Best Italian Movies To Learn Italian

One great way you can learn a language faster is by watching easily understandable films in the context of that language.

If you want to learn the Italian language in an immersion way, check out ten absolute must-watch movies for learning Italian.

Learning a foreign language opens up doors to new experiences.

With so many language advantages, choosing a foreign language to enhance personal and professional growth makes sense.

Of all the fantastic possibilities, you can positively consider Italian.

Most people learn Italian for cultural aspects and pleasure because of its remarkable richness, depth, and strength.

Technology has made it easily accessible to the world of cinemas.

Let me tell you that watching movies in the language you’re learning is not only engaging and fun but also incredibly practical. Plus, it is helpful as a reliable education source.

Allow me to show you just how useful it is to learn Italian by watching some good movies.

Why Watching Italian Films Helps Learning Italian?

Immersive and multi-sensory resources are critical learning tools for anyone learning a language. That is what Italian movies bring to your Italian learning quest.

Movies are, by far, the best and most dependable materials for language learning.

Besides, the motion picture offers some hugely valuable insights into the country, its people, dialects, history, culture, and of course, language.

People learn a lot from what they see, and movies bring that unique visual context to the fore of language learning, far beyond anything you can imagine.

Movies have a diverse range of topics, stories, and contexts. Italian flicks tackle genres and subjects that other language learning materials don’t even take into consideration.

You can initially watch Italian cinema with subtitles in your native or English language, then in your target language, and finally without subtitles to maximize the benefits.

It will help you improve your speaking and listening skills.

You can see many such movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other online streaming.

Besides films, you also need some Italian courses or wherever you’re living along with other essential resources like books and audio lessons, to name a few.

Top 10 Must Watch Movies for Learning Italian

Italy has a rich cinematic history since the 1950s and continuing to this day.

There are countless Italian films worth watching.

Below are 10 Italian movies you can watch in 2020 to support your Italian learning effort.

1. Malena (Malèna) — (R) (2000)

Malena is a movie whose setting dates back to 1940.

It tells the story of a young boy (13-year-old Renato) who was always fantasizing about a charming-looking schoolteacher. This was played by Monica Bellucci, whose soldier husband was on the war assignment in Africa.

Monica always elicits gossips among the townspeople whenever she goes about her daily chores.

Meanwhile, Renato’s addiction to Monica makes him unable to get her off her mind for a second, and things started heating up whenever he starts fantasizing.

While the shy Malena hardly speaks, you will enjoy the backdated Italian used in the film.

The narrations used by Renato are vivid and engaging for any Italian language learners.

2. Life is Beautiful (La Vita è Bella) — (1997)

Life is beautiful is my all-time favorite Italian movie. It is an award-winning talkie that was set in the 1930s. It also won an Oscar for the best foreign-language movie category.

The film tells the story of a dedicated Jewish father (Guido Orefice). He would stop at nothing to ensure his son’s safety from the holocaust.

To prevent the five-year-old boy from knowing the reality of the dreaded holocaust after taking him to a concentration camp inside Germany, the father created a story for the boy taking part in a kind of reality show.

In this show, they will be playing hide and seek with the Germans with the ultimate aim of winning a tank.

The boy was highly delighted.

The film displays the length of a responsible father who can defend his son from the harness of gross inhumanity.

Guido talks a lot in this movie. His usual hand and body gesture allow language learners to catch the phrase and remember the vocabulary.

Also, notwithstanding the setting, the film uses a reasonably modern Italian that would benefit you as well.

It is one of the best movies for learning Italian.

3. The Wait (L’attesa) — (2015)

The Wait is a movie that tells the story of a mother grieving for her dead son.

The cinema took a twist when the son’s girlfriend, who doesn’t know that her lover is gone, started wondering he wasn’t picking his calls anymore.

The girl decides to visit the boy’s family home to spend the Easter vacation there.

What should the mother do to let her know that her boyfriend will never be coming ever again?

The Wait is such a powerful, emotionally charged, and an intriguing story you can’t afford to miss. You will find the flick very immersive, with elegant cinematography.

The dialogue is deliberate, well-controlled, and runs at a pace that Italian learners will easily comprehend.

4. Suspiria — (R) (1970)

Suspiria is one of the best Italian films to watch with fixated eyes if you love horror movies.

One of the best Italian horror movie masters, Dario Argento, directed this jaw-dropping film. The story is about a young girl from America who went to study at a famous ballet school down in Germany.

When other mysterious murders started occurring, she finds that something even more sinister is at play.

The vocabulary is impressive, and it’s easy to grasp the language flow.

It is one of the best movies to learn Italian, especially if you’re at a beginner level.

5. Paradise Cinema (Cinema Paradiso) — (R) (1988)

Cinema Paradiso, in Italian, is a classic movie that can compel you to fall in love.

It tells the story of a man who grows from a boy stepping into a projection booth down to the time he starts working as a professional projectionist, making himself a renowned director.

Cinema Paradiso is a story that talks about a love that was lost. And the continuous thought of “where she is now?”

The movie has attracted many discussions in public circles and has been remastered over time for people to enjoy.

The Italian language, as used in this movie, is excellent.

The prose is fantastic, and the movie is full of quotes from famous films as well. In addition, you will find the vocabulary from Alfredo very helpful.

This film is suitable for students preparing for A2 of various Italian proficiency tests.

6. Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti) — (2010)

For comedy lovers, this movie offers a subjective, introspective, and layered view on the heated issue of widespread homosexuality in Italy’s southern conservative region.

Tommaso is the protagonist, and all his attempts to return to his family end up thwarted by one or more sudden obstacles.

The movie delivers a sharp contrast between Tommaso’s secretive double life and the traditionally acceptable family structure that offers a grand narrative.

It is a dependable resource for people studying Italian at the intermediate level. Be ready to learn an extensive vocabulary and semantics in love, family relationships, and foods.

Plus, you will also gain several phrases that will help you improve grammar and sentence formation.

7. The Easy Life (II Sorpasso) — (1962)

It is another superb comedy film regarded as one of the best in the Italian comedy cinema genres.

II Sorpasso tells the story of a law student, Roberto, an introvert who finds himself dealing with an unexpected road trip by the charismatic and erratic Bruno.

People in Italy love this movie profoundly.

It provides a perfect intro to flawless Italian cinema.

The dialogue in the film is straightforward to grasp, and the movie is great for intermediate learners or for those students planning to appear for B1 of the Italian tests like CELI or CILS.

8. The Postman (Il Postino) — (1994)

Here is a movie that focuses on a mail carrier (Mario) and a famous poet (Pablo Neruda) in political exile to a tiny Italian Island.

Mario count himself lucky to be the one delivering mails he received from many admirers to the poet’s house.

The Postman is a film that talks about courtship, but not the type between Beatrice and Mario.

Beatrice is the woman that Neruda is crouching on and wants to seduce through his thrilling poems.

The courtship is between Neruda and Mario—the formal who treated the latter with a cold and calm attitude.

But things later turn out for Mario as Neruda’s cold behavior towards him changed. The poet starts teaching him poetry and sound political philosophies.

The movie is a fabulous story for Advanced language learners, particularly with the written word and storyline.

9. A Special Day (Una Giornata Particolare) — (1977)

Set in 1938 Rome, this movie tells the story of a woman at home the very day Adolf Hitler visited Benito Mussolini.

The story was very intriguing.

The film pictures the life of a woman enclosed in her world. She is far away from the realities of what was befalling the real world outside.

The movie received two Oscar nominations and won several awards for its superb engaging storyline.

It has an easy grasp vocabulary, and the setting offers language learners the opportunity to learn something ancient about Italian.

10. The Hundred Steps (I Cento Passi) — (2000)

The Hundred Steps is a title that references the distance existing between the house of a political activist (Peppino Impastato) and that of a renowned mafia lord.

The story focuses on a time when nobody was ready to acknowledge the existence and exploitation of the mafia. Then, finally, Impastato stepped in with his radio program to reveal all their abuses and criminal atrocities.

Eventually, the mafia assassinated Impastato, and the classification of his death was suicide.

But, after 20 years, the case was revisited, and they finally delivered a conviction.

The film is excellent for those who love the Sicilian dialect of the Italian language.

Final Thoughts on learning Italian with Movies

Language learning is about using the right tools, and films are a great way to learn a new language.

If you like movies, why not watch them to improve your Italian linguistic abilities?

Those mentioned above ten must-watch movies for learning Italian can undoubtedly be a good start.

If you want further tips on your Italian language learning, contact me through the comment section below, and let’s help you.