Tasting the knowledge of Italian Neorealism

 

Italian Neorealism is truly one of those storytelling movements that many cinephiles hold in high regard. The movies and techniques of Italian Neorealism have definitely influenced so many filmmakers in that its legacy has never faded. It is important to know that Italian Neorealism brought so much change and innovation to cinema as a whole to where it is impossible to scoff at its impact. There are a lot of film movements that come and go but Italian Neorealism will forever remain influential in cinema history. 

Italian Cinema was controlled by the censorship of fascism under the rule of Fascist Benito Mussolini. Mussolini's fascist regime had brought so much censorship to cinema that Italian filmmakers were making sanitized Telefoni Bianchi flicks. The Telefoni Bianchi movement was more about representing escapist and Americanized cinema. They had protagonists that were one-dimensional, endings that were happy, quickly resolved problems and lacked the realities of working-class Italian life. Italian audiences had enough of these Telefoni Bianchi films. They wanted cinema to authentically reflect the harsh realities of Italy as opposed to the watered-down approach of Telefoni Bianchi. A new style of cinema began to take root in Italy as Mussolini's fascist regime began to run its course. While cinematic realism was already present in the Fascist period, a group of Italian directors wanted to change cinema. Their approach to cinema was about being realistic and highly critical of Italian life. In addition, the themes were political, economic and social in nature. These elements gave birth to Italian Neorealism only to forever change Italian cinema.

Italian Neorealism has characteristics that define and represent it. Stylistically, it has characteristics like real life locations, non-professional actors, handheld cameras, complex stories, etc. Ideologically, it has stronger emphasis on emotion, Christian and Marxist ideas, avoiding easy moral judgments, etc.  These characteristics combined made Italian Neorealism groundbreaking for the sake of showing real life in art. Legendary critic Andre Bazin defines Italian Neorealism as a cinema of fact and reconstituted reportage due to the fact that it has roots in the anti-Fascist movement. Some film historians view Italian Neorealism as an authentic movement with stylistic and thematic principles that are agreed upon. Plus, there is a balance between traditional and experimental techniques that are prevalent in Neorealism. Judging from its characteristics, Italian Neorealism's main focus is to show the reality of Italian life without dishonesty and artifice for the sake of connecting with audiences who want reality on screen. Along with the characteristics themselves, a group of filmmakers and films will add to the growing dominance of Italian Neorealism in the process.

The filmmakers and films of Italian Neorealism captured Italian life in way that was starkly realistic and believable as a way to go against safe storytelling. The key filmmakers of Italian Neorealism included Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, etc. The key films that are a huge part of Italian Neorealism consist of Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948), Roberto Rosselini's Rome, Open City (1945), Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943) among others. These filmmakers and films that represent Italian Neorealism are groundbreaking in that they were able to realistically show life in Italy as it was lived. Italian Neorealism was so successful that its more realistic and experimental approach to filmmaking will remain influential and impactful still to this day.

The influence and impact of Italian Neorealism still continues to pave the way for more movements and films that are equally realistic and artistic. It gave birth to movements like the French New Wave, the New Hollywood, British New Wave among others as a result of being unique with its storytelling. In addition, it influenced films like Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954), Jack Clayton's Room at the Top (1959), Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1959) etc. The fact of the matter is that without Italian Neorealism, there will be no type of realism that still permeates cinema to this day. It is imperative that Italian Neorealism's influence should not be taken for granted as cinema owes its debt to it forever. 

Studying Italian Neorealism is so rewarding because it allows us as cinephiles to better appreciate its realistic and stylistic take on life in cinema. I appreciate studying movements from all around the world considering that it helps me fill in a lot of my blind spots for the sake of enriching my pallet. Cinephiles who are serious about the artform should give Italian Neorealism a chance only to be more versatile. Variety is the spice of life so cinephiles should always expand their tastes as a way to understand that there are layers to storytelling. The more that cinephiles stay well-rounded in their knowledge, the more that they will always grow and mature as they will still love and have knowledge of the artform. As for me, I want to moderately and constantly study any type of movement in order to represent cinema well. We cinephiles need to love and have knowledge without being stuffy as we study great movements of all kinds so that we will continue to be ambitious in our pallets in the process. God bless.