Moving on to the next film, in Riso amaro, melodrama and neorealism coexist to serve a different purpose. Namely, Giuseppe De Santis uses their juxtaposition as symbolism for the ideals of consumerism and Marxism, respectively. In fact, De Santis was already well-known as a Communist thinker, frequently communicating those ideas through his films. To begin to understand the significance of this symbolism in Riso amaro, the influx of American culture into Italy must first be explored. Any nation
In 1922, Benito Mussolini became the official head of the Fascist regime in Italy. Mussolini is quoted as saying, “the cinema is the most powerful weapon”, although his government did not immediately interfere with the commercial industry (Bondanella, pg. 22). It was not until 1934, under the director Luigi Freddi, that fascism became greatly involved in Italian cinema. However, after the end of World War II and the fall of fascism, Italians wanted to forget about the Fascist years so many of the
Italian neorealism also called the Golden Age of Italian Cinema, is a national film movement portrayed by stories set amongst poor people and the regular workers, filmed on location, frequently using non-professional actors. Italian neorealism movies for the most part fight with the troublesome financial and good states of post-World War II Italy, representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation. It mirrored the changing
very similar. And the pioneers of the neorealist movement went on to inspire the major instigators of the French new wave for example many of the film makers of the neorealist movement got their start as film critics. Such as the film maker Giuseppe de santis and others. Several neorealist directors wrote for a magazine called cinema that was run by Mussolini’s son ‘Vittorio Mussolini’. The presence of Vittorio who was also a film producers made the subjects of politics of limits for the writers
Europe: Economics, Culture, National Identity: 1945-95. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and Steven Ricci. London: British Film Institute, 1998. 1-18. Print. Paisà. Dir. Roberto Rossellini. Organizzazione Film Internazionali, 1946. DVD. Riso Amaro. Dir. Giuseppe De Santis. Perf. Silvana Mangano, Doris Dowling, and Vittorio Gassman. Lux Film, 1949. DVD. Roma Città Aperta. Dir. Roberto Rossellini. Perf. Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani. Excelsa Film, 1945. DVD. Wagstaff, Christopher. “Italian genre films in the world
and almost all industries were in complete shambles. The actual style of Neorealism was created by a group of critics that ran a film magazine called Cinema at the time. Members of this group incuded Luchino Visconti, Cesare Zavattini, and Giuseppe De Santis. Being fed up with what was being shown to the people of Italy, they sought out to change this. A slight problem in their way was Vittorio Mussolini son of the dictator Benito. As the editor of the magazine, he was strict, and writing about