Add your email and we'll match picks to the services you stream at home.

Poster for The Fall of Italy

The Fall of Italy

Seen it?

1981 | 117 min | War, Drama

Monday Morning Maybeearly rating

Why it’s a Monday Morning Maybe

With a box office flop and almost no lasting buzz, this one could be a tough watch. Keep your phone handy.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it
A natural pick for anyone interested in what war does to people and war-film fans. It puts you in the middle of the fighting, and doesn't let you forget the cost. If you loved The Guns of Navarone or The Longest Day, start here.
The mood
Intense.
The pace
Character-first and patient, at 1 hr 57 min.
What might put you off
  • It's in another language, so expect subtitles (or a dub).
  • Not the one if you want explosions or easy laughs.

The setting is the islands off the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, during WW II. The islands are controlled by occupying Italian forces, and a resistence movement of Communists is dedicated to sabotaging and ending the occupation. When a wealthy young man joins the resistence, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a spy for the Italians. As a result of his liaison and her activity, they are both executed by a Communist comrade - a previous friend. The comrade is dedicated to the hard-line policies of the resistence, until he himself falls in love with the daughter of a bourgeois landowner on the island - a landowner who has collaborated with the Italians. Neither the Italian occupying army (one officer is shown in an attempted rape scene) nor the resistence fighters are stereotyped forces for good or evil, but all are equally subject to the dehumanizing effects of war.

How it earned its rating

  • CriticsNot counted

    Not enough reviews on record yet

  • AudiencesNot counted

    Not measured yet: not enough ratings

  • AwardsNot counted

    No major awards or nominations

  • Reach & staying powerWeak

    Streaming release that reached a small audience so far

  • Buzz & cultural impactWeak

    About 3K people sought it out in the past year, and interest is climbing

More like this

Want more like this, picked just for you? Get my picks

Cast & crew

Directed by Lordan Zafranović

  • Daniel OlbrychskiDavorin
  • Ena BegovićVeronika
  • Gorica PopovićBožica
  • Mirjana KaranovićMare
  • Dragan MaksimovićRafo
  • Miodrag KrivokapićAndro
  • Dušan JanićijevićLjubo
  • Ljiljana KrstićAntica
  • Velimir 'Bata' ŽivojinovićGrgo Kusturin
  • Frano LasićNiko