1600, Southern Italy is under the Spanish Government. A few years before an attempt at rebellion, inspired by the preaching of the philosopher and monk Tommaso Campanella, is severely quelled by the Government. Campanella, under the charge of the plot, is put into a prison in Naples and waits for the conclusion of an endless process. Throughout the Calabrian countries his name is wrapped up in legend, he becomes almost a myth. Someone believes he has escaped from prison and wanders about under a false name.

How Sweet it is to Die Murdered (Quanto è bello lu murire acciso) is an Italian historical film written and directed by Ennio Lorenzini and released in 1975. The original title of the film is that of a popular song reworked by Roberto De Simone, who is considered the precursor of the Neapolitan folk revival of the 1970s. The film depicts the failed expedition organized by Carlo Pisacane in 1857 to provoke an uprising in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

A young woman with cancer travels to a remote wilderness zone in Northern Italy in search of an alternative cure. What she and her friend, Martino, find is a secluded paradise, but their arrival threatens its fragile existence.

1968 film by Liliana Cavani

2005 miniseries

Still active in their eighties with such well-received films as CAESAR MUST DIE, the Taviani brothers first made an international splash with this striking allegorical drama. Survivors of a disastrous volcanic eruption on one remote island flee to a neighboring isle where their forced cohabitation with the more peaceable local residents leads to militaristic aggression, violence, kidnapping and other abuses. Think of a LORD OF THE FLIES for grown-ups as directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini and you've got the general idea. This visually beautiful portrait of ugly societal behavior is told in a series of cryptic blackouts punctuated by shocking outbursts of cruelty. Featuring more robust masculinity than Italian cinema had seen since the heyday of Hercules films a few years earlier, it features a cast of mixed professionals and nonprofessional actors led by Gian Maria Volonte as a village leader. - Dennis Harvey