Italy’s rich cinematic tradition can be traced to Italian filmmakers’ use of both interior and exterior methods of characterization and theme. The filmmakers do not simply rely on dialogue or actions to tell their audience a character’s motivation or how he feels. Rather they reinforce these messages with the use of techniques involving cinematic space. Two of the most famous Italian films, (and both remarkable for their use of cinematic space) are Bernardo Bertolucci’s Il Conformista and Federico Fellini’s 8 ½.
Bertolucci and his crew use sets and the mise en scene to suggest the character of Marcello Clerici’s search for an identity and a place in society. One instance of space denoting class occurs early in the film when Clerici is having dinner with his fiancé and her mother. As they eat dinner at the table with full cutlery sets, Bertolucci cuts briefly to a shot of their servant standing in the kitchen, eating the same spaghetti out of the serving bowl. She has no place to sit or proper utensils to use. She is on the left side of the frame and in focus, while Clerici and the others are on the right side of the frame, out of focus. This suggests that while their worlds intertwine and mingle, they live very different lives. This scene, though very brief, is indicative of Mary Wood’s assertion that space in Italian cinema is “never neutral…and always expressive of power relations” and the instability of class ideologies (Wood 201).
Though Clerici leads an affluent life, he is not comfortable with this. The scene in which he returns to his childhood home to retrieve his mother emphasizes Clerici’s mindset. The property reeks of excess; the house is gated, and outside there is grandiose stonework. The entrance that Clerici runs back and forth through dwarfs him, and likewise his mother’s bedroom’s vastness overpowers the characters. This largeness suggests wealth and power, but at the same time Clerici’s house is rundown – vines overrun the exterior and the interiors are dirty. The decrepit nature of the house shows that Clerici has distanced himself from that lifestyle and implies that he is estranged from his family. This is verbally confirmed later in the scene when Clerici demands of Manganiello “country before family”, a Fascist doctrine and an insight into Clerici’s general disconnection from people.
Bertolucci further explores Clerici’s inability to connect with people later in the film at the French dance hall. At the start of the sequence the dance hall is filled with people, which combined with the orange glow from the lighting creates a warm, welcoming feeling. When Giulia and Anna take everyone outside to dance, Clerici is left almost entirely alone in the giant room. The vastness of the room and the now visible, pale, white floor create a less inviting feeling, which is compounded when the dancers return and surround Clerici in the center of the hall. He looks unnatural and uncomfortable and the experience represents a discomfort in his world. The scene is effective because of Bertolucci’s use of cinematic space to render emotions; the audience feels Clerici’s isolation in the empty dance hall, making the film a much more rewarding viewing experience.
The opening scene of Fellini’s 8 ½ is another brilliant use of technique to portray to the audience a character’s frame of mind. The film follows director Guido Anselmi as he tries to piece together his newest film. Fellini populates the film with dream sequences and flashbacks, which interweave with reality. It is a dream sequence that opens the film, and in the scene, Guido is trapped in his car inside a tunnel. The tunnel is packed with stalled cars and buses filled with people who stare at Guido. According to Mary Wood, this is a typical element of Italian cinema in which females (or insubordinate males) “are contained in enclosed spaces” and “often accompanied by groups or crowds of people monitoring and observing their movements” (201). The fact that this happens to the film’s central male character could emphasize Guido’s weakness and the writer’s block he experiences. The car begins to fill up with smoke and Guido tries but fails to escape from the car. Throughout the whole sequence, Fellini refuses to show Guido’s face, making the audience feel trapped and immobile. There is an unnatural silence as the only audio during the sequence is Guido’s frantic breathing. As the paranoia climaxes, suddenly Guido is outside the car floating through the air and the shots are more spacious and wide, resulting in feelings of relief and freedom for the audience.
The deus ex machina by which Guido escapes the car foreshadows the reflexive nature of the film and emphasizes the dreamlike quality of the movie. In just the first two minutes of the film, Fellini not only manages to side the audience with his hero but also makes them feel what is like to be under constant scrutiny and surveillance by the public.
In a movie about making a movie, Fellini purposefully makes some of the sets look constructed. Filmmakers constantly relate their world to movies, so when Guido remembers his childhood, it makes sense that the locations look artificial and like they could be sets. The scene in which a young Guido confesses takes place in a confession booth, represented by one of three black kiosks that stand out starkly from the white background. The color contrast emphasizes where the action is taking place and the good vs. evil dynamic that accompanies confession.
It is clear from Bernardo Bertolucci and Federico Fellini’s examples that using a range of techniques like framing, focus, set design, and shot size can reinforce the ideologies of the filmmakers and the film’s characters. Neither Il Conformista nor 8 ½ would be considered the masterpieces they are today had the filmmakers not enhanced the films through the use of cinematic space.
Though Clerici leads an affluent life, he is not comfortable with this. The scene in which he returns to his childhood home to retrieve his mother emphasizes Clerici’s mindset. The property reeks of excess; the house is gated, and outside there is grandiose stonework. The entrance that Clerici runs back and forth through dwarfs him, and likewise his mother’s bedroom’s vastness overpowers the characters. This largeness suggests wealth and power, but at the same time Clerici’s house is rundown – vines overrun the exterior and the interiors are dirty. The decrepit nature of the house shows that Clerici has distanced himself from that lifestyle and implies that he is estranged from his family. This is verbally confirmed later in the scene when Clerici demands of Manganiello “country before family”, a Fascist doctrine and an insight into Clerici’s general disconnection from people.
Bertolucci further explores Clerici’s inability to connect with people later in the film at the French dance hall. At the start of the sequence the dance hall is filled with people, which combined with the orange glow from the lighting creates a warm, welcoming feeling. When Giulia and Anna take everyone outside to dance, Clerici is left almost entirely alone in the giant room. The vastness of the room and the now visible, pale, white floor create a less inviting feeling, which is compounded when the dancers return and surround Clerici in the center of the hall. He looks unnatural and uncomfortable and the experience represents a discomfort in his world. The scene is effective because of Bertolucci’s use of cinematic space to render emotions; the audience feels Clerici’s isolation in the empty dance hall, making the film a much more rewarding viewing experience.
The opening scene of Fellini’s 8 ½ is another brilliant use of technique to portray to the audience a character’s frame of mind. The film follows director Guido Anselmi as he tries to piece together his newest film. Fellini populates the film with dream sequences and flashbacks, which interweave with reality. It is a dream sequence that opens the film, and in the scene, Guido is trapped in his car inside a tunnel. The tunnel is packed with stalled cars and buses filled with people who stare at Guido. According to Mary Wood, this is a typical element of Italian cinema in which females (or insubordinate males) “are contained in enclosed spaces” and “often accompanied by groups or crowds of people monitoring and observing their movements” (201). The fact that this happens to the film’s central male character could emphasize Guido’s weakness and the writer’s block he experiences. The car begins to fill up with smoke and Guido tries but fails to escape from the car. Throughout the whole sequence, Fellini refuses to show Guido’s face, making the audience feel trapped and immobile. There is an unnatural silence as the only audio during the sequence is Guido’s frantic breathing. As the paranoia climaxes, suddenly Guido is outside the car floating through the air and the shots are more spacious and wide, resulting in feelings of relief and freedom for the audience.
The deus ex machina by which Guido escapes the car foreshadows the reflexive nature of the film and emphasizes the dreamlike quality of the movie. In just the first two minutes of the film, Fellini not only manages to side the audience with his hero but also makes them feel what is like to be under constant scrutiny and surveillance by the public.
In a movie about making a movie, Fellini purposefully makes some of the sets look constructed. Filmmakers constantly relate their world to movies, so when Guido remembers his childhood, it makes sense that the locations look artificial and like they could be sets. The scene in which a young Guido confesses takes place in a confession booth, represented by one of three black kiosks that stand out starkly from the white background. The color contrast emphasizes where the action is taking place and the good vs. evil dynamic that accompanies confession.
It is clear from Bernardo Bertolucci and Federico Fellini’s examples that using a range of techniques like framing, focus, set design, and shot size can reinforce the ideologies of the filmmakers and the film’s characters. Neither Il Conformista nor 8 ½ would be considered the masterpieces they are today had the filmmakers not enhanced the films through the use of cinematic space.
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