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‘Io so’: the absence of resolution as resolution in contemporary Italian cinema about the ‘years of lead’

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posted on 2022-09-20, 05:45 authored by Giacomo LichtnerGiacomo Lichtner
This article analyses three fantasy sequences in contemporary Italian cinema about political terrorism in the period known as the anni di piombo ('years of lead'). It argues that, faced with divided memories, ideologically-charged narratives of the past, political interference and the so-called Italian anomalies, film-makers have reacted by making the absence of resolution a question in its own right. The article identifies and analyses three specific approaches, each linked to a sequence from each film. The first sequence, 'uno sfondo di verità', focuses on Marco Tullio Giordana's Romanzo di una strage, which navigates the absence of resolution, lamenting it but also exploiting it to force a particular version of events. The second sequence, 'vado a dormire', focuses on Marco Bellocchio's Buongiorno, notte, which uses a dream sequence to fabricate a different resolution, but simultaneously underscore reality. The third sequence, 'mea culpa', analyses the invented confession scene in Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo, arguing that it employs ambiguity to find closure in imagination itself, rather than in an imagined truth. Through the micro-analyses of these texts, this article seeks to highlight a broader question about cinema's relationship with ambiguity and mystery in modern Italian history.

History

Preferred citation

Lichtner, G. (2017). ‘Io so’: the absence of resolution as resolution in contemporary Italian cinema about the ‘years of lead’. Modern Italy, 22(2), 167-181. https://doi.org/10.1017/mit.2017.14

Journal title

Modern Italy

Volume

22

Issue

2

Publication date

2017-05-27

Pagination

167-181 (15)

Publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Publication status

Published

Contribution type

Article

Online publication date

2017-05-18

ISSN

1353-2944

eISSN

1469-9877

Language

en