Rome, Open City

Post World War Two brought many changes to Italy. Politically there was a struggle over who would gain control over Italy. In the film industry it brought about Neorealism. Neorealism I found to be difficult to understand. From what I gathered, it combines fantasy and non fiction together. A perfect example of this, and the film we viewed for the class is “Rome, Open City” by Rossellini. The article “The Masters of Neorealism, Rossellini, De Sica, and Visconti” describes “Rome, Open City” as using a variety of styles and moods. (Which I’m assuming is what neorealism is about). I thought that the plot of the movie was very heart wrenching and very dramatic.

Caterina In The Big City

For the film Caterina In The Big City, I gave a presentaion- here are clips from the presentation-

Caterina in the Big City

Quick Facts
Director -Paolo Virizi
Released -January 1, 2003 (June 3, 2005 in the US)
Country of Origin- Italy
Genre – Comedy, Drama, Foreign

Cast
Alice Teghil - Caterina Iacovoni
Sergio Castellitto - Giancarlo Iacovoni
Margherita Buy - Agata Iacovoni
Carolina Iaquaniello - Margherita Rossi Chaillet
Federica Sbrenna - Daniela Germano
Zach Wallen - Edward
Galatea - Ranzi Livia
Claudio Amendola - Manlio Germano

Plot
When 12 (15) year old Caterina and her family move from Northern Italy to Rome, Caterina finds that fitting in may be harder then she first imagined. Her class is divided politically with cliques fighting for Caterina’s attention. Her father, Giancarlo, thrilled that Caterina’s new friends have influential parents uses Caterina’s connections to better himself. During all this, Caterina who is still struggling to fit in, loses who she really is inside. When all seems lost to Caterina her Australian neighbor helps her to remember the girl she once was.

Important Scenes
Begging of movie
Class Room Scene
Cliques
Hiding Next Door
Scenes with Margherita and Daniela

Influence of "Cliques"
Giancarlo shows how Italy is divided into more then just North and South and by political parties. Italy is a country that is also torn apart by cliques. According to Giancarlo unless you are apart of a clique you can never be successful.

Social and Political Influences
There is a great divide in Italian society, not only between the North and the South, but also between the different political parties.
Most notably between the Communist and Fascists parties.

Realism Vs Formalism
The film tends to be realistic when showing the feelings and struggles of the characters

Imagined Italies
Why “Italians” don’t exist-
There is no centralized city
North- more European : South- more African
No sense of “we”

Foot Ch 4
Political Parties in Italy
Socialist Party 1892-1993
Italian Communist Party 1921 – 1990-1
Italian Popular Party 1919-1926
Christian Democrats 1942-1994
Fascists Party 1921-1945
Italian Social Movement 1946-1994

Disscusion Questions
How do the relationships within the family change as Caterina begins to make friends?
Giancarlo and Caterina
Agata and Giancarlo
Does this film support the idea of Italians?
What/ who is this film more about? Caterina trying to find her self? Or Giancarlo trying to make a name for himself?

My Thoughts
Gave great insight to what life is really like in Italy
Politics
Family life
Society
Confused as to the age of the characters
Caterina’s father is very irritating


Yet style of the film being fast paced tends to create a more formalistic film

The Leopard

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo)
Directed by Luchino Visconti
Released 1963
Based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel “The Leopard”
Cast-
Burt Lancaster- Prince Don Fabrizio Salina
Claudia Cardinale – Angelica Sedara / Bertiana
Alain Delon- Tancredi Falconeri
Paolo Stoppa – Don Calogero Sedara
Rina Morelli – Princess Maria Stella Salina
Romolo Valli- Father Pirrone

Awards
Cannes Film Festival Winner: Palme d'Or - Luchino Visconti
Academy Awards Nominated: Best Costume Design, Color - Piero Tosi

While this film has an amazing story line, I found it hard to stay concentrated on the film throughout the movie. Visconti uses so many long, slow shots that the film seems to drag on. (Also, I’m not a very patent person; I don’t like to sit through long films). The imagery in the film was beautiful, but whereas the film was shot in 1963, the colors are faded. I wish that the movie was shot using today’s technology. The scenes would have been even more breath-taking. Honestly I didn’t really like this film because of the length, like I mentioned earlier, I found it hard to stay focused on the film and I missed important parts of the movie because I grew so bored with it. In a communications class that I took last semester, we discussed how movies were being cut shorter and shorter so that it didn’t take as long to produce and so that the theaters could show the movie more frequently. While most people are annoyed by this, I personally like it. I like movies that get to the point, not ones that continue for almost 3 hours.

(MORE TO COME!)