A History of Italian Cinema

753 Pages·2017·27.361 MB·English

by  Peter Bondanella, Federico Pacchioni

A History of
Italian Cinema
ii
A History of
Italian Cinema
Peter Bondanella
and
Federico Pacchioni
Second Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
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First published 2017
© Peter Bondanella and Federico Pacchioni, 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: PB: 978-1-5013-0763-8
ePDF: 978-1-5013-0765-2
eBook: 978-1-5013-0764-5
Cover design by Louise Dugdale
Cover image: Film Amarcord, 1973 © Everett Collection / Mary Evans
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In memory of Peter Bondanella (1943-2017), scholar,
interpreter and promoter of Italy and its arts, who opened
new pathways in higher learning, and imparted much
knowledge to students within and outside academia.
vi
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
1 An Ancient Cradle for a Newborn Medium:
The Rise of Silent Cinema in Italy 1
2 Industry and Ideology: The Talkies during the
Fascist Era 23
3 Neorealism: A Revolutionary and Problematic
New Film Aesthetic 63
4 Neorealism’s Many Faces: Widening the Range of
the Camera’s Eye 101
5 The Cinema of the Reconstruction and the Return
of Melodrama 133
6 Entertainment on an Epic Scale: The Italian Peplum 163
7 Commedia all’italiana: Social Criticism for
Laughter’s Sake 185
8 The Italian Art Film: Auteurism in Visconti,
Antonioni, Fellini, and De Sica 223
9 Neorealism’s Legacy to a New Generation, and the
Italian Political Film 271
10 Myth, Marx, and Freud in Pier Paolo Pasolini
and Bernardo Bertolucci 325
viii CONTENTS
11 The Spaghetti Nightmare: The Heyday of Italian
Horror Films 363
12 A Fistful of Pasta: Sergio Leone and the Spaghetti
Western 395
13 Mystery, Gore, and Mayhem: The Italian Giallo 431
14 The Poliziesco: Italian Crime Films from the 1970s
to the Present 475
15 Italy’s Truly Popular Genre: Tragicomedy from
the 1980s to the Present 515
16 A Fellinian Ascendant: The Auteur in Contemporary
Italian Cinema 547
17 Weaving Present and Past: The Contemporary Italian
Drama 591
Notes 631
Bibliography 662
List of photo credits 696
Index 697
ACkNOwlEdgmENTS
Films are some of the most extraordinary expressions of human collaboration;
in every one of their facets they are intrinsically the product of creative
relationships and joined effort. As students of film history, we have been
personally drawn into the fascinating and multifarious world of Italian
film culture, by meeting many of its artists and witnessing closely its social
milieu of origin. Too long is the list of directors, actors, writers, and critics
whom we should acknowledge here as having inspired our curiosity of
Italian cinema and guided our understanding at important times during
our research. We think that there is no better way to express our gratitude
to them than by conveying some of the fruits of our personal intellectual
journey and encounters to the reader through the pages of this book. If we
have succeeded in any way in expressing the cultural, historical, and artistic
value of the extraordinary and complex universe of Italian cinema, this is due
first and foremost to the artists who have tenaciously pursued their visions
and talents in spite of financial and collaborative challenges, who have been
devoted to their responsibility as observers of the reality around them and
have found ways to awaken us to refreshed perspectives, and who have
raised our critical faculties even while carrying us upon their most colorful
and fanciful wings.
It would be similarly arduous to acknowledge all of the energies and
efforts that have nourished the genesis and evolution of this publication
from its first form dating back to 1983. The countless conversations we have
had with our colleagues and students have been instrumental in keeping us
abreast of new developments, clarifying guiding principles and methods,
and refining a presentation style able to bring depth and range of analysis to
a wider audience beyond academia.
With specific regards to the compilation of the present edition the
authors wish to acknowledge the assistance and support provided by
the staff of Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
and of the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University. We are especially
indebted to the unwavering support of our colleagues Patrick Fuery, John
Boitano, and Emily Carman, and to the assistance with archival and
technical support provided by Shahrzad Khosrowpour and Anne Jimkes.
Furthermore we want to convey our gratitude to Marybelle and Paul
Musco for providing crucial financial support in pursuing the research