Introduction to
European Studies
History, society and cinema
in post-war Italy
Republic of Italy: Facts
• Official Name
Republica Italiana
• Form of government
Republic with two
houses: Senate (upper
house 322), Chamber of
Deputies (lower house
630)
• Electoral system
Proportional
representation
• Chief of state
President
• Capital
Rome (Roma)
• Official language
Italian
• Official religion
None
• Monetary unit
Euro
• Population
59,051,000
Republic of Italy: Facts
• Area sq. kilometers
1. Russia 3,960,000
2. Ukraine 603,700
3. France 547,030
4. Spain 505,992
5. Sweden 449,964
6. Norway 385,155
7. Germany 357,050
8. Finland 338,145
9. Poland 312,685
10. Italy 301,318
• Population (EU)
1. Germany 82,210,000
2. France 63,753,140
3. UK 60,587,300
4. Italy 59,337,888
5. Spain 45,116,894
6. Poland 38,115,967
7. Romania 21,565,119
8. Netherlands
16,372,715
9. Greece 11,125,179
10. Portugal 10,599,095
Republic of Italy: Facts
• GDP 2008 (dollars)
1 United States: 14,441,430,000,000
2 Japan: 4,910,690,000,000
3 China: 4,327,450,000,000
4 Germany: 3,673,110,000,000
5 France: 2,866,950,000,000
6 United Kingdom : 2,680,000,000,000
7 Italy: 2,313,890,000,00
8 Russia: 1.6796.590.000,000
9 Spain: 1,601,960,000,000
10 Brazil: 1,572,840,000,000
Republic of Italy: Facts
• GDP 1945 (dollars)
1 United States: 1,646,690,000,000
2 Soviet Union: 333,656,000,000
3 United Kingdom: 331,347,000,000
4 India: 223,967,000,000
5 Germany: 194,682,000,000
6 France: 101,189,000,000
Japan: 98,000,000
Italy: 85,432
China: ---
Post-war Italian Economy
• From one of the weakest in Europe
to one of the strongest
• Metallurgical, manufacturing,
Chemical and textile industries
• Tourism
• Lack of raw materials and energy
sources
• More than 4/5 of energy
requirements imported
• Mixture of liberal trade policies and
entrepreneur spirits with
cumbersome bureaucracies and
inefficient planning
Italian Cultural Economy
• Motorcars
• Mass market cars
FIAT; Alfa Romeo;
Lancia
• Sports car
manufacturers
• Ferrari; Maserati;
Lamborghini
• Motorcycles
Vespa; Piaggio
Ducati
Italian Cultural Economy
•
•
•
•
Milan as a fashion centre
From craftsmen to celebrity designers
From tailors to fashion houses
Valentino - founded by Valentino
Garavani at Via Condotti, Rome in 1965
• Armani - founded by Giorgio Armani
and Sergio Galeotti in Milan,1975
• Versace - founded by Gianni Versace in
Milan,1978
• Dolce & Gabbana - founded by
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana
in Milan 1985
Italian Cultural Economy
•
•
•
•
Tourism in Italy
Geographical advantage
The Alps to the north
Surrounded by the Mediterranean,
the Tyrrhenian, the Ionian and the
Adriatic seas
• From arctic to semi-tropical weather
• Historical advantage
• From the Roman Empire, through
the Renaissance and the Baroque to
the modern
• UNESCO World Heritage
Sites in Europe
1. Italy 43
2. Spain 40
3. France 33
3. Germany 33
3. UK 33
6. Russia 23
7. Greece 17
8. Sweden 14
9. Czech Republic 12
10. Belgium 9
10. Switzerland 9
Italian Cultural Economy
• Ancient and archaeological sites
• A group of Greek temples in Val di Tempi in
Agrigento, Sicily
• Etruscan remains in Central Italy: Etruscan
towns such as Cervetelli and Tarquinia
Italian Cultural Economy
• Heritage of the Roman Empire
• Roma as Imperial city
• Roman resorts such as Pompeii, Islands of Ischia
and Capri, and Paestum
• Civil engineer heritage: towns, Via Appia, aquaduct,
theatres and public buildings
Italian Cultural Economy
•
•
•
•
Early Christian and Mediaeval Heritage
Churches and monasteries
Mosaics in Ravenna
Mediaeval towns in Central Italy such as Firenze,
Pisa, Siena, Assisi, and Padova
Italian Cultural Economy
• Renaissance art, architecture and monuments
• Leonardo’s Last Supper at Santa Maria delle
Grazie in Milan
• Basilica of San Pietro in Rome
• Renaissance cities and towns throughout Italy such
as Ferarra and Pienza
Italian Cultural Economy
• Baroque art, architecture and monuments
• Many representative palaces and churches in
Venice are Baroque build in the 17th century
• Baroque towns of Noto in Sicily and Lecce, Puglia
Italian Cultural Economy
• The 18th-century royal palaces and residences
• The Royal Palace in Torino built for the Savoy
Kings
• The Royal Palace at Caserta built for the Bourbon
kings of Naples
Italian Cultural Economy
• Alpine resorts in the north
• The Dolomite valley in the north-east and the
Aosta valley in the north-west
• Numerous sea-side resorts on the mainland
and islands
Modern Italian Culture
• Modern Italian Art
• Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920) - a painter
and sculptor inspired by primitive art
• Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) - presurrealist, known for metaphysical painting
Modern Italian Culture
• Musicians - pianists, violinists, conductors,
composers of classical music
• Opera singers
• Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)
• Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)
Alberto Moravia (1907-90), Primo Levi (19191987), Italo Calvino (1923-85), Umberto Eco
(1932- )
Modern Italian Culture
• One of the greatest sporting nations in the
world
• Football - World champion four times (1934,
1938, 1982, 2006) Germany (3), England (1),
France (1), Brazil (5)
• Cycling - National Sports: Giro d’Italia
Modern Italian Culture
• Motor Sports
Formula 1: Team Ferrari
Motorcycle races
• Winter sports - alpine skiing
Modern Italian Culture
• Design houses: furniture, interior and
kitchenware
• Traditional design and craft: leather, paper,
woodwork, stonework, porcelain
Cinema
Two Vital Times for Italian Cinema
• TWO GOLDEN PERIODS
• Immediately after the war till the beginning
of the 50s: films reflecting the realities of
contemporary Italy
• From the end of the fifties to around 1964:
films looking at the past and present of Italy
The End of the War
• Europe in Ruins
•
35,000,000 dead (over half of them are
civilians
•
Millions lost homes
•
Factories obliterated, damaged or
obsolete
•
Britain lost 1/4 of its pre-war wealth
•
Denmark’s economy regressed to its
1930 level
Filmmaking in the Wake of the War
•
•
•
•
Severe material restrictions
New freedom of expression
Outburst of creativity
Three interlocking groups of filmmakers
1. Those associated with the Communist
Resistance - Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo
Antonioni, Puccini brothers, Giuseppe di
Santis
2. Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini
3. Vittorio de Sica and Cesare Zavattini
• They all started making movies just before or just after
the end of the war.
Filmmaking in the Wake of the War
• All the works of these filmmakers were
response to the terrible moments of Italy’s
modern history
• Fascism and the Resistance
• The scar of the war
• Poverty and unemployment after the war
• Economic exploitation and social injustice
• Political corruption
• South and north divide
• Something difficult to be found in prosperous
and affluent contemporary Italy
Roberto Rossellini
• Roma, Citta Aperta
(1945)
• A documentary-like
fiction film about the
struggle of resistance
fighters and their
families against the
occupying German
forces.
Roberto Rossellini
• Paisa (1946)
• The film consists of six episodes, which
traces the liberation of Italy by the Allies from
the landing of the Allied in Sicily through
victories in central Italy to the final fall down
of the Nazi occupation.
Luchino Visconti
• La Terra Trema
(1948)
• An epic account of
Sicilian fishermen
who suffer from
economic exploitation
• Shot entirely on
location and it took
three years to
complete.
Luchino Visconti
• Rocco e suoi fratelli
(1960) - it tells a story
of a family which
comes to industrial
Milan to escape the
poverty stricken
South but gradually
disintegrate in the
large, modern city.
• Ladri di Biciclette
Vittori De Sica (Bicycle Thieves,
1948)
• A drama about a
father and a son
who are searching
their stolen bicycle.
• Shot entirely on
location in various
parts of Rome using
only local nonprofessional actors
Vittorio De Sica
• Umberto D (1952)
• About a retired civil
servant desperately
trying to maintain
the decent standard
of living on
dwindling state
pension.
Giuseppe di Santis
• Rise Amaro (Bitter
rice, 1949) - two
criminals take refuge
in a rice farm in the
north which employs
a large number of
immigrant workers
from the south.
Adulterous love,
robbery and murder
take place in the fam.
Pietro Germi
• Il Ferroviere (The
Railroad Man, 1956) a hardworking engine
driver who loves his
family involves
railway accident and
is suspended from
driving engine. His
life is in near ruin but
he tries to prove his
innocence.
Federico Fellini • I Vitelloni (1953)
• About five young
friends from a local
seafront town
desperately trying to
find the aim of living.
• Spiritual deprivation
in post war Italy
Federico Fellini
• La Strada (1954)
• Story about a
carnival strongman
Zanpano and his
simple minded
assistant Gelsomina,
who are travelling
around poverty
stricken areas of
Italy.
The Vital Time for Italy and Italian Cinema
• Generally labeled and known as Neo-realism.
• NEOREALISTS COMMUNICATED TO THE
WORLD EVERYTHING THE COUNTRY HAD TO
GO THROUGH
• In the process they changed the entire rule of
movie making
• Subject matter - contemporary social problems
• Film Style - location shooting, non-professional
actors, simple technique
Essay Title
• Watch one Italian film and describe what
aspects of the post-war Italian society is
reflected in it.