ISSIMO Film List: Neorealismo

Real life in cinema

Real people, real stories, real locations. Italian neorealismo was a reflection of real life as it was happening and a gut-wrenching response to the picture-perfect, propaganda-filled studio films that coloured Italy of the 1930s and 40s. Its leaders – Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini and Luchino Visconti, among others – pioneered the Golden Age of Italian cinema, decades of filmmaking that would eventually inspire new generations of directors, writers and auteurs around the globe. Marie-Louise has longed loved the gritty realism of the neorealism genre, and how it places the audience front row in beautifully crafted, real life experiences. Here are the films in her queue.