“The ancient history becomes the main plot in the Italian cinema of the early 20th century.

“The Fall of Troy” by Giovanni Pastrone and “Mark Antony and Cleopatra” by Enrico Guazzoni – these films fully reflect the interests of Italians of that time who wanted to recreate historical moments on the screen. Guazzoni paid tribute to literature by filming “Quo Vadis” based on the novel by the Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz.

During this decade, silent films that focused on the history of Italy continued to be produced. George Jacoby’s “Camo Gradiš” was adapted for the screen, while Enrico Guazzoni presented his film “Messalina” to the public.

American director Henry King was interested in Italian history and filmed “Romola” in Italy. Augusto Genina collaborated with a French film studio to adapt “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which attracted the attention of many history and literature enthusiasts.

In the 1930s, fascism flourished in Italy and censorship was imposed, which also affected the film industry. This could not but affect the themes that were touched upon in the films, as well as their quality. Alessandro Blasetti became a significant Italian director of fascist propaganda films, making films such as “The Old Guard” and “1860”.

Despite the propaganda, comedies were also made in Italy (“What Scoundrels Men Are” by Mario Camerini, “The Private Secretary” by Goffredo Alessandrini, as well as “Two Happy Hearts” by Baldassare Negroni).

In the early 1940s, Alessandro Blasetti released the adventure film “The Iron Crown” and the first film in the genre of “Italian neorealism” – “Four Steps in the Clouds”. Comedies were also made (Amleto Palermi’s “The Headless Saint John”, Mario Mattoli’s “Three Lucky Kids”).

At the end of the decade, the world learned about Roberto Rossellini when he presented a rethinking of fascism, which had long ruled Italy, in his films (“Rome, Open City”, “Paisan”).

Italians never stopped surprising with their positive attitude towards life, making comedies even in the post-war period (“The Poverty of Mrs. Travi” by Mario Soldati).

In the 1950s, Roberto Rossellini continued to create and presented many interesting films to the public (dramas “Europa ’51” and “Fear”). Alessandro Blasetti also continued to make films during this time, releasing the romantic comedy “Too Bad She’s Bad”.

Federico Fellini paved his way into the film industry as another master of Italian neorealism, with well-deserved films such as “Nights of Cabiria” and “La Dolce Vita”. “Roman Holiday,” a joint production with the North American film studio Paramount Pictures, is another film that reflects the realities of the time.

In the 1970s, Bernardo Bertolucci enters the arena with his film “The Conformist,” which dealt with a very serious topic. As for other genres, Italians have an amazing ability to turn everything negative into something positive, and evidence of this is the film “Uncle Adolf, nicknamed Führer” by the creative duo Castellano and Pipolo.

However, this is not the only comedy made during this period, there were also “Scent of a Woman” by Dino Risi and “Ugly, Dirty and Bad” by Ettore Scola.

The last decade of the 20th century for Italian cinema was a time of rethinking values. More and more dramas (Giuseppe Ferrara’s “Giovanni Falcone,” Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Stealing Beauty,” Cristina Comencini’s “The Best Day of My Life”) and even military-themed films (Roberto Benigni’s “Life is Beautiful,” Gabriele Salvatores’ “Mediterraneo”) could be seen on the screens.

However, the peculiarity of Italian films is that practically any of them is imbued with a positive attitude towards life, despite life’s difficulties.

The decade of Italian cinema began with the release of the drama “Malena” by Giuseppe Tornatore and ended with the release of the thriller “Giallo” by Dario Argento.

In the period between these events, Dario’s daughter Asia made her debut, presenting the erotic drama “The Scarlet Diva” to the public, and writer Federico Moccia tried his hand at directing, making the melodrama “Sorry for Love” (before that he worked as a screenwriter on the romantic comedy “Three Steps Over Heaven” by Luca Lucini).

This decade for Italian cinema is characterized by a focus on more serious themes in the plots, but of course, it is not without Italian humor and positivity. Comedies are released such as “Law is Not for Sale” by Salvo Ficarra, “The Mafia Kills Only in Summer” by Pierfrancesco Diliberto, as well as “Perfect Strangers” by Paolo Genovese.

Action movies are also popular (“All Cops Are Bastards” by Stefano Sollima), as well as dramas (“The Land” by Emanuele Crialese, “Sicilian Ghost Story” by Fabio Grassadonia).

The year 2020 has not only postponed premieres but also filming of many films due to the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, many films have to be waited for longer than planned.

Meanwhile, in Italy, several dramas were released – for example, Emma Dante directed “The Macaluso Sisters,” and Claudio Noce directed “Our Father.” Anselma Dell’Olio presented to the public a documentary film about the outstanding Italian director – “Fellini and the Spirits” – and this is seen as Italians paying tribute to their history.