Best movies like Renzo e Lucia

A knight in the service of a duke goes to a coastal village where an earlier attempt to build a defensive castle has failed. He begins to rebuild the duke's authority in the face of the barbarians at the border and is making progress until he falls in love with one of the local women.

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.

In 18th century France, Marquise de Merteuil asks her ex-lover Vicomte de Valmont to seduce the future wife of another ex-lover of hers in return for one last night with her. Yet things don’t go as planned.

People in a small German village in the last valley to remain untouched by the devastating Thirty Years' War try to exist in peace with a group of soldiers occupying the valley.

A Carthaginian general attempts to cross the Alps with an army of elephants in order to conquer Rome.

In autumn of 1526, the Emperor, Charles V, sends his German landsknechts led by Georg von Frundsberg to march towards Rome. The inferior papal armies, commanded by Giovanni de'Medici, try to chase them in the midst of a harsh winter. Nevertheless, the Imperial armies manage to cross the rivers along their march and get cannons thanks to the maneuvers of its Lords. In a skirmish, Giovanni de'Medici is wounded in the leg by a falconet shot. The attempts to cure him fail and he dies. The Imperial armies assault Rome. The film is beautifully but unassumingly set, and shows the hard conditions in which war is waged and its lack of glory. It ends straightforwardly with the declaration made after the death of Giovanni de'Medici by the commanders of the armies in Europe of not using again fire weapons because of their cruelty.

Fenella, a poor Italian girl, falls in love with a Spanish nobleman, but their affair triggers a revolution and national catastrophe.

In the poor, desolate northern provinces of the mountainous feudal Sunni kingdom of Afghanistan (before the Soviet-engineered republican revolutions), the status of the proud men and their clans is determined less by wealth or even military power (both rare) then by victories in the ancient, though game of buskashi, a vicious form of polo dating back to Genghis Khan, in which the chapendaz (participating horsemen) use their horse-whips on both mounts and rivals in a ruthless fight for a heavy 'ball', a dead calf, which must be carried a long way, almost impossible with all the others mercilessly assailing. Tursen, a former champion, now holds the status of village notable thanks to his position as stable-keeper of the regional lord Osman Bey, and has finally bred a horse without equal, the white stallion Jahil, in time for the royal tournament on the plain of Bagrami, just outside the capital Kabul...

Paolo Coniglio is a naive and clumsy employee in a comics publishing house, bullied by his manager and his terrible future mother-in-law. To escape his dreary daily routine, he finds himself living vivid daydreams with "Dalia", the beautiful heroine of the books that he's translating. One day, though, while shopping, Paolo meets a charming blonde that looks like Dalia, and finds himself trapped in a shady intrigue.

Lord Sorenzo marries the beautiful young Annabella, but unbeknownst to him, she is pregnant as a result of an incestuous relationship with her brother Giovanni. Sorenzo discovers the truth, and his ambitious, scheming servant Vasques, resorts to murder (and worse) to ensure that the whole affair ends in a heart rending tragedy! The original 17th century play was set in Italy, this version the action takes place in Victorian England.

The Catholic Church secretly investigates Caravaggio as the Pope weighs whether to grant him clemency for killing a rival.

ETTORE FIERAMOSCA was based on a widely-read literary action epic by Massimo D'Azeglio, published in 1833. Translated to the screen in 1938 by the most important director of the Italian fascist period, Alessandro Blasetti, it was intended to boost current patriotic fervor and pride in the Italian nation, and it contributed to a revival of Italian nationalism.

Small town in Italy, end of the 19th century. Luciano, a drunk, accidentally kills his lover during a revolt against the local Prince. To pay for his crime, he is forced into exile on the most remote island in the world, Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego. The hunt for the shipwreck treasure hidden on the island becomes his opportunity for redemption.

Aspiring writer Tommaso makes a living by penning the self-help column of a women's magazine. One day he receives a letter from a woman asking for advice on how to break up with her boyfriend: it is none other than Zoe, his girlfriend of ten years—unaware of his pseudonymous side job. Tommaso can't believe his eyes and answers her in private to learn more.

Ulderico Quario hires as servant a very beautiful young woman Teresa. Ulderico decides to proceed like a new Pygmalion and he sets about teaching her the art of seductions. But Teresa together with Cecchina start using these newfound skills to persuade Ulderico to marry her in order to claim his inheritance.

1936. In a village in the Bassa Padana, a beautiful and shapely forty-year-old girl is aunt of some boys in the middle of their sexual maturity.

Celia Berni is facing the possibility of receiving an inheritance and is forced pretend to be a virtue. But unfortunately her plans may be thwarted by zealous performer, who tries to expose her in any way.

Jacopo, Duccio, Cecco, Manfredo and Filippo are five friends who live in Florence of the fifteenth century, during a plague epidemic.

In Milan, Matteo is an underemployed physicist, giving the occasional lecture at a university while working at a PR firm where he knows he'll be fired. Without his really trying, two women are attracted to him, a blond and a brunette. The blond is Angelica; they meet smoking on the office rooftop. To his surprise, she has clout in the company and soon has him flying off (with her) to make presentations. The brunette is Beatrice, a new flatmate, hoping for a teaching job in the national service. Angelica dangles a posting with her in Barcelona; Beatrice is simply Beatrice. Will Matteo figure out what he wants - and decide before opportunity passes him by?

Paola (Lucia Bose) is the beautiful and jealously-guarded younger wife of a shady factory owner, Enrico Fontana (Massimo Girotti). In order to investigate her romantic history he hires a private detective, which ironically brings Paola back into contact with former lover Guido, with whom she resurrects a lost passion. Dogged by the suspicions of their respective mates, they are drawn closer to each other in the face of adversity, and begin to plot Enrico's demise. But when the challenge of being together falls away, will the passion start to wane? A masterpiece of intensity and finely-wrought emotion.

Set in the late 1960s, the film explores the issues of immigration, community values and family devotion through the eyes of a young girl, Lucia, who is left behind with her grandmother while her parents emigrate to France to find work. Lucia pains to be with her family as she struggles to learn her role in the tiny, traditional village under the watchful guidance of her stern grandmother.

In the Tuscan countryside at the end of the 19th century, Pietro, the shy son of a tyrannical landowner, falls in love with Ghisola, a peasant girl with no family. His father has her sent away. Years later, the two meet again: still in love with her, Pietro would like to marry her, but she has become the mistress of a married man.

In 1838 in the kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies, Malacarne, gamekeeper of Baron San Germano, kills the bandit Caruso, whose widow gives birth to Giovanni and at the same time becomes the nurse of Costanza, San Germano’s orphaned daughter. Thirteen years later, Giovanni and Costanza fall in love to the jealousy of her uncle, who shuts her in a convent, ordering Giovanni to be killed by Malacarne who has meanwhile become a bandit. Barely alive, Giovanni is taken away by Bourbon soldiers. After Garibaldi’s arrival in Sicily and its union with Italy, Costanza is freed from the convent and returns to San Germano. She is visited by Giovanni and although still loves him, rejects him since she wishes to become a nun. In the meantime, Giovanni kills Malacarne and takes his place. Costanza marries the rich Lo Turco and the next day departs for Naples, but during the journey the carriage is attacked by Giovanni’s band. Costanza flees with him and they leave for America.

Semiramis, a powerful and beautiful Assyrian queen, oversees the construction of the luxurious city of Babylon. She falls in love with Kir, a fallen prince turned into a slave who corresponds to her love. But a palace conspiracy will make the two lovers separate and confront each other.

After attending esoterical studies with a wise man, Cagliostro, a mysterious Italian count, received the gift of supernatural powers. He started to travel all over Europe to heal the poor. But he is also a member of a pre-revolutionary lodge the aim of which is to give freedom to the populations of Europe. This cannot be tolerated by the 18th century's establishment and bought the Pope and the regal house of France try to eliminate him. So Cagliostro is locked up in a castle, while his wife is killed. But when in 1795 the door of his cell is opened there is nothing inside but a sword...

A screen adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia. Rome, our days. Mariagration Ardengo and her children Michele and Carla are left without a livelihood. Mariagration's money-hungry lover Leo develops a plan to take the last property from the family - the attic in which they live. Michele tries to thwart Leo's plans, but when his attempts fail, young Carla takes over.

Isabel and Clara are growing up in a time of terror. It is 1492, and Spain has decreed that all Jews must either convert to Catholicism, go into exile or face trial and execution. Although forcibly baptized, the sisters are chased through Christendom until they arrive in Venice. It is in this great maritime empire, where opulence rhymes with tolerance, that Isabel organizes secret passages for refugees fleeing the Inquisition while Clara falls in love with a Venetian noble, Paolo Zane. Isabel intends for her family to go to Istanbul, the only place where Jews can live freely, but Clara is reluctant to leave. She challenges Isabel's authority and is prepared to break her family ties and sacrifice her faith for love. Caught in this battle of wills is Clara's daughter, Victoria, who finds she is about to be married into the same faith that murdered her father.

A penniless countess falls in love with a cad, unaware that he is also involved on the side with her beautiful daughter.

In a 15th century village, a woman is accused of witchcraft and put to death. Her beautiful older daughter knows the real reason for the execution lies in the lord's sexual desire for her mother.

The film is loosely based on real life events of Marianna de Leyva, better known as "The Nun of Monza," whose story was made famous by the Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed.

Renzo and Lucia's love story is jeopardized by Don Rodrigo, a wicked nobleman, who is interested in Lucia. When she refuses his attentions he has her kidnapped and brought to a convent whose prioress is a nun as wicked as he is. The two youths will have to go through a lot of misfortunes before being reunited and being able to marry.

Based on the famous historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, and set between 1628 and 1630 in Lombardy "northern Italy" during the Spanish domination, tells of the contrasted marriage between the two young textile workers Renzo and Lucia. The 1922 version is the most ambitious and spectacular film in all Italian silent cinema, with remarkable mass scenes and some images that triggered the censorship.

The trial of a woman in San Miniato accused of witchcraft in 1594.

A parody of Manzoni's "I promessi sposi" from the point of view of Don Rodrigo.

Vigàta, Sicily, Italy, 1880. Shortly after the return to the village of Fofò La Matina, pharmacist and son of the late Santo La Matina, jealous guardian of the secrets of certain miraculous plants, the noble Peluso family is ravaged by a series of mysterious deaths…