Author and film critic John Bleasdale explores the worlds of Italian cinema from Neo Realism to Spaghetti Westerns, Gialli to Sword and Sandal epics, Poliziotteschi to white telehphone films: and anything he left out.
Talking to illustrious guests, Italian and otherwise, Cinema Italia unites them with a love of il cinema Italiano and Hollywood on the Tiber.
A proud part of the Film Stories Podcast Network: www.filmstories.co.uk
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Another chance to hear one of the most popular episodes of Cinema Italia, recorded in 2023.
Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom was released in 1975 and became an instant milestone in the cinema of transgression. A political fable, it tells the story of four men who in the waning days of Fascist Italy retire to a villa to enjoy their perversions and sadism at the expense of the young people they have captured. Torture, rape, murder and degradation are explicitly depicted in a way that remains shocking to this day. I talk with Jason Wood, author and film programmer for the BFI, about this electrifying, challenging film. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here.
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3 Aug 2025
Barry Forshaw's Guide to Italian Cinema
Barry Forshaw is the author of the Guide to Italian Cinema: Arthouse to Exploitation.
Available here.
Italian cinema is one of the most glorious and energetic celebrations of the medium that any nation has ever offered. For many years, this astonishing legacy was largely unseen, but the DVD revolution is making virtually everything available, from Steve Reeves' muscle epics to long-unseen Italian art house movies. The one characteristic that most of the great (and not so great) Italian movies have in common is the sheer individualism of the directors. This applies to populist moviemakers and the giants of serious cinema. While Fellini, Visconti and Antonioni have rightly assumed their places in the pantheon, so have such talented popular auteurs as Sergio Leone, who was doing something with the Western that no American director would dare do. All the glory of Italian cinema is celebrated here in comprehensive essays, along with every key film in an easy-to-use reference format.
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30 Jun 2025
Bologna Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival
The host reports from the Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, sharing insights into classic film restoration and preservation.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
30
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
68
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