Re-viewing fascism : Italian cinema : 1922-1943

When Benito Mussolini proclaimed that "Cinema is the strongest weapon," he was telling only half the story. In reality, very few feature films during the Fascist period can be labeled as propaganda. Re-viewing Fascism considers the many films that failed as "weapons" in creating cultural consensus and instead came to reflect the complexities and contradictions of Fascist culture. The volume also examines the connection between cinema of the Fascist period and neorealism -- ties that many scholars previously had denied in an attempt to view Fascism as an unfortunate deviation in Italian history. The postwar directors Luchino Visconti, Roberto Rossellini, and Vittorio de Sica all had important roots in the Fascist era, as did the Venice Film Festival. While government censorship loomed over Italian filmmaking, it did not prevent frank depictions of sexuality and representations of men and women that challenged official gender policies. Re-viewing Fascism brings together scholars from different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds as it offers an engaging and innovative look into Italian cinema, Fascist culture, and society. Mussolini At The Movies : Fascism, Film, And Culture / Jacqueline Reich -- Dubbing L'arte Muta : Poetic Layerings Around Italian Cinema's Transition To Sound / Giorgio Bertellini -- Intimations Of Neo-realism In The Fascist Ventennio / Ennio Di Nolfo -- Placing Cinema, Fascism, And The Nation In A Diagram Of Italian Modernity / James Hay -- Sex In The Cinema : Regulation And Transgression In Italian Films, 1930-1943 / David Forgacs -- Luchino Visconti's (homosexual) Ossessione / William Van Watson -- Ways Of Looking In Black And White : Female Spectatorship And The Miscege-national Body In Sotto La Croce Del Sud / Robin Pickering-iazzi -- Seeing Red : The Soviet Influence On Italian Cinema In The Thirties / Piero Garofalo -- Theatricality And Impersonation : The Politics Of Style In The Cinema Of The Italian Fascist Era / Marcia Landy -- Shopping For Autarchy : Fascism And Reproductive Fantasy In Mario Camerini's Grandi Magazzini / Barbara Spackman -- The Last Film Festival : The Venice Biennale Goes To War / Marla Stone -- Film Stars And Society In Fascist Italy / Stephen Gundle. Edited By Jacqueline Reich And Piero Garofalo. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 341-351) And Index. Contents 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgments 16 PART I: Framing Fascism and Cinema 18 1. Mussolini at the Movies: Fascism, Film, and Culture 20 2. Dubbing L ’Arte Muta: Poetic Layerings around Italian Cinema’s Transition to Sound 47 3. Intimations of Neorealism in the Fascist Ventennio 100 4. Placing Cinema, Fascism, and the Nation in a Diagram of Italian Modernity 122 PART II: Fascism, Cinema, and Sexuality 156 5. Sex in the Cinema: Regulation and Transgression in Italian Films, 1930 –1943 158 6. Luchino Visconti’s (Homosexual) Ossessione 189 7. Ways of Looking in Black and White: Female Spectatorship and the Miscege-national Body in Sotto la croce del sud 211 PART III: Fascism and Cinema in (Con)texts 238 8. Seeing Red: The Soviet Influence on Italian Cinema in the Thirties 240 9. Theatricality and Impersonation: The Politics of Style in the Cinema of the Italian Fascist Era 267 10. Shopping for Autarchy: Fascism and Reproductive Fantasy in Mario Camerini’s Grandi magazzini 293 11. The Last Film Festival: The Venice Biennale Goes to War 310 12. Film Stars and Society in Fascist Italy 332 Selected Bibliography 358 Contributors 370 Index 373

When Benito Mussolini proclaimed that "Cinema is the strongest weapon," he was telling only half the story. In reality, very few feature films during the Fascist period can be labeled as propaganda. Re-viewing Fascism considers the many films that failed as "weapons" in creating cultural consensus and instead came to reflect the complexities and contradictions of Fascist culture. The volume also examines the connection between cinema of the Fascist period and neorealism—ties that many scholars previously had denied in an attempt to view Fascism as an unfortunate deviation in Italian history. The postwar directors Luchino Visconti, Roberto Rossellini, and Vittorio de Sica all had important roots in the Fascist era, as did the Venice Film Festival. While government censorship loomed over Italian filmmaking, it did not prevent frank depictions of sexuality and representations of men and women that challenged official gender policies. Re-viewing Fascism brings together scholars from different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds as it offers an engaging and innovative look into Italian cinema, Fascist culture, and society.

Very few films during the Fascist period can be labeled as propaganda. This book considers the many films that failed to create cultural consensus and instead came to reflect the complexities and contradictions of Fascist culture. It also examines the connection between cinema of the Fascist period and neorealism - ties that many scholars previously had denied in an attempt to view Fascism as an unfortunate deviation in Italian history An examination of the body of films produced in the 1930s and early 1940s suggests that the principle of film as entertainment certainly appeared to be the rule.