Cinema of Anxiety: A Psychoanalysis of Italian Neorealism

205 Pages·1999·3.411 MB·English

by  Vincent F. Rocchio

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C I N E M A O F A N X I E T Y
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C I N E M A O F
A N X I E T Y
A Psychoanalysis
of Italian Neorealism
Vincent F. Rocchio
University of Texas Press, Austin
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Copyright ' 1999 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 1999
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent
to Permissions, University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819.
s‘The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rocchio, Vincent F. (Vincent Floyd), 1960— Cinema of anxiety : a psycho-
analysis of Italian neorealism / Vincent F. Rocchio. (cid:209) 1st ed. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-292-77100-2 (alk. paper) isbn0-292-77101-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Motion pictures(cid:209)Italy(cid:209)History. 2. Lacan, Jacques, 1901—
I. Title.
pn1993.5.i88 r59 1999
791.4390945(cid:209)dc21 99-6046
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in memoria di
Vincenzo ed Antonia Rocchio
e (cid:222)gli
Domenico, Maria, ed
Anthony, mio padre nobile
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Revisiting Psychoanalysis and the Cinema 9
2.Rome: Open City 29
ANXIETY, IDEOLOGY, AND CULTURAL CONTAINMENT
3.Bicycle Thieves 53
IDENTIFICATION, FOCALIZATION, AND RESTORATION
4.La terra trema 79
SUBVERTING AND STRUCTURING MEANING
5.Bitter Rice 105
THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED (DIVA)
6.Senso 127
DEGENERATE MELODRAMA?
7. Psychoanalysis, Cinematic Representation, 147
and Cultural Studies
Notes 159 Bibliography 175 Index 181
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Acknowledgments
This project started off, humbly enough, as a research paper while I was a
graduate student at New York University. Even though I immediately recog-
nized that the scope of the project could easily be expanded into a disserta-
tion, I was not as quick to pursue it. There were several reasons for that, but
the chief one was my last name. It is often dif(cid:222)cult for others to understand
the onerous problem Italian-Americans face when they write on Italian cul-
ture. In the current overly competitive and far too trendy American aca-
demic climate, Italian-Americans are by and large looked down upon as be-
ing too parochial and somewhat inferior for writing about something they
already (cid:210)know(cid:211)(cid:209)rather than expanding their horizons(cid:209)when they write
on Italian culture or history. These days, it is only with some fear and trepi-
dation (or blind ignorance) that any of us pursue anything even remotely
Italian.
In my own case, however, several scholars whom I respect greatly en-
couraged me to go forward with this project right from its earliest stages.
Laura Mulvey was the (cid:222)rst to read my approach to Neorealism and offered
strong encouragement while pointing out several theoretical limitations and
problems that I had encountered. Bill Simon was next to read an expanded
versionoftheprojectandalsogaveencouragementtogoforward,evenashe
challenged my conclusions and demanded more work on Italian culture. In
the end, with my dissertation nearing completion, he cleared off his desk to
get chapters read. Bob Stam amiably came on at the last minute to see the
project through and made several insightful suggestions regarding the inte-
grating function that the main theoretical model served. Steve Barnes, much