Cederna
A small, eight-man battalion is ordered to secure a
strategically unimportant Greek island. They are cut off
from their superiors and encounter a liberated, magical community of beautiful women, sad-hearted prostitutes,
a sympathetic priest and no resistance.

Malena
IF 012  DVD
2000. 92 min. Italian/English subtitles    
Giuseppe Tornatore / Monica Bellucci
A war widow is resented by her neighbors in her small coastal village because of her allure and unfairly labeled
as a woman of loose morals. An adolescent boy, who has made her the object of his fantasies, comes to realize her virtue as World War II and the rise of fascism leads to more conflict within the community.  

Mille Bolle Blu
IF 018. VHS
1996. 83 min.
Italian/English subtitles
A bubbly, nostalgic look at the motley residents of a
single block in Rome on the eve of a rare solar eclipse.

Miracle in Milan
IF 004
VHS. 1951.96 mn. Italian/ English subtitles   
Vittorio De Sica
A masterpiece, a key work of Italian neo-realist cinema,
a wonderfully inventive and comic film that effectively
condemns the inequities that existed for millions of
displaced Europeans after World War II. The rich vein
of sly, compassionate humor that Chaplin and Rene
Clair used has been tapped by De Sica.  

Padre Padrone
IF 016
VHS. 1977. 117min.Italian w/English subtitles.

The Son's Room
IF 019
VHS. 100 min.
Italian/English subtitles.
Unforgettable story of a man facing the greatest
challenge of his life.

The Star Maker
IF 015
DVD. 1995. 107min. Italian w/English subtitles.

We all loved each other so much 
(C'eravamo Tanto Amati)
IF 003
VHS. 1974. 124 min.
Italian with English subtitles 
Ettore Scola / Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi,
Aldo Fabrizi and Stefania Sandrelli
An affectionate tribute to Italian Cinema, as well as a
sensitive comedy about the friendship of three men and
the woman each has loved.

Italian Educational Videos


IE 001 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 002 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 003 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 004 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 005 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 006 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 007 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 008 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 009 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana

IE 010 Corso Universale Di Lingua Italiana


Italian Software


CD ROMS available at the front desk:

- VOYAGE IN ITALY (Windows, 1 copy)
700 photos, slide shows, audio commentary,
videos, music, etc.

- LEARN ITALIAN NOW! 8.0 Transparent Language
(PC/Mac, 1 copy only)
Texts, dialogues, games, authentic video clips.
Beginner to advanced levels.

- LA NEVE NEL BICCHIERE  (Windows, 1 copy)
Multimedia story based on the novel by Nerino Rossi. Intermediate-high and advanced levels.

Software Installed on Dell Computers:

- TALK NOW ITALIAN (installed on computers 1 to 30)
Learn vocab on food, shopping, numbers, time, body
parts, colors, phrases, etc. practice your pronunciation,
take quizzes...For beginners.

-WORLD TALK ITALIAN
(installed on computers 1 to 30)
Improve your listening and speaking skills with 10
games, recording studio, dictations, quizzes.
A step
up from "Talk Now",
advanced beginners/intermediate levels.

- LEARN ITALIAN WITH THE SON OF ASTERIX
(installed on computers 1 to 30)
Develop your language skills, extend your vocabulary
(over 6000 words!) and increase your fluency. Listen to
or read the story, record and playback your own
captions, test your comprehension. Intermediate
levels and up.

- ADVANCED ITALIAN "Mio Padre é Innocente"
(installed on computers 1 to 30)
Interactive video learning. Watch a movie,
learn vocab, read dialogues, record your own voice,
test your comprehension, play games. Intermediate
and advanced levels.

- DIVACE DUO (Sound file player / recorder)
- WINTV 32
- REAL PLAYER, QUICKTIME, WINAMP,
  DVD PLAYER
- MICROSOFT OFFICE 2000
 
(Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook)
- INTERNET EXPLORER, 
  NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR,
  HOST EXPLORER
- VCU CONNECTIONS
 
(Atlas, Titan, Saturn, Libbrary, Aurora, Etc.)

Virginia Commonwealth University | College of Humanities and Sciences
Last updated August 14, 2003 by znvaughn@mail2.vcu.edu