Group Research: Italian Neorealism

Artistic expression in Italy was able to find new freedoms following the fall of Mussolini and of fascism in Italy. Liberated from the censorship of fascist Italy, artists were able to experiment with social, political, and economic topics that would have been previously dangerous to address. According to Art + Culture, popular films in Italy during the 1920s were inherently American, detailing uncomplicated plotlines that emphasized the perfections not of Italy, but of America. A true depiction of Italian livelihood was a rarity in Italian cinema throughout the 1920s and 1930s, but the unrestricted expression that grew from the fall of fascism offered an opportunity for Italian filmmakers to explore the raw Italian life, unadorned with Hollywood techniques and embellishments. Films responding to this notion of realism produced within the time frame from 1943-1952 were collectivized as Italian neorealism. Films a part of Italian neorealism shared common characteristics all relating to creating a realistic projection of Italian life. Many times the film used a predominantly nonprofessional cast, focused on collectivity rather than individuality, were filmed on the streets or in authentic locations rather than sets and sound stages, using natural lighting and simple camera angles. Italian neorealist films did not necessarily look to outrightly critique Italian society, but rather express Italy's social problems "in an entirely new way." As Luigi Chiarini is quoted in Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo's Re-viewing fascism, "the soul of neorealism was...the social reality, the human condition of the Italian people, during the German occupation, the Allied one, in the chaos immediately following the war...In the neorealist films...it is the facts that speak...in their social historical meaning" (86). Italian neorealism provided Italians with a newfound sense of nationalism and identity that had been oppressed under the fascist umbrella. Although Italian neorealism did not project positive or fantasized imagery of Italian society, it provided a more tangible connection for Italians, something that had been missing in Italian cinema during Italy's fascist years.