Italian cinema remains the best way to learn the language as it’s truly spoken. Forget the artificial dialogues of textbooks: here, you’ll hear authentic Italian with its intonations, gestures, and regional expressions.
These 10 films will introduce you to different language registers: from literary vocabulary to Roman slang, from Southern dialects to contemporary expressions.
A tip? Start with Italian subtitles, then try without. Buona visione!
1. La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful)
Directed by Roberto Benigni, this tragi-comic masterpiece is often foreigners’ first contact with Italian cinema. The story of a father who tries to protect his son from the horror of the camps by turning reality into a game uses accessible and very expressive language.
Benigni’s diction, whilst rapid, is extremely articulated and theatrical. The film is packed with simple phrases and everyday vocabulary, repeated in varied contexts. The famous line Buongiorno Principessa! (Good morning Princess!) perfectly illustrates the musicality of the language.
- Usage: Family vocabulary, imperatives, wordplay
- Level: Intermediate (rapid pace but simple vocabulary)
- To remember: The use of polite formal address (Lei)
2. Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves)
A cornerstone of neorealism, this Vittorio De Sica film captures the essence of post-war Rome. It follows a father and his son searching for a stolen bicycle, essential for work. The dialogues are refined, direct and rooted in the social reality of the time.
For the learner, it’s an opportunity to hear popular Italian, sometimes tinged with romanesco. The exchanges between the father and his son, Bruno, are particularly touching and easy to follow. One often hears interjections like Dai! (Come on!) to express urgency or encouragement.
- Usage: Street language, everyday life expressions
- Level: Beginner to intermediate
- To remember: The sobriety of dialogues gives way to visual understanding
3. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
Giuseppe Tornatore creates here a love letter to cinema that spans generations. The film tells the friendship between a projectionist and a young boy in a Sicilian village. The nostalgia that permeates the work is accompanied by language rich in emotions and feelings.
This feature film allows one to become familiar with the sounds of southern Italy without dialect being an obstacle to comprehension. The dialogues about passion, love and regret introduce the frequent use of the imperfect subjunctive, as in the phrase Magari fosse vero (If only it were true).
- Usage: Feelings, past, life stories
- Variants: Exists in short version and long version (Director’s Cut)
- To remember: Excellent introduction to regional accents of the South
4. La Dolce Vita
The absolute symbol of Italian cinema worldwide, Federico Fellini’s work depicts the decadence and beauty of Roman society in the 1960s. Marcello Mastroianni embodies a journalist navigating between society parties and existential crises.
The vocabulary is sophisticated, mixing journalistic language, intellectual conversations and seduction. It’s in this film that the word “paparazzo” was born. One observes the frequent use of the expression Mi raccomando (Please / I’m counting on you) in intense interpersonal relationships.
- Usage: High society, journalistic, abstract
- Level: Advanced (sometimes philosophical dialogues)
- To remember: A showcase of elegant standard Italian
5. I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street)
Considered the starting point of “Italian comedy”, this Mario Monicelli film follows a band of incompetent thieves preparing a burglary. The humour relies as much on situations as on savoury dialogues and linguistic misunderstandings.
It’s a goldmine for learning slang and familiar expressions. The characters constantly use words like Boh (I don’t know) accompanied by the typical shoulder gesture. The interaction between the different dialects of the characters illustrates Italy’s linguistic diversity.
- Usage: Slang, arguments, planning, humour
- Level: Intermediate (comic context aids comprehension)
- To remember: Ideal for understanding Italian humour and self-deprecation
6. Una giornata particolare (A Special Day)
Ettore Scola brings together Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in an intense closed-door setting during Hitler’s visit to Rome in 1938. Almost the entire film relies on intimate dialogue between two neighbours who have nothing in common, left alone in an empty building.
The film’s theatrical structure offers exceptional listening clarity. The exchanges are slow, deep and perfectly articulated. It’s an excellent support for studying the grammar of feelings and hypothetical sentence structures, often introduced by Magari (Perhaps / If only).
- Usage: Dual conversation, confidences, politics and private life
- Level: Intermediate
- To remember: Very clear diction from the two main actors
7. Il Postino (The Postman)
This poetic film tells the fictional friendship between poet Pablo Neruda, in exile on an Italian island, and a simple-minded postman who wishes to learn to seduce with words. It’s a work about discovering language and the power of metaphors.
The contrast between Neruda’s literary Italian and the postman Massimo Troisi’s hesitant and popular Italian is pedagogically brilliant. The viewer learns at the same time as the protagonist. One hears exclamations of wonder like Che figata! (or its period equivalent) when faced with the beauty of verses.
- Usage: Poetry, nature, description, learning
- Level: Accessible to all
- To remember: Massimo Troisi speaks a very gentle Neapolitan Italian
8. La grande bellezza
Paolo Sorrentino offers a contemporary vision of Rome, often compared to a modern version of La Dolce Vita. The protagonist, Jep Gambardella, is a disillusioned writer who observes the vacuity of Roman high society with cynicism and elegance.
The language level is high, rich in cultural references and irony. It’s a stimulating challenge for advanced learners. The dialogues are packed with logical connectors like Quindi? (So? / Therefore?) used to restart conversations or express scepticism.
- Usage: Philosophical, descriptive, ironic
- Level: Advanced (complex rhythm and vocabulary)
- To remember: Visual aesthetics help contextualise abstract remarks
9. Perfetti sconosciuti
This modern choral film takes place entirely during a dinner amongst friends where the guests decide to share every text message or call received. The language is that of today’s Italy: rapid, overlapping, and packed with technological and everyday terms.
It perfectly represents current group conversation. Reactions are spontaneous and interruptions frequent, which trains the ear to follow several discussion threads. One finds expressions of disbelief like Ma che dici? (But what are you saying?) or Non ci posso credere!
- Usage: Modern conversation, technology, secrets, arguments
- Level: Intermediate to advanced (rapid pace)
- To remember: The best example of Italian spoken in the 21st century
10. Habemus Papam
Nanni Moretti creates a dramatic comedy about a newly elected Pope who, seized by panic, refuses to appear on the balcony. The film explores human doubts within a millennial institution, with fine humour and great humanity.
The language is formal within the Vatican, contrasting with the more everyday language of the psychoanalyst called for help. The dialogues are intelligible and measured. Faced with absurd situations, the characters often express their surprise with restrained but perceptible Ma va! (No way! / Not possible!).
- Usage: Formal vs Informal, psychology, doubt
- Level: Intermediate
- To remember: Institutional vocabulary mixed with personal anxieties
To conclude
There you have it for this selection of Italian films! The most important advice: always watch with Italian subtitles, never English. At first, it might seem difficult, but that’s how you truly learn to link sounds to written words.
If you’re a beginner, start with “La vita è bella” or “Il Postino” – the diction is clear and the vocabulary accessible. For intermediate levels, “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso” and “Perfetti sconosciuti” offer a good balance between comprehension and challenge.
And if you really want to challenge yourself, dive into “La grande bellezza” – but be warned, even Italians sometimes find the dialogues complex! The important thing is to choose a film you really enjoy. If the story captivates you, you’ll be more motivated to understand, even when it gets difficult.
Final tip: rewatch your favourite films several times. The first time, focus on the story. The second, on the dialogues. The third, you’ll see that you understand much more than at the beginning. That’s how you progress!