Around the World in 40 Films: Italy

Italy has had a long history in the cinematic world with them having given us some of the most influential movie personnel such as directors Pier Paolo Pasolini and Federico Fellini and composer Ennio Morricone. Having travelled through the phases of avante-garde expression, spaghetti westerns and never flinching from controversy, this week sees us looking at modern classic Gomorrah and the classic film 1900.

• 1900 (1976)
  

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Sweeping across 45 years of Italian history in just over five hours, Bertolucci’s vast labour of love tells the story of two very different friends, a peasant and a Padrone (landowner) born on the same day in 1900. It explores their lives, loves and most importantly their beliefs in an age of rising fascism and global conflict.

However, of all its themes the most important to Bertolucci is politics and the great social divide of history. Indeed, throughout the film the differences between the peasants and the Padrone are constantly reinforced as the workers are continually oppressed. It is narrative that does not make for cheerful viewing; however it is fascinating to see how this and the people’s beliefs change, shown particularly in brilliant performances which enable the viewer to see how the idealistic peasant Olmo becomes increasingly militant against the state and Alfredo becomes corrupted by power and authority. Perhaps the most memorable performance is Donald Sutherland’s psychopathic, cat-hating fascist Attila, whose sadism knows no bounds. Yet this depiction of fascism being displayed in this one character seems problematic as it becomes the belief system of a single evil maniac rather than a popular ideology. Furthermore, despite the fact the film is beautifully shot it does feel overly long at times.

Overall the politics presented within 1900 may feel considerably dated yet this cannot alter the fact that it is a superb, if flawed, epic.

• Gomorrah (2008)
  

Director: Matteo Garrone

When the book Gomorrah was first published in Italy in 2006 the author Roberto Saviano received many death threats from the Camorra (a mafia-style organisation originating in Naples) including the reports of a hit being taken out on him from one of the major crime family heads. Despite this, a film version was optioned almost immediately with the original writer signed on to write the screenplay.

With the original book reporting the facts as prose the film itself takes on a different tactic through the telling of these tales via the different points of view of five families having to live under the thumb of the Camorra. Each of these obviously has an individual take on the situations that they find themselves in. This ranges from the cocky young upstarts Marco and Ciro who attempt to operate outside the Camorra and form their own syndicate to a tailor specialising in fake designer clothes attempting to compete with the crime racket his own factory of Chinese immigrants.

The strength of Gomorrah lies in the complexity of its storytelling alongside a strong ensemble cast formed of unknowns. Upon release it was critically lauded and featured upon many critical best lists for the year; however it surprisingly failed to secure an Oscar nomination whilst winning Best Film at the European Film Awards.

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