Maybe you've been reading this blog and thinking, "All right, so Italian Neorealism was important for Italians back in the day, but what is the point of watching a bunch of black and white depressing movies for me today?" Well, I would say to you that, first of all, it's important for human beings to understand the histories of other people and other countries, if for no other reason than to put our own history into perspective. But, let's assume for the sake of argument that I don't believe that, and nobody else does, either. Forget history altogether! Who cares! Then what's the point of The Bicycle Thief? What's the point of Rome, Open City? Who cares about Shoeshine? The article "'A Poetics of Refusals': Neorealism from Italy to Africa" shows exactly why Italian Neorealism matters to the film world (and our world) today.
First of all, Gabara makes the point that Italian Neorealism made such an impact and a point against traditional Hollywood cinema (and Italian cinema at that time) because it refused to take part in certain conventions. For example, the directors of the films usually cast non-actors for the main roles. The films were shot on the streets as opposed to in studios. Things like that. Without the context of other films that did do those things, the choices the Italian Neorealists made don't really matter. That's what she means when she refers to it as a "poetics of refusals." The Italians, trying to find an identity for Italy without the black mark of facism, refused the status quo of movie making to show what "their" Italy was really like.
Fast forward to Spain in the 1960s. Spanish filmmakers were attempting to distance themselves from Americans and Europeans, and so, similarly to the Italian Neorealists, rejected traditional ways of telling stories. However, although they admired the way that Italian Neorealists made their films, they could not really identify with them as a movement because they were trying to distance themselves from Europe. As a result, those Spanish filmmakers called those in the Neorealist movement a kind of enemy. This initially seems a kind of betrayal; after all, it was the Neorealists who showed that things like non-professional acting or limited soundtracks were not necessarily the mark of a poor film, inspiring Spanish filmmakers to make do with the equipment they had. Once you think about it though, it makes sense. The Spanish filmmakers called what they made "third cinema," distinguishing themselves from "first cinema," which would be something like Inception, but also from "second cinema" which is non-traditional, but still "artsy" and, in a way, pretentious. The Italian Neorealists could have made "first cinema" because they had the resources, but they chose not to. Third cinema makes a conscious decision to make do with available resources.
The ideas behind third cinema have translated to African filmmaking. One of the main directors mentioned in the article sounded a little familiar to me, and I realized that Sembene was the director of Xala, and once I realized that, I could make the connection between Xala and Italian Neorealist films. The films all focus primarily on social issues, and highlight the disparities between classes. They are also shot in a simple way, and "seem" realistic. There isn't a lot of dramatic action or lighting or makeup; the people in the film seem like they just happen to be living their lives in front of the camera. African filmmakers, although they might identify with Italian Neorealists, face the same problem that Spanish filmmakers faced: when trying to establish a cultural identity, it isn't the best idea to use another culture's filmic movements as the basis for your own. So African films are different from Italian Neorealist films. Still, they focus on the same kinds of things, like power struggles and poverty, and all seek to establish their own cultural identity. They just take a similar style in doing so.
So that's why you should care about Italian Neorealism. The films of other countries are inspired by this historic movement. Xala might seem to be like a slow-moving film, but when we realize why it goes at that pace, and why it focuses so much on the mundane, I think we can better appreciate why those stylistic choices were made, and we are able to become better citizens of the world.
Gabara, Rachel. "‘A Poetics of Refusals’: Neorealism from Italy to Africa." Quarterly Review
of Film and Video 23.201 (2006): 201-213. Web. 13 Apr 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment