10 Must-see Films Before Coming to Rome

While sightseeing in Rome, there is a fascinating phenomenon that I like to call “If these cobblestones could talk”. With over 2,700 years since its founding, the list of historic icons who have traversed her streets is never ending. It is no wonder Rome has served as the backdrop for hundreds of celebrated films.

Part of planning (or fantasizing about) a trip to Rome should include watching the following classic films about Rome. Let Fellini, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, and other Italian film icons be your guide to Rome through the ages while you get acquainted with the Eternal City as shown in the movies. And in case you’re wondering, Angels and Demons is NOT on our list.

1. La Dolce Vita (1960)

Actress Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni take a dip in the Trevi Fountain

In perhaps the most famous Italian film of all time, Fellini shows Rome in all of her glory by telling the story of commitment-phobe journalist Marcello Mastroianni and his sordid life of writing, sex, and the pursuit of a visiting movie star (Anita Ekberg). The film was shot almost entirely in a Cinecitta’ creation of Rome’s Via Veneto which remains to this day one of the most chic areas in Rome for seeing and being seen.

2. Roman Holiday (Vacanze Romane, 1953)

Audrey Hepburn tours Rome on a Vespa

Audrey Hepburn comes to Rome as a princess from a country whose name we will never know. Bored with the obligations and commitments arranged for her in Rome, she escapes in search of the real Rome, which she finds with the help of expat  American journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck). Apart from touring Rome’s major tourist attractions, Hepburn takes a walk on the wild side while getting to know Rome in ways she never imagined possible.

3. Ben-Hur (1959).

Image courtesy of cinefilomania

This American-made film starring Charlton Heston is the third screen version of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel “Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ”. It won a record 11 Oscars, equaled only by Titanic and Lord of the Rings. It is the story of the Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur who was betrayed by a Roman friend and then banished to slavery. After surviving the terrible ordeal, he returns to Jerusalem to reunite his family and get revenge on his former friend. The chariot races and scenes of Ancient Rome are always fresh on the minds of tourist while sightseeing in Rome, although many are shocked to see that what was once the mighty Circus Maximus has now been reduced to nothing more than a grassy field. Still the field has enormous meaning for Romans today, as the most important political events, concerts and national celebrations are held there each year.

4. The Bicycle Thief (1948).

Vittorio De Sica won his second Oscar for this film which brought an otherwise war torn Italy to the big screen. Using non professional actors, the film is a true to life portrait of post-war Italy and its citizens as they look desperately for work. The Protagonist, known as Ricci fills out an employment request in which he attests to the fact that he owns a bicycle, a requirement for the job. After filling out the application, he is forced to pawn the bike in order to feed his family. With the promise of a new income, he rustles up some other goods from his home in order to get the bike back from the pawn shop. As insinuated in the title, his bike is stolen from him on his first day of work. Italian police are of no help in locating it, and he goes on a wild chase of desperation in order to find his bike and keep his job.

5.  Un Americano A Roma (1947).

Famous photo hanging in thousands of Restaurants in Rome

Scenes from this classic comedy are pasted on the walls of just about every self respecting Roman trattoria. Alberto Sordi plays Mericone Nando, a young Roman who in his own way “Americanizes” his life according to idealist view of American life as it is seen in famous American films. Nando and his American dream are so desperate to actually take off for America that he climbs to the top of the colosseum in Rome and threatens to jump if no one will help him to succeed.

Sordi tosses aside his "maccheroni" for American marmelade and mustard, then nearly vomits.

6. Roma, Citta' Aperta (Open City) 1945

Powerful scene ending with the murder  of actress Anna Magnani

Rosellini's neo-realistic film is a vision of the German occupation of Italy and the Italian resistance to it, based on a liberation group and its famous leader Giorgio Manfredi. Though critisized for its low budget and technical flaws, it was received as a film that showed the true reality of Italy, the Italians, and their struggle to maintain some shred of dignity during the Nazi occupation. It remains one of the most powerful films ever made about Rome as a result of its bold reconstructions of true historic events.

7. Caro Diario (1993).

Nanni Moretti gives the best tours in Rome

Film director Nanni Moretti is your personal Rome tour guide as he travels about Rome on a Vespa and then visits the Lipari Islands. Moretti plays himself, sometimes using voice overs, and sometimes directly on screen although those around him are unaffected by his narration. The film allows you to tag along as the author takes youa round Rome, showing you housing projects, his random encounters with film directors, travels to the islands, and his quest to cure a mysterious and persistent skin condition.

8. 3 Coins in the Fountain (1954). 

According to Roman tradition, by tossing three coins into the Trevi fountain one can guarantee their return to Rome one day. This film depicts three American girls traveling in Italy and concluding their trip in Rome. After falling for handsome Italian men, they dread having to leave behind their new romances.  After a few coins in the fountain and equally as many twists in the plot, romance rules. The film took two Oscars, and has led to the widespread phenomena of tourists tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain. Police now have to keep a close watch on the fountain, as many a thief has tried to vacuum up the coins and head for the hills.  

9. Roma  (1972).

Image courtesy of creative commons

Fellini opens this film by declaring that it is not a film in the traditional sense, but rather a series of short clips that show a glimpse of Rome as he sees it. Much of the film covers stories of his youth in Rimini, when he dreamed of moving to Rome. The film goes on to shine the spotlight on the best and the worst of Rome, from theatre and fine food to whorehouses, traffic, Rome’s street dialect or Romanaccio and the thoughtless destruction of Ancient Roman Ruins. He even goes so far as to poke fun at the church by including scenes from an “ecclesiastic fashion show” of religious attire.

10. Una giornata particolare (1977)

No Italian film list could be complete without at least one movie starring Italy’s greatest muse, Sophia Loren. In the wake of a visit by Hitler to Rome, the lonely housewife and mother of  six children stays home while the rest of her family goes off to witness a parade in honor of Hitler and Il Duce (Benito Mussolini). As destiny would have it, this turn of events led her to meet Marcello Mastroianni in the role of a gay man contemplating suicide. The film tells a wonderfully enacted tale of the human condition as it portrays the sadness, longing, and love of ordinary people during the age of fascism in Rome.

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