so, i said i would do this, long time ago, and i have finally come round to do it.
You all know italian cinema; people think mostly of Fellini, Bicycle Thieves, and all that neorealism stuff. But you would be missing out on the best AND the worst of italian cinema if it was only that.
As much as stuff like Monicelli, Fellini, Bertolucci, are held in high esteem, people also generally find them boring .. and pompous.
Instead, we have a huge subculture of semi-independent cinema, which is what most people watch. And, this stuff is so popular, you can pretty much stop anyone, of any age, and start quoting lines from these films, and they will quote them with you.
These cultural-phenomena films differ by region, which is pretty much 1. the north, 2. the south, and 3. rome and a whole bunch of areas nearby.
Some you may now. Some, you will never see.
The first and foremost, one of the classic cinema actors most often cited as "best italian actor", "national treasure", "most versatile", is
Toto'.
Toto' was THE star of black & white cinema in postwar italy. He stayed on B&W after color was available, as that was his medium, but you shouldn't think of him as a Buster Keaton. He was extremely prolific, and all his films were great hits. You would think from the sheer number of films he made that they woun't be very good, but he was a classically trained theater actor and he put a lot of effort into each one of them.
Now .. i can't stand him. All his films are very samey; his character is a rascal, not like Han Solo but rather like a rascally C3P0, bumbling and incompetent. He tries to get through the hardships of life with any exploit he can, and is mildly successful, but eventually the grim reality of existentialism defeats him. Think of Derek Trotter from Only Fools & Horses.
In a similar vein, but a proper comedy with some dark overtones, and frankly much more pleasant to watch, is the series of
Don Camillo E Peppone.
The titular Don (priest) Camillo is the witty bishop of the local town, in the north region of Po'. He is always at odds with the moustachoed Communist major of town, a busybody and brash modernist who dreams of greatness but is utterly incompetent. Don Camillo himself is a conservative humanist. The clash of ideologies, in this frienemy situation, plus the excellent dialogue, is the core of the series.
It does paint a splendid and rather inaccurate picture of the priesthood, but aside form this minor crime, it's very good.
Also in a somewhat similar vein, is most of the work of
Alberto Sordi. Sordi was not just a great actor (he did kinda lose it later in his life), but he knew how to pick his roles. He's always had a tragic streak (which *most* italian cinema has), but even so some films - generally less known outside italy - manage to be quite different from his norm. You probably know him for all the wrong reasons.
In particular in the 80s he rode the wave of the very popular Trash film. I'll get into this later.
You really, really want to grab
Il Marchese Del Grillo.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082714/
Since we still have, in Rome, chunks of old roman buildings, you can imagine that period films are quite easy to film. Strip the set of everything, give the actors some reneissance clothing, and you're ready to shoot.
Because of this, a number of film set in the 1800 were shot, most of which ended up being great work. With two millennia worth of monarchy and papal control, we have plenty of ideas to fill screenplays with.
The titular Marquis is part of the late roman nobility, a Woosterian character, lazy and burlesque, doesn't take anything seriously, but has a profound understanding that the world around him is going to crash soon.
Again, you're just not going to find an italian film that isn't *also* a drama. Tragedy seems to be in the blood.
Also of the same type, you got
Il Conte Tacchia,
Nell' Anno Del Signore,
Nel Nome Del Papa Re, and
In Nome Del Popolo Sovrano. These are mostly comedies but they also have a political message about political power and, well, existentialism.
Of Sordi you should also grab
Un Americano A Roma (this is gonna weird you out),
Il Medico Della Mutua, and the sequel (BREATH)
Il Prof. Dott. Guido Tersilli Primario Della Clinica Villa Celeste Convenzionata Con Le Mutue.
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