Scholarly record

IMAGES OF THE GREAT WAR: NOTES ON THE PORTRAYAL OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN ITALIAN FILM IN THE 1930s

F. Bono

Abstract

The present paper aims to investigate the ways in which the First World War was portrayed on the Italian screens during the Fascist regime. For this purpose, the paper will discuss a number of films about the war made in Italy between the 1920s and 1930s, ranging from Mario VolpeВ’s Il grido dellВ’aquila, produced in 1923 on the occasion of the first anniversary of FascismВ’s seizure of power, in October 1922, to Marco ElterВ’s Le scarpe al sole, which is commonly regarded as one of the best Italian films on the Great War. The films to be examined also include Giovacchino ForzanoВ’s Camicia nera and Oreste BiancoliВ’s Piccolo alpino, which have generally been considered of minor interest. In examining these films, particular attention will be directed to discussing the ways in which the representation of the First World War changed in the course of the 1920s and 1930s. Little consideration has been devoted to this aspect in scholarly works on the portrayal of the Great War in Italian cinema. This essay will specifically address the issue, taking care in placing the films against the background of the Fascist regimeВ’s ideology and, notably, its reading of ItalyВ’s history and the First World War.

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