Italian Neorealism

As I mentioned in my first post that one of my principal mantras in life that comes from teaching Italian is “Speranza” ( Hope). I just viewed A beautiful Italian film called ” La Fuga degli Innocenti“/ The Escape of the Innocent (2004) on La Rai last week which reminded me of the several neorealistic Italian films that I used in my AP Italian IV classes throughout the years at Lyons Township High School such as Roberto Rossellini’s Roma, Citta Aperta / Open City (1945) or Vittorio De Sica’s Ladri di Biciclette/Bicycle Thief (1948). Neorealism is a movement in Italian cinema with a veristic style that began with Luchino Visconti’s Ossessione / Obsession(1942) who is considered the father of Italian neorealistic cinema. Neorealistic films have the following characteristics: ■Authentic settings in black and white ■Melodrama ■Realismo ( Verismo) ■Music that is powerful and serious ■Contrast of the tragic with the comic ■Episodes of Humanity ■Real persons, not always actors ■Dramatic scenes ■Instructional scenes ( that teach life lessons) ■ Ugliness of life not hidden We all like films that entertain us but sometimes, there are pedogogical films like neorealistic ones that do not just make us cry or laugh but that teach us profound life lessons from real occurences in human history. Both la Fuga degli Innocenti and Roma, Citta Aperta remind me of another mantra of mine that my father and mother taught me from my Italian and catholic upbringing: From the bad comes the greater good ( Dal male viene il bene). The existence of God is always questioned in these films that portray man’s inhumanity and brutality toward his fellowman. But in the end, the presence of God is finally visible through people who love completely and sacrifice their lives for the greater good of humanity. The Italian film I viewed on La Rai (The Escape of the Innocent) is about Joseph, a Jewish elementary teacher and other Italians ( both fascists and partisans) who help a group of abandoned Jewish children escape persecution during World War II. This is one of the most powerful films I have seen in a long time. Though this film and neorealistic films alike are difficult to watch, they continually teach us lessons of hope and humanity and that in the midst of evil, there is always good and there is always God. The final scene of the film is extraordinary with the last, poignantly repeated words of Joseph, “For the love of God!!!” ( Per l’amore di Dio) that bring salvation to Joseph, to the children, and to all , both in the physical and spiritual sense of the word. It must be said that this film moved me tremendously as someone who was born in a refugee camp after World War II in Novara in Piedmont after my parents fled from their home in Fiume in Venezia Giulia, fearful of being killed by the communists because they were Italian and catholic. When I say the Pledge of Allegiance or when I sing the National Anthem, I truly feel their impact in the recesses of my heart, mind and soul. Freedom and our rights and responsibilites as human beings are inextricably linked. Never take your freedom as Americans for granted! Let us as citizens of the United States protect and guard this precious freedom that we still have. We have the right and the responsibility to fight for our moral principles and for social justice. Let us always be vigilant toward this end. This cultural lesson on Italian neorealistic cinema that I taught throughout my high school teaching career in Italian IV AP reflects once more “SPERANZA!” Alla Prossima, Dorina