POST-WAR CINEMA ITALY & NEOREALISM. ITALIAN NEOREALISM 4 characteristics: REALISM bordering on documentary TYPAGE (non ‑ professional actors) NATURAL.
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ITALIAN NEOREALISM
4 characteristics: REALISM bordering on documentary TYPAGE (non‑professional actors) NATURAL SETTINGS SOCIAL & POLITICAL themes
SILENT ERA
Historical epics & spectacles Overly dramatic, high production values,
special effects Imported to US, helped break the Trust (MPPC)
Slapstick comedies, very popular in Europe
Some films on contemporary social issues Ended with the sound era Studios became more conservative
EARLY SOUND YEARS
Industry dominated by musicals, romances & bedroom farces
Most popular were “WHITE TELEPHONE” movies Sex comedies & melodramas centred on
a bedroom with a white telephone
BENITO MUSSOLINI &THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT
Mussolini ignored film until 1935 Govt made propaganda films, required
theatres to show them State patronage of propaganda by
lending money to studios Repaid a fraction, depending on propaganda
content
BENITO MUSSOLINI &THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT
Studios sought loans & grants by giving jobs to political favourites (EUROPA FILMS made VITTORIO MUSSOLINI president of studio)
Government presided over dubbing of foreign films
BENITO MUSSOLINI &THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT
Not good at controlling film industry Insisted on getting involved, but knew
little about it Benito Mussolini wrote Scipio Africanus
About an ancient victory of Roman Army in Africa
Visible telephone poles, wristwatches, etc. Heavily promoted at home, exported to other
countries; source of embarrassment
BENITO MUSSOLINI &THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT
Govt did provide 2 important institutions Cinecittà
Huge production center, 12 sound stages Survived the war, but with some damage Still an important production center today
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Experimental Centre of Cinematography)
State-sponsored filmmaking school Trained most of important figures of Neorealism Now known as La Scuola Nazionale di Cinema
THE NEOREALIST ERA
LUCHINO VISCONTI’s Ossessione (1942) Forerunner of the movement Fascist government was disintegrating Sweaty peasants, lust, adultery, murder,
location shooting in cheap taverns Significance not in subject matter or
political statements Act of defiance of Government Led to spirit of rebellion
THE NEOREALIST ERA
ROBERTO ROSSELLINI’s Rome, Open City (1945) 1st real Neorealist film Rossellini's training in documentary Shot in streets & used actual settings Shot silent, sound dubbed in Begun in 1944; Mussolini gone, but
Germans occupied Rome
THE NEOREALIST ERA
ROBERTO ROSSELLINI’s Open City (1945) Based on a true story about a leader of the
Communists & a Catholic priest Almost all of the Italians are dead by the end Communist leader betrayed by lesbian, tortured to death Priest killed by Nazi firing squad
Features the use of TYPAGE Few professional actors Actors not glamorous, typical of lower-class Romans Extremely low-budget film, made for less than $26,000
THE NEOREALIST ERA
VITTORIO DESICA Bicycle Thieves (1948); best‑known Neorealist film
Concerns a working-class man's search for stolen bicycle Episodic, not tightly plotted Features no professional actors Originally banned in US
Umberto D (1951) About an impoverished elderly man & his dog Man wants to commit suicide, can't leave his dog alone Unpopular at home
THE NEOREALIST ERA
DECLINE OF NEOREALISM Critical reception enthusiastic, popular in
Europe But not much box office in US
Neither dubbing nor subtitles well-accepted in the US Subject matter not popular
In Italy they were not popular either Wanted entertainment & relief from problems Wanted to forget about WW II & Fascist government
THE NEOREALIST ERA
DECLINE OF NEOREALISM US took advantage of economic conditions
Italy needed money, especially American $ Hollywood studios co-produced films in Italy Mostly historical spectacles, romantic stories
By the mid-1950s, these factors led to the end of Neorealism
Industry dominated by slick, commercial, racy films Glamorous stars: Gina Lollabrigida, Sophia Loren, etc.
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