Table Of ContentFascism in Italian Cinema since 1945
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Fascism in Italian Cinema
since 1945
The Politics and Aesthetics of Memory
Giacomo Lichtner
VictoriaUniversityofWellington,NewZealand
©GiacomoLichtner2013
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-36332-8
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For Nikki.
‘I will leave an extra pint...’
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Contents
Figures viii
Acknowledgements ix
Part I Revisionism
1 RememberingtheLongSecondWorldWarinEurope 3
2 TheBloodoftheDefeated 20
Part II Resistance
3 NeorealistCatharses 45
4 LuigiZampa:Fascismanditalianità 63
Part III Reconstruction
5 CluelessFascistsandAccidentalAnti-Fascists 87
6 IlFederale’sApoliticalCommitment 108
Part IV Revolution
7 TheSinsoftheFathers 129
8 EttoreScola’sOrdinaryDay 154
Part V Recurrences
9 BlackShirts,HeartsofGold:RecurrentMemories 171
10 UnexplodedOrdnance:RecurrentAmnesias 189
Epilogue 215
Notes 217
Bibliography 241
Filmography 250
Index 253
vii
Figures
3.1 Osmoticinnocence:thechildren’swhistling
inspirestheadults’conscience 51
4.1 OmeroBattifiorishowcaseshisFascistskillstothe
futuregenerationinAnniRuggenti 77
5.1 CluelessFascists(AnniRuggenti) 96
5.2 Andaccidentalanti-Fascists.Innocenzi’scatharsis
inTuttiaCasa 96
6.1 ARomanholiday? 121
6.2 ThehubrisofSalce’sAmericanmilitarytourism 121
6.3 Partisanjusticeundertheshadowofthecivilwar 122
6.4 Thespectatorstaresdeathintheface 123
6.5 Thespectatorqueuestolandapunch 124
7.1 Crammedin:Fascismasaplaceofthemind 142
7.2 AdolescentFascism:privateandpublicdreams
interact 143
7.3–7.5 Thepeasants’physicalabsencesbecomesymbolic
castrationsandepiphenomenaofexploitation
(1900) 149
8.1 UnaGiornataParticolareasthe‘encounteroftwo
solitudes’ 160
10.1–10.2 MeaningfulmontageinDuilioColetti’sDivisione
Folgore(1955) 204
viii
Acknowledgements
Manyremarkablepeoplecontributedtotheconceptualisingandwriting
ofthisbook,andtheirgenerosityfillsmewithgratitudeandpride.Iam
gratefultoRichardBosworth,whosesoberingthoughtsintheforeword
tomy firstbookmovedme toundertaketheproject.He supportedme
kindlyandrigorouslyatmanypointsalongthewayandhiscoherence
indissectingItalianhistorycontinuestobeaninspiration.SallyHillwas
amongthefirsttohearoftheproject,andthroughoutitsdevelopment
shehasbeeninvaluablesoundingboardandmarvellousfriend,sophis-
ticatedcriticandbrilliantwritingcompanion.LikeSally,MarkSeymour
readpartsofthetypescriptwithasharp,elegantandmethodicaledito-
rial mind that I am ever in awe of. Giovanni Tiso pored patiently and
cheerfully over dense 1950s literature with the critical gaze that marks
allhiswork,andforthatandmuchmoreIamgratefultohimandhis
wonderfulfamily.
Thehelpofmanyothercolleaguesandinstitutionsmustbeacknowl-
edged. Victoria University of Wellington supported the project with
several grants. I am indebted to Charlotte Macdonald (for, well, every-
thing), and to Steve Behrendt for putting up with me during the
writing, as did all the History Programme. I am grateful to Hannah
Blumhardt, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, John Foot, David Forgacs, Mia Fuller,
Jennifer Frost, David Laven and Chris Wagstaff, who all contributed
ideas or encouragement. In Rome, Maurizio Zinni was generous with
his time and thoughts, and I am grateful to him and Luigi Goglia for
sharing the resources of the Laboratorio di Ricerca e Documentazione
Storica Iconografica at Rome’s Terza Università. I would also like to
thanka numberofotherRomanrepositoriesandtheirstaff:Gianpiero
TulelliandMaurizioGrillinioftheMinisterodeiBeniCulturaligranted
me access to the Ufficio di Revisione Cinematografica, where their
team were refreshingly welcoming to the stranger sharing their desk;
Antonella Felicioni and Valentina helped me navigate efficiently the
treasuresoftheFototecaattheCentroSperimentalediCinematografia,
and I am particularly grateful to them for providing the copyright to
many of the illustrations in this book. Bob Lowe and Marco Sonzogni
turnedthepoemfromIlFederaleintoatranslationaswittyandsophis-
ticated as its authors. Furthermore, I would like to thank the editorial
ix
