The Transatlantic Gaze

Mary Ann Mcdonald Carolan

Description

In The Transatlantic Gaze, Mary Ann McDonald Carolan documents the sustained and profound artistic impact of Italian directors, actors, and screenwriters on American film. Working across a variety of genres, including neorealism, comedy, the Western, and the art film, Carolan explores how and why American directors from Woody Allen to Quentin Tarantino have adapted certain Italian trademark techniques and motifs. Allen's To Rome with Love (2012), for example, is an homage to the genius of Italian filmmakers, and to Federico Fellini in particular, whose Lo sceicco bianco/The White Sheik (1952) also resonates with Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) as well as with Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty (2000). Tarantino's Kill Bill saga (2003, 2004) plays off elements of Sergio Leone's spaghetti Western C'era una volta il West/Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), a transatlantic conversation about the Western that continues in Tarantino's Oscar-winning Django Unchained (2012). Lee Daniels's Precious (2009) and Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna (2008), meanwhile, demonstrate that the neorealism of Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, which arose from the political and economic exigencies of postwar Italy, is an effective vehicle for critiquing social issues such as poverty and racism in a contemporary American context. The book concludes with an examination of American remakes of popular Italian films, a comparison that offers insight into the similarities and differences between the two cultures and the transformations in genre, both subtle and obvious, that underlie this form of cross-cultural exchange.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

I. Introduction

II. Screen Idols and Female Admirers in The White Sheik (Fellini, 1952), The Purple Rose of Cairo (Allen, 1985), and Nurse Betty (LaBute, 2000)

III. The Art of Film Reconsidered: Blow-Up (Antonioni, 1966) and Blow Out (De Palma, 1981)

IV. The Evolving Western: From America to Italy and Back in Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone, 1968) and Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (Tarantino, 2003 and 2004)

V. Neorealism Revisited by African American Directors in the New Millennium: Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (Daniels, 2009) and Miracle at St. Anna (Lee, 2008)

VI. Whither the Remake?

VII. Conclusion

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Película fotográfica
• Visual culture
• History of film
• Film

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 12 décembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438450261
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Transatlantic Gaze
SUNY series in Italian/American Culture

Fred L. Gardaphe, editor
The Transatlantic Gaze
Italian Cinema, American Film
M ARY A NN M C D ONALD C AROLAN
Cover images: Cinecitta’ publifoto / Olycom Hollywoodland sign courtesy of Photofest
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Kate McDonnell
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carolan, Mary Ann McDonald.
The transatlantic gaze : Italian cinema, American film / Mary Ann McDonald Carolan.
pages cm. — (SUNY series in Italian/American culture)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5025-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures—United States—History—20th century. 2. Motion pictures—Italy—Influence. I. Title.
PN1993.5.U6C315 2013 791.430973—dc23
2013014433
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Jim
Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments I. Introduction II. Screen Idols and Female Admirers in The White Sheik (Fellini, 1952), The Purple Rose of Cairo (Allen, 1985), and Nurse Betty (LaBute, 2000) III. The Art Film Reconsidered: Blow-Up (Antonioni, 1966) and Blow Out (De Palma, 1981) IV. The Evolving Western: From America to Italy and Back in Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone, 1968) and Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (Tarantino, 2003 and 2004) V. Neorealism Revisited by African American Directors in the New Millennium: Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (Daniels, 2009) and Miracle at St. Anna (Lee, 2008) VI. Whither the Remake? VII. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
Illustrations
1.1 Quo vadis? (Guazzoni, 1912)
1.2 Ben-Hur (Niblo, 1925)
2.1 Rudolph Valentino
2.2 Fernando Rivoli (Alberto Sordi) and Wanda (Brunella Bovo) in The White Sheik
2.3 Shooting the fotoromanzo in The White Sheik
2.4 On the set behind the screen in The Purple Rose of Cairo
2.5 Cecilia (Mia Farrow) at the movies in The Purple Rose of Cairo
2.6 Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) and Cecilia (Mia Farrow) in The Purple Rose of Cairo
2.7 Betty (Renée Zellweger) working at the Tip Top in Nurse Betty
2.8 Betty (Renée Zellweger) with cut-out of Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear) in Nurse Betty
3.1 Thomas (David Hemmings) photographs Veruschka in Blow-Up
3.2 Thomas (David Hemmings) with his montage in Blow-Up
3.3 Jack Terry (John Travolta) in the sound studio in Blow Out
3.4 Jack Terry (John Travolta) makes his movie in Blow Out
4.1 Initial duel in Once Upon a Time in the West between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and American guest stars
4.2 Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda) working out a deal in Once Upon a Time in the West
4.3 Jill (Claudia Cardinale) in Once Upon a Time in the West
4.4 Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) makes her moves in Kill Bill Vol. 1
5.1 Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) and Bruno (Enzo Staiola) Ricci contemplate a brighter future in Bicycle Thieves
5.2 Pina (Anna Magnani) tries to defend her man in Rome Open City
5.3 Precious (Gabby Sidibe) in Precious
5.4 Precious (Gabby Sidibe) and Mary (Mo’Nique) at home with Mongo (Quisha Powell) in Precious
5.5 Cesira (Sophia Loren) with Rosetta (Eleonora Brown) in Two Women
5.6 Screen shot: Hole in ceiling in Two Women
5.7 Screen shot: Hole in ceiling in Precious
5.8 Spike Lee, wearing the Buffalo Solider insignia, on the set of Miracle at St. Anna
6.1 Frank Slade (Al Pacino) and Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell) in Scent of a Woman
6.2 Raffaella (Mariangelo Melato) and Gennarino (Giancarlo Giannini) in Swept Away
6.3 Joanna (Goldie Hawn) and Dean (Kurt Russell) and family in Overboard
6.4 Matteo Scuro (Marcello Mastroianni) and daughter Tosca (Valeria Cavalli) at train station in Stanno tutti bene
6.5 Frank (Robert De Niro) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) in Everybody’s Fine
6.6 Cabiria (Giulietta Masina) in Nights of Cabiria
6.7 Charity Hope Valentine (Shirley MacLaine) in Sweet Charity
6.8 Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) conducts in 8½
6.9 Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Stephanie (Kate Hudson) et al. in Nine
6.10 Nanni Moretti plays himself in Dear Diary
7.1 Once Upon a Time in the West poster
Acknowledgments
Little did I realize that participation in seminars organized by the Laboratorio internazionale della comuncazione in the Friuli region of Italy in the summers of 1983 and 1984 would lead me to write a book on cinema. Those seminars, under the direction of Professor Bruno DeMarchi of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, drew an international group of students from Eastern Europe (Poland and Yugoslavia mainly), Western Europe, and the Middle East. I was the lone American. I could not have realized then that this experience would be the beginning of thinking about Italian cinema as a transnational phenomenon. One summer we had the honor of discussing filmmaking with Cesare Zavattini, already well advanced in years but still keenly passionate about cinema as an art form. Our studies brought us together to share perspectives on neorealism and commedia all’italiana . I am grateful to have had this experience, which was supported by a grant through the Italian Cultural Institute in New York.
Serendipity brought me to Italy, but I ended up studying the language, literature, and culture of that country because of dedicated, demanding, and inspiring teachers. Professor Edward Bradley, known for his rigor, energy, and passion for all things Roman and Greek, led our Dartmouth Classics Foreign Study program in Rome in the fall of 1979. Edward was the consummate teacher and remains so to this day. Our friendship is the kind that sustains one in life, and for that I am eternally grateful. In graduate school at Yale, I studied with Paolo Valesio, who encouraged me to read widely and explore the nuances of modern Italian literature. Courses on Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch with Giuseppe Mazzotta led me eventually to write a dissertation with him on Manzoni. I learn from Giuseppe whenever we talk because of his truly encyclopedic knowledge of ideas that have shaped literature and culture from within and without the canon. The late María Rosa Menocal was a reader of my dissertation and a mentor who gave me great counsel on academic and professional matters. I wish I could share this book with her. At the end of my time in graduate school, Deanna Shemek arrived. She mentored me early in my career and instilled in me a disciplined approach to writing. Penny Marcus has been my interlocutor on this project as well as on others, and I appreciate her advice, nuanced understanding of Italian cinema and culture, as well as her insistence on clear writing. Watching and discussing movies with Penny and Allan is one of life’s great pleasures. Conversations with John Freccero about Blow-Up have helped me appreciate how that film, like Dante’s Commedia , offers myriad possibilities for analysis. Robert Farris Thompson, who was Master of Yale’s Timothy Dwight College while I was a Resident Fellow, has taught me about the translation of culture from one continent to another through his passionate, sensitive, and disciplined study of African art. Thank you, Master T.
In the profession, I have had the opportunity to work with a number of colleagues whose experience and guidance have helped me enormously. Anthony Tamburri and Paolo Giordano, whom I met years ago at a conference, have organized lectures and symposia that have furthered the trajectory of Italian American studies. Their ideas have shaped the vanguard of Italian American studies, and their generosity and encouragement have nurtured a new generation of scholars in the field.
Early in my career at Fairfield, while preparing a course on the Italian American experience with a grant from the Humanities Institute of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University, I met author Anthony Riccio, whose books record the oral histories of Italian Americans. Our encounters in New Haven, both by chance and by design, always seem to inspire new ideas; his work in recording the stories of others is critical for our understanding of the immigrant experience. I have discussed this book, as well as other projects, with Peter Patrikis, whose keen editing and incisive thoughts always improve my work. I can always count on him to steer me in the right direction. James Peltz, Co-director of State University of New York Press, has provided encouragement and assistance from this manuscript’s earliest days. I appreciate his professionalism and courtesy in all our interactions. I also wish to thank my production editor at the Press, Diane Ganeles, who did a superb job putting this book together.
I am thankful for the collegiality and dedication of my colleagues at Fairfield. I have benefited from discussions on film with Jiwei Xiao, who has taught me much about the nuances of her language and culture. Joel Goldfield has encouraged me, and I have learned from his dedication