Issues of class in New Italian Cinema and Italian neo realism​

Rob Ryan

Neorealism background

When world war two reached its conclusion, a new version of cinema began to emerge in its place across Europe. This would not just be in response to the seemingly safe and predictable standards of early Hollywood and conventional filmmaking, but Italian neo-realism would be a response to the fascist government before the end of the second world war and would be about the resulting decline and a country slowly recovering. This new style would open new possibilities for social realist filmmaking about the working man, the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, films about people who wouldn’t normally gain the spotlight let alone a happy ending. These films would be made on a much lower budget, use mostly unknown actors and wouldn’t have any resources other than the streets and the areas being filmed. In Italy, Neorealist movies were made in the few years after Italian prime minister Andrea Mussolini and his dictatorship ends and the world was still feeling the ripples of the destruction generated by the war.​

Bicycle Thieves

With this comes Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, the most well-known film out of this niche sub-genre. De Sica's film tells the simple story of Antonio, a poor working man with a wife and son who he struggles to keep afloat financially. One day he gets lucky and finds a job pasting advertising bills but needs a bike in order to fulfil his duties, his wife makes a sacrifice by selling their bedsheets just so he can afford it and with that things look up for Antonio and his wife as he’s finally found a job that creates a safety net for the family. However, things take a dour turn when he gets his bike stolen while on duty and the remaining duration of the film sees Antonio and his son Bruno wandering in the streets of Rome looking for the bike, with unsuccessful results.​

Antonio introduces his bike to Bruno

What does this film say about class?​

It’s almost unexpected for a film of this era to place such huge stakes over one object. A film where one family’s future hangs by a thread over something so simple, which is something that the film accomplishes so well, as this in some cases the harsh reality for the lower classes, not just in Italy back then but here’s a story that feels incredibly universal in a way that's not only timeless but highlights how much throughout our existence in society we take small little things for granted. Without the keys to your car, how will you get to work? Without the keys to your company van, how will you be able to put food on the table? In the film's case, without Antonio’s Bike what other option does he have? The bike becomes somewhat of a character in of itself as it’s the only thing throughout the film's length that is stopping Antonio for providing and surviving. ​

The thieves neighbours threaten Antonio

Turning into a villain in the eyes of the public ​

Throughout Antonio’s journey, this search for his income only turns him into a villain in the eyes of the public. When desperately trying to pester the old man about who was the boy who currently has the possession of his bike in the church, he draws attention to everyone around him as the Church attendees become increasingly annoyed as they try to kick him out. When accusing the boy of stealing his bike, his neighbours jump to his defence and continue to vilify him when he finds no evidence of him doing so. All of this escalates in the climax of the film when he’s driven to become a criminal and steal a random bike. This plan only backfires as a hue and cry immediately stops him. While the owner of the bike decides to not press charges, the crowd from the resulting hue and cry look on in shame and disgust. All of these events are in the presence of his son, who throughout the day is witness to not only his farther failing to hold it all together but his farther becoming a criminal. Losing his sense of morals and purity that he thought he had at the start of the film. Not only placing him back to square one but potentially will have a more negative view from the public when the next time he walks the streets of Rome.

The film's open ending ​

The film ends in a hopeless and uncertain manner as Antonio and Bruno walk away and disappear into the crowd as they continue to lead their lives in uncertainty and hopelessness. Ending the film with them finding the bike would not only be unrealistic considering the scope of Rome and the population but it would place these characters in a comfortable safety net and would not only have rang false but wouldn't have been honest. This harkens back to Peter Bondanella's quote from his book "Italian cinema from Neo realism to the present" which states "Many Films underlined the relationship between illusion and reality, fiction and fact, to the understanding of the role both played in their art". With this in mind Bicycle Thieves and other films in its genre feels like a response to how films of this era sugar-coat real struggles but by stripping away all artificiality that would be present in most film productions i.e actors as opposed to real people, being shot in a studio instead of realistic locations, De Sica's film shows a raw and brutal reality of just how easy it is for people's lives to collapse. ​

New Italian Cinema

Background

While Neorealism set out to reinterpret cinema and offer new ideas and techniques of storytelling, nothing much of value was achieved in the long run in terms of accomplishing social change. However, once Italy hit the late 50s to early 60s they had the most healthy film industry than any other country in Europe, and with that filmmakers such as Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni came on the scene who's filming stylistically in tone would be inspired by neorealism and much like Bicycle Thieves would offer no great conclusions in their narratives. However, Felini's films would also either have a bizarre art-house tone and would utilise more artistic technique as opposed to the social realist documentary ESC with films such as 8% and Satyricon being completely different to any other film released at that time. Antonioni stayed consistent with his style of filmmaking, almost representing more of a documentary-style then Fellini. ​

Federico Fellini and Michalangelo Antonioni

The Adventure ( L’avventura ) 1960

Monica Vitti in L'avventura (1960)

What this film says about class ​

Unlike Bicycle Thieves The Adventure focuses on people from the opposite end of the class divide, whereas Bicycle Thieves was about a family's struggle to stay afloat finically, The Adventure is about people who have already made it. The fact that these characters are already at the top and don't have any real stakes in their lives really comes across in the pacing, and the films directionless and uneventful plot. Whereas Bicycle thieves is quicker pace and have a lot going on in each scene, many moments in Antonioni's film play out in complete science, placing more emphasis on gestures natural sounds in contrast to conversations and intrusive music. Not only is this one of the few films possibly in its era that questions the preconceived ideas and fantasy of being wealthy, this is a film that in small ways asks the important question that feels very understated with regards to not only to films about the struggles of class but real issues in general. Can loads of money and wealth lead to a fulfilling life? Once you passed all the economic obstacles, then what? The film was met with boos and hostile reactions in its premiere at Cannes in 1960 which in some sense is a reflection of the disconnect between the film's characters and them being so spoiled that it would be hard for an average audience member to find a reason to empathise with any of them. ​

Parrales between Bicycle Thieves ​

The only parallels that The Adventure shares to Bicycle Thieves are in its central conflict and that they are about a search for something that is never found again. Whereas Bicycle Thieves centred its's conflict over a single object, The Adventure follows a group of wealthy friends going on a cruise to the Mediterranean. For the first third of the film, we follow Anna, who while is surrounded by wealth and privilege appears unhappy with her life. She's sullen, quiet and is looking for more excitement in her life, going so far to fake a potential shark attack when she and her friends go swimming in the sea. The film, however, shifts focus to our other protagonists Sandro (Anna's Boyfriend) and Claudia Anna's friend, both their lives are turned upside down when Anna suddenly vanishes and as they continue to search for her, they soon grow attached to one another slowly forgetting about their missing friend without showing any sense of empathy or worry if they are ever going to see her again. Bicycle Thieves showed people whose lack of money turned its protagonists into irrational and immoral people whereas The Adventures shows people whose wealth has stripped away of any sort of human emotion bored by their existence that even the slightest human interaction means nothing and leads them right back into the border.​

The Adventure, Bicycle Thieves and the loss of Values ​

Whilst the characters in Bicycle Thieves feel too much, the characters in The Adventure feel too little, even in the films exotic locations and its beautiful cinematography of the Mediterranean sea it's then contrasted by the stoic looks on the actor's faces and the characters in their inability to share any reaction to the locations as it's established that they've been here before so no place they visit in the entire film will ever surprise them or lift their spirits as the boat trip over the rocky shore just feels like treading familiar ground. According to film scholar March Kinder, Antonioni is concerned with "The external conditions and the interior life's of his characters" and that while his previous films had an "emphasis on values, They are almost absent from L' Avventura" This reading could be purposeful as the much like Antonio losing his values in Bicycle Thieves due to the position that his low wealth places him in, the wealth that the people in L'Avventura are embedded in either allows them to lose their values because their privilege allows them to do so. But it can also give them a lack of agency or purpose, this rings true for the female characters in not just The Adventure but throughout Antonioni's filmography. ​

Antonioni's alienated women. ​

According to Antonioni's Women by Clara Orban, Anna much like the other women in his films are a representation of alienated and lonely women who are a product of a lifestyle that is very male-centric, and while the men have the freedom as the owners of their wealth, it comes at the expense of their female partners who have every bit of wealth handed to them on a golden platter, thus removing any sense of choice or option where they can think or live for themselves, she states "Antonioni depicts women as completely removed from their surroundings especially in spaces dominated by men" with this proven with the quiet and sullen way Anna responds to the locations the characters visit with the same sullen look on her face. Orban also introduces how these male-dominated spaces can also be harmful to women. These ideas escalate to more disturbing levels later in the film when Claudia is gazed at and almost sexually harassed by a crowd of men whilst waiting for Sandro. The scene starts with the men starring down at her whilst she's waiting at a bottom of a staircase but as she walks away to avoid their glances the crowd gets bigger and as they move closer and closer towards her. While this disturbing moment never has a shocking pay off its these moments like this that are complementary to Antonioni's message with how these wealthy male-dominated spaces not only gives men freedom to act in disgusting ways but makes it easier for women to lose their agency and become alienated and unwanted. ​

Mood pieces and lack of conflict ​

According to critic Richard Brody, Antonioni's style is much more modernist and are more "mood pieces" as opposed to films centred on big stakes, he states that "His films represented a cold enticement, abstractions that fascinated him" this dream-like style of filmmaking comes through Antonioni's use of long takes, minimal dialogue, all of which make for desensitising experiences but all of these aspects are purposeful in putting in the audience in the characters shoes in order to feel their sense of mundanity and lack of purpose or direction thus making it harder to feel anything. While there is conflict in the film, this isn't the main crux that the film focuses on, because of its lack of conflict the audience is placed in a position where they have to project their ideas of what the film is trying to say as opposed to a film like Bicycle Thieves that puts its characters in one messy situation after the next, making it easier for an audience member projecting their sympathy on to that person, The Adventure understands however that human beings are much more complex and complicated and Antonioni's film is much more focused on the behaviour of his subjects. This makes the initial reaction at Cannes more reasonable as this was a new way of ambiguous storytelling that people were not used to at this point in time, not only with the story of people who are the complete opposite of the underdog's but one where we endure their mundanity and lack of purpose along with them. But this would later allow the audience to have internal conversations in their head about what the film is trying to convey but more importantly, ask more important questions, like what happened to Anna? Is there a promising future ahead for these characters where they will ever be satisfied with what they have? ​

Aftermath

Poor Cow (1967)

Jeanne Dielman 1080 (1975)

Films within the neorealism genre such as Bicycle Thieves and its evolvement to New Italian Cinema paved the way for new ideas of storytelling from Chantal Akerman's minimalist feminist French drama Jeanne Dielman to the kitchen sink dramas of Ken Loach. All of which originated at the peak of the French New Wave. Filmmaking that would change the way we look at films today. Vittorio de Sica and Michelangelo Antonioni where two important filmmakers that helped bring this new way of storytelling into the mole. This would be something carefully adopted by Antonioni with The Adventure leading into the age of New Italian cinema, and while the style that Antonioni adopts for The Adventure is much more restrained and observant thanks to his use of choreographed movements of the actors and camera, special positioning of characters in the frame and more emphasis of diegetic sounds. These are all to its benefit as it allows for a more realistic film and showed that films don't have to be centred around major events in order to be unique and interesting. ​

Conclusion

There's a decent amount of parallels between the two films and their unique filmmaking style that offer insightful ideas at how a person's wealth drives their behaviour with the protagonist in the neorealist Bicycle Thieves driven to unethical and desperate actions due to lack of wealth and characters in The Adventure's driven to act unethically in more subtle ways. While De SIca'sBicycle Thieves is about people's irrationally due to their own poor environment, Antonioni's films are about people's wealthy environment leading them to be out of touch with their own want's needs and their desire's become more blurred resulting in them behaving in strange or spontaneous ways, with men given more freedom to dominate all of their spaces over women and the female given no freedom or autonomy over their bodies and personal safety.