Italian Neorealism, Rome Open City (1945) and Social Film History

Name both screenings for this week

• Una Giornata Romana di Benito Mussolini (1938)

• Roma Città Aperta/ Rome Open City - Roberto Rosselini (1945)

“To - a - of texts and call it - - - - involves - the - - and - - of cinema” - Richard Maltby

“To write a history of texts and call it a history of Hollywood involves omitting the social process and cultural function of cinema” - Richard Maltby

“Consider - - of - - of cinema that are - - - -” - Richard Maltby

“Consider the possibility of writing histories of cinema that are not centrally about films” - Maltby

Explain ‘The New Cinema History’ theory/practice

• Rather than historical research as a way to CONTEXTUALISE film texts, The New Cinema History thinks about film from the perspective of its social history

• Name is a deliberate attempt to distinguish it from traditional film history

Give 3 important events to occur in Italy from 1920 to 1940 (excluding film history)

• Benito Mussolini becomes Prime Minister in 1922

• Benito Mussolini establishes legal dictatorship in 1925

• Italy joins WW2 in 1940

Give 4 important events in Italy from 1943 - 45 (excluding film history)

• Allied invasion of Italy

• Mussolini arrested

• Civil War

• End of WW2 and execution of Mussolini

What year was film production in Italy taken under control of Mussolini?

Film production in Italy taken under central control of Mussolini’s government in 1934

Give one notable event in Italian film history to occur in 1938

American majors excluded from domestic market in an attempt to grow National Italian film industry

Give the golden era of Italian Neorealism

1945 to 1952

Name 7 key aspects of Italian neorealism

• Low budget

• Often shot on location

• emphasis on (urban/rural) landscapes

• Natural light

• Non-professional actors common

• Emphasis on moral/political seriousness

• Everyday working class life

Give 3 examples of Italian neorealist films from the 1940s

• Rome Open City (1945)

• Paisà (1946)

• Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Explain why the Italian public of the 1940s was not that enthusiastic about Italian neorealism (2 points)

• Preferred comedies, dramas, fantasy films that offered an escape from reality

• Did not enjoy having the hardships of their life reflected back to them

“With their - - of the - - on - -, neorealist films - - - -” - Karl Schoonover

“with their graphic depictions of the war’s impact on daily life, neorealist films drew unprecedented foreign audiences” - Karl Schoonover

Name one style of cinema that Italian neorealism greatly influenced

European arthouse cinema, eg French New Wave

Name one style of cinema that Italian neorealism differed greatly from

Differed greatly from commercial Hollywood/ classical Hollywood narrative of the time