1. La Dolce Vita (La dolce vita)
Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.
It has an average vote of 8.107 on TMDB.
2. Amarcord (Amarcord)
In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.
It has an average vote of 7.91 on TMDB.
3. La Strada (La strada)
When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
It has an average vote of 7.92 on TMDB.
4. Marriage Italian Style (Matrimonio all'italiana)
When Domenico first meets Filomena in Naples during World War II, he is instantly smitten. Flash forward to the postwar years, and the two meet again, sparking a passionate affair that spans two decades. But when Filomena — who has now become Domenico's kept woman and has secretly borne his children — learns that her lover is planning to wed another, she will stop at nothing to hook him into marrying her instead.
It has an average vote of 7.735 on TMDB.
5. Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället)
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
It has an average vote of 8.125 on TMDB.
6. Ecce Bombo (Ecce Bombo)
Michele, Goffredo, Mirko and Vito are four friends who have participated in the battles of the student in Sixties. Now in the Seventies, the four friends don't know what to do, though young and with so many possibilities to find a job in life. Intellectuals marginalized and misunderstood, the four friends find themselves when they can in a restaurant to discuss their outlandish theories. A girl named Olga disrupts their life, but Michele is her favorite, although he does not know what to do with the girl.
It has an average vote of 7.4 on TMDB.
7. The White Sheik (Lo sceicco bianco)
In Italy, small-town newlyweds Wanda and Ivan Cavalli embark on their honeymoon in the big city of Rome. Ivan dutifully wants to keep appointments with family and church, but Wanda is only interested in meeting her favorite photo-strip star known as "The White Sheik". While Wanda impetuously sneaks away to locate the object of her affections, disconsolate Ivan tries his hardest to keep up appearances with the couple's relatives.
It has an average vote of 7.2 on TMDB.
8. The Man Who Loved Women (L'Homme qui aimait les femmes)
At Bertrand Morane's burial there are many of the women that the 40-year-old engineer loved. In flashback Bertrand's life and love affairs are told by himself while writing an autobiographical novel.
It has an average vote of 7.176 on TMDB.
9. Persona (Persona)
A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. The time they spend together only strengthens the crushing realization that one does not exist.
It has an average vote of 8.196 on TMDB.
10. I Vitelloni (I vitelloni)
Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto, the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.
It has an average vote of 7.656 on TMDB.
11. The Kid
A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son.
It has an average vote of 8.181 on TMDB.
12. Big Deal on Madonna Street (I soliti ignoti)
Best friends Peppe and Mario are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks that he's finally devised a master heist that will make them rich. With the help of some fellow criminals, he plans to dig a tunnel from a rented apartment to the pawnshop next door, where they can rob the safe. But his plan is far from foolproof, and the fact that no one in the group has any experience digging tunnels proves to be the least of their problems.
It has an average vote of 8.098 on TMDB.
13. La Notte (La notte)
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.
It has an average vote of 7.931 on TMDB.
14. Rome, Open City (Roma città aperta)
During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the leader of the Resistance is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.
It has an average vote of 8.005 on TMDB.
15. Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana)
Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. To get around the law, he tries to trick his wife into having an affair so he can catch her and murder her, as he knows he would be given a light sentence for killing an adulterous woman. He persuades a painter to lure his wife into an affair, but Rosalia proves to be more faithful than he expected.
It has an average vote of 7.894 on TMDB.
16. The Son's Room (La stanza del figlio)
A psychoanalyst and his family go through profound emotional trauma when their son dies in a scuba diving accident.
It has an average vote of 7.085 on TMDB.
17. The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet)
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
It has an average vote of 8.2 on TMDB.
18. Nights of Cabiria (Le notti di Cabiria)
Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.
It has an average vote of 7.984 on TMDB.
19. Night on Earth
An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
It has an average vote of 7.528 on TMDB.
20. The Leopard (Il gattopardo)
As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life. Proud but pragmatic Prince Don Fabrizio Salina allows his war hero nephew, Tancredi, to marry Angelica, the beautiful daughter of gauche, bourgeois Don Calogero, in order to maintain the family's accustomed level of comfort and political clout.
It has an average vote of 7.708 on TMDB.