My life's a movie

Italian Cinema 152

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A scene from Paisá

May 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGSK7Hzspyc 

Starting from 2:30 and ending at 4:50

This is a scene from Paisá directed by Roberto Rossellini. Joe is a soldier with the alliance, and he is showing the children his boots. The first part of the scene is very high key lighting. There is little contrast and it’s very bright and sunny. There is deep focus, but it is mostly focused on Joe surrounded by the children. This is a medium close up shot so Joe fills the height of the frame and the children fill the bottom spilling into the sides as if there are too many of them to get all of them in the frame. This gives the sense that it is very light and happy, as children are often seen as and should be. There is childhood innocence as they all clamor over one another to talk to and see Joe. When Joe discovers that Pasquale stole his boots, he grabs him and drags him to where Pasquale lives to confront his parents. As he does this the lighting shifts to become low key lighting. It is very dark and there are distinct and long shadows. This gives the effect of a more ominous, dark, and somewhat sad feeling to the scene. It is here where we learn that Pasquale doesn’t have parents and he lives in very tough conditions. This contrasts what was promoted in the previous scene of children and childhood innocence as Pasquale’s life is quite the opposite. He has gone through what no child should, and the lighting reflects that to further the sense of the disparity of his whole situation that led him to steal Joe’s boots in the first place. Lighting is a powerful tool in film because it can be subtle and overlooked. Many people don’t even realize that their emotions are being manipulated by the lighting and the mood that it creates in the scene. The lighting in the scene above changes quickly which in turn changes the audience’s emotions and mood just as quickly. No longer is the scene happy, bubbly, and light, it is dark, twisted, and despondent. the lighting in a film plays with the emotions of the audience, while there are many different aspects that make up a film and these emotions lighting is one of the most important. It is one of the first things that the viewer notices about the scene and they then react to the feelings and moods associated with that lighting although this is usually a process that they don’t even know is happening, it is subconscious. A drastic change in lighting seems like it would be extremely noticeable or jarring but instead, it is a quite seamless change that has drastic effects on the audience. It subconsciously pushes the audience to feel a certain way without them ever knowing they were manipulated in the first place.

 

Blog #2 – Rome Open City

May 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

#2- Rome open city

After watching the film Rome Open City directed by Roberto Rossellini, I felt unsatisfied. The film ended with the death of the priest and the young boys walking away towards the city. This scene left me wanting more so I read about the film and about Rome during and after the war. The film takes place after the Germans have taken over the city and before the allies invade. Rome was considered a Religious sanctuary. Rome wasn’t supposed to be involved or invaded by the Germans however this agreement was broken when the Germans occupied Rome in 1940. Religion was a part of the war that people didn’t want to tamper with and because of that priests got a little more lenience with their lives. They were allowed to be out after curfew as well as other privileges that weren’t given to ordinary citizens. In the film, the priest named Don Pietro worked secretly alongside with the resistance. At one point in the film, he is asked to deliver money to the men in the resistance who are hiding in the hills beyond the city. He is able to meet the middle man and give the money to the resistance because he is allowed to be out after curfew without raising awareness. The film ended with his death coming full circle in an effort to show that not even religion is respected in the war. Not only was Rome occupied after it was declared a religious sanctuary but a priest was shot without a second thought. The following shot is the young boys walking towards the city, I learned that they are meant to symbolize hope for the future. This is very powerful to see, especially when the film first came out only months after Rome was liberated by the allies. The film showed the actual buildings that had been destroyed and the rubble from the war. Most of the film was shot on location. This was heartbreaking to see because there was so much destruction and for people to watch this film while this was still real and raw was very impactful. I believe that what became neorealism sparked the emotions of the audience while watching the film, it reminded them just how much damage had been done in the war, at the same time however it served as a warning. It reminded people what would happen if there was ever another war, and that promoted peace and an effort to rebuild Rome. During the war, many of the cinemas were destroyed or used by the Nazi’s which meant that most of the cameras and equipment was destroyed. This made it all the more important that the film Rome open city was shown so soon after the liberation because just by producing a film the directors were making a statement. They were saying we are still here, and we’re not going to forget what happened.” The damage is forever documented and shared along with the story of those that died in the fight. The story especially focuses on a civilian woman who was killed in front of her son while reaching out to her lover who was taken from her. This is the perfect example and poster story to promote as an anti-war statement. Roberto Rossellini stated, “I try to capture reality, nothing else.” The entire film Rome open city was based on multiple true stories from real people during the war and the film was all real buildings. The reality of the destruction of Rome and it’s peoples lives was captured by Roberto in this film just like he had promised.

Blog #1- Cinema Paradiso

May 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

#1- Cinema Paradiso

For my first post on my Italian cinema blog, I am going to discuss and review the film Cinema Paradiso directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. This film was released in 1988 and tells the story of a young boy who takes joy in running the local cinema. Cinemas were an essential part of rural Italian culture. The locals were not just going to see a movie they were gathering with friends, discussing current events and news. This was more than just an outing; it was an event and a critical part of social life in Italy. The young boy is an altar boy and works closely with the priest. The first scene where we see the young boy in the cinema is when we see the priest watching the film in an empty theater and the boy watching from behind the curtains. At first, I was confused as to why a priest would be watching a movie alone in a theater but then an intimate scene played out on the screen and the priest yelled and averted his eyes. The cinema manager Alfredo clipped out the intimate scene and the movie continued. So, what was happening in that scene? After reading an article I realized that the catholic church controlled most of the cinemas, especially those in rural towns. Controlling the cinema meant controlling the content that was viewed in the cinema and these intimate scenes were not allowed or approved by the church. They had the priests watch the films before they were shown to the public and have the cinema directors remove the scenes, they deemed sinful. In the film Cinema Paradiso, we see the priest asking Alfredo to remove scene after scene and when the film is shown the audience mostly men from the town, all watch intently as it seems the characters might share an intimate moment such as a kiss but then the film swiftly moves on to the next scene. The entire audience cries out in disappointment. this scene shows how much the catholic church controlled what was shown in the entertainment industry in the south of Italy. After I knew what was happening in that scene and why I asked myself how did the church gain control of the cinemas in the South. I didn’t seem like a clear connection simply based on my previous knowledge and assumptions. What I found out was that the Catholic church stated their aim was to “promote a moralizing cinema.” However, their idea of what was moralizing was different from what the people in these rural towns wanted to see. Going back a bit to when Mussolini was in rule, there was strict censorship of Cinema, this was backed and supported by the church however after the war Censorship of Italian cinema was transformed into a preventative form of control under the ideas and beliefs of the catholic church. Since many people attended the cinemas and watched the films controlling a key piece of the social interactions people had given the church slight control over the ideas that were spread or oppressed such as the censored scenes they believed to be sinful. Fredrico Fellini, an Italian film director said, “Censorship is advertising paid by the government.” In this case, the church was the government and the governing hand in these small towns.

Hello world!

May 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Welcome to my Blog!

In this blog, I’m going to discuss my opinions on films and review articles that I’ve been assigned to in my Italian cinema class. I’ll definitely post some pictures as well so you can see what I’m learning about!

 

Josie

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