Body in the Mirror - Shapes of History in Italian Cinema

This rich, wide-ranging book explores Italy's national film style by relating it closely to politics and to the historicist thought of Croce, Gentile, and Gramsci. Here is a new kind of film history--a nonlinear, intertextual approach that confronts the total story of the growth of a national cinema while challenging the traditional formats of general histories and period studies. Examining Italian silent films of the fascist era through neorealism to modernist filmmaking after May 1968, Angela Dalle Vacche reveals opera and the commedia dell'arte to be the strongest influences. As she presents the whole history of Italian cinema from the standpoint of a dialectic between these two styles, she offers brilliant interpretations of individual films. The "body in the mirror" is the national self-image on the screen, which changes shape in response to historical and political context. To discover how the nation represents, understands, and recognizes this fictional "body," Dalle Vacche discusses changes in the strongest parameters of Italian cinema: allegory, spectacle, body, history, unity, and continuity. In her hands these concepts yield a wealth of insights for film scholars, art historians, political scientists, and those concerned with cultural studies in general, as well as for other educated readers interested in Italian cinema.

Originally published in 1992.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

List of contents

List of Figures Shapes of History Ch. 1Fascism Before World War I, After World War I, and After World War II Unity, Continuity, and Kitsch Continuity: From a Silent to a Fascist Screen Kitsch and the Arts From the Athlete to the Statue to the Phantom Body Builders and Beauty Queens Ch. 2Fascism After May 1968 Operatic Macrohistory in Crisis Representation, Spectacle, Performance Ideology, Consent, Subjectivity The Statue and the Dancer Ch. 3The Risorgimento Before World War II Unity, Continuity, and Nationalism Unity, Continuity, and Sources Ch. 4The Risorgimento After World War II Unity and Continuity in the Risorgimento Risorgimento as Melodrama The Body Politic and the Body Erotic: The Battle of the Sexes and the Oedipal Plot Ch. 5The Risorgimento After May 1968 Unity, Continuity, and Utopia The Tavianis' Redoing of Senso in Allonsanfan History as Discontinuity and the Feminine as Utopia Ch. 6The Resistance After World War II and After May 1968 The Eucharistic Body of Neorealism Unity and Continuity in the Resistance Disunity in History Discontinuity in History Biology, History, and Utopia From Historical Discontinuity to Biological Continuity Operatic Macrohistory, Comedic Microhistory Ch. 7Antifascism After May 1968 Unity and Continuity in Antifascism Antifascism and Comedic Microhistory at a Standstill The Statue and the Dancer, Father and Son, Body as Monument, and Body as Document The Battle of the Sexes Mother or Mistress ConclusionNouvelle Histoire, Italian Style From the Commedia dell'Arte to Late Neorealism French Insights on Postwar and Recent Italian Cinema Gestures and History in Neorealism, Tradition of Quality, and Nouvelle Vague Nouvelle Histoire, Italian Style Bibliography Index

About the author

Angela Dalle Vacche

Summary

This rich, wide-ranging book explores Italy's national film style by relating it closely to politics and to the historicist thought of Croce, Gentile, and Gramsci. Here is a new kind of film history--a nonlinear, intertextual approach that confronts the total story of the growth of a national cinema while challenging the traditional formats of general histories and period studies. Examining Italian silent films of the fascist era through neorealism to modernist filmmaking after May 1968, Angela Dalle Vacche reveals opera and the commedia dell'arte to be the strongest influences. As she presents the whole history of Italian cinema from the standpoint of a dialectic between these two styles, she offers brilliant interpretations of individual films. The "body in the mirror" is the national self-image on the screen, which changes shape in response to historical and political context. To discover how the nation represents, understands, and recognizes this fictional "body," Dalle Vacche discusses changes in the strongest parameters of Italian cinema: allegory, spectacle, body, history, unity, and continuity. In her hands these concepts yield a wealth of insights for film scholars, art historians, political scientists, and those concerned with cultural studies in general, as well as for other educated readers interested in Italian cinema.

Originally published in 1992.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Product details

• Authors: Angela Dalle Vacche
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 14.07.2014
• EAN: 9780691609225
• ISBN: 978-0-691-60922-5
• No. of pages: 326
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library; Princeton Legacy Library
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; European History, Social & cultural history, Italy, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / History & Criticism, Film Theory & Criticism, Film history, theory or criticism