Italian Cinema and Modern European Literatures

CARLO TESTA is an Associate Professor of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies at the University of British Columbia, where he also teaches comparative literature. He is the author of Desire and the Devil.

The history of cinema, and notably that of post-war Italian cinema, can only be understood adequately in the context of other contiguous cultural disciplines. World literature, including that of France, Germany, and Russia, played a key role in the development of post-war Italian film and the cinematic technique it has come to embody. Moving away from the usual modes of defining this period-a trajectory that begins with neorealism and ends with Bertolucci-author Carlo Testa offers proof that coming to terms with literary texts is an essential step toward understanding the motion pictures they influenced.The means of recreating literature for the screen has changed drastically over the last half-century, as has the impact of different national traditions on Italian cinema. Testa's work is the first to explicitly and deliberately link postwar Italian cinema to general intellectual concerns such as the relationship between literary authors and cinematic auteurs. Moreover, his analysis of the impact of French, German, and Russian cultures on Italy brings forth a new reading of Italian cinema, a new paradigm for exploring complex issues of authorship, culture, and art.

IntroductionThe Cold War (1945-1956)The Economic Miracle (1956-1963)Democratization and Conflict (1963-1973)Global Trends, Local Crises (1973-1982)Socialism Privatized: Just Fill Up the Cart (1982-1989)Italy in Europe: Opportunities Found and Lost (1989-2001)ConclusionFilmographyWorks CitedIndex