Italian Neorealist Cinema: An Aesthetic Approach

533 Pages·2008·4.65 MB·English

by  Christopher Wagstaff

ITALIAN NEOREALIST CINEMA:
AN AESTHETIC APPROACH
The end of the Second World War saw the emergence in Italy of the neo-
realism movement, which produced a number of films characterized by
stories set among the poor and working class, often shot on location
using non-professional actors. In this study Christopher Wagstaff pro-
vides an in-depth analysis of neorealist film, focusing on three films
that have had a major impact on filmmakers and audiences around the
world: Roberto Rossellini’s Roma città aperta and Paisà and Vittorio De
Sica’s Ladri di biciclette. Indeed, these films are still, more than half a
century after they were made, among the most highly regarded works
in the history of cinema. In this ambitious, carefully researched study,
Wagstaff takes an innovative alternative approach to the analysis of
these films, treating them primarily as aesthetic artefacts rather than as
accurate representations of historical reality.
The author begins by situating neorealist cinema in its historical,
industrial, commercial, and cultural context. He goes on to provide a
theoretical discussion of realism and the merits of neorealist films, indi-
vidually and collectively, as aesthetic artefacts. The core of the book is
devoted to a detailed analysis of the three films, concentrating on tech-
nical and production aspects as well as on the broader significance of
the films as cinematic works of art.
While providing a wealth of information and analysis previously un-
available to an English-speaking audience, Italian Neorealist Cinema of-
fers a radically new perspective on neorealist cinema and the Italian art
cinema that followed it.
(Toronto Italian Studies)
christopher wagstaff is Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies at the Uni-
versity of Reading.
This page intentionally left blank
CHRISTOPHER WAGSTAFF
Italian Neorealist Cinema
An Aesthetic Approach
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2007
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 978-0-8020-9761-3 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8020-9520-6 (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
Toronto Italian Studies
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Wagstaff, Christopher, 1946–
Italian neorealist cinema : an aesthetic approach / Christopher
Wagstaff.
(Toronto Italian studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8020-9761-3 (bound). – ISBN 978-0-8020-9520-6 (pbk.)
1. Motion pictures – Italy – Aesthetics. 2. Rosellini, Roberto,
1906–1977 – Criticism and interpretation. 3. De Sica, Vittorio,
1901–1974 – Criticism and interpretation. 4. Motion pictures – Italy –
History. I. Title. II. Series.
PN1993.5.I88W34 2007 791.430945 C2007-904288-0
Publication of this book was made possible by grants from The Leverhulme
Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Board, and the Department of
Italian Studies of the University of Reading.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its
publishing activities of the overnment of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
In loving memory of
Gabriella Verrucchi
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 Overview 7
The Italian Cinema Industry 7
The Cultural Context 20
Films: Production and Screenwriting 26
The Pro-filmic 30
The Institution of Neorealism 37
2 Realism 41
Aesthetics 41
Reference 48
Narrative 54
Genre 59
Idealism 65
Realism 71
Cesare Zavattini 78
Rhetoric 82
A Note on Comedy 92
3 Roma città aperta 94
Photography 94
Lighting 100
Sound 105
Mise en scène 107
Performers 119
viii Contents
Costume 127
The Narrative: Story and Plot 136
Dramaturgy: Analysis of the Episode of the Shooting of Pina 163
Roma città aperta and Neorealism 181
4 Paisà 185
The Rome Episode 192
The Sicily Episode 201
The Monastery Episode 216
The Naples Episode 240
The Florence Episode 253
The Po delta Episode 263
Concluding Remarks on Paisà 287
5 Ladri di biciclette 291
Locations 307
Performers and Costume 313
Narrative 321
Analysis of Sequences 325
Concluding Remarks 396
Concluding Remarks 402
Appendices 407
1 A standard introduction to neorealism 409
2 Historical background for neorealism 414
3 Statistics of the Italian film industry 417
4 Categories of cinema in Italy, 1953 419
5 Number of tickets sold at cinema box offices in provincial capitals
and in the rest of the provinces, 1947–1955 420
6 Length (in days) of opening runs in cinemas in major Italian cities
of neorealist films and Catene 421
7 Statistics of days of cinema showing, tickets sold, and box-office
receipts in Italy, 1936–1960 422
8 Established film production companies in Italy, 1945–1953 423
9 Italian film production, 1945–1953 425
10 Directors of neorealist films, 1945–1953 426
11 Writers of neorealist films, 1945–1953 427
12 Directors of photography on neorealist films 429
Contents ix
13 Production arrangements and costs for five core neorealist
films 430
14 Italian public’s reception of different categories of Italian films
produced 1945–1953, and subsequently released 1945–1956 431
15 Fifty-five ‘neorealist’ films 435
16 Filmographic details of Roma città aperta, Paisà, and Ladri
di biciclette 440
17 Average shot length, pre-neorealism and neorealism 444
18 Average shot length, neorealist films 445
19 Average shot length, neorealist films of De Sica, Rossellini,
Visconti, Antonioni 446
20 Scale (closeness) of shot comparison, Roma città aperta and other
films (1) 447
21 Scale of shot comparison, Roma città aperta and other films (2) 448
22 Scale of shot comparison, Roma città aperta and other films (3) 449
23 Map of settings and locations for Paisà 450
24 Average shot length for different sections of Paisà 451
25 Scale of shot, Paisà – Po delta episode 452
26 Tammurriata nera 453
27 Map of locations for Ladri di biciclette 454
Notes 457
Bibliography 473
Index 493
Plates 1–33, stills from Ladri di biciclette, follow page 348.