Essay \"Realism Italian Neo Realism And Indian New Wave Cinema\" - Grade 68 PDF

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REALISM Italian Neo Realism and Indian New Wave Cinema...

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Drawing on a minimum of TWO (and a maximum of FOUR) films from at least TWO different film movements discuss their respective ‘realisms’ by contextualizing and comparing the films aesthetically, historically and culturally. Italian Neorealism and New Indian Cinema have many similarities aesthetically, historically and culturally. Both movements changed Cinema, as we know it today. Influencing each other and other movements to come about, Italian Neorealism and New Indian Cinema are highly influential and important historically and culturally. I will be focussing on two films from these eras, The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio De Sica, 1948i) presenting Italian Neorealism and Pather Panchali (SasSatyajit Ray, 1955ii) presenting New Indian Cinema. These films and the movements they present are the factors that have influenced the production of meaning in film, through their newly shown perspectives of lower class realism, contrastingly to the norm of Hollywood idealism. “Realism doesn’t mean showing real things, but showing how things really are”- Bertolt Brechtiii

Vittorio De Sica’s, 1948, The Bicycle Thief was made within the Italian Neorealism film movement. The film is set and made in post-WW2 Italy. During this time, nearly all official film studios and production facilities were destroyed such as Italy’s main studio Cinecittàiv. In spite of this, Neorealist filmmakers moved to making films on the street, on location, with natural lighting, using non-actors. This spurred the introduction of working class characters and their stories. Following these working class stories, Italian Neorealism started unfolding the struggles and brutal perspective of realism of the working classes, paving a new way for gritty and a new version of realism in films. This movement drastically contrasted with the wishful thinking and glorified idealism of mainstream Hollywood and Italian fascist cinema at the time. Italian neorealism was used as a tool for social change at a time of Political Turmoil. It’s films being viewed as radical and engaging in the reconstruction of Post-WW2 Italy, rather than films made for entertainment as seen in most Cinema at the time. The simple stories engage in this new way, by focusing on the glaring social problems of the time, such as the effects of the Resistance and the war, poverty or chronic unemployment.v

The Bicycle Thief itself has been described as the highest point of Neo-realistic filmmaking;

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Renowned Play write Arthur Miller wrote – “The film is unafraid to examine openly, straightforwardly, the terrible distorted, destructive world, which Man has made for himself”vi. The film follows a working class man and his son post-WW2. Throughout the film, we watch them as they embark on the grueling task of retrieving their stolen bicycle from the streets of Rome. The bicycle being a pivotal item that without, the father would be unable to work and provide for his struggling family. This narrative finely fits to the new Italian Neorealism movement of the time, focusing on the devastation of poverty and chronic unemployment. Within the opening scene of the film we see a hoard of Italian men struggling and fighting their way into a decrepit job center of sorts, only for majority of them to then be turned away. However, our protagonist, Antonio Ricci, is offered a job on the condition he has a bicycle, which at that time he doesn’t. Hearing this fact, many of the other men shout over each other, stepping forward attempting to take the job, regardless of whether or not it is in their field of work. The sheer mass of desperation in only this, the opening scene, sets the tone for the entire film, desperation. It also highlights the mass poverty of Italy’s population at the time, a key theme of Neorealism and of the film itself.

The use of non-actors is also very prevalent in The Bicycle Thief, The actor playing Antonio was in fact not an actual actor; he was a steel worker. Even Antonio’s son in the film Bruno Ricci was also a non-actor, cast when the director saw him on the street during filming for the film. This use of Non-Actors highlights the Neorealism style of the film; filming on location and almost as a Guerilla style, Italian Neorealism films often found their plots and characters, actors and equipment literally on-set, being inspired by the obvious world surrounding them. The characters within The Bicycle Thief are also Non heroes, they are simple working real life people. This adds another depth to the sense of realism throughout the film.

Set in Rome, we are shown the city in an entirely different light to how it is seen today. Throughout the film we are taken on a tour of the city as we follow Antonio and his son. It is not picture perfect as we see Rome now; it is however, aesthetically harsh and unsettling, naturally lit, barren landscape. Throughout the film we are presented with rain, whether it be falling from the sky, or leaving the ground wet with its aftermath, classically, this use of

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rain emphasizes the devastation, the depression of the public left out in the wet to suffer, whilst the better off stay warm inside. The Restaurant scene comments on this glaring divide between the classes. The differences in culture from the upper class families down to Antonio’s working class families is made very apparent to viewers through use of costume, body language and dialogue. Antonio exclaims to his son Bruno in this scene; “To eat like them, you have to earn at least a million a month”. In 1948 at this film’s release, those watching of the upper classes would not have before recognized the devastation in the lower classes, as it was the upper classes and their stories with happy endings, dominating film, we only saw their version of ‘realism’ in film. The Bicycle Thief acts as an oppositional tool towards Italian fascist and Hollywood cinema. The Italian Neorealism within the film emphasizes the separation and devastation, drawing in on the social injustice and presenting the world through the eyes of the lower class, showing their version ‘realism’.

Italian Neorealism influenced many more styles of realism to come about in Cinema, specifically Indian New Wave Cinema also defined as Parallel Cinema. After the emergence of Italian Neorealism in the 1940’s, India and many others worldly Cinema’s took on the traits to show stories of realism to the lower classes. 1944-1960 was considered ‘The Golden Age’ of Indian Cinema; it was a key point historically in India as they gained independence from the British Empire. Majority of Indian Cinema, prior to this, was centered on the Bollywood style, upbeat, idealistic and often musical. The pursuit of cinematic realism, originating in West Bengal, India in the 1950’s, following the Italian Neorealism of the 40’s, was seen as a break from this national tradition, and alike to Italian Neorealism seen as revolutionary and sociopolitical in context. Key themes of Indian New Wave Cinema are almost identically ‘parallel’ to Italian Neorealism; Low budget, non-actors, political and focusing on lower class stories of grief and misfortune.

An astounding example of the Indian New Wave Movement is Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali. Satyajit Ray commented on Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 The Bicycle Thief saying “I knew immediately that if I ever made Pather Panchali – and the idea had been at the back of my mind for some time – I would make it in the same way.”vii With this in mind, there are many key similarities between The Bicycle Thief and Pather Panchali Historically, culturally and

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aesthetically. Pather Panchali focuses it plot around the devastation of poverty for a family’s village life in India. The Protagonist of this film is a young boy, Apu, who is seen helpless as his father struggles to find a new job, his elderly relative dies and his sister becomes critically ill. This helplessness and devastation of the narrative throughout the film mimics much of The Bicycle Thief’s depressingly realistic narrative. This style of narrative pushed the movement to popularity as of the contemporaneous subject matter; The Bengal famine in 1943, which caused millions of deaths due to poverty and starvation following WW2. For most viewers at the time, this movement of devastating narrative was their own personal realism.

The Indian state government, to endorse the authentic art culture of Indian Cinema, funded Pather Panchali. However, this funding still left Satyajit Ray directing on a shoestring budget, again, likewise to Italian Neorealism traits within The Bicycle Thief. This led to a lot of on location shooting, showing the barren and dull landscape of poverty stricken India. Aesthetically, this landscape helps as it enhances the tone of the film, mellow and depressing and brutally realistic, like Italian Neorealism. However, even with this small budget and un-exciting landscape, Satyajit Ray’s films still managed to win major awards from Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. His early Neorealist films helped to pave the way for meaningful cinema in India through the Neorealism methods he employed.

When focusing on these films and how they are represented aesthetically, they both have many things to offer. The Bicycle Thief and Pather Panchali both leave the audience with a lasting sense of contentment through visual story telling, contrastingly of the depressing main narratives. In The Bicycle Thief even though Antonio has lost everything he still manages to hold onto his humanity, as his attempt to steal another’s bike is met with empathy and forgiveness, we see him smile relieved as he walks away with his son hand in hand. In Pather Panchali, Apu, after facing two heart-wrenching losses, finds his recently deceased sister’s necklace, which she earlier denied to have stolen. He then dramatically throws it into a river. These two scenes of each film both leave us with the lasting image of humanity, as Apu reaches contentment throwing away the stolen necklace, clearing his sister’s name, and as Anotonio is also cleared of his sins from attempting to steal the bicycle.

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This lasting image of humanity makes these films whole; despite the devastation of the story lines, the characters, as human as ever, still retain their compassion and hope, no matter how difficult the hard-ship. These somewhat light-hearted endings, contrast drastically with the main storylines, evermore highlighting the cultural devastation shown within them.

The movements of Indian New Wave and Italian Neorealism emergence within Cinema have helped to guide Cinema today. Their use of progressive techniques has made a historical impact, guiding the diverse themes and genres available to us today. Culturally and radically these movements purpose as political revolutionary films have fulfilled their aims to enlighten the public of all sides of the story, showing the lower classes and the misfortune they face through magnificent story telling and aesthetics. Almost entirely parallel to each other, Indian New Wave and Italian Neorealism have successfully defined their purposes within their movements, and still have impact today, as they continually remain some of the best works of Cinema produced, with a lot to learn from historically, culturally and ascetically.

BIBLIOGRAPHY GALT, R. & SCHOONOVER, K. (2010). Global Art Cinema: New Theories and Histories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

V Renee (2015) 10 Film Movements That Changed Everything. NOFILM SCHOOL. Accessed at: http://nofilmschool.com/2015/08/10-film-movements-changed-everything

A.O.Scott (2009) 'The Bicycle Thief' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times. The New York Times Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njLcOqW7xV0

ENDNOTES

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i Vittorio De Sica, (1948) Bicycle Thief ENTE NAZIONALE INDUSTRIE CINEMATOGRAFICHE. Italy ii SasSatyajit Ray, (1955) Pather Panchali AURORA FILM CORP. India iii Bertolt Brecht, (c.1938) Popularity and Realism iv History of Cinecitta ROME FILE Accessed at: http://www.romefile.com/culture/cinecitta.php v Badley L, Barton Palmer J, & Schneider S. J. (2006) Traditions in World Cinema. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. PGs.31-32 vi Sabine Haenni, Sarah Barrow, John White (2014). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films. ROUTLEDGE. US. vii S. Ray (1996) My Years with Apu. New Delhi: Penguin Books, p. 25....