Italy Through The Red Lens: Italian Politics And Society In Communist Propaganda Films (1946–79)

Description

This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the role of cinema in the communication strategy of the Italian Communist party (the PCI). It examines the entire period during which the party had a systematic and organized approach to cinematographic production, starting with the early experiments in 1946 and concluding with the closure of PCI film company Unitelefilm at the end of the 1970s. Its analysis sheds light on a range of issues, such as the relationship between the party and Italian intellectuals, the Stalinist imprint of the Italian Communist Party and the historical significance of the Salerno turn, the PCI’s relationship with the student movements in 1968 and 1977, and the PCI’s response to the rise in political violence in the 1970s. Ultimately, the book demonstrates that cinema was essential to the PCI’s propaganda effort. Acknowledgements......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 List of Images......Page 10 Chapter 1: Introduction......Page 11 Bibliography......Page 24 Part I: The Italian Communist Party between Socialist Realism and Neorealism (1944–1956)......Page 26 Chapter 2: Togliatti’s Partito nuovo and Italian Cinema......Page 27 Bibliography......Page 47 Chapter 3: Socialist Realism Italian-Style: PCI Cinematic Propaganda in the Stalin Era......Page 52 Bibliography......Page 91 Part II: Dealing with the Modern (1956–1970)......Page 95 Chapter 4: Peace and Sputnik, the Boom, and Television (1956–1964)......Page 96 Bibliography......Page 118 Chapter 5: The First Years of Unitelefilm and the PCI After Togliatti (1964–1967)......Page 120 Bibliography......Page 141 Chapter 6: The Workers, the Students, and the Election Campaign of 1968......Page 144 Bibliography......Page 161 Chapter 7: The Lice and the Whale: Filmmakers, Militant Cinema, and the Italian Communist Party......Page 163 Bibliography......Page 178 Part III: A Decade of Living Dangerously: The Turbulent Peak (and the Seeds of Decline) of the Italian Communist Party (1970–1979)......Page 180 Chapter 8: The Early 1970s: Unitelefilm, the Fascist Threat, and the ‘Historic Compromise’......Page 181 Bibliography......Page 202 Chapter 9: Hegemony Within Reach (1974–1976)......Page 204 Bibliography......Page 222 Chapter 10: Women’s Issues, Feminism, and the PCI......Page 224 Bibliography......Page 242 Chapter 11: Hegemony Fades Away (1977–1979)......Page 244 Bibliography......Page 262 Chapter 12: Conclusion......Page 265 Bibliography......Page 276 Subject Index......Page 278 Film Index......Page 282