Ermanno Olmi

Ermanno Olmi's masterful feature is the tender story of two Milanese fiancés whose strained relationship is tested when the man accepts a new job in Sicily. With the separation come loneliness, nostalgia, and, perhaps, some new perspectives that might rejuvenate their love. Olmi's deep humanism charges this moving depiction of ordinary men and women, and the pitfalls of the human heart. (The Criterion Collection)

Domenico and Antonietta are two suburban Italian youths who meet while seeking "a job for life" from a big city corporation... (imdb)

The life inside a farm in Italy at the beginning of the century. Many poor country families live there, and the owner pays them by their productivity (imdb)

This is a wonderfully exacting filmlet, originally made for Italian television, unified by a sharp theme: the reality of raw human feelings, but the unreality of much of the rest of reality due to the profound fog into which subjectivism--our interpretations, coping strategies, alternate in-the-moment imaginings and imperfect recollections later on--plunges it. (grunes.wordpress.com)

A train travels across Italy toward Rome. On board are a family of Albanian refugees, a professor who daydreams conversations with a lost love, three brash Scottish soccer fans en route to a match, and a complaining widow traveling to a memorial service for her late husband, accompanied by a community service volunteer who's assisting her. Interactions among these Europeans turn on class and nationalism, courtesy and rudeness, and opportunities for kindness. (IMDB)

An Italian professor seeks refuge in the quiet, peaceful ruins of an old building. (imdb)

The history of the first victim of modern artillery and its moving agony, amidst conspiracies and betrayals of the powerful. Life and death of Giovanni De' Medici, a young brave captain in the war of Charles V against the Pope, in the first half of 1500. (imdb)

In China at the end of the 1700s the widow Ching, seeking to avenge the death of her husband - an admiral who was fatally poisoned while serving the Emperor after a plot within the royal household - rebels against the authorities and takes command of a pirate fleet, helped in the escapade by an old Portuguese captain.

Gianni (Andreino Carli) is the Italian prisoner of war who returns after spending time in a Russian prison camp. Due to the economic disaster that followed the war, he becomes a scavenger to survive. He soon meets Old Du (Antonio Lundari), the legendary veteran scavenger who has survived two world wars and numerous hardships. Old Du teaches him the fine art of scavenging and the two combine forces to sell their goods in a nearby town. (All Movie Guide)

An alcoholic street bum living off the Paris streets wants to repay his 200 franc debt to the St Therese church.

An all-enveloping darkness. Suddenly, a child's voice, frightened, questioning, pierces the darkness... The first flickering rays of light begin to sculpt mysterious shapes out of the darkness ... Among them, a very old man. He reassures the child, exhorting him to see the wonders of the earth. And it is with this child's eyes that we will witness the creation of the world. Nature comes to life at the first light of dawn, recreating the seven days of the Creation. (imdb)

Time Stood Still is a sensitive little story and Olmi's first feature film. It is set in a mountain hydroelectric station in wintertime. A young man assigned to work there gets to know and appreciate the older caretaker whose ways are so different from his own. (imdb)

The assuming of responsibility by individuals, the use of science for man and not against him, the duty of truth to increase the stature of people, all together: these are the important themes this movie debates in allegorical form. Roles are performed by non professional actors and actresses. (imdb)

A documentary about the slow food movement.

Promotional omnibus film, made for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, featuring portraits of 12 Italian cities. (imdb)

An elderly priest is devastated when his church is deconsecrated, leaving him without a role in life. It is not long before a group of illegal immigrants find shelter in the "church" and give the priest a new role and set of responsibilities. (tiff.net)

Set in the mountains of Northern Italy around the turn of the century. Colonel Proco, a retired military man, has inherited a magical forest which he intends to manage until his young nephew comes of age. The only condition is that he must respect the Old Woods and the trees which are inhabited by genies, but Proco plans to cut down the trees and sell the wood. (bfi)

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the First World War the distinguished Italian director Ermanno Olmi presents this movie about the front in North-Eastern Italy in1917. A real story about long waits and the fear of being the next to go, which most probably will mean dying for no reason at all.

In a family of wealthy Lombard bourgeoisie, something happens to each of its members that alters their lives. The mother attends in shock the accident of a young rider, partially burnt, and move him to the hospital. The teenage daughter is torn between two loves. The structural changes that the company in which the father works expects, threaten to leave him on the street. (Filmaffinity)

Teenagers alight a train station in the middle of nowhere. There, they are picked up by a car and are taken to a mansion. The boys are students at a catering school and have been chosen for the occasion of the gala dinner celebrated by the old lady of the house, to serve alongside the seasoned service department. (Filmaffinity)

Based on the diary Pope John XXIII kept between the ages of 14 and 18, his lifelong concern for tolerance, the underprivileged, and world peace is told. Rod Steiger, in the central role, acts as "intermediary" between the Pope and the audience, interpreting John's words, thoughts and actions. Steiger visits the actual places in which John lived, recreating the conditions, environment, and forces that affected his development. (imdb)

In this very early short film, (then 23 years old) Olmi pictures a salesman and a customer talking about future and past on the New Year's Eve.

There are five reasons for drinking: a friend's arrival, the excellence of the wine, present and future thirst, and whatever else you care to add". Ermanno Olmi has returned to documentary filmmaking and makes a journey through valleys, living rocks and the culture of the Valtellina hillsides. (Rome Film Festival)

Tv short for summer camps

The film follows a team of workers engaged in the assembly of a 220,000 Volt power line in the Daone Valley.

Jannis Kounellis sets up the outfitting of his "Atto unico" in the wide and industrial spaces of the Fondazione Pomodoro. A simple art, composed with architectural elements in steel and also animals, as well as carbon bags, stones, fat and fire. A short "tailing-movie", has an echo of pictures, which still hold over the memory as the end of a wonderful journey. (ipotesicinema.com)

A young man shares his fantasies with a young girl who is already on the threshold of disillusion. Will she respond to him? (imdb)

A middle-aged, middle-class man named Bruno gets his boss' job . The film examines his sensitivity toward his old boss, who he doesn't want to hurt, toward his employees, and toward his wife and mistress. (imdb)