Best movies set in Italy to watch before our trip?

The Italian Job is probably fun for kids, has nice Venice scenes at the start and some Valle D'Aosta IIRC.

Casino Royale with Daniel Craig has some beautiful Europe including Venice and some incidental Belaggio IIRC.

Where are you going? Might help with ideas.

Cinema Paradiso
A Room with a view
To Rome with love
La Dolce Vita

I'm not sure if my choices will help or not, especially with your children. 'The Bicycle Thief' is considered a masterpiece by some, including myself. It's a simple, gritty, working class tale set in Rome. Sort of a Ken Loach type film, if Ken Loach were Italian.
'Cinema Paradiso' is a lovely film full of warmth and humour, one of my favourites.
There's Roberto Benigni's wonderful overacting in 'Life is Beautifyl'.
If your nine year old is not interested in the ladies yet, he may be after he watches 'Malena'.

Watch some of the RS videos to see highlights...

"Il Postino," set on Ischia & Procida ( Bay of Naples)
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" same as above plus Rome..maybe Naples

( Roman Holiday mostly done in studios!)

"Under the Tuscan Sun",
"Summertime" ( K. Hepburn great scenes in Venice)

Your son will probably like the Bond film...
Teens will like "When in Rome"

Giada De Laurentiis has a series on now that is set in Italy....mostly Florence and Positano...she has her kid on the show with her cousins so there may be some interest for the whole family... she also did a special called Giada in Paradise set in Capri ( boats beach scene) in 2007

another chef with shows in Italy....https://davidrocco.com/

Roman Holiday is hard to beat This film alone probably drove thousands (hundreds of thousands by now) of Americans to visit the "mouth of Truth"

Three Coins in the Fountain is another classic Rome movie as well as La Dolce Vita, Ben Hur for "Ancient Rome", Under the Tuscan Sun for a bit of Tuscany and the Amalfi coast, Angels and Demons hits many religious sites in Rome, A Room with a View, and Only You are good as well.

The Trip to Italy covers places (lightly) where Byron and Shelly went. But lighter and more modern than some of the older stuff and maybe more fun for older teens. I'm very partial to Coogan but Brydon's Man in a Box in Pompei owns this movie for me.

Scully,

This is a bit unusual, but one that I enjoyed was an older movie (1992) called Ciao Professore. The basic premise was a teacher from the north working temporarily in a poverty stricken area of the south with a bunch of delinquent students. It's in Italian but I have seen a version with English subtitles. It probably won't be a good example of the parts of Italy you'll be seeing, but I did find it entertaining.

Christ Stopped at Eboli, film based on Carlo Levi's political exile under fascism.

Only You--Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. Most set in Amalfi coast and Rome.

Good family movie!

I just saw 'It Started in Naples', a 1959 film starring a disinterested and ill Clark Gable, and a mesmerizing Sophia Loren. Great shots of Capri.

Yes, Scully, on our first trip to Italy in 2010, we took 'The Godfather Tour' with Sicily Life, based out of Taormina. In the medieval villages of Forza D'Agro, Castelmola and Savoca, we saw the locales for Francis Ford Coppola's version of Corleone, which was not that town at all. Rumor was that the chieftains in 1972 wanted too much money to film there, so Coppola simply found different locations. Had a granita at Bar Vitelli, right where Michael Corleone meets Apollonia's father after seeing her and getting 'hit by the thunderbolt'.

"Mid-August Lunch" (Pranzo di Ferragosto) is great, and "Bread and Tulips" (Pane e Tulipani) is a favorite.

Don't know if your kids will like them or not, but you will. Pranzo is set in Rome, Pane e Tulipani in Venice. They're both sweet and funny, in very different ways.

For takes on today's Italy:

The Great Beauty
Best of Youth

The Incredible Mr. Ripley is an OK remake of the fantastic original Purple Noon. There is also Ripley's Game, with John Malkovich (in Venice?).

This ongoing TV series is one reason why Sicily tops my list to visit. Meanwhile I wait patiently for every new episode (and book).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920489/

I second Jane's recommendations: Pane e Tulipani and Mid-August Lunch but your kids will not appreciate them, sorry to say. After living in Rome for almost 5 years, Mid-August Lunch got funnier for us.

I have to agree with "Life is Beautiful". Both my kids had to watch this movie for school in 8th grade and the LOVED it.
If they are Bond lovers (my son is) Casino Royale is also a good choice. Not sure how old your children are but Under the Tuscan Sun was sweet (though no where near as good as the book) but it does have a few very adult parts.

Because you are looking for kid friendly recommendations:

The Lizzie Mcguire movie

They travel to Rome. I will not be answering any questions regarding the circumstance in which I have seen this movie. No judgments please.

I recently came across a movie on Netflix called "All Roads lead to Rome" with Sarah Jessica Parker. I presume it didn't do well in theaters but it's a cute movie and they even speak a little Italian. It may be a little boring for a nine year old (but not inappropriate) BUT it does feature........a kid who also does not want to travel to Italy.

May enjoy The Monster with Roberto Benigni- a fun Italian comedy.

I'm kind of shocked at some of the recommended films for a 9 year old. For example, I would strongly recommend against Benigni's "The Monster." It's a comedy about a guy who is mistaken for a serial killer of women. And some of the other films show a dark, gritty side of Italy that I can't imagine a 9 year old appreciating. "Christ Stopped at Eboli," for example. And "Life is Beautiful" takes place in part in a concentration camp. Yikes!

Also, it might help with recommendations to know WHERE in Italy you'll be going. No reason to tempt them with images of Venice if you're not going there.

Thanks for all the great input!

We will visit Rome, Tuscany, Lake Garda and Venice during our trip.

"Tea with Mussolini" is another good one. It takes place in Florence between 1935 - 1945. It follows a group of very proper and or eccentric English ladies (including Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Judi Dench) and one crass American (Cher) in this turbulent time. Again, sweet, funny, touching, and a painless way to absorb a little recent history.

Also I recall Casino Royale having a torture scene.

Inferno

Letters to Juliet might be too "girly" for a nine year old boy, but the scenery is beautiful. It's a nice piece of fluff, as movies go.

While not a kids film, I found the "Italy love it or leave it" to be an interesting examination of the problems and decisions facing so many young Italians today. It crops up on Netflix now and again. It may not be the best thing to wind up everyone's enthusiasm for the trip but it's a good film to see once you get back if you have more questions about this complex country.

The tourist-Venice. Angels and demons-Rome

We watched Casino Royale (skipping over the torture scene) and the trailer for Only You looks charming. I'd totally forgotten about that 1994 movie with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.

If you do Angels and Demons for Rome, you kinda have to do Inferno for Florence.

Max, A small bit of Inferno was filmed in Venice. My husband and I were on our 2nd trip to Italy, first time in Venice and as we walked into St Mark plaza we stumbled upon the filming of a scene from Inferno. Did not get to see Tom Hanks but did see Ron Howard directing. We paid many euros for cappuccino to sit in the cafe on the plaza while the scene was filmed.

If you're going to Lago di Garda, watch the Bond movie Quantum of Solace. The car chase scene at the beginning was filmed along the coast. I was just in Garda a couple weeks ago, it's so beautiful there. If you have the time, be sure to do the funivia to Mt Baldo in Malcesine, it's pricey but incredible.

I suspect that Venice is as film friendly a location as exists in Italy based on the number of movies I've seen that have scenes there.

Rather than have your 9 year old watch a movie that he might not be interested in, I would have him watch the PBS show "Travel With Kids". They have many episodes on Italy. You can view the episodes on YouTube and their websites. I think they are also on iTunes. The show is very good and very current unlike the some of the movies that have been recommended. I also think you will learn a lot of information on sights that will that your kids will enjoy.

Bread and Tulips is my all-time favorite Italian film...set in Venice...shows parts of the city tourists don't usually see and really gives you a sense of the place. Fantastic story-line as well!