Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of Napoli terra d'amore: Cult Guide

Dir: Elvira Notari

Maria, a destitute madwoman dies in a fire at the insane asylum. The unwanted corpse of her is donated to the academy for an anatomy lesson. The film ends int he anatomy dissection theatre, where the female body lies on the table surrounded by male doctors and students., displayed for the medical and spectral gaze, awaiting dissection.

Dir: Elvira Notari

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Carmela, la sartina di Montesanto perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Carmela becomes the obsession of the young Count Luigi, heir to the recently deceased's estate, who moves into the decrepit villa nearby. The count is an inveterate womanizer and ends up snatching Carmela from her boyfriend, deceiving her with his lies. Wounded in a duel over another woman, the nobleman is assisted night and day by Carmela, who witnesses a number of moments of delirium in which the man accuses the butler, Giangrande, of an unspecified blunder.

Dir: Elvira Notari

About a young woman acting reckless and impulsive in love and life.

Dir: Elvira Notari

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Il miracolo della Madonna di Pompei perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

The daughter of the streets of Naples. Prostitution, poetry and passion.

Dir: Elvira Notari

In order to conquer Margaretella with expensive presents, a young man called Tore steals his mother's jewels but Margaretella seems to prefer another man.

Dir: Elvira Notari

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Luciella perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

This short subject is from the Neapolitan ballad, a story of love and death.

Dir: Elvira Notari

Coletta Esposito, a young commoner from via Portamedina, kills her daughter of a few months and throws the lifeless body in the churchyard, where the wedding of the man who had promised to marry her and not that is being celebrated.

Dir: Elvira Notari

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of È piccerella perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Nanninella, a young girl, is exploited and abused by her father, whom she maintains with her waitress salary.

Dir: Elvira Notari

"If you continue to be such a 'nfama it is better for me to die", warns Tore his evocative girlfriend Margaretella. Later when they both meet with their friends at the Rouge Tavern the wild dancing turns into a fight between Tore and his rival Max.