Description
Book SynopsisWe know a lot about the directors and stars of Italian cinema's heyday, from Roberto Rossellini to Sophia Loren. But what do we know about the Italian audiences that went to see their films? Based on the AHRC-funded project Italian Cinema Audiences 1945-60',
Italian Cinema Audiences: Histories and Memories of Cinema-going in Post-war Italy draws upon the rich data collected by the project team (160 video interviews and 1000+ written questionnaires gathered from Italians aged 65 and over; archival material related to cinema distribution, exhibition and programming, box-office figures, and critical discussions of cinema from film journals and popular magazines of the period). For the first time, cinema's role in everyday Italian life, and its affective meaning when remembered by older people, are enriched with industrial analyses of the booming Italian film sector of the period, as well as contextual data from popular and specialized magazines.
Trade ReviewThis book is a “master class” in exploring the historical culture of moviegoing in postwar Italy. Using an innovative suite of research methods drawn from the “New Cinema History,” and featuring fascinating ethnographic studies, the authors chart the vibrancy of film attendance as the cultural lynch-pin of Italy in the rapidly changing 1950s. They uncover the tensions pitting local against national and systems of film distribution, and gendered dialogues about differences and similarities between Italian and Hollywood star culture. The Italian Cinema Audiences project expertly demonstrates how post-war Italy’s diverse publics were drawn together into complex communities of entertainment, at a time when discussion of who was allowed to attend the movies was being negotiated and challenged across the nation. * Kathy Fuller-Seeley, William P. Hobby Centennial Professor of Media Studies, University of Texas at Austin, USA *
Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Foreword by Professor Martin Barker Introduction Part I. THE ACTIVITY OF CINEMA-GOING 1. Cinemas, exhibition practices and topographical memories 2. Only entertainment?: memories inside and outside the cinema Part II. FILMS: GENRE, TASTE, AND POPULAR MEMORY 3. Audiences and film genre 4. 'Back then I believed in the nation - I don't anymore': re-visiting national film canon through audience memories Part III. GENDER AND CINEMA-GOING 5. A girls’ eye view of post-war Italian cinema 6. Beyond ‘belle e brave’: female stars and audiences 7. Narrative imaginings of masculinity through cinema Conclusions Appendix 1: Questionnaire Appendix 2: Video-Interview Appendix 3: List of Thematic Areas Bibliography Index
