For one to understand the importance of neorealist films in
the 1940s, one must first look at the previous eras in Italian filmmaking.
Neorealist films and the aims of the directors and crew proved to be vastly
different from their cinematic predecessors.
Quo Vadis?, 1913In Italian silent film, many genres were
embraced and filmed; however, historical epics and dramas drew in the crowds
and the money both in Italy and international markets. Filmmakers drew from the
works of Shakespeare and Dante, and supported their major productions with
lavish sets, huge amounts of extras, and innovative film techniques. For
instance, in the 1911 production ofL’inferno, art directors employed, “monsters
[and] special effects, including flashbacks, superimpositions of images, and
double exposures” (Bondanella 7). A new breed of artists, filmmakers, were
discovering a new and exciting art form, steadily experimenting and drumming
out new techniques or embracing those of their fellow colleagues around the
world.
Cabiria (1914) is perhaps the most famous and most
influential film of Italian silent cinema. Pastrone’s film ultimately premiered
with a length of three hours, but behind those three hours were over one
million lire, twenty thousand meters of film, numerous innovations still in use
today (the dolly and use of close-ups, for instance), and a successful
publicity campaign. By tinting scenes in the film, the director and crew were
able to represent a somewhat colorful film, and the huge, detailed, and
historically accurate sets added to the extravagant atmosphere emanating from
the film. Cabiria’s influence even spread of American director, D.W. Griffith,
one of the most revered silent filmmakers in the world; Griffith’s lengthy and
expensive historical epics owe much to Pastrone’s film.
As is typical of the history of cinema in many countries,
women were only able to participate in limited roles, the most influential
being that of the lead actress. In Italy, male actors found it impossible to
reach the heights of fame and popularity which women so easily achieved.
Actresses, or dive, existed at the center of Italian film, taking important
roles in the overly dramatized productions, excelling at exuding the passion
and drama needed for such unrealistic roles. However, many argue this
melodramatic excess damaged Italian influence on world cinema. The
artificiality of sets and indoor filming proved detrimental to Italy’s movie
industry (Bondanella).
FASCIST & PRE-WWII CINEMA
Il Signor Max (1937, above) and Darò un milione (1935,
below), two 'white telephone' films
The early “talkie” era of Italian film existed during the
height of Mussolini’s reign. Mira Liehm writes, “The colors of the films made
under fascism were ‘pink’ and ‘black.’ The pink productions—sentimental
comedies and romantic melodramas—far outnumbered the black ‘truly’ fascist
films” (21). These films are referred to today as white telephone films, as
stories generally centered on affluent women and men who only used expensive
white telephones. Although the films’ “pink” exteriors may have clouded Fascist
undertones, the lifestyle portrayed was clearly one promoted by the ideals of
the state. The actresses of silent film, who were able to exude sexuality were
allowed much more freedom then than in the white telephone films, where “femmes
fatales became bad creatures, and purification through love was reserved for
women with a strong moral sense, who would always forsake the husband to his
legal wife and children” (Liehm 22). Films presented a comedic way of life that
completely avoided the very real troubles Italians faced in reality, leaving a
gaping hole open for the coming wave of neorealist directors.
WORKS CITED
Bondanella, Peter. A History of Italian Cinema. New York:
Continuum International Publishing
Group, 2009. Print.
Liehm, Mira. Passion and Defiance: Film In Italy From 1942
To The Present. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. Print.
Source: womenandneorealism.wordpress.com
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