'I CAPOLAVORI' - THE 4 AND 5-STAR ITALIAN CLASSICS, ACCORDING TO THE 'MORANDINI' DICTIONARY [2013 EDITION]

By: Umberto L.

[Beta version – UPDATED 28th Jan. 2013]

The “Dizionario dei Film” (Italian for: “Dictionary of Films”) – written and updated on a year-by-year basis by Laura, Luisa and Morando Morandini – is one of the highest-praised collection of film-reviews in Italy. Its purpose is to give the readers a short summary and a brief critical view for every film ever shown in our Country (even if available just on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.). Currently, about 25’000 films are reviewed on it.

At the end of every article, there is a star-based rating, which works like this: * (one star), * 1/2 (one star and a half), * * (two stars), * * 1/2 (two stars and a half, * * * (three stars), * * * 1/2 (three stars and a half), * * * * (four stars), * * * * * (five stars).

The four-star rating is generally given to film regarded as masterpieces, while the five-star rating is assigned to those films that are considered to be fundamental in the history of cinema or that represent the highest achievement of a great director.

With this list I wanted to give the MUBI users and visitors a chronological, exhaustive showcase of the Italian Cinema, of its masterpieces and its hidden treasures. A digest completely independent by my own views, yet easily agreeable (as you will find out during your watching experience). That is why I considered just the Italian titles among all the ones reviewed and highlighted on the book.

Above: “La Dolce Vita” (1960), by Federico Fellini: the only Italian film in the whole dictionary to have a 5-star critical rating and a 5-star commercial success rating (shared with Charles S. Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush”).

THE 5-STAR ITALIAN MASTERPIECES.

- “Paisà” (1946), by Roberto Rossellini;

- “Ladri di Biciclette” (1948), by Vittorio De Sica;

- “La Terra Trema: Episodio del Mare” (1948), by Luchino Visconti;

- “Umberto D.” (1952), by Vittorio De Sica;

- “Senso” (1954), by Luchino Visconti;

- “La Dolce Vita” (1960), by Federico Fellini;

- “Salvatore Giuliano” (1962), by Francesco Rosi;

- “8½” (1963), by Federico Fellini;

- “La Presa del Potere da Parte di Luigi XVI” (1966), by Roberto Rossellini;

- “Dillinger È Morto” (1969), by Marco Ferreri;

- “La Grande Abbuffata” (1973), by Marco Ferreri;

- “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984), by Sergio Leone;

- “Vincere” (2009), by Marco Bellocchio.

Missing on MUBI:

- “Il Delitto”, segment from the film “I Vinti” (1953), by Michelangelo Antonioni;
- “I Cento Cavalieri” (1964), by Vittorio Cottafavi;
- “Con il Cuore Fermo, Sicilia” (1965), by Gianfranco Mingozzi;
- “Giovinezza, Giovinezza” (1969), by Franco Rossi;
- “Bronte – Cronaca di un Massacro che i Libri di Storia Non Hanno Raccontato” (1972), by Florestano Vancini;
- “Diario di un Maestro” (1972), by Vittorio De Seta;
- “Le Cinque Stagioni” (1976), by Gianni Amico;
- “Il Piccolo Archimede” (1979), by Gianni Amelio;
- “La Giacca Verde” (1980), by Franco Giraldi;
- “Sassalbo Provincia di Sydney” (1981-82), by Luigi Faccini;
- “Milano ’83” (1983), by Ermanno Olmi;
- “Memoria – I Sopravvissuti Raccontano” (1997), by Ruggero Gabbai;
- “Addio del Passato” (2000), by Marco Bellocchio;
- “Nero” (2004), by Antonio Lucifero;
- “In un Altro Paese” (2005), by Marco Turco;
- “Le Mani Raccontano” (2006), by Luigi Faccini;
- “Biùtiful Countri” (2007), by Esmeralda Calabria, Andrea D’Ambrosio, Peppe Ruggiero;
- “Il Pane della Memoria” (2008), by Luigi Faccini;
- “Puccini e la Fanciulla” (2008), by Paolo Benvenuti;
- “Storia di una Donna Amata e di un Assassino Gentile” (2009), by Luigi Faccini;
- “Abecedario di Andrea Camilleri” (2010), by Eugenio Cappuccio;
- “Qualche Nuvola” (2011), by Saverio Di Biagio;
- “Rudolf Jacobs, l’Uomo che Nacque Morendo” (2011), by Luigi Faccini;
- “Morando’s Music” (2012), by Luigi Faccini.