Set in ancient Rome during its decline, Nero, or The Fall of Rome is a dramatic portrayal of the events leading to the empire's collapse. The film explores the political intrigue, power struggles, and decadence prevalent at the time. Through the rise and reign of Emperor Nero, viewers witness the destructive forces that ultimately contribute to the downfall of the once-mighty civilization.

In Florence, at the time of Lorenzo de Medici, known also as Lorenzo the Magnificent, the aristocrat brothers Chiaramantesi rule with an iron fist the streets of the city. Ruthless and fierce, the two brothers have chosen as their special victim the innocent and harmless Giannetto. Even though determined to not react to the cruel pranks of the brothers, Giannetto is forced to take a stand when Ginevra, a beautiful girl that works in the Chiaramantesi household, is dragged into the game. To defend his honor and protect the girl, Giannetto works out a fiendish plot that will end in blood and madness.

Giovanna leaves her husband and son for a short holiday and casually finds an old boyfriend in trouble.

After seven years of traveling, Aeneas and the other Trojans are surprised by a storm that wrecks their ship on the African coast. Here they are led by the Amazons to the Queen of Carthage, Dido, who soon falls in love with Aeneas. When the King of Numidia, Iarbas, comes to marry Dido, she rejects him. But in the meantime Anchises appears to Aeneas in dreams, and commands him to leave to found Rome. So, while Iarbas’ army surrounds Carthage, Aeneas embarks secretly for Rome.

A snowy Italian drama directed by Gennaro Righelli.

A young man sentenced to death manages to postpone his execution because of the impending wedding of his poor sister, who is to be married off. His best friend vouches for his return. After taking care of his sister, the young man hurries back, but is delayed by numerous unexpected obstacles. Nevertheless, he continues the journey, determined to join his now-presumably dead friend.

In fictional Silistria, a plot is hatched to send the heir to the throne to Paris for a year.

An adaptation of Balzac's La Grande Bretêche

A grandfather recalls how he and his wife met and fell in love during the Second Italian War of Independence.

This film shows the realistic battle scenes of the Siege of Moscow, with the sensational defeat of Napoleon, with the belching cannon, the battling soldiers, scenes of heroism and daring reproduced in the most exquisite photography.

Italian silent film

A silent drama film directed by Herbert Brenon

Alice, a beautiful dressmaker, musing on her hard lot, falls asleep and dreams that she wins the heart of a wealthy admirer, who lavishes his wealth upon her. Through an accident, her face becomes terribly disfigured, and her lover abandons her. She awakens as her sweetheart, a poor but honest workman, calls, and realizes that his loyal heart is worth more than all the riches in the world.

Il Fiacre n. 13, from the novel of the same title by Xavier Henri Aymon Perrin, Count of Montépin, a highly prolific and much-loved author whose books were vehicles for the depiction of social inequality, narrating stories of love, death, betrayal, blackmail, and redemption. The sweeping narrative of Il Fiacre n. 13 was mutilated by the Italian censor’s suppression of its first part, the most cynical episode, which sets the scene for a scheme discernable in the other three episodes, as the story develops from a sordid murder through plotting and deceit to finally reach a happy ending.

Only a brief fragment survives from the beginning of this film, which seems to be a moving romantic melodrama: Diana Karenne plays the piano surrounded by a group of admirers in evening dress. She is a beautiful and slightly spoiled heiress, the kind of woman for whom Italian silent cinema reserved unfortunate turns of fate in order to elevate her to the status of tragic heroine. Even the few minutes remaining make clear that she proposes her own reinterpretation of the genre’s themes and motifs: from astonished grief over her father’s death to desperate wanderings through dark and impoverished alleyways. It is an expressive palette around which Pasquali weaves his discreet direction, paying particular attention to lighting effects.