L'invenzione di Morel (Morel's Invention, 1974)

Director: Emidio Greco
Starring: Giulio Brogi, Anna Karina, John Steiner
Label:  Ripley's Home Video (2012)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 0
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: English, French

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

A fugitive lands on an apparently deserted island, but soon some strange tourists arrive... Based on Adolfo Bioy Casares' science fiction novel, the film reduces the plot to its bare essentials, focusing on the metaphorical level.  The style is both minimalist (no word is spoken in the first 30 minutes) and surrealist, with a dreamlike quality of mise-en-scène. Very demanding but also very inspiring.

Recommendations
...if you enjoy arthouse cinema, here you have a sci-fi fantasy in form of Borgesian paradox.

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Sangue bleu (The Princess of Monte Bello, 1914)

Director: Nino Oxilia
Starring: Francesca Bertini, Angelo Gallina, André Habay
Label:  Cineteca di Bologna (2014)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Subtitles: Italian, English, Dutch

Bonus:

* Featurette on Nino Oxilia (11 minutes, with English subtitles)
* 1913 short, Kri Kri e il tango (5 minutes, with English subtitles)
* Photogalleries
* 28 page bilingual booklet

Available from Cineteca di Bologna and Amazon.it.

What's the film about?

A noble lady divorces from her husband and gets blackmailed, losing her child's custody. Among the greatest divas of Italian cinema, Francesca Bertini stars as a fallen woman in this maternal melodrama. Perhaps not on the same level with Assunta Spina or Mariute, but Nino Oxilia's tableaux are alway enriched by his mastery in blocking and lighting. The 1913 comedy short, starring Raymond Frau, is also quite enjoyable.

Recommendations
...if you are interested in Diva-films, this is an indispensable release.

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L'imperatore di Capri (Emperor of Capri, 1949)

Director: Luigi Comencini
Starring: Totò, Yvonne Sanson, Marisa Merlini, Mario Castellani
Label:  Dolmen Home Video (2008)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 b/w
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono/5.1 remix)
Subtitles: English, Italian

Bonus:
* Photo gallery (20 stills)

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

The adventures of a humble waiter who is mistaken for an Arabian Prince. Totò debuted as film actor in 1937, and he remained the most popular Italian comedian until his death in 1967. Comedy doesn't travel well, especially when based on verbal humour, so his films are generally little known outside Italy, but some of his best works should be discovered by international audiences. Directed by Luigi Comenini, Emperor of Capri offers one of Totò's most enjoyable performances, a twisted farce enriched with some black comedy moments and a surrealistic touch.

Recommendations
...if you want a sample of Totò's talent in one of his best vehicles.

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Titanus (1904-2014)

The Retrospective for the 67th edition of the Festival del film Locarno (6–16 August 2014) will be dedicated to the Italian production studio Titanus. Numerous European and American institutions will repeat the program: the Cineteca di Bologna, the Cineteca Nazionale (National Film Archive) in Rome, the National Cinema Museum in Turin, the Cinémathèque suisse, the Cinémas du Grütli in Geneva, the Filmpodium in Zurich, the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, the American Cinematheque and the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles. The retrospective will be accompanied by an English-friendly book, on which I am currently working.
 

Official press release:
http://www.pardolive.ch/it/Pardo-Live/today-at-the-festival/2014/retrospettiva-titanus?sl=en