Johnson, R. orcid.org/0000-0002-9408-4924 (2020) A brutal humanism for the new millennium? The legacy of Neorealism in contemporary cinema of migration. Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies, 8 (1). pp. 61-77. ISSN 2047-7368
Abstract
This article proposes that the institutional construction of Italian cinema of migration in the new millennium may be conditioned by an enduring, implicit aspect of Neorealism's legacy: a 'brutal humanism' that posits the witnessing of bodies in crisis as an ethical act. Supplementing Karl Schoonover's theory of brutal humanism with Lacanian gaze theory, I argue that the Berlin International Film Festival's synopsis of a recent cause célèbre of Italian cinema, Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) (Rosi, 2016), instantiates a 'brutal vision' directed towards the figure of the refugee, while the film text's depiction of the 'objective gaze' of these characters challenges such relations of power and looking. The article underlines the importance of competitive European film festivals and paratexts in the international circulation and ideological construction of Italian cinema, while arguing that the film text itself can offer a site of resistance to the meanings that institutions ascribe to it.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Intellect Ltd. 2020. This is an author produced version of an article published in Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Neorealism; Fire at Sea; refugee crisis; film festivals; brutal humanism; Lacanian gaze theory; neo-colonialism; cinema of migration |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Languages Cultures & Societies (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Aug 2023 10:41 |
Last Modified: | 03 Aug 2023 10:41 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Intellect |
Identification Number: | 10.1386/jicms_00005_1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:202099 |