Introduction to European Studies

History, society and cinema in post-war Italy

Republic of Italy: Facts• Official Name

Republica Italiana• Form of government

Republic with two houses: Senate (upper house 322), Chamber of Deputies (lower house 630)

• Electoral systemProportional representation

• Chief of statePresident

• Capital

Rome (Roma)• Official language

Italian• Official religion

None• Monetary unit

Euro• Population

59,051,000

Republic of Italy: Facts• Area sq. kilometers1. Russia 3,960,0002. Ukraine 603,7003. France 547,0304. Spain 505,9925. Sweden 449,9646. Norway 385,1557. Germany 357,0508. Finland 338,1459. Poland 312,68510. Italy 301,318

• Population (EU)1. Germany 82,210,0002. France 63,753,1403. UK 60,587,3004. Italy 59,337,8885. Spain 45,116,8946. Poland 38,115,9677. Romania 21,565,1198. Netherlands 16,372,7159. Greece 11,125,17910. Portugal 10,599,095

Republic of Italy: Facts• GDP 2008 (dollars)1 United States: 14,441,430,000,0002 Japan: 4,910,690,000,0003 China: 4,327,450,000,0004 Germany: 3,673,110,000,0005 France: 2,866,950,000,0006 United Kingdom : 2,680,000,000,0007 Italy: 2,313,890,000,008 Russia: 1.6796.590.000,0009 Spain: 1,601,960,000,000 10 Brazil: 1,572,840,000,000

Republic of Italy: Facts• GDP 1945 (dollars)

1 United States: 1,646,690,000,0002 Soviet Union: 333,656,000,0003 United Kingdom: 331,347,000,0004 India: 223,967,000,0005 Germany: 194,682,000,0006 France: 101,189,000,000 Japan: 98,000,000 Italy: 85,432

China: ---

Post-war Italian Economy

• From one of the weakest in Europe to one of the strongest

• Metallurgical, manufacturing, Chemical and textile industries

• Tourism• Lack of raw materials and energy

sources• More than 4/5 of energy

requirements imported• Mixture of liberal trade policies and

entrepreneur spirits with cumbersome bureaucracies and inefficient planning

Italian Cultural Economy• Motorcars• Mass market cars

FIAT; Alfa Romeo; Lancia

• Sports car manufacturers

• Ferrari; Maserati; Lamborghini

• Motorcycles

Vespa; Piaggio

Ducati

Italian Cultural Economy

• Milan as a fashion centre• From craftsmen to celebrity designers• From tailors to fashion houses• Valentino - founded by Valentino Garav

ani at Via Condotti, Rome in 1965• Armani - founded by Giorgio Armani an

d Sergio Galeotti in Milan,1975• Versace - founded by Gianni Versace in

Milan,1978• Dolce & Gabbana - founded by Domeni

co Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan 1985

Italian Cultural Economy• Tourism in Italy• Geographical advantage• The Alps to the north• Surrounded by the Mediterranean,

the Tyrrhenian, the Ionian and the Adriatic seas

• From arctic to semi-tropical weather• Historical advantage• From the Roman Empire, through

the Renaissance and the Baroque to the modern

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe

1. Italy 432. Spain 403. France 333. Germany 333. UK 336. Russia 237. Greece 178. Sweden 149. Czech Republic 1210. Belgium 910. Switzerland 9

Italian Cultural Economy

• Ancient and archaeological sites

• A group of Greek temples in Val di Tempi in Agrigento, Sicily

• Etruscan remains in Central Italy: Etruscan towns such as Cervetelli and Tarquinia

Italian Cultural Economy

• Heritage of the Roman Empire• Roma as Imperial city• Roman resorts such as Pompeii, Islands of Ischia a

nd Capri, and Paestum• Civil engineer heritage: towns, Via Appia, aquaduct,

theatres and public buildings

Italian Cultural Economy

• Early Christian and Mediaeval Heritage• Churches and monasteries• Mosaics in Ravenna• Mediaeval towns in Central Italy such as Firenze, Pi

sa, Siena, Assisi, and Padova

Italian Cultural Economy

• Renaissance art, architecture and monuments• Leonardo’s Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazi

e in Milan• Basilica of San Pietro in Rome• Renaissance cities and towns throughout Italy such

as Ferarra and Pienza

Italian Cultural Economy

• Baroque art, architecture and monuments• Many representative palaces and churches in Venic

e are Baroque build in the 17th century• Baroque towns of Noto in Sicily and Lecce, Puglia

Italian Cultural Economy

• The 18th-century royal palaces and residences • The Royal Palace in Torino built for the Savoy King

s • The Royal Palace at Caserta built for the Bourbon k

ings of Naples

Italian Cultural Economy

• Alpine resorts in the north• The Dolomite valley in the north-east and the

Aosta valley in the north-west• Numerous sea-side resorts on the mainland

and islands

Modern Italian Culture

• Modern Italian Art

• Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) - a painter and sculptor inspired by primitive art

• Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) - pre-surrealist, known for metaphysical painting

Modern Italian Culture

• Musicians - pianists, violinists, conductors, composers of classical music

• Opera singers• Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)• Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)

Alberto Moravia (1907-90), Primo Levi (1919-1987), Italo Calvino (1923-85), Umberto Eco (1932- )

Modern Italian Culture

• One of the greatest sporting nations in the world

• Football - World champion four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) Germany (3), England (1), France (1), Brazil (5)

• Cycling - National Sports: Giro d’Italia

Modern Italian Culture

• Motor Sports

Formula 1: Team Ferrari

Motorcycle races• Winter sports - alpine skiing

Modern Italian Culture

• Design houses: furniture, interior and kitchenware

• Traditional design and craft: leather, paper, woodwork, stonework, porcelain

Cinema

Two Vital Times for Italian Cinema

• TWO GOLDEN PERIODS

• Immediately after the war till the beginning of the 50s: films reflecting the realities of contemporary Italy

• From the end of the fifties to around 1964: films looking at the past and present of Italy

The End of the War

• Europe in Ruins• 35,000,000 dead (over half of them are

civilians• Millions lost homes• Factories obliterated, damaged or

obsolete• Britain lost 1/4 of its pre-war wealth• Denmark’s economy regressed to its

1930 level

Filmmaking in the Wake of the War

• Severe material restrictions• New freedom of expression• Outburst of creativity• Three interlocking groups of filmmakers

1. Those associated with the Communist

Resistance - Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo

Antonioni, Puccini brothers, Giuseppe di

Santis

2. Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini

3. Vittorio de Sica and Cesare Zavattini• They all started making movies just before or just after

the end of the war.

Filmmaking in the Wake of the War

• All the works of these filmmakers were response to the terrible moments of Italy’s modern history

• Fascism and the Resistance• The scar of the war• Poverty and unemployment after the war• Economic exploitation and social injustice• Political corruption• South and north divide• Something difficult to be found in prosperous

and affluent contemporary Italy

Roberto Rossellini

• Roma, Citta Aperta (1945)

• A documentary-like fiction film about the struggle of resistance fighters and their families against the occupying German forces.

Roberto Rossellini

• Paisa (1946)

• The film consists of six episodes, which traces the liberation of Italy by the Allies from the landing of the Allied in Sicily through victories in central Italy to the final fall down of the Nazi occupation.

Luchino Visconti

• La Terra Trema (1948)

• An epic account of Sicilian fishermen who suffer from economic exploitation

• Shot entirely on location and it took three years to complete.

Luchino Visconti

• Rocco e suoi fratelli (1960) - it tells a story of a family which comes to industrial Milan to escape the poverty stricken South but gradually disintegrate in the large, modern city.

Vittori De Sica• Ladri di Biciclette (B

icycle Thieves, 1948)

• A drama about a father and a son who are searching their stolen bicycle.

• Shot entirely on location in various parts of Rome using only local non-professional actors

Vittorio De Sica• Umberto D (1952)

• About a retired civil servant desperately trying to maintain the decent standard of living on dwindling state pension.

Giuseppe di Santis• Rise Amaro (Bitter ri

ce, 1949) - two criminals take refuge in a rice farm in the north which employs a large number of immigrant workers from the south. Adulterous love, robbery and murder take place in the fam.

Pietro Germi• Il Ferroviere (The Rail

road Man, 1956) - a hardworking engine driver who loves his family involves railway accident and is suspended from driving engine. His life is in near ruin but he tries to prove his innocence.

Federico Fellini • I Vitelloni (1953)

• About five young friends from a local seafront town desperately trying to find the aim of living.

• Spiritual deprivation in post war Italy

Federico Fellini

• La Strada (1954)

• Story about a carnival strongman Zanpano and his simple minded assistant Gelsomina, who are travelling around poverty stricken areas of Italy.

The Vital Time for Italy and Italian Cinema

• Generally labeled and known as Neo-realism.• NEOREALISTS COMMUNICATED TO THE

WORLD EVERYTHING THE COUNTRY HAD TO GO THROUGH

• In the process they changed the entire rule of movie making

• Subject matter - contemporary social problems• Film Style - location shooting, non-professional

actors, simple technique

Essay Title

• Watch one Italian film and describe what aspects of the post-war Italian society is reflected in it.