If you’re in love with Rome or have a passion for Italian culture, you can’t miss these movies set in Rome. They can inspire your next trip to Rome or serve as a stopgap if you want to visit the Eternal City but can’t right now.
My list includes both Italian and international films.
Some are quite famous such as Vacanze Romane, La Dolce Vita and Inferno. Others are goodies you’ll thank me for introducing you to, a real dive into authentic local culture, like Mamma Roma and Brutti Sporchi e Cattivi.
I watched them all in Italian. You’ll find dubbed movies or subtitles quite easily.
If you’re studying the Italian language, I recommend even more watching these films set in Italy to practice listening to typical local speech.
15 of the greatest movies set in Rome
1. Caravaggio’s shadow
In first place is a film I recently saw that inspired me to study the life and works of the very famous painter Caravaggio. He lived in Rome for many years and there his genius met its first important patrons, cardinals who loved his extraordinary ability to paint realistic scenes with the use of light and shadow as only Caravaggio could do.
Watching the film you will discover that the master lived among the people, more precisely among the poor and abject, making them the protagonists of his paintings. This is one of the main reasons why the Inquisition was after him and eventually took his life. The film is the best way to get passionate about Baroque art you will find in Rome.
2. The Belly of an Architect
This dramatic film by English director Peter Greenway tells the story of architect Stourley Kracklit, who arrives in Rome with his wife to set up an exhibition inside the Altar of the Fatherland.
Rome, with its fascinating architecture, takes center stage. During his trip, Kracklit learns he has an incurable disease while discovering his wife is pregnant. The film continuously cross-references life and death, light and darkness, culminating in a tragic finale.
3. I Soliti Ignoti – Big Deal on Madonna Street
Directed by Mario Monicelli, this 1958 masterpiece of Italian cinema is set entirely in Rome and is considered the precursor of “Italian Comedy.” It follows a group of petty thieves who decide to pull off the heist of the century—a bank robbery.
The film amuses while providing a cross-section of precariousness and social marginality, featuring some of Italy’s greatest actors: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman, and Totò. Key locations include the Janiculum, Monte Testaccio, Foro Italico, and Porta Portese.
4. Titus
Directed by Julie Taymor in 1999, this Anglo-American film narrates the fall of a Roman general, featuring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Based on Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, it mixes contemporary and ancient settings.
The backdrop includes Roman ruins like those on the Ancient Appian Way and the Park of the Aqueducts, as well as the twentieth-century architecture of the Eur district, such as the Square Colosseum.
5. Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot – They Call Me Jeeg
Directed by Roman Gabriele Mainetti in 2015, this film is acclaimed as one of the best Italian films of the 21st century. The superhero protagonist, the antagonist, and the beauty live in the infamous neighborhood of Tor Bella Monaca.
The scenes shift to the historic center, including the Lungotevere, Porta San Paolo, the Olympic Stadium, and atop the Colosseum. Claudio Santamaria, Ilaria Pastorelli, and Luca Marinelli star in this suspenseful action movie.
6. Eat Pray Love
Based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel, this 2010 film stars Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem. Liz, dissatisfied with her life in New York, decides to travel alone for a year.
Rome becomes her first stop, where she rents an apartment near Piazza Navona. The film showcases the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese, the Mausoleum of Augustus, and more.
7. Inferno
Dario Argento’s 1980 horror film Inferno, not to be confused with Ron Howard’s 2016 film, closes a trilogy that began with Suspiria. Set almost entirely in Rome, the story begins with the discovery of the book “The Third Mother.”
Argento filmed it in the fairytale-like Coppedé District and the Angelica Library, featuring an Italian cast.
8. To Rome with Love
Woody Allen’s 2012 romantic comedy intertwines four stories: an American student in love with his girlfriend’s friend, an ordinary man who becomes a media star, a retired record producer, and a man passing off a prostitute as his wife.
The film showcases Rome’s historic center, but doesn’t match the poetic, comic, and surreal effectiveness of Midnight in Paris.
9. Roman Holiday
This 1953 classic stars Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, who frolic through the streets of Rome. The film, entirely shot in Rome, tells the story of Princess Anne, who escapes her official duties to see the city like an ordinary traveler.
She meets American journalist Joe Bradley, and they explore the city together, visiting Piazza Bocca della Verità, Castel Sant’Angelo, the Trevi Fountain, and more historic landmarks in Rome.
10. Dear Diary
Directed and starred by Nanni Moretti in 1993, the film’s first episode, “In Vespa,” follows Moretti as he wanders through a deserted summer Rome, making urbanistic and sociological reflections.
He explores the south-eastern part of Rome, including the Garbatella district, Casal Palocco, and Spinaceto, ending at the Ostia seaplane port. The second episode is set in Lipari, and the third examines Moretti’s delicate relationship with medicine.
11. Mamma Roma
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1962 film stars Oscar-winning actress Anna Magnani. It portrays the Roman suburbs and the underclass, with Roma Garofolo, an ex-prostitute, trying to provide a better future for her son Ettore.
They move to Rome’s Quadraro district, where Ettore befriends petty thieves and falls in love. Pasolini’s film depicts the harsh reality of their lives, primarily shot in the Quadraro district, Parco degli Acquedotti, and Tor Marancia.
12. Spectre
In the 24th James Bond film (2015), Daniel Craig’s Bond visits Rome to attend a criminal boss’s funeral. Bond has a flirtation with the widow, played by Monica Bellucci.
The film features frantic chases through Rome’s streets, showcasing the Museum of Roman Civilization, Villa di Fiorano, Trastevere, the Janiculum, Ponte Milvio, and the Parione neighborhood.
13. The Great Beauty
Paolo Sorrentino’s film, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, stars Jep, a journalist and theatre critic exploring Rome’s nightlife.
The film highlights Roman society’s brilliance and emptiness, featuring locations like Villa Spada, Santa Sabina, the Tower of the Militia, Villa Giulia, and the Baths of Caracalla.
14. La Dolce Vita
Federico Fellini’s 1960 masterpiece influenced a generation, portraying a lifestyle during Italy’s economic boom. Marcello Mastroianni stars as journalist Marcello Rubini, who spends his nights in Via Veneto’s social scene.
The iconic scene with Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain made it one of Rome’s most visited monuments. Other locations include St. Peter’s, the Church of Don Bosco, Centocelle, and Fregene Beach, with many settings reconstructed in the Cinecittà studios.
15. Brutti, Sporchi e Cattivi – Down and Dirty
Ettore Scola’s 1976 film explores the urban underclass in a shantytown on Monte Ciocci. Nino Manfredi stars as Giacinto Mazzatella, obsessed with his compensation money.
The film depicts the grotesque lives of the characters, with themes of material and moral poverty, shot in Valle Aurelia and Boccea neighborhoods.
16. Angels and Demons
Ron Howard’s 2009 film, based on Dan Brown’s novel, follows Professor Robert Langdon dealing with the Illuminati in Rome. The film takes viewers on a tour of the city, with scenes at Piazza Navona, St. Peter’s, the Tiber River, and Castel Sant’Angelo.
The Vatican denied the crew permission to shoot in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican Library, and the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in People’s Square.
17. Totò Truffa 62
This black-and-white classic of Italian cinema reflects on American and Italian cultural stereotypes. The main characters, two penniless former cabaret actors, live day by day conning others. Even with subtitles, it’s worth watching for its cultural insights.