Italian Neo Realism During World War II

The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American

This film was created after the fall of Benito Mussolini’s government, Rossellini wanted to create the film to show the realism and the after effect of the war, the films were created majority on the streets of Rome all the buildings and the infrastructures were damaged the film was well thought out Neorealism was a sign of cultural change and social progress that Italy was going through.

The elements the filmmakers choose to use in the film, i.e. the music, location, editing techniques and special effects, help tell the story. Zeffirelli uses his elements to ease the viewer from scene to scene, he is employing the Classical Hollywood Filmmaking technique. A smooth flowing pace, where the viewer does not notice the cuts, plus the music assists in the movements within the cuts. Nothing daring is done in his film, he stays true to the historical appearance of the film, uses ideas that have already been exhibited, such as period piece music and historical costumes. The world famous balcony scene (Act II, scene II) is an example, Zeffirelli employs the same blocking that Shakespeare probably intended. This is one of the few times, Zeffirelli interacts with the locations, and his locations is a town within walls, perceived to be a small town, the location is bare and not crowded.

Neorealism came to fruition as a result of classical realism. While classical realism was based on the inclinations of human nature, neorealism proposed the structural constraints determined the behavior of states in the international realm. After World War II, the call for a politically and economically integrated Europe was of utmost importance among European leaders because of the brutal human and economic cost of the war. The idea of integration came in order to maintain the balance of power in the region, specifically regarding the rise of another expansive Germany type state and to guard against the rise of the nuclear armed Soviet Union. The idea of integration started with the European Coal and Steel Community and the European

The Italian Campaign put Allied troops in Europe. Lesser objectives of the invasion included a chance to capitalize on the collapse of Italian resistance; to immediately use Allied forces; to engage German forces that could be sent to Russia and northern France; to take control of airfields that could be used for bombing missions; and to gain control of the Mediterranean.

Italian Neorealism was a movement of art, which strived to illustrate the normal lives of the ordinary, working class people in post war Rome, usually with the use of non-professional actors. As one of the best Italian Neorealist film, Bicycle Thieves showed an absolute depiction of the war’s impact on daily life and exposed a world in which sufferings, unkindness and corruption jeopardized the rationality of human beings and action of men (Schoonover). By utilizing a depressing and gloomy cinematography, De Sica implies the somber lives of the poor and their crisis in losing their self-identity and moral conscience as a result of parochial society that make a fetish of personal belongings as a mode of social acceptance. By examining the cinematography, ‘mise-en-scene’ and events in the film, the daily struggles of the working class in post war Rome can be seen through the crisis of masculinity, class struggle, ethical dilemma and a profoundly patriarchal society.

It is an underrated way to make you feel a certain way in the scene. We can hear a dark, opera type singing at the part when he is beat. When one hears this type of music being played in certain scenes, it shows a person’s dark side and gives the impression that one is ultimately the bad guy in the movie. Demonstrating violence is one of the most important factors in the film. An important part of the film that shows this, is when Elliott Ness is trying to catch the bookkeeper at the train station. It then turns into a shootout scene between the Mob and Ness. In this scene, at the beginning, slow motion was used to help convey the violence that was happening. When things are in slow motion, it helps to bring about the detail and gore that is unfolding before our eyes. After this, the shooting unfolds, and the slow-motion stops. Next, it was filmed with a wide screen which was effective for showing intricate movements, like this shoot out scene. Throughout this part, quick cuts were used to conveys that things are out of control and this brings out the intensity of the violence. All these techniques help show the violence that played out because of prohibition.

	Another fine example of neorealism is The Bicycle Thief (1948), written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica. The narrative of this film unfolds in post-W.W.II times. The film is a portrait of the post-war Italian disadvantaged class (the majority) in their search for self-respect. It is a time of struggle for the Italian people, amplified by a shortage of employment and lack of social services. In the first scenes of the film, these conditions are evident as Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorami) meets his spouse Maria (Lianalla Carell) on his way back home. We see the "men" arguing at the employment "office" as the "women" argue about the shortage of water. Although the director's

Italian neorealism (1945-1953), through directors like Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, made its trademark on cinematic history not only in Italy, but also throughout the world. It was films such as Rome Open City (Roma città aperta, 1945), The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette, 1948), and Umberto D., (1952) whose style of depicting the harsh economic and social realities of the poor and working class of Italy took off as a new cinematic style after World War II. Neorealism is a response to desperate economic situations and often illustrates suffering, poverty, injustice, and/or discrimination. Many argue that neorealism is a way of seeing reality without prejudice due to the documentary-like technique of the film and its ability

Camerawork was the second of many techniques that Federico Fellini used for the production of 8 ½. The way Fellini used the camera to show close ups, long shots, images, frame within a frame, and montage were very eye catching to the audience. One example would be, the scene where Guido remembers when he was younger and how he was wrapped with sheets. Then suddenly he starts to fantasize that all the women who live in the house with him, where carrying him. Fellini focused on that specific scene where Guido´s face is far beyond noticeable on the camera and the viewer can clearly see his face expressions. The audience can almost feel as if they where there with Guido in that same house. Another good example of Fellini’s great camerawork would be the scene where Guido is in some sort of sauna with many men and women, and the audience can clearly see Guido’s facial expressions when he sees the woman in some sort of bath robe walking to her side of the women´s sauna. Guido rapidly, gets distracted

In Italy, directors focused on the moral and economic conditions that came with the postwar generation quickly after the war and addressed the war instead of not acknowledging as German cinema did for so long. Unlike Alice in the Cities and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, films such as Bicycle Thieves depicted dislocation during the postwar period in the Neorealist style, made in 1948, this film differs greatly from the two former films discussed. In Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica delivers a political message regarding the difficulty of survival in postwar Italy, but also conveys a sense of psychological dislocation through the character development of Antonio Ricci. In many ways, Italy’s economy is much to blame for Ricci’s two-year unemployment in which the film begins, however, Ricci has as many internal struggles as he does externally. Neorealism lies heavily on the depiction of real life problems depicting common people and often used people from the street as actors, in this film the man who played Ricci, Lamberto Maggiorani, actually was a factory worker, which helps solidify the film’s authenticity. Towards the end of Bicycle Thieves, Ricci’s efforts to retrieve his stolen bicycle fail when the people that live near the boy who stole it side with the epileptic boy as he has a

The concept of Social realism as a film genre is to portray the ‘real life’ of a working-class society. Social realism films depict the social, political and economic injustices’ that influence and impact people in society (Taylor, 2006). Social realism is raw, and gives the audience a true indication of what life is like (Lay, 2002).

​Released in 1988 by director Giuseppe Tomatore, “Cinema Paradiso” follows the life of a young boy in Italy who dreams of being a filmmaker. The road the boy, who eventually becomes a famous Italian film director named Salvatore Di Vita, takes to reach his goal is difficult and includes many sacrifices and trade-offs. Today, the film is widely regarded as one of the most popular foreign films ever to be released in the United States. Given that foreign films are fairly common in America, it is fair to consider why “Cinema Paradiso” received such critical acclaim, as well as relative mainstream popularity. “Cinema Paradiso” received critical and popular praise because the film includes several timeless themes

When Ida and Urbano Fellini bore their first son, Federico, they must have known that he would be far from a calm easygoing person. On the evening of January 20, 1940, the weather at the seaside resort of Rimini on the Adriatic coast of Italy, was not pleasant. There was thunder, lightning, high seas, winds, and heavy rains; quite a setting for the entrance of one who was to be regarded as one of the greatest film directors in history.

The Italian Neo-Realist movement began to emerge with the fall of Mussolini's Fascist regime in 1943 and was able to entirely establish itself with the end of World War II with the end of German occupation. This caused audiences all around the globe to be “suddenly introduced to Italian films” (Historical Origins of Italian Neo-realism, n.d.) through works by “Roberto Rossellini