Italian Film

• by George Bailey • Published: March 27, 2007

There is a rich film tradition in Italy. Such giants as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni dominated international film culture from the fifties through eighties. Fellini, who is popularly associated with the movement of neorealism, frequently incorporated dream imagery and fantasy life into his films. Antonioni, on the other hand, is admired for his often stark, predominantly visual stories which are distinguished by minimal dialogue and lengthy, silent shots. While some of Antonioni's most famous films take place outside of Italy (Blow Up in London, Zabriskie Point in the US), Fellini immortalized modern Rome in his (purportedly) semi-autobiographical opus 81/2 and La Dolce Vita.