Editing Italian neorealism

{{short description|Italian film movement}}
{{Infobox Film Movement
| name           = Italian neorealism
| image          = Rome_Open_City.jpg
| image_size     =
| caption        = A still shot from ''[[Rome, Open City]]'', by [[Roberto Rossellini]] (1945)
| yearsactive    = 1943–1952
| country        = [[Italy]]
| majorfigures   = [[Roberto Rossellini]], [[Vittorio De Sica]], [[Cesare Zavattini]], [[Luchino Visconti]], [[Giuseppe De Santis]], [[Suso Cecchi d'Amico]], [[Federico Fellini]], [[Bruno Caruso]], [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]
| influences     = [[Poetic realism]], [[Marxism]], [[Christian humanism]]
| influenced     = [[French New Wave]], [[Cinema Novo]], [[Iranian New Wave]]
}}

'''Italian neorealism''' ({{langx|it|Neorealismo}}), also known as the '''Golden Age of Italian Cinema''', was a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the [[working class]]. They are filmed [[Location shooting|on location]], frequently with non-professional actors. They primarily address the difficult economic and moral conditions of [[Aftermath of World War II#Italy|post-World War II]] [[Italy]], representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of [[everyday life]], including [[poverty]], [[oppression]], [[injustice]] and desperation. Italian Neorealist filmmakers used their films to tell stories that explored the contemporary daily life and struggles of Italians in the post-war period. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-25 |title=The Roots of Italian Neorealism|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/roots-neorealism |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=BFI}}</ref> Italian neorealist films have become explanatory discourse for future generations to understand the history of Italy during a specific period through the storytelling of social life in the context, reflecting the documentary and communicative nature of the film.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagstaff |first=Christopher |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/9781442685673 |title=Italian Neorealist Cinema |date=2008-01-01 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |doi=10.3138/9781442685673 |isbn=978-1-4426-8567-3}}</ref> Some people believe that neorealistic films evolved from Soviet [[Montage (filmmaking)|montage films]]. But in reality, compared to Soviet filmmakers describing the people's opposition to class struggle through their films, neorealist films aim to showcase individuals' resistance to reality in a social environment.<ref>{{Citation |last=Mestman |first=Mariano |title=From Italian Neorealism to New Latin American Cinema |date=2011-10-11 |work=Global Neorealism |pages=163–173 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.14325/mississippi/9781617031229.003.0010 |access-date=2024-06-18 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi|doi=10.14325/mississippi/9781617031229.003.0010 |isbn=978-1-61703-122-9 }}</ref>

== History ==
Italian [[neorealism (art)|neorealism]] came about as [[World War II]] ended and [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[Italian Social Republic|government]] fell, causing the Italian film industry to lose its centre. Neorealism was a sign of cultural and social change in Italy. New realism films are considered to be films with specific styles and philosophies that emerged during the turbulent period after World War II.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shiel |first=Mark |title=Italian neorealism: rebuilding the cinematic city |date=2006 |publisher=Wallflower |isbn=978-1-904764-48-9 |series=Short cuts |location=London New York}}</ref> Its films presented contemporary stories and ideas and were often shot on location as the [[Cinecittà]] film studios had been damaged significantly during the war.

The neorealist style was developed by a circle of film critics that revolved around the magazine ''Cinema'', including:

* [[Luchino Visconti]]
* [[Gianni Puccini]]
* [[Cesare Zavattini]]
* [[Giuseppe De Santis]] 
* [[Pietro Ingrao]]

Largely prevented from writing about politics (the [[editor-in-chief]] of the [[magazine]] was [[Vittorio Mussolini]], son of [[Benito Mussolini]]), the critics attacked the ''[[Telefoni Bianchi]]'' ("white telephone") films that dominated the industry at the time. As a counter to the popular mainstream films, some critics felt that Italian cinema should turn to the [[realism (arts)|realist]] writers from the turn of the 20th century.

[[File:Bruno Caruso - Suonatori ambulanti - 1953.jpg|thumb|Wandering Musicians by Italian neorealist artist [[Bruno Caruso]] (1953)]]
Many of the filmmakers involved in neorealism developed their skills working on [[Calligrafismo]] films in the early 1940s (although the short-lived movement was markedly different from neorealism). Elements of neorealism are also found in the films of [[Alessandro Blasetti]] and the documentary-style films of [[Francesco De Robertis]]. Two of the most significant precursors of neorealism are [[Jean Renoir]]'s ''[[Toni (1935 film)|Toni]]'' (1935) and Blasetti's ''[[1860 (film)|1860]]'' (1934). Both Visconti and [[Michelangelo Antonioni]] worked closely with Renoir.

In the spring of 1945, Mussolini was executed and Italy was liberated from German occupation. This period, known as the "Italian Spring", broke from old ways and fostered a more realistic approach to making films. Italian cinema went from utilizing elaborate studio sets to shooting on location in the countryside and city streets in a realist style.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=Kristin|last2=Bordwell|first2=David|title=Film History: An Introduction|publisher=McGraw Hill|year=2010|pages=330–331|isbn=978-0070384293}}</ref>

Although the true beginning of neorealism has been widely contested by theorists and filmmakers, the first neorealist film is generally thought to be Visconti's ''[[Ossessione]]'', released in 1943, during the occupation. Neorealism became famous globally in 1946 with Roberto Rossellini's ''[[Rome, Open City]]'', when it won the Grand Prize at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] as the first major film produced in Italy after the war.

Italian neorealism rapidly declined in the early 1950s. [[Liberalism|Liberal]] and [[socialist]] parties were having difficulties presenting their message. The vision of the existing poverty and despair, presented by neorealist cinema, was demoralizing a nation anxious for prosperity and change. Additionally, the first positive effects of the [[Italian economic miracle]] period{{--}}such as gradual rises in income levels{{--}}caused the themes of neorealism to lose their relevance. As a consequence, most Italians favored the optimism shown in many American movies of the time. The views of the post-war Italian government of the time were also far from positive, and the remark of [[Giulio Andreotti]], who was then a vice-minister in the [[Alcide De Gasperi|De Gasperi]] cabinet, characterized the official view of the movement: Neorealism is "dirty laundry that shouldn't be washed and hung to dry in the open".<ref>{{cite book|first1=Elisa|last1=Cuter|first2=Guido|last2=Kirsten|first3=Hanna|last3=Prenzel|title=Precarity in European Film: Depictions and Discourses|volume=1|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|year=2022|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9twEAAAQBAJ&dq=andreotti+%22dirty+laundry+that+shouldn%27t+be+washed+and+hung+to+dry+in+the+open%22&pg=PA88|page=88|isbn=978-3110707816}}</ref>

Italy's move from individual concern with neorealism to the tragic frailty of the human condition can be seen through [[Federico Fellini]]'s films. His early works ''[[La Strada]]'' (1954) and ''[[Il bidone]]'' (1955) are transitional movies. The larger social concerns of humanity, treated by neorealists, gave way to the exploration of individuals. Their needs, their alienation from society and their tragic failure to communicate became the main focal point in the Italian films to follow in the 1960s. Similarly, Antonioni's ''[[Red Desert (film)|Red Desert]]'' (1964) and ''[[Blow-up]]'' (1966) take the neorealist trappings and internalise them in the suffering and search for knowledge brought out by Italy's post-war economic and political climate.

In the early 1950s the neorealist torch was picked up by artists like Sicily's [[Bruno Caruso]], whose work focused on the warehouses, shipyards and psychiatric wards of his native [[Palermo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bruno-caruso.com/ink-oils-archive#neoink/|title=Ink & Oils|access-date=18 November 2022}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==

[[File:A Screen Shot of the movie Bicycle Thieves.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'' by [[Vittorio De Sica]] (1948)]]

Neorealist films were generally filmed with nonprofessional actors, although in a number of cases, well-known actors were cast in leading roles, playing strongly against their normal character types in front of a background populated by local people rather than extras brought in for the film.

They were shot almost exclusively on location, mostly in rundown cities as well as rural areas.

Neorealist films typically explore the conditions of the poor and the lower working class. Characters often exist within a simple social order where survival is the primary objective. Performances are mostly constructed from scenes of people performing fairly mundane and quotidian activities, devoid of the self-consciousness that amateur acting usually entails. Neorealist films often feature children in major roles, though their characters are frequently more observational than participatory. These characters are both sympathetic and cynical, constantly portraying the pain, misfortune, social struggles, and working-class struggles in social life, with the aim of criticizing the injustice of the real social system and resisting reality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Dr Aoiffe |title=Italian Neorealism {{!}} Definition, Key Characteristics & Examples |url=https://www.perlego.com/knowledge/study-guides/what-is-italian-neorealism/ |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=Perlego Knowledge Base |language=en}}</ref>

In terms of production, the new realism film adopts a documentary format, striving to showcase historicity, and striving to use the least cutting and video editing techniques, as well as tolerance for filming equipment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Italian Cinema - Neorealism |url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/language-centre/euro_lang/interdisc/eurofilm/Neo_pres_new.htm |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=www.aber.ac.uk}}</ref>

''Open City'' established several of the principles of neorealism, depicting clearly the struggle of normal Italian people to live from day to day under the extraordinary difficulties of the German occupation of Rome, consciously doing what they can to resist the occupation. The children play a key role in this, and their presence at the end of the film is indicative of their role in neorealism as a whole: as observers of the difficulties of today who hold the key to the future. [[Vittorio De Sica]]'s 1948 film ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'' is also representative of the genre, with non-professional actors, and a story that details the hardships of working-class life after the war. This movie focuses on exploring the concerns and behaviors of struggling working-class characters through the presentation of outstanding non professional actors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bicycle Thief |url=http://filmphest.com/Films/bthief.htm |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=filmphest.com}}</ref> The light portrayal of events reveals the indifference, dirtiness, and violence of society, showcasing the conflict between public and private perspectives.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marcus |first=Millicent Joy |title=Italian film in the light of neorealism |date=1986 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-05489-6 |location=Princeton, N.J}}</ref>
[[File:Miracolo a Milano 15.png|thumb|''Miracle in Milan'' by Vittorio De Sica (1951)]]
[[File:Umberto D Ospedale4.png|thumb|''Umberto D.'' by Vittorio De Sica (1952)]]
In the period from 1944 to 1948, many neorealist filmmakers drifted away from pure neorealism. Some directors explored allegorical fantasy, such as de Sica's ''[[Miracle in Milan]]'', and historical spectacle, like ''[[Senso (film)|Senso]]'' by Visconti. It was also the time period when a more upbeat neorealism emerged, which produced films that melded working-class characters with 1930s-style populist comedy, as seen in de Sica's ''[[Umberto D]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=Kristin|last2=Bordwell|first2=David|title=Film History: An Introduction|publisher=McGraw Hill|chapter=Postwar European Cinema: Neorealism and Its Context, 1945–1959|year=2010|page=333|isbn=978-0070384293}}</ref>

At the height of neorealism, in 1948, Visconti adapted ''[[I Malavoglia]]'', a novel by Giovanni Verga, written during the 19th century realist [[Verismo (literature)|verismo movement]], bringing the story to a modern setting, which resulted in remarkably little change in either the plot or the tone. The resulting film, ''[[La terra trema|The Earth Trembles]]'', starred only nonprofessional actors and was filmed in the same village (Aci Trezza) in which the novel was set.

More contemporary theorists of Italian neorealism characterize it less as a consistent set of stylistic characteristics and more as the relationship between film practice and the social reality of post-war Italy. Millicent Marcus delineates the lack of consistent film styles of neorealist film.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marcus|first=Millicent|title=Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1987|isbn=978-0691102085}}</ref> Peter Brunette and Marcia Landy both deconstruct the use of reworked cinematic forms in Rossellini's ''Open City''.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Brunette|first=Peter|title=Roberto Rosellini|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1987|isbn=978-0195049893}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Sidney |last=Gottlieb|chapter=Diverting clichés: femininity, masculinity, melodrama, and neorealism in Open City|title=Roberto Rosellini's Rome Open City|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0511617133}}</ref> Using [[psychoanalysis]], Vincent Rocchio characterizes neorealist film as consistently engendering the structure of anxiety into the structure of the plot itself.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rocchio|first=Vincent|title=Cinema of Anxiety: A Psychoanalysis of Italian Neorealism|publisher=UT Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0292771017}}</ref>

== Impact ==
The period between 1943 and 1950 in the history of Italian cinema was dominated by the impact of neorealism, which was properly defined as a moment or a trend in Italian film rather than an actual school or group of theoretically motivated and like-minded directors and scriptwriters. Its impact nevertheless has been enormous not only on Italian film but also on [[French New Wave]] cinema, the [[Polish Film School]], Brazilian [[Cinema Novo]] and ultimately on films all over the world. It also influenced film directors of India's [[Parallel Cinema]] movement, including [[Satyajit Ray]] (who directed the award-winning ''[[Apu Trilogy]]'') and [[Bimal Roy]] (who made ''[[Do Bigha Zameen]]'' [1953]), both heavily influenced by Vittorio De Sica's ''[[Bicycle Thieves]]'' (1948).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Art and science of Cinema|author= Anwar Huda|publisher= Atlantic Publishers & Dist|year=2004|isbn=81-269-0348-1 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiA3X6RLLnYC&q=Bandini%20%281963%20film%29&pg=PA100 }}</ref>

The birth and development of Italian neorealism films marked the transition of the world film center from Europe and the United States, where classicism was prevalent before World War II, to Europe, where realism was prevalent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shiel |first=Mark |title=Italian neorealism: rebuilding the cinematic city |date=2006 |publisher=Wallflower |isbn=978-1-904764-48-9 |series=Short cuts |location=London New York}}</ref>
[[File:S Kragujevic, Vittorio De Sica, 1959.JPG|thumb|left|upright=.8|[[Vittorio De Sica]], a leading figure in the neorealist movement and one of the world's most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of all time<ref>{{cite web|url=https://shockwavemagazine.it/cinema-serietv/vittorio-de-sica-regista-attore/|title=Vittorio De Sica: l'eclettico regista capace di fotografare la vera Italia|date=6 July 2020|access-date=14 January 2022|language=it}}</ref>]]
Furthermore, as some critics have argued, the abandoning of the classical way of doing cinema and so the starting point of the French New Wave and the [[European art cinema|Modern Cinema]] can be found in the post-war Italian cinema and in the neorealism experiences.<ref>{{cite book
| url        =https://books.google.com/books?id=3cEbAQAAIAAJ&q=miccich%E9+lino+neorealismo| title      = Il neorealismo cinematografico italiano
 | last       = Miccichè
 | first      = Lino
 | year       = 1975
 | publisher  = Marsilio
 | location  = Dharavi
 | language   = Italian
| isbn       = 978-88-317-7237-2
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Daniele |first=Romina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_DvEAAAQBAJ |title=Ascenseur pour l'échafaud, Il luogo della musica nell'audiovisione |publisher=RDM |year=2011 |isbn=978-88-904905-9-0 |location=Milan |page=41}}</ref> In particular,
<blockquote>
this cinema seems to be constituted as a new subject of knowledge, which itself builds and develops. It produces a new world in which the main elements have not so many narrative functions as they have their own aesthetic value, related with the eye that is watching them and not with the action they are coming from.<ref>{{cite book
 | title      = Supporto, soggetto, oggetto: forme di costruzione del sapere dal cinema ai nuovi media, in Costruzione e appropriazione del sapere nei nuovi scenari tecnologici
 | last       = Sainati
 | first      = Augusto
 | year       = 1998
 | publisher  = CUEN
 | location  = Napoli
 | language   = Italian
 | page  = 154
}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Although ''Umberto D.'' is considered the end of the neorealist period, later films such as [[Federico Fellini]]'s ''[[La Strada]]'' (1954) and De Sica's 1960 film ''[[Two Women]]'' (for which [[Sophia Loren]] won the Oscar for Best Actress) are grouped with the genre. Director [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]]'s first film, ''[[Accattone]]'' (1961), shows a strong neorealist influence.<ref name=bergan>{{cite book|first=Ronald|last=Bergan|author-link =Ronald Bergan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8YeCNSBiOcC&dq=italian+neorealism+blasetti+four+steps&pg=PA154|title=The Film Book|publisher=Penguin|year=2011|page=154|isbn = 9780756691882}}</ref> The Neorealist period is often simply referred to as "The Golden Age" of [[Italian cinema]] by critics, filmmakers and scholars.

== Significant works ==

=== Precursors and influences ===
[[File:Gli uomini, che mascalzoni… (film 1932) Franca e De Sica (5a).png|thumb|''[[What Scoundrels Men Are!]]'' by [[Mario Camerini]] (1932)]]
The extent to which Italian neorealism was truly innovative continues to be debated among film historians. Despite its wide influence, some have argued that it was more a revival of earlier Italian creative works than a groundbreaking movement. Important forerunners of Italian neorealism include:

* The ''[[Verismo (literature)|verismo]]'' literary movement, characterized by the works of [[Giovanni Verga]] and [[Luigi Capuana]]
* [[Poetic realism]]
* ''Lost in Darkness'' ([[Nino Martoglio]], 1912)
* ''[[What Scoundrels Men Are!]]'' ([[Mario Camerini]], 1932), the first Italian film shot entirely on location<ref name=bergan />
* ''[[1860 (film)|1860]]'' ([[Alessandro Blasetti]], 1934)
* ''[[An Inn in Tokyo]]'' ([[Yasujirō Ozu]], 1935)
* ''[[Toni (1935 film)|Toni]]'' ([[Jean Renoir]], 1935)
* ''[[Men on the Sea Floor]]'' ([[Francesco De Robertis]], 1941)
* ''[[The White Ship (1941 film)|The White Ship]]'' ([[Roberto Rossellini]], 1941)
* ''[[Aniki-Bóbó]]'' ([[Manoel de Oliveira]], 1942)
* ''[[People of the Mountains]]'' ([[István Szőts]]) 1942
* ''[[Four Steps in the Clouds]]'' ([[Alessandro Blasetti]], 1942)
* [[Desire (1946 Italian film)|Desire]] ([[Marcello Pagliero]], 1946), was to begin production in 1943 under the name ''Scalo merci'' with [[Roberto Rossellini]] directing and [[Giuseppe De Santis]] writing, but production was halted by Allied bombing<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |first=Christopher |last=Wagstaff |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/958572098 |title=Italian Neorealist Cinema : an Aesthetic Approach. |date=2008 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-8567-3 |oclc=958572098}}</ref>
* ''People of the Po Valley'' ([[Michelangelo Antonioni]], 1947), filmed in 1943

=== Main works ===
[[File:Sciuscià-cavallo.jpg|thumb|''[[Shoeshine (film)|Shoeshine]]'' by [[Vittorio De Sica]] (1946)]]
[[File:TerraTrema-famiglia.jpg|thumb|''[[La terra trema|The Earth Trembles]]'' by [[Luchino Visconti]] (1948)]]

* ''[[Ossessione]]'' ([[Luchino Visconti]], 1943)
* ''[[The Children Are Watching Us]]'' ([[Vittorio De Sica]], 1943)
* ''[[Roma, città aperta|Rome, Open City]]'' ([[Roberto Rossellini]], 1945)
* ''[[Sciuscià|Shoeshine]]'' (Vittorio De Sica, 1946)
* ''[[L'ultimo Sciuscià|The Last Shoeshine]]'' ([[Gibba]], 1946), The only Animated example of Neorealism. 
* ''[[O sole mio (film)|O sole mio]]'' ([[Giacomo Gentilomo]], 1946)
* ''[[Paisà|Paisan]]'' (Roberto Rossellini, 1946)
* ''[[Germania anno zero|Germany, Year Zero]]'' (Roberto Rossellini, 1948)
* ''[[Ladri di biciclette|Bicycle Thieves]]'' (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
* ''[[La terra trema|The Earth Trembles]]'' (Luchino Visconti, 1948)
* ''[[Bitter Rice]]'' ([[Giuseppe De Santis]], 1949)
* ''[[Stromboli (1950 film)|Stromboli]]'' (Roberto Rossellini, 1950)
* ''[[Bellissima (film)|Bellissima]]'' (Luchino Visconti, 1951)
* ''[[Miracle in Milan]]'' (Vittorio De Sica, 1951)
* ''[[Rome 11:00]]'' (Giuseppe De Santis, 1952)
* ''[[Europe '51]]'' (Roberto Rossellini, 1952)
* ''[[Umberto D.]]'' (Vittorio De Sica, 1952), filmed in 1951, but released in 1952. Many film historians date the end of the neorealist movement with the public attacks on the film.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bordwell|first1=David|last2=Thompson|first2=Kristin|title=Film Art; An Introduction|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|year=2010|page=461|isbn=978-0071220576}}</ref>
* ''[[Journey to Italy]]'' (Roberto Rossellini, 1954)

== See also ==
{{portal|Film}}
* [[Kitchen sink realism]] - British New Wave)
* [[Parallel cinema]] - Indian New Wave
* [[Japanese New Wave]]
* [[L.A. Rebellion]]
*''[[My Voyage to Italy]]''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|first=Mario|last=Verdone|title=Il Cinema Neorealista, da Rossellini a Pasolini|publisher=Celebes Editore|year=1977}}{{No ISBN}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070810033724/http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/neorealism1.jsp GreenCine primer] on Italian Neo-Realism
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150317120258/http://zakka.dk/euroscreenwriters/screenwriters/suso_cecchi_damico.htm Comprehensive interview with Suso Cecchi d'Amico – the legendary screenwriter from the Neo-Realism period]
*[https://vimeo.com/68514760 Video-Essay explaining Neorealism], based on the two versions of [[Terminal Station (film)|Terminal Station]]

{{Cinema of Italy}}
{{Italian film genres}}
{{film genres}}
{{Italy topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Italian neorealism| ]]
[[Category:Italian films by genre|Neorealism]]
[[Category:Movements in Italian cinema|Neorealism]]
[[Category:Realism (art movement)]]
[[Category:1940s in film]]
[[Category:1950s in film]]