Angela Prudenzi, Elisa Resegotti, translator, Vittorio De Seta, Álvaro Machado, Florinda Bolkan and Leon Cakoff
Italian Political Cinema is the theme of a debate and a book
Cinema Político Italiano – Anos 60 e 70 offers the reader brand new interviews with important names of this cinematographic period. Researchers Angela Prudenzi and Elisa Resegotti collected amazing declarations of the filmmakers that, with social and political efforts, denounced their country’s society sore spots. “Films made at that time had a great impact on the world. You just have to remember that the film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion won an Oscar”, says Prudenzi. The author confesses still that both she and Elisa have chosen to do the interviews with the directors because no one could explain it better than themselves why they would make such films. Elisa notes, therefore, that filmmakers, at first, felt reticent when they heard of the proposal. “Most of them thought it unnecessary to speak about that time, because they believe the films speak for themselves”, she says. According to her, the convincing strategy was showing them the importance of bringing back this moment, the reason why those movies were made.Mostra’s director, Leon Cakoff, made it a point to remind people of the vision Brazilians had about this period of Italian cinema. According to him, there was a bitter taste, a big expectation because we didn’t know if we would be allowed or not to watch such films, due to censorship. “Those directors were to us a kind of resistance heroes”, he confesses. Journalist Álvaro Machado who, besides Cakoff, was responsible for the book’s organization, said he was impressed with the unity of thoughts among the interviews. To him, that period shaped itself as a true political movement.
Italian master Vittorio de Seta (Bandits in Orgosolo and Letters from Sahara, screened at this 30th Mostra), one of the filmmakers interviewed in the book, affirmed he doesn’t see many changes from those times to today. To him, maybe what changed was just an ideology, because at that time everybody was politically left-winged. To De Seta, there are still two kinds of cinema that are very distinct. “There is the evasion cinema and the civil and social engagement cinema. I’m neither for one nor the other in particular, I only think that the engagement cinema deserves a little more help and support”, he says. He also confessed that the reason for not shooting a film for twenty years was not the lack of resources and opportunities. “I didn’t shoot any films during this time because I was out of ideas. When you have a good idea to shoot, you can make the film”, he states.
Florinda Bolkan, who acted in many films during that time, remembered that period’s peculiarity that most called her attention. “Italian cinema has the ability to speak of very serious problems with that typical humor”, she said. To her, another characteristic of Italian cinema is the ability to build by using polemics: “The Italians talk, discuss and fight and thus come to an understanding”. Florinda, whose film I Didn’t Know Tururu (2000) had a special screening on Saturday, took the opportunity to confess that soon she’ll start shooting her second feature film. She didn’t give any details, but she guaranteed that it will be shot in Ceará state: “There is always that one place we really love, and that place to me is Ceará state.”