In: HeLix - Heidelberger Beiträge zur romanischen Literaturwissenschaft, 4 (2011), S. 65-82

Abstract

Film critics continue to discuss social and political commitment as a central aspect of the nuovo cinema italiano without having provided any profound analysis on the issue to date. Due to the fact that this commitment is emphasized as clearly in neorealism (the “golden age” of Italian cinema) as in recent productions, it is worth analyzing the most characteristic elements of Italian cinema in both periods. This article examines Roma, città aperta (Roberto Rossellini, 1945), Agatha e la tempesta (Silvio Soldini, 2004), Buongiorno notte (Marco Bellocchio, 2004), Tutta la vita davanti (Paolo Virzí, 2008) and Le ragioni dell’aragosta (Sabina Guzzanti, 2007) and shows that both neorealist and postmodern Italian films obtain their ethical qualities through the interplay of stylistic and content-related categories. While the moral claim in neorealist cinema seems to be at risk, in recent productions – even in heterotopias – this realization often takes place on the part of female protagonists, which leads to a different activation of the viewer.