This beautiful double DVD documentary pack is a love letter written by Martin Scorsese, adressed to the magnificence that is the classical Italian cinema... It is not an scrupulous scholarly analysis, but that doesn't mean that there are no great insights and, since Scorsese is such a great narrator and storyteller, this assemblage of excerpts from famous movies is really moving and fascinating; from historical epics to the personal stream-of-consciousness cinema of Fellini's "8 1/2"...

I would recommend this as a great introduction to exploring the beauty of the classical Italian cinema, but also as an interesting footnote to the study of Scorsese's filmography...

Martin Scorsese is not only a great filmmaker but a great student of film as well evidenced by his 2001 documentary "My Voyage to Italy". In the film, Scorese escorts us on a personal journey through Italian cinema from the 1940s to 1960s. In his narration, Scorsese describes how deeply these films influenced him in his formative years.

It's not perfect, however. Most of the Scorsese gems are contained in the first half of the film, it then gets a little more prosaic in the second half as Scorsese more or less just describes what is happening on screen. Some of the films that he gushes over seem rather poor and the quality of the prints ranges from poor to terrible.

Despite these caveats "My Voyage to Italy" is of immense interest to students of Italian cinema particulary those who are also fans of Martin Scorsese.

There are no extras on the DVD.

Marty's absolutely right -- the majority of American filmgoers have no idea what's going on in world cinema, let alone the advent of Italian neorealism. Sadly, Roberto Benigni has become more recognizable in our country than Marcello Mastroianni, but at least filmmakers like Scorsese are speaking out to anyone who's willing to listen. Unfortunately, fans of Goodfellas and The Departed are sure to fall asleep after the first thirty minutes of this near five hour epic mixtape of the Italian masters greatest hits -- essentially defeating the purpose of using his fame to encourage the average viewer to check out some of the films he addresses. For those who've already seen a few of the films in Voyage, though, this 2-disc set serves as an excellent primer on post-WWII Italian cinema and seemingly challenges die hard cinephiles to see if they can keep up with Scorsese's encyclopedic knowledge of film history. Who's actually got a copy of Paisa laying around next to Senso for crying out loud?! I feel put in my place. (7/10)

Director Martin Scorsese presents a survey of post-war Italian films from "Rome: Open City" to "Eclipse" that describes a personal journey as both a filmmaker and an Italian-American. His chief intent is to preserve interest in these films - some familiar, some not - as significant contributions to film art and world cinema. Without a great deal of analysis, he walks us through condensed versions of a wide selection of various films, representing the work of key directors, commenting on style, structure, subject matter, and innovation, but mostly just letting us appreciate their stories.

Unlike many documentaries of this kind, we get more than just highlights or snippets of scenes. Compressed into 10-15 minutes, the treatment of each film provides something closer to an immersion in its imaginative world and an awareness of its artistic achievement. Also, in its 4+ hours of screen time, "My Voyage to Italy" provides a 20-year overview of film history that brings together the work of many different directors into a single, coherent accounting. For anyone with an interest in movie history and international cinema, this film offers many pleasures.

What can I say about this film? It's a chance to learn about cinema from one of the greatest directors in history. The irony is that Scorsese is every bit as fine an artist as any of these legends that he discusses. I really did not know much about Rossellini and De Sica before I saw this documentary, and if you see it I'm sure that you too will walk away highly appreciative of their oeuvre. Many of the things that Scorsese points out about these movies I would be incapable of noticing on my own. I suppose that if one is an experienced scholar of cinema then some of this discussion might be obvious but it certainly wasn't to me. I learned a great deal. Fellini's "Vitelloni, I" is definitely one that I now have to see, and the commentary for La Dolce Vita is priceless.