Cinema of Anxiety: A Psychoanalysis of Italian Neorealism PDF
Preview Cinema of Anxiety: A Psychoanalysis of Italian Neorealism
00-T0618-FM 8/26/99 3:12 PM Page i C I N E M A O F A N X I E T Y THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 00-T0618-FM 8/26/99 3:12 PM Page iii C I N E M A O F A N X I E T Y A Psychoanalysis of Italian Neorealism Vincent F. Rocchio University of Texas Press, Austin 00-T0618-FM 8/26/99 3:12 PM Page iv Copyright ' 1999 by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 1999 Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819. s‘The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rocchio, Vincent F. (Vincent Floyd), 1960— Cinema of anxiety : a psycho- analysis of Italian neorealism / Vincent F. Rocchio. (cid:209) 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn0-292-77100-2 (alk. paper) isbn0-292-77101-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures(cid:209)Italy(cid:209)History. 2. Lacan, Jacques, 1901— I. Title. pn1993.5.i88 r59 1999 791.4390945(cid:209)dc21 99-6046 00-T0618-FM 8/26/99 3:12 PM Page v in memoria di Vincenzo ed Antonia Rocchio e (cid:222)gli Domenico, Maria, ed Anthony, mio padre nobile THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 00-T0618-FM 8/26/99 3:12 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Revisiting Psychoanalysis and the Cinema 9 2.Rome: Open City 29 ANXIETY, IDEOLOGY, AND CULTURAL CONTAINMENT 3.Bicycle Thieves 53 IDENTIFICATION, FOCALIZATION, AND RESTORATION 4.La terra trema 79 SUBVERTING AND STRUCTURING MEANING 5.Bitter Rice 105 THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED (DIVA) 6.Senso 127 DEGENERATE MELODRAMA? 7. Psychoanalysis, Cinematic Representation, 147 and Cultural Studies Notes 159 Bibliography 175 Index 181 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 00-T0618-FM 8/26/99 3:12 PM Page ix Acknowledgments This project started off, humbly enough, as a research paper while I was a graduate student at New York University. Even though I immediately recog- nized that the scope of the project could easily be expanded into a disserta- tion, I was not as quick to pursue it. There were several reasons for that, but the chief one was my last name. It is often dif(cid:222)cult for others to understand the onerous problem Italian-Americans face when they write on Italian cul- ture. In the current overly competitive and far too trendy American aca- demic climate, Italian-Americans are by and large looked down upon as be- ing too parochial and somewhat inferior for writing about something they already (cid:210)know(cid:211)(cid:209)rather than expanding their horizons(cid:209)when they write on Italian culture or history. These days, it is only with some fear and trepi- dation (or blind ignorance) that any of us pursue anything even remotely Italian. In my own case, however, several scholars whom I respect greatly en- couraged me to go forward with this project right from its earliest stages. Laura Mulvey was the (cid:222)rst to read my approach to Neorealism and offered strong encouragement while pointing out several theoretical limitations and problems that I had encountered. Bill Simon was next to read an expanded versionoftheprojectandalsogaveencouragementtogoforward,evenashe challenged my conclusions and demanded more work on Italian culture. In the end, with my dissertation nearing completion, he cleared off his desk to get chapters read. Bob Stam amiably came on at the last minute to see the project through and made several insightful suggestions regarding the inte- grating function that the main theoretical model served. Steve Barnes, much
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