10 Classic Italian Food Movie Scenes

Italy – home of the Cosa Nostra, the Vatican and now, Snooki. Despite anyone's take on violence, religion or hatred for anything New Jersey, we can all agree that Italian food has a place in almost everyone’s heart. The addition of cheese, tomato sauce (or gravy) and pasta equates to a more-than-acceptable outcome every time. Whether it’s the sense memory that takes over at first sight of a beloved dish or the vibrant reds and yellows popping off screen — the world of cinema has taken advantage of the world’s soft spot for the likes of spaghetti and meatballs. And thus, the countdown is born.

Criteria:

1.  Movies. Not TV.
2. Cannot be a scene which I’ve used in a previous countdown (Goodfellas prison scene, Defending Your Life fake restaurant, Lady and the Tramp etc.)
3. Pizza counts. Even without any supporting players, pizza is Italian food for the basis of this countdown.

10 Classic Italian Food Movie Scenes

10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Delivery Guy

As a young man I found myself utterly obsessed with 4 turtles who wore colored masks, ranged somewhere between 13 and 19 years of age, and were straight-up ninjas. Like all turtles, they had an unwavering affinity for pizza. However there were some obstacles in obtaining a greasy pie for themselves. An oversized reptile doesn’t have the luxury of walking into any old joint and paying for two slices without freaking out the clientele. Yet this wily foursome found a loophole in the “30 minutes or less” delivery guarantee, even if their address was technically in a sewer and most likely outside of today’s strict delivery zones. 

09. Vegas Vacation – Buffet

Call me naïve, but it was years before I realized you could eat real meals in Vegas that didn’t require hot lamps and trays of gooey mystery. Randy Quaid takes Chevy Chase to a $1.49 buffet in the last installment of the Vacation saga. It’s fitting. Why wouldn’t his suburbanite cousin-through-marriage enjoy an all-you-can-eat offering? After all, it is Italian night and as I mentioned in the intro, we all dig on Italian food. 

08. Goodfellas – “One dog goes one way, the other dog goes the other way.”

I can’t fathom how difficult it is to eat plate after plate full of Italian home cooking knowing there is a dead guy chilling inside the trunk of the car parked outside. Not to mention keeping all that food down. Tommy’s mother, played by director Martin Scorsese’s real life mom, obliviously feeds the trio of gangsters at her dining room table and even lends them a butcher knife so that her son and his friends can finish off their dirty work. The scary part is how unphased Pesci and De Niro are compared to Ray Liotta in this scene. 

07. Spaceballs – Pizza the Hut

In Mel Brooks’ Star Wars farce, this obvious play on words is so perfect that I sometimes find myself flubbing the original name, Jabba the Hut. It’s a giant slice of talking pizza! And he’s a loan shark! And he makes clever, intimidating puns like “You’re gonna pay it or else…pizza is gonna send out for you!” The drippingly delicious-looking dude should’ve been in more scenes. Or at the very least should be the focus of a challenge featured on an episode of Man vs. Food.

06.  Do the Right Thing – Customer is Always Right…Except Radio Raheem

As temperatures rise in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, tempers flare. Sal and his sons represent a majority of the Caucasian population in the neighborhood. They also represent, as far as I can tell, 100% of the pizza makers. Although he values his customers, the beats and lyrics of Public Enemy, blasting from a pair of speakers, is too much for the entrepreneur to take. Heat, music, racism, extra cheese and everything else you’d expect from a Spike Lee joint result in the climactic end of Do the Right Thing. 

05. Home Alone – Keep the change, you filthy animal.

If this countdown listed solely pizza scenes, this would be the undisputed #1. First off, our hero finally gets his very own cheese pizza, that which eluded him in the movie’s opening family dinner. Secondly, it shows just how smart you have to be to deliver pizzas. Now I’m no genius, but I’d like to believe that if I’m outside a house and I hear gunshots on TV I’d be able to distinguish them from live ammunition being fired a few feet from my alert eardrums. This dumbass from Little Nero’s deserved the measly 20 cents tip he got. 

04. Big Night  - Il Timpano

If you’re a foodie and still haven’t seen Big Night, what are you waiting for? Under the radar in a world of blockbusters and tent pole summer flicks, small indies like this one are often underappreciated. In this snippet, Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub silently pray that their family recipe Timpano has cooked all the way through and won’t collapse upon serving. This is their last chance to save their small, failing restaurant. 

03. Se7en – Gluttony

Please ignore the “Saved by the Bell” laugh track on the clip — it’s the only one I could find. Unfortunately it takes away from the sheer creepiness of serial killer Kevin Spacey’s first victim. Gluttony, the first of the 7 deadly sins, takes the life of our over-stuffed corpse. At first glance, it looks more like death-by-Spaghetti-O’s. But let’s allow our imaginations take over and pretend that this poor bastard met his end by bite after forced bite of the most mouthwatering pasta dish we’ve ever tasted. In the end, it’s not a terrible way to go. 

02. Godfather – Clamenza’s Sauce

Not as famous as the Solazzo/McClusky execution, and not as quoted as, “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” Clamenza, portrayed by Richard S. Castellano, is just the perfect Mob character. A bit overweight, thick accented, jolly in the face of danger…and ladies he knows how to cook! What a catch. The Corleone family, in the thick of a gang war, is holed up at the house and the hefty cappo takes it upon himself to do the cooking…and give young Michael a lesson in the process. 

01. The Bicycle Thief – Mozzarella

When life goes to hell and everything is crumbling around you, food still has the magical ability to make the world seem all right. In Vittoriio De Sica’s masterpiece, Ladri di biciclete, Antonio’s family is facing some trying economic times. Luckily he gets a job hanging posters — but needs a bicycle to get from place to place. Not even halfway through his first day of labor, his bike is stolen. Antonio and his son Bruno search the city for their lost property…and really in search of hope. The stress, the desperation, the family’s dire future is a lot for a young Bruno to handle. For a few brief moments at lunch, Bruno is as lucky and as carefree as the more privileged boys eating their own mozzarella. 

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