Introduction
Italian cinema plays an important role in the history of Cinema. It has made an impact on various filmmakers all over the world. From Satyajit Ray to Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino to the filmmakers of today, Italian Cinema has inspired almost all the generations of sound cinema.
Italian Neorealist Cinema
One can’t discuss Italian Cinema without mentioning the Italian Neorealist Cinema which began in the early 40s after the death of Mussollini at the end of World War II. What differed Italian neorealism was it’s choice of characters and stories. The protagonists belonged to the working class and their stories were moving and impactful.
They came from a poor world, trying to make ends meet. And provide for their family regardless of the huge wave of unemployment which struck the post-world war II Italian society. One of the most famous examples of such Cinema is Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica.
It is considered to be one of the best movies ever made. It’s about an unemployed man in the depressed post-world war II economy of Italy. Who at last finds a good job of hanging up posters. The only requirement for which is that he must have his own bicycle. When his bike gets stolen, him and his son are forced to walk the streets of Rome in search of it, or else face ruin.
The endings of these films were pessimistic. Rather than focusing on beautifying the technical aspects of film, the filmmakers focused on showing the true reality of the society which they lived in. Satyajit Ray, an Indian filmmaker from Bengal, credited Bicycle Thieves for being one of the major influences on his first feature film, Pather Panchali.
Federico Fellini
One of the major figures of Italian Cinema is Federico Fellini, who came from a working class family and was always into varied forms of entertainment since his childhood. He came from a small town and worked for magazines in early days of his career and soon joined the world of films as a screenwriter.
He worked on films of Roberto Rossellini and few other filmmakers, and finally went onto become a film director himself. His early films were quite similar to Neorealist films. La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, I Vitelloni and Variety Lights are all essential pieces of Italian Cinema, and are considered part of the great movies ever made. However, his style changed when he made La Dolce Vita.
Marcello Mastroianni
Starring Marcello Mastroianni in the lead role, La Dolce Vita changed the course of the Italian Cinema and it was loved by the entire world. Written and shot in episodic form, La Dolce Vita can be considered a satire, a cautionary tale, a life philosophy of how everything is meaningless, a love story of young couple where the man engages in a love affair every once in awhile.
The film had elements of a neorealist film but it stepped over the line and diminished the borders between reality and fantasy. Federico Fellini won Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Festival for La Dolce Vita and the film was nominated for 4 academy awards and it won one for Best Costume Design. Fellini who was already popular in Europe, now started to gain worldwide fame and respect because of the united states and it’s Oscar awards.
After the success of La Dolce Vita, Fellini went another step ahead and made 8 1/2 which was even more full of fantasy. It’s about Guido, a film director who finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by the doctors to rest, he heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers- his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives – each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
Both films have many things in common, the main character of both the films is portrayed by Marcello Mastroianni and both of them live a superficial yet comfortable life among the rich class of society where they feel depressed, disillusioned and detached because of the lingering reality. 8 1/2 also won the Academy award for Best International Feature and Best Costume Design.
Fellini was also nominated for the Best Director award but did not win it and neither did his films for the Best Picture award. However, he did get an Honorary Oscar at the end of his career from the academy.
Martin Scorsese
The Italian films had a huge impact on the greatest living American director, Martin Scorsese, who himself comes from the family of the Italian immigrants. He comes from a working class Italian americans society and grew up watching Italian and Italian-American films on Television. The films helped shape his view of the world and that’s why he regards them as major influences on his career.
He grew up watching the Italian Neorealist films and ended up loving Fellini films through his youth and the years that have followed. The archetypal Fellini character type who is fragmented and disillusioned can be seen in many of the Scorsese characters. The most popular being the Taxi Driver character Travis Bickle.
Scorsese who himself grew up in the New York City was more than excited to direct a film about a guy who has returned from the vietnam war and finds the world around him to be full of scams, immoral sex and drugs. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader and starred Robert De Niro in the lead. Even today it’s loved by Cinephiles across the world and is now considered an indelible part of the world Cinema.
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro got his big break from the Godfather part 2. Being part of the Godfather Trilogy, Godfather 2 is considered one of the most important films of past century. The Godfather and The Godfather part 2 are considered to be the pioneer of the Italian-American movies. Impact of these films echoes through the Cinema that followed. All three parts were directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starred Al Pacino in the lead.
Both of them were novices in the film world when The Godfather was being produced. Francis Ford Coppola had to put his career on line to convince the producers to hire Al Pacino in the lead role. Robert De Niro also auditioned for the lead role of Michael Corleone but didn’t get the part. However, he was called by Francis Ford Coppola for part 2 and got the role of young Vito Corleone.
Both the parts impressed the critics and audience of that time which led to them winning several awards, especially the academy awards. Francis Ford Coppola won the Best Director, Best Picture and Best adapted screenplay award. Marlon Brando won the Best actor award for part 1 and Robert De Niro won the Best supporting actor award for part 2.
These films are now considered to be part of the greatest films ever made. The Godfather spans the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch or mob boss, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael Corleone steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
The Godfather part 2 continues the saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York City. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
The films were also loved at the cannes film festival for they captured the american culture as well as the Italian culture in its true sense.
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola pioneered the gangster genre in Hollywood but the man who is considered to be the master of this genre is Martin Scorsese because of his cult classics, Goodfellas and Casino. Both the films are about organized crime and Italian mob bosses. Martin Scorsese who had previously worked with the dynamic duo of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci on Raging Bull, got them together for both these films.
The lead character of Goodfellas was portrayed by Ray Liotta who was praised for his performance but the most iconic character was acted by Joe Pesci for which he won the Best Supporting Actor award from the Academy. The film was based on true events and captured the mob life, the family life and emphasized on the italian style of the american society.
Casino was another hit by the trio of Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Both Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci being italian american actors helped the film to be more authentic and more honest in its portrayal of the Italian american society.
Roberto Benigni
Another classic Italian film was made by Roberto Benigni. Life is Beautiful, a 1997 comedy/war/romantic drama film is set during the world war II era. When his Italian nation is occupied by Nazi German troops during world war II, Guido, an easy-going Jewish librarian, uses willpower, humour and imagination to shield his son from anti-semitic horrors. The film was lauded by cinema goers across the world and won several awards.
Roberto Benigni won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film festival and also the academy award for the best actor and best international feature film. Roberto Benigni was asked by a lot of people to not go further with the making of this film as it was a comedy set in one of the most depressed and horrifc period of the human history.
Another major reason was that Roberto himself was not a Jewish person and this could’ve led to him offending the people of that religion but nothing like that happened and infact everyone loved it for its sad but happy ending.
Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino is one of the major Italian directors working today. His films are criticised for their objectification of women but in his defence, Paolo Sorrentino portrays the true picture of the Italian society he grew up in. His latest feature, The Hand of God was released in 2021 and it was set in 1980s Naples where a young man named Fabietto pursues his love for football as family tragedy strikes, shaping his uncertain but promising future as a filmmaker.
Heavily inspired from the films of Federico Fellini, The Hand of God utilised not only the Fellinisque structure and style but had direct references to the filmmaker and his work. Being a weirdly funny film like those of Fellini, The Hand of God was not just a rip off of his techniques but was unique in its own way. Being a coming of age film, it not only captured the awkward moments in life of a teenage boy but also showed how a dysfunctional family lived together in a violent yet funny ways.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Italian films and Italian-American movies offer a variety of visual stories that not only speaks volume about the world which they are set in but also impacts the world on a cosmopolitan level. This is the reason why Italian films are still being made and loved by the cinephiles across the globe.
Author: Shivangi
Visual edit: Kinga
