Table Of ContentFROM
NEOREALISM
TO THE PRESENT
New Expanded
Edition
PETER BONDANELLA
.
Italian
Cinema
FROM N IOK 1 \ II s.M
TO TH I PR] SI N l
OfRelated Interest:
American History/American Film, John E. O'Connor and
Martin A. Jackson, eds.
American History/American Television, John E. O'Connor, ed.
And the Winner Is. . .The History and Politics of the Oscar Awards,
Emanuel Levy
The Cinema ofStanley Kubrick, Norman Kagan
The Dead That Walk: Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and Other
Favorite Movie Monsters, Leslie Halliwell
Fellini the Artist, Edward Murray
Framework: A History of Screenwriting in the American Film, Tom
Stempel
The French Through Their Films, Robin Buss
Hitchcock: TheFirstForty-FourFilms, EricRohmerandClaudeChabrol
Midnight Matinees: Movies and Their Makers, 1978-1985, Jay Scott
Modern European Filmmakers and the Art ofAdaptation, Andrew S.
Horton and Joan Margretta, eds.
A Project for the Theatre, Ingmar Bergman
ScreeningSpace: TheAmerican ScienceFictionFilm, Vivian Sobchack
Silent Magic: Rediscovering the Silent Film Era, Ivan Butler
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, andBucks: An Interpretive History
ofBlacks in American Films, Donald Bogle
World Cinema Since J945, William Luhr, ed.
Cinema
Italian
FROM NEOREALISM
TO THE PRESENT
NEW EXPANDI.n EDITION
Peter Bondanella
A
Frederick linger Book
CONTINUUM-NEW YORK
JP BR
PN1993.5
.188
B58^
1983ex
FOR MARIO LONGARDI,
FRANCESCA PIERI, AND ALDO TASSONE
1998
The Continuum Publishing Company
370 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Copyright © 1983 by Peter Bondanella
New material copyright © 1990 by Peter Bondanella
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the written permission of
The Continuum Publishing Company.
Printed in the United States of America
Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bondanella, Peter, 1943-
Italian cinema.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
—
1. Moving-pictures Italy. I. Title.
PN1993.5.188B58 1982 791.430945 82-40255
ISBN 0-8044-2064-5
ISBN 0-8264-0426-x (pbk.)
.
PREFACE fO Mil SI COND I DITION vii
PR] I V I K ) I III I IKS I I l)lll()\ i\
i. Background rhe Silent Era and the Fascist Period 1
z I he Masters ol Neorealism: Rossellini, De Sica, and Visconti 31
y Exploring the Boundaries ol Neorealism 74
\ rhe Break with Neorealism Rossell 1 rransition, Earl)
Antonioni and Fellini 103
5. A Decisive Decade: Commedia aU'italiana, Neorealism's
Legacy, and .1 New Generation 142
I he Mature Auteun New Dimensions in Rim Narrative
with Visconti, Antonioni. .iikI Fellini 196
7. \ Fistful ot Pasta: Sergio Leone and the Spaghetti Western 2^3
X1vtli and Marx: Piei Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bcrtolncu 275
Politics and Ideolog) in theContemporary Italian Cinema 318
10. The Contemporary Scene and New Italian Comedy ^4~
1 1 Italian Cinema in the 384
RE\ ISED NOTES FOR 1 mi si OHMD EDI1 ION 422
\ Sill (.ill) BIBUOGRAPm ON 1HI. 1 1 Ml \N CINEM \ 447
RENTAL INFORMATION FOR 16-MM PRIMS AND VIDEOCASSE1 Il-.S 479
INDEX 488
Preface to the Second Edition
I Ins second edition of Italian {'annua From Neorealism to the Present
incorporates substantial changes. Hie original ten chapters have been
revised. A greatl) expanded bibliograph) testifying to the explosion oi
scholarly commentary during the past decade has been compiled. And the
footnotes of the original edition have been complete^ updated in ordei to
offer the readei a clearei guide through such an imposing mass oi critical
literature. I lie rent.il information, original!) limited to available 16-mm
prints, has been enlarged to incorporate videocassettes currently available
for purchase or rental in both the- I Inited States and in Italy. I he readei 01
researcher should be aware of the fact that Italian videocassettes are
manufactured tor the R\L video format Wink viewing them in the
United States will require a video recordei capable ot reading the PAL
format, such machines are becoming increasingly more accessible in
universities and large research libraries. InialK and most importantly, a
new eleventh chapter has been written to cover the Instorv ot the Italian
cinema during the present deeade.
Since the publication ot the tirst edition ot this book, while I have
continued to enjoy the friendship and help ot a number ot people whose
efforts were icknowledged in the original preface, I have been assisted in
my labors by an additional group ot generous colleagues, editors, archi-
vists, photographers, and filmmakers. The following list cannot begin to
measure the debt I owe to all of them: Gianfranco Angelncci; Pupi Avati;
Bernardo Bertolucci; Antonio Breschi; Bill Cagle; Liliana Cavani; Zeno
Collantoni; Masolino d'Amico; Caterina dAmico de Carvalho; Evelyn
Ehrlich; Sergio Ercolcssi; Federico Fellini; Harry Geduld; Norma Giac-
Vlll ITALIAN CINEMA
chero; Manuela Gieri; Giovanni Grazzini; Guy Hennebelle; Joanna
Hitchcock; Daniel Keel; Tullio Kezich; Gianna Landucci; Michael Leach;
Sergio Leone; Mario Longardi; Denis Mack Smith; Millicent Marcus;
Franco Mariotti; Gaetana Marrone-Puglia; Maureen Mazzaoui; Umberto
Montiroli; Nanni Moretti; Mark Musa; Tullio Pinelli; Fiammetta Profili;
Bruno Rondi; Ettore Scola; Emilio Vesperini; John Welle; Dario Zanelli;
and Bernardino Zapponi. A number of grants from various sources (the
American Council of Learned Societies; the Lilly Foundation; Indiana
University's Office for Research and Graduate Development and its West
European Studies Center) have afforded me time in Italy to complete my
work or funding to procure illustrations for this book. For all of this
support, both financial and personal, I am deeply grateful.
Rome,
1
