Italian NeoRealism

(1942-1951)

NeoRealism A movement of film realistically reflecting the difficult economic and moral conditions in post-WWII Italy

“This powerful desire of the [neo-realist] cinema to see and to analyze, this hunger for reality, for truth, is a kind of concrete homage to other people, that is, to all who exist…

…Whereas we are attracted by the truth, by the reality which touches us and which we want to know and understand directly and thoroughly, the Americans continue to satisfy themselves with a sweetened version of truth produced through transpositions.” --Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian Director

Neorealism

Origins:

Prior to and during WWII, filmmakers were encouraged to make “meaningless,” pure entertainment films

1924: the state film service L’Unione Cinematografica Educativa (LUCE) was founded for the purpose of “civil and national education,” based somewhat on the Soviet model

1934: Luigi Freddi (Italian Minister of Propaganda & a Fascist party leader) established “Cinema of Distraction,” rejecting the Soviet model in favor of Hollywood-style production

Neorealism

Origins:

1938: “Alfieri Law” in 1938 gave producers direct aid, were allowed to make “white telephone” melodramas and comedies; filmmakers thus honed their craft.

During World War II there was a ban on U.S. and other foreign film imports.

New realism actually began in last couple of years of fascism, inspired by Soviet Montage, French Poetic Realism, and Hollywood

Mussolini executed in ’45; the liberation that followed allowed the expression of repressed socio-political views.

Neorealism

Origins:

WW II destroyed Italy as economically and politically.Fascism fall off.The war destroyed studios and created economic crisis.The directors search a new method to give life to Italian Film.The inventions of technology help them to take camera and focus them to street.It destroy all other isams in cinema and created a neorealist method.

Neorealism

Style & Method:

Captured the “beauty of ordinary life”“Open form narrative;” ranges from partisan heroics to contemporary social problemsThe new realism included the notion of abolishing contrived plots and professional actorssimple realist style filmsDocumentary-like visual style with an avoidance of special effects or unnatural lightingThe use of actual locations, especially city exteriors, rather than studio sets

Neorealism

Style & Method:

Directors cast real non-professional people—not trained actors—sometimes even for the lead roles.

Screenwriting featured conversational, everyday speech rather than literary or over-dramatic dialogue

Use of post-synchronized sound—dubbing of dialogue in the studio—allowed for greater camera movement.

Neorealism

Style & Method:

On-location shooting

Long takes

Natural light

Medium and long shots

Working class protagonists

Environment as important as actors

Poverty, crime, social injustice common themes

Neorealism

Directors:

Roberto Rossellini

Luchino Visconti

Guisippe DeSantis

Giovanni Verga

Vittorio De Sica

Federico Fellini

Michelangelo Antonioni

Bernardo Bertolucci

Neorealism

Di Sica’s The Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) of 1948 represents the pinnacle of the movement.

Neorealism

It was given an honorary Academy Award in 1950.

It appears on critics’ and directors’ lists as one of the most important and influential films ever made.

The film placed sixth as the greatest film ever made in Sight & Sound's latest directors' poll, conducted in 2002

Neorealism

DEMISE:

Postwar Italian governments did not approve of films that portrayed Italy in a negative light.

A 1949 law strengthening production and exhibition of Italian films imposed censorship on scripts that “slandered Italy.”

Neorealism

AFTER EFFECTS:

It opened the door to filming on location rather than in a studio

It showed filmmakers that movies can be used to highlight the reality of societal problems and make viewers consider social change

In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, in particular, it demonstrated that you could make great films inexpensively with your own country’s landscape and people—without lavish sets or expensive stars.

The movement did influence the French New Wave, Hollywood and TV