A rollercoaster first few decades
Twenty years after Roberto Troncone's film, production companies have multiplied and nearly 350 films have been produced. Among these structures, let's mention Dora Films, set up by the first Italian director: Elvira Notari. Unfortunately, after these convincing beginnings, production declined during the 1930s with the arrival of talking pictures. First of all, the theatres were not equipped for sound broadcasting, and above all, the dialogues were in Neapolitan, while the Fascist regime was starting to unify the language throughout the country. Moreover, new regulations were put in place for the distribution of exhibition permits, and Neapolitan cinema, considered irreverent, was often fined. It was not until the 1940s that local cinema was once again productive. For the record, let's mention Non ti pago! (1942) by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, Catene by Raffaello Matarazzo (1949) andCarosello napoletano (1953) by Ettore Giannini. Totò is perhaps one of the most famous Neapolitan actors. He has appeared in many comedies, such as Totò a colori (1952) by Steno, Un Turco napoletano (1953) and Miseria e nobiltà (1954) by Mario Mattoli.
Italians in Naples
Other great Italian filmmakers have filmed in Naples, such as Roberto Rossellini for Paisa (1946 - for act 2 of the film, which takes place in Naples) and Voyage en Italie (1954), in which Ingrid Bergman wanders through the city and its underground passages and visits Pompeii. Vittorio de Sica with L'Oro di Napoli (1954), a masterpiece starring Pozzuoli-born Sophia Loren. De Sica again, ten years later, with Mariage à l'italienne, again with Sophia Loren, joined by Marcello Mastroianni. And let's not forget the highly committed Francesco Rosi, who directed La Sfida (1958) and Le Mani sulla città (1963).
In a more historical vein, The Battle of Naples recounts the liberation of the city at the end of the Second World War: a popular revolt broke out following the execution of sailors, and eventually defeated the Germans even before the arrival of the Allies. The film was directed by Nanni Loy in 1952.
The islands and the Amalfi coast
The island of Capri, and more specifically the sumptuous Villa Malaparte, is the setting for Jean-Luc Godard's Mépris (1963). This is one of the director's finest films, for which Georges Delerue composed the haunting Thème de Camille. In 1994, Michael Radford shot The Postman, which tells the story of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's exile on the island of Capri. However, the film was shot on the island of Procida.
The Amalfi Coast was the setting for Federico Fellini's film Roma (1972), but was also seen more recently in Wonder Woman (2017), depicting the island of the Amazons. The coast has also been modeled for the circuits of the Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo video game franchises. Positano also features in Christopher Nolan's latest film, Tenet (2020).
Anthony Minghella sets part of the action of The Talented Mr Ripley, based on the work of novelist Patricia Highsmith, in the Neapolitan region. The islands of Procida and Ischia, as well as the Sorrento peninsula, are emblematic locations in the film. The film is an adaptation of a 1960 Franco-Italian film directed by René Clément: Plein Soleil. Alain Delon played the anti-hero. Many of the film's scenes are shot in Ischia Ponte, and some of its landmarks are instantly recognizable: the Spiaggia Maronti, the Castello Aragonese and Mongibello. Tom Ripley recently made a comeback, this time in a series, Ripley, broadcast on Netflix since 2024 and nominated at the Golden Globes 2025. Italian filming locations include Atrani on the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Naples.
Famous Neapolitan directors
Among the Neapolitan directors who have achieved international success is Gabriele Salvatores, who won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1991 with Mediterraneo. Massimo Troisi made a name for himself in 1981 with his film Ricomincio da tre, whose characters, shy and melancholic to the extreme, won over international audiences. Mario Martone's L'Amore molesto(1995) is another example. The latter directed Leopardi: Il giovane favoloso (2014), a biopic dedicated to the Neapolitan writer Giacomo Leopardi, and I Vesuviani (1997), a variation on Naples in which he directs one of the five episodes. Valeria Golino is an actress, director and producer born in Naples. The most famous, however, remains Paolo Sorrentino, who also won an Oscar in 2014 with La Grande Bellezza. This prolific director has been able to give a baroque and flamboyant style to his films. He won the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 for This Must Be the Place, his first film in English, starring Sean Penn. His second, Youth (2015), tells the story of a rich old man's spa treatment. He also directed a satirical biopic on Silvio Berlusconi, Loro (Silvio and the others, 2018), played by his favourite actor Toni Servillo. Indeed they already collaborated on Il Divo (2008), where the actor played Giulio Andreotti, an Italian politician who remained in the spheres of power for a long time. It was also Toni Servillo who played in The Extra Man (2001), which follows the destiny of two homonyms in 1980s Naples. A director of his time, he created the double mini-series The Young Pope (2016) and The New Pope (2019), which starred Jude Law and John Malkovich, among others.
A city marked by the mafia
Toni Servillo also plays in Gomorra (2008), directed by Matteo Garrone after the eponymous book by Roberto Saviano about the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra. It is the story of six young people facing crime in the cities of Naples, Scampia, Castelvolturno and Terzigno. In 2014, the Neapolitan writer adapted his novel Gomorra into a series. In the same vein, there is Marco Risi's Fortapàsc (2009), which tells the story of Neapolitan journalist Giancarlo Siani (1959-1985), murdered by the Camorra. Recently revealed at Cinéma du réel, Agostino Ferrente's documentary Selfie (2019) follows the daily life of two Neapolitan teenagers, Alessandro and Pietro, in the mafia-held neighborhood of Traiano. They always hold the cell phone themselves, filming them in selfie mode. The film is also a counter-narrative of Naples and its working-class neighbourhoods.
