Italian movies on Netflix and Amazon: 24 best recommendations

• Director: Roberto Rosselini
• Leading Actor: Ingrid Bergman
• Year: 1949
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: Experience neo-realism: a story set among the poor, long shots, on location, use of non-professional actors
• English subtitled: yes

Our lineup should include a film by Roberto Rosselini, the master of neo-realism. The film on the volcanic island of Stromboli is seen as a high point of neo-realism, but not at the time of the release of the film. International audiences and critics reacted in a particularly volcanic manner to the extra-legal relationship between the director and his muse, Ingrid Bergman, the Hollywood star.

Experience Stromboli  for yourself:

• Director: Luchino Visconti
• Leading Actor: Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari
• Year: 1951
• Italian title: Bellissima
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: A satire on the romantic illusions of the movie industry – still very much relevant. And to watch Magnani
• English subtitled: yes

Maddalena (Magnani) lives in a poor neighborhood in Rome. She enrolls her young daughter in a talent show at the Cinecittà studios. Maddalena wants her daughter to be chosen. She has spared no expense to ensure that her daughter is the most beautiful and best-dressed contestant.

The film is quite topical, because the film makes a mockery of outward appearances. The director is one of the most famous directors of the post-war period. The leading lady is another tiger of European film: Anna Magnani (won an Academy Award).

Experience Bellissima for yourself:

• Director: Camillo Mastrocinque
• Leading Actor: Totò, Peppino De Filippo
• Year: 1956
• Genre: Comedy
• Why to watch: to find out for yourself if Italy’s most famous comedian is really that funny
• English subtitled: yes

Totò is still considered Italy’s greatest comedian. In nearly 100 films the Neapolitan (1898-1967) has often formed a duo with Peppino De Filippo. He is another famous actor from Naples (theater city par excellence).

In this film, two Neapolitan brothers and their sister go to Milan to convince their young relative to come back to Naples (that he had left for the love of a woman). A common feature of many Italian comedies is making fun on the difference between north and south. In this clip below, it is very evident how the two brothers are lost after they have arrived in Milan.

Experience Totò, Peppino and the Hussy for yourself:

• Director: Federico Fellini
• Leading Actor: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg
• Year: 1960
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: The title of the film (The sweet life) represents post-war Italy when anything was still possible

Considered one of Fellini’s masterpieces and one of the most famous films in the history of cinema. The film is packed with iconic images, such as Ekberg and Mastroianni in the Trevi fountain in Rome and paparazzi on their scooters. The term ‘paparazzo’ comes from this film and is now synonymous with an intrusive society photographer.

Experience La Dolce Vita for yourself:

• Director: Dino Risi
• Leading Actor: Walter Chiari, Michèle Mercier
• Year: 1964
• Genre: Comedy
• Italian title: Il giovedì
• Why to watch: The modern theme of complex divorce was no different 60 years ago
• Platform: Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

Walter Chiari (1926-1991), a contemporary of Mastroianni and at the time at least as famous as him, plays in this film a divorced father who sees his son for the first time in five years. To win the affection of his son, he invents a story about his past. At the end of the day, the Thursday of the title, however, he will succeed in establishing a positive relationship with his son and telling the truth about himself. 

• Director: Umberto Lenzi
• Leading Actor: Antonio Sabàto
• Year: 1972
• Italian title: Milano rovente
• Genre: Crime
• Why to watch: Successful example of the Italian police genre that has influenced even American crime movies
• Platform: Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

‘Gang War in Milan’ is one of hundreds of films in the poliziottesco genre, often very violent films from the 1970s. The good-looking Antonio Sabàto (1943-2021), always with a mustache, stars as a fighter for justice, a role he has played in dozens of films. In the 1980s, Sabàto continued his career in the United States.

• Director: Roberto Benigni
• Leading Actor: Roberto Benigni
• Year: 1998
• Italian title: La vita è bella
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: A lighthearted account of the persecution of Jews
• Platform: Amazon, Disney+
• English subtitled: yes

This film is in the English speaking world one of the most appreciated Italian film of the last 25 years. The movie is set during occupation (WW2) in Tuscany, home of Benigni. The Italian comic pulls out all the stops to allay his son’s fears and present the occupation to him as a game

Roberto Benigni was the first non-English speaking actor to win an Oscar for Best Actor for this film. The theme song (‘Beautiful That Way’) is sung by Noa. 

• Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
• Leading Actor: Monica Bellucci
• Year: 2000
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: Strong storyline, stunning Monica Bellucci, locations in Sicily
• Platform: Netflix, Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

The 65-year-old Giuseppe Tornatore is a director with few films to his name, but the few he does make (12) are worth a look. ‘Nuovo Cinema Paradiso’ won him the Oscar for best foreign film in 1988.

In this film twelve-year-old Renato is enamoured with Malèna. But when jealous townsfolk begin spreading rumours about her, Renato must separate fact from fiction. The absolute leading role is played by sensual Monica Bellucci, who launched her international career with this film.

• Director: Paolo Sorrentino
• Leading Actor: Toni Servillo
• Year: 2013
• Genre: Drama
• Italian title: La Grande Bellezza
• Why to watch: Rome at its very best, fabulous scenography, Fellinian exuberance
• Platform: Amazon, Netflix
• English subtitled: yes

The Great Beauty is a great film. I am not alone in my opinion. It won the Oscar for best foreign film. The Guardian put it in the top 20 best films of the 21st century. This English newspaper writes:

The Young Pope director Paolo Sorrentino crafted this swooningly beautiful love letter to Rome – “la grande bellezza” – in its decadent, jaded glory. Toni Servillo, Sorrentino’s regular onscreen foil, plays journalist Jep Gambardella, a bon viveur beginning to sense the dying of his personal light, and hunting out meaning and substance in the world around him

The music, a mix of sacred and profane rhythms, is also fantastic. Strangely enough, perhaps, the film is less appreciated within Italy. The movie would be based too much on cliches and Fellini.

• Director: Paolo Virzì
• Leading Actor: Fabrizio Bentivoglio,  Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
• Year: 2015
• Genre: Drama, Chic Thriller
• Italian title: Il capitale umano
• Why to watch: Tense and well-told film in high pace set near Varese in northern
• Platform: Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

The film is more than just a chic thriller. Alongside its clear depiction the pain and vanity of social inequality, Virzi and the fine cast explore the unhappiness of rich and poor alike in a society that measures a person’s value in terms of euros.

The nice film description comes from The Hollywood Reporter.  The term ‘human capital’ is legalese that designates an accident victim’s net worth in compensation claims. The theme is reflected in the structure of the film, told in four chapters, each focusing on a different character.

• Director: Gennaro Nunziante
• Leading Actor: Checco Zalone
• Year: 2016
• Genre: Comedy
• Italian title: Quo Vado
• Why to watch: funny on cultural differences
• Platform: Netflix
• English subtitled: yes

This film is the most successful film of all time in Italy (not corrected for inflation). Is this film also the best? No, but it is one of the funniest Italian comedies of the 21st century. The movie makes fun showing the differences between Latin and ‘western’ characters. Obviously you should not be bothered by too much political correctness.

• Director: Stefano Sollima
• Leading Actor: Alessandro Borghi
• Year: 2017-2020 (3 series so far)
• Genre: Crime
• Italian title: Suburra – La Serie
• Why to watch: strong script and acting performance
• Platform: Netflix
• English subtitled: yes

Foreign critics rate this crime series as top notch. One named it a “brash and brutal Italian crime thriller”, another “Netflix’s Italian answer to Narcos”. This is also understandable when you make a mix involving Rome, Italian politics, the Vatican and the mafia.

The series has a strong script (two renowned writers are behind it), good acting and, of course, the locations in Rome and its surroundings always contribute to a nice result.

• Director: Alessio Cremonini
• Leading Actor: Alessandro Borghi
• Year: 2018
• Genre: Drama
• Italian title: Sulla mia pelle
• Why to watch: into the skin of a victim of violence, excellent acting
• Platform: Netflix
• English subtitled: yes

The film is based on a in Italy well-known true story of police violence. Arrested in Rome for a drug-related offense, Stefano Cucchi endures a harrowing week in custody that changes his family forever. Cucchi is played by Alessandro Borghi, who was widely acclaimed for this role. As one critic stated:

Borghi stitches Cucchi into his skin. He tattoos Cucchi on himself. He cuts his hair as he wore it. He makes us see on his body, as we have rarely seen in cinema, the irresolvable mystery of living and dying.

This is one of the first Italian productions that was (is) exclusively distributed by Netflix.

• Director: Pietro Marcello
• Leading Actor: Luca Marinelli
• Year: 2019
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: Actor performance, Campania (Naples area) locations, social theme
• Platform: Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

In this film based on Jack London’s novel, California has been exchanged for Naples, Italy. Luca Marinelli is an excellent Martin Eden, a self-taught man who belongs to the working class. He falls in love with Elena Orsini, who is a member of the middle class. Eden subsequently ends up in socialist circles, which brings him into conflict with the bourgeoisie to which Elena belongs.

An Italianate name would be more appropriate in this very Italian (co-)production. How does Martino Ederle sounds?

• Director: Valerio Mieli
• Leading Actor: Luca Marinelli, Linda Caridi
• Year: 2019
• Genre: Drama / Romantic
• Italian title: Ricordi?
• Why to watch: Everything about the movie is romantic, the people, the colors, the locations, even if the story doesn’t end well
• Platform: Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

This film is for aficionados and lovers. The love story develops slowly with many flash backs. But the powerful lead actors, the beautiful photography and a sprinkle of sensuality helps that this little known work had become a gem. It won the Italy’s foreign press club ‘Golden Globe’ award for best photography.

• Director: Matteo Garrone
• Leading Actor: Roberto Benigni
• Year: 2020
• Genre: Drama
• Why to watch: New interpretation of one of the most famous children’s stories is also great for adults
• Platform: Amazon
• English subtitled: yes

Matteo Garrone, with Paolo Sorrentino the most acclaimed Italian director of this century, gives a new boost to the well-known story of Collodi. The leading role is for Roberto Benigni, who himself directed a (not so successful) Pinocchio film 15 years ago.

• Director: Sydney Sibilia
• Leading Actor: Elio Germano
• Year: 2020
• Genre: Comedy
• Italian title: L’incredibile storia dell’Isola delle Rose
• Why to watch: nice summer hit, Elio Germano
• Platform: Netflix
• English subtitled: yes

One of the top Italian actors I have yet to mention in this list of Italian movies on Netflix is Elio Germano. He stars in this light-hearted film (although he’s still beter in the great movie ‘Favolacce’ (to be rent on Amazon)).

This movie tells the real story of the Rose Island, an artificial platform created off the coast of Rimini in the 1960s. This vintage beach film is nice for a change from the sometimes ponderous Italian drama