Research Korner: Film History

Italian Neorealism

Italian Neorealism     Introduction Claims and assumptions have been presented regarding the concepts of realism and naturalism. Realist philosophers believe that only scientific objects really exist (1987) while naturalist philosophers see philosophy and science in the same boat in which phenomena can be explained through empirical basis (1969). In literature, realism was developed as a reaction against Romanticism to stress the real over the fantastic, a movement that sought to treat the commonplace truthfully using characters from everyday life. Realism characterized the writers’ exploration of the emotional landscape of characters probing further the complexity of the human mind (1985). The literary movement of Naturalism, on the other hand, grew out of Realism to illustrate the influence of nature to the genetic and biological destiny of man. Naturalists believed that man's instinct and basic drives dominate actions that could not be evaded, viewing life as relentless ( 1985).    One of the principles of Realism is that the emphasis upon morality is often self-realized. Realists believe that humans control their destinies; characters act on their environment rather than simply reacting to it in which character is superior to circumstance (Reuben, 2003). As such, the morality of realism is intrinsic and relativistic which is usually relationship between the people and the society. The realists basically sought to render everyday characters, situations, dilemmas, and events; all in an "accurate" (or realistic) manner. Realism began as a reaction to romanticism, in which subjects were treated idealistically. Realists tended to discard theatrical drama and classical forms of art to depict sometimes ugly or commonplace subjects, sometimes even a moral message. Furthermore, stated that realism is the reflection, in literature of life itself (1950). Realism has specific social, political, and artistic characteristics that set it apart from other genre’s ( 1957).     Italian Neorealism Cinemas often reflects situation by means of both narrative and authors. Films are often the reflection of a certain individual and even a particular society. These may have sense since most of the films tackle love, relationships, friendships, and even serious problems such as poverty, government problems and even the relationship between countries. Perhaps the most popular movement in the history of Italian cinema and film-making is the trend during the post war periods when Italian films were characterized under the approach of Neorealism.    Italian Neorealism films were prominent during the early 1940s are categorized under the this particular movement illustrate the lower-class life after the war in which actors are ordinary people and shooting takes place in real life setting. Moreover, films under this particular movement illustrates significant yet participatory role of children.  (2003) described Italian Neorealism cinema as films incorporating the participation of non-actors for major roles situated in real locations and characterized with conversational language, unpolished cinematography and episodic narration which set the documentary film-making approach today. Films under the Neorealism movement such as Bicycle Thieves (1948) and Umberto D (1952) by Vittor de Sica as well as La Terra Trema (1948) by  have been highly acclaimed for their political economic grounds portraying the nature and characteristics of ordinary people and everyday life struggles. Contemporary social issues are portrayed in neorealist films highlighting problems on poverty and unemployment along with questions on morality and human dignity. These films are presented in black and white which were usually dubbed inaccurately as well poor editing techniques giving the film an almost documented life of real people ( 2003).         Factors in Post-War Italian Culture and Society that Brought about the Demise in Neorealist Film-Making               (2002) pointed out that the end of Italian Neorealism is grounded on the very basic approach of the movement’s dependence on the aesthetics of reality because right after the difficulties of the Italian society after the war, immediate reconstruction and adherence to national unity followed, thus portraying the real developing condition of the political, social and economic conditions of the country.  These progressive changes in the Italy present the counterpart of the poverty stricken Italian communities portrayed by Neorealist films. In this light, Italian Neorealist is very short-lived as different claims were made that the movement ended as early as 1948 and others claiming its fall during the 1950s.   Moreover, the radical political openness fostered by the government and the results of the national elections in Italy in 1948 greatly opposed the common themes of the plots and narrations of Neorealists films. The consolidation of power by the Christian Democrat party in 1950 contributed to the aims of the nation to redefine its identity from the political issues on factions and partisan groups that threatened the very foundation and stability of the Italian society. Another factor that highly dictated the end of Italian Neorealism is evident in the economic issues of capitalism which characterized the Italian market and employment setting.  The economic turn in the country started a few years after the birth of Neorealism in film-making as more and more Italians found their way in the labor industry thereby contradicting the claims of neorealists to high unemployment rate that beset the lives of ordinary people after the war ( 2002).    Obviously, it was the fast and efficient economic recovery of Italy as well as the political reforms and campaigns for unity that dictated the immediate transition of the Neorealism movement in the history of Italian film-making. In this light, the changes in the social setting of the country which ended the substantive and highly critical and socially-relevant film movement in Italy’s film industry brought and signaled the new birth of the country as a stronger, progressive and united nation that have undergone and successfully overcame its most remembered downfall.          International Legacy of Neorealism The advent and popularity of reality television programs constitute one of the highly inspired products of Neorealism and Realism in general. Reality television, according to (2005,), “is a catch-all category that includes a wide range of entertainment programmes about real people”. The term is used to describe a variety of programming that presents crime and emergency-style shows, talk shows, docusoaps, and some forms of access-style programming. Otherwise known as factual television, reality TV is located in border territories between information and entertainment to documentary and drama. Originally used as a category for law and order popular factual programmes containing 'on-scene' footage of cops on the job, reality TV has become the success story of television in the 1990s and 2000s.   The label 'reality TV' encompasses a wide range of texts which take as their subject matter real lives, real-life situations and events, and the first-person accounts of ordinary people (non-media professionals). Working within this context, the personal, emotional and often intimate revelations of the first-person accounts are the driving force behind the narrative structure of these programmes. They are also supported with actual footage (or dramatic reconstructions) of the events concerned. The people who participate in these programmes have usually been the victims of crime or some kind of disaster, have a life-threatening illness or have had a near-death experience, or, more simply, may have a vocation or lifestyle that can provide for interesting and entertaining viewing. One of the key elements of reality programming is the juxtaposing of the 'everyday' and the banal with the unexpected and the bizarre (2002).   With the popularity gained by these shows, the genre continuously maintains its prominence by coming up with more challenging and inventive shows and the list goes on. Some of these reality shows are still on-going and already acquired a level of popularity in the broadcasting industry. Some also reached an astounding performance in terms of ratings. Majority of these shows are regarded to be phenomenal because they often outshine significant TV coverage and presentations like the 2006 Summer Olympics. Undeniably, reality shows have reached the zenith of their existence and established a strong foundation of popularity in the television production and industry.

Italian Neorealism

Italian Neorealism Introduction Claims and assumptions have been presented regarding the concepts of realism and naturalism. R...

Theory of the Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey is considered one of the most famous feminist film critics. According to Skjerdal (1997) her views regarding mainstream cinema is founded on Lacanian psychoanalysis wherein the important component is the difference between the spectatorship of the males and females. In her most popular article called the “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Laura Mulvey integrates the idea that the pleasurable forms of gazing in the usual cinematic situation to Freud’s scopohilia wherein it associates desire and the pleasure in utilising another individual as a subject of sexual stimulation by sight. In addition, the essay of Mulvey (1975) states that men and women are portrayed in the cinema differently, men as the subjects that progresses the narration of the film while women are objects for the desire and fetishes of men.               In the point of view of Mulvey, film is seen as a stimulus of traditional gender roles rather than reformatting the representations. Critical on her view is the idea that the interpretation of the film in behalf of the viewer takes place in an unconscious manner, therefore giving the foundations for gender oppression and ignorance.             The challenge for most film makers that wants to promote alternatives is to prevail over the patriarchal movie industry. As stated earlier, Laura Mulvey utilised psychoanalysis as a tool to interpret films. The main status of the psychoanalytic method of Freud and Lacan is that woman is at the mercy of social and social depression because she is not a man. It views the male as the dominant gender both symbolically and physically. In shifting this idea to film, Mulvey used the scopophilia, which means the control via gaze, as an explanation. Mulvey stated that it is very visible that scopophilia appears in the way films are viewed by the audience due to the fact that the films provide a good condition for looking at another individual as a subject for sexual motivation. The main element in the utilisation of Mulvey of Freud’s psychoanalysis in audience viewing of films is voyeurism. She stated that in a society wherein the male gender is dominant the pleasure in looking at an individual is divided into active male and passive female which is evident in the dominant types of films.             In the case of classical Hollywood Films wherein it emphasises males as the protagonists thus it promotes a sense of omnipotence of male spectators. Traditional Hollywood films show men as controlling and active individuals that treat the opposite gender as passive subjects of desire for males in both the film and in real life. This type of films regards women as object in association to the controlling gaze of men, wherein it shows that the women is an object to be desired for and the man as the one looking. Just like in the case of the movie Pretty Woman wherein the camera displays a close-up look on the legs of Julia Roberts as she pulls her stockings, according to Mulvey it is the result of the male gaze and how the attributes of females are viewed as passive in mainstream cinema.             According to Chandler (2007) Mulvey identified two forms of looking from the point of view of the audience and these are voyeuristic and fetishistic. According to Mulvey (1992) voyeuristic looking includes a controlling gaze which is correlated to sadism. On the other hand, Fetishistic looking includes substituting a fetish object in order to satisfy oneself. Mulvey argued that popular cinemas must rediscover the looks of the camera, audience and characters; she stated that in popular cinema only the point of view of the characters is presented while the other two are not which denies the audience of critical thinking and even subdues information. Smelik (2007) discussed that in psychoanalysis the image of a woman is ambiguous wherein it combines seduction and attraction. The appearance of females in cinema reminds male viewers the lack of penis thus it becomes a source of profound fears. The classical cinema solves this problem through fetishism. According to Modleski (1988)  films of Alfred Hitchcock are the perfect examples of fetishism wherein the guilt of the woman can either be solved in two manners punishment like in the movie Pscho wherein the female dies or salvation just like in the Movie Marnie wherein the woman got married. According to Smelik (2007) fetishishation is exhibited in classical films such as Josef Sternberg’s fetish of Marlene Dietrich, another is Marilyn Monroe wherein she is considered one of the fetishised female stars. Even today fetish still exists on film, wherein curvy women in scantily clad clothes are often times projected in films.  Clearly, Mulvey’s response to the challenge is to discard the traditional way of narrating stories on film and utilise alternative ways of telling a story. Feminist counter cinema is the avante-garde film practice. Some of the examples of films that have avante-garde themes are Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollens’ Riddle of the Sphinx and Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman.             The article of Mulvey received praises and criticisms from various individuals and film theorists. However, some film theorists believe there are problems in application of psychoanalysis in the film. According to Pribram (1988) the Freudian and Lacanian theories on psychoanalysis has been a major subject for studying film because they link cultural modes of representations and the obtaining of subject identity among people. However, in the case of Mulvey she looks for a theory wherein it explains why Hollywood films are a threat to females. She views traditional and mainstream films as the one that forces women to submit to the patriarchal society.             In addition, Gledhill (1988) states that one of the weakness of the psychoanalytic film approach

Theory of the Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey is considered one of the most famous feminist film critics. According to Skjerdal (1997) her views regarding mai...