Neorealism

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Rome, Open City ILCS 3260W

ILCS 3260W
 From now on apply these
standard usages…

¤ Italicize the film’s title & add director’s name and year in
parentheses to follow its first mention only:
¤ In the first scene of Ossessione (Luchino Visconti, 1943) ……

¤ Add the actor’s name in parentheses after the first mention of a

character.
¤ We are then introduced to Giovanna (Clara Calamai) and Gino
(Massimo Girotti), who…..

¤ Use PRESENT TENSE to describe the film’s action:

¤ At the singing competition Giovanna and Gino sit alone at a table.
Gino asks if she has thought about him since he left.
Go beyond the “givens”;
ALWAYS AVOID STATEMENTS LIKE…

¤ The director does an excellent job of…

¤ Close up shots are used to show the character’s expression.

¤ The director uses…to create drama / to express the

emotions of X.

¤ The camera focuses on him to show that he is important.

¤ The shot shows a lot of open space to give the impression of

space.

¤ The lighting is dark to show that it is night.

woman women
SYMBOLS and SYMBOLIZING

¤ Giovanna is beautiful.
¤ Is the mirror a symbol of/for her beauty? ... Or …
¤ Is it a symbol of her vanity (a psychological quality)?

¤ “The fast paced action symbolizes that their relationship

takes shape quickly.” … No …
¤ “The fast paced action reflects the pace of their
relationship.”
¤ “The fast paced action symbolizes the uncontrollable nature
of their passions.”
MUSIC

¤ Music is the viewer’s audible cue for action taking place,

yes.
¤ This, however, does not constitute an argument about the film.

¤ Consider… How is the music being used unconventionally?

¤ What are the emotions associated with the music* for the
viewer, and how do these relate the the actions of the
subjects or the setting of the scene?
¤ *It is best to broach this argument if you can speak
meaningfully about tone, pitch, instruments used, etc.
 Italian NEOREALISM

Director Roberto Rossellini

 NEOREALISMO

Films made as a reaction to:

• fascist regime s manipulation of mass culture
by way of propagandistic cinema;
• life under fascism;
• the war, esp. German occupation and war of
Resistance on Italian soil.
 General technical traits of
neorealist films

¤ location shooting,
¤ use of non-professional actors,*
¤ filming has realist, documentary style,
¤ subject matter pertains to experiences of historical actuality of
post-war Italy and of everyday Italians,
¤ political commitment, engagement with reality,
¤ rejection of cinematic conventions of the pre-war period,
opposition to over-manipulation of reality in cinema.
 “How does the image relate to reality and vice versa?”

Different theories of Realism (see Stam reading)

• Andre Bazin
• Siegfried Kracauer
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty
• Cesare Zavattini

Rossellini shooting a scene of Paisà

 3 broader principal aspects of
neorealist film
1) moral content: film s
responsibility to bear witness to
actual problems, contemporary
stories, current conditions of
Italians;

2) political consciousness: task of

raising awareness and provoking
viewers to ask questions;

3) aesthetic imperatives: each film

is made according to a specifically
cinematic language.
Rossellini’s Roma città aperta
 Less than a movement

¤ 1945-1953, only 10% of films made in Italy can be

considered neorealist.

¤ No single or specific approach was taken.

¤ Commonality = desire to record the making of Italy’s

new citizens in their own image.

¤ Masterpieces of neorealism were not popular films at

the time of release.

¤ Italian film market still dominated by Hollywood films

in post-war era.
 CESARE ZAVATTINI
Some Ideas on the Cinema (1952)

The true function of the cinema is not to tell fables. (53)

“Today, when we have thought out a scene, we feel the need to

‘remain’ in it.” (52)

The keenest necessity of our time is social attention —

attention to what is there directly. (53)

Today, today today. (57)

 Zavattini s new cinema:
¤ Envisions itself as an Italian cinema;

¤ Subjects should be drawn from everyday life and

actions;

¤ Subject matter must be contemporary—must

excavate reality —for cinema to become socially
important ;

¤ Hopes it can inspire viewers to reflect on their own

reality.
 The new image of cinema

¤ Tends to be open in form,

descriptive (rather than
prescriptive), philosophical
(rather than interpretative)

¤ Cinematic artifice and

mythical narrative forms
coexist with honest
depictions of current social
problems.

a scene from Rossellini’s Paisà

 The new sound of cinema

¤ Regional dialects used. Zavattini seeking Immediacy,

freshness, verisimilitude. (60)

¤ Authenticity in speech:
¤ e.g. In Rome, Open City Pina, Don Pietro and Marcello
speak with Roman accent/dialect, Manfredi has a northern
accent, Marina uses stage diction, Germans speak
German (unless they are speaking with Italians, in which
case their Italian is minimally communicative or ‘harsh’).
Anna Magnani & Aldo Fabrizi

“Open City” =
demilitarized zone.
Allies declare Rome an
Open City in order to
preserve its landmarks,

Roma, città aperta

but both sides still bomb
the city. The term is,
therefore, used ironically
by Rossellini. Assignment #2: Characterization