Neorealism, the name coined by Italian critics in 1942, was neither wholly new, nor wholly realistic, but it was the first full-fledged movement for a visually and politically authentic cinema the world had seen-and the world has not yet seen the last of neorealism. Screenwriter Cesar Zavattini, prime author of the movement, and the many directors-De Sica, Visconti, Fellini, and Rossellini among them-reacted to fascist Italy's escapist cinema, and challenged the inherent capitalism of Hollywood-style cinema, with films variously situated in the everyday, often among the poorest strata of Italian society, and frequently using nonprofessional actors. But neorealism was a far cry from cinéma vérité; as lyrical as it was direct, as sentimental as it was polemic, it was, after all, art. Great art.The influence of this seminal film style is so wide ranging as to be the driving force behind the postwar cinema of Japan, the New Cinemas of India and Brazil, and the emerging cinemas of Africa and Taiwan. It is said that Marx didn't realize his dream-but his predictions came true. Conversely, whether neorealism changed the world, as it was meant to do, or just the cinema, as it manifestly did, is something we can investigate as we revisit these beautiful masterpieces from a defining moment in cinema.Our series, continuing in November, is presented in association with the course Neorealism and Marxism in Italian Cinema, 1940-1965, taught on campus by Professors Michael Rogin (Political Science) and Timothy Clark (History of Art) in the Townsend Center's program of Interdepartmental Research Seminars. Thursday September 3, 1998
