Fiction
Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco, 1997
Conspiracy novel set in Milan. As events progress, the book becomes a study in how fiction can influence reality.
The Betrothed, Alessandro Manzoni, 1984
Story of star-crossed lovers in seventeenth-century Lombardy. It remains hugely popular in Italy, where it has been made into several films and even a stage musical. Better known as “I Promessi Sposi” in its original Italian.
Films
Io Sono Amore (I Am Love), Luca Guadagnino, 2009
This luscious film stars Tilda Swinton and is set in some of Milan’s most gorgeous private palazzi and in the countryside just outside the city. It’s an intense portrayal of the secrets, passions and betrayals of a powerful Milanese family.
A Month by the Lake, John Irvin, 1995
Uma Thurman, Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Cox form a romantic triangle on the shores of Lake Como in the spring of 1937.
La Notte, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961
Jeanne Moreau and her writer husband Marcello Mastroiannni visit a dying friend in Milan, and confront a similar death in their passion.
Miracle in Milan, Vittorio De Sica, 1951
A cerebral fantasy about an orphan found in a cabbage patch who grows up to find oil in a post-war Milan beggar colony.
