This article offers a short metacritical overview of the discourse on ideology and political cinema as it has evolved and has been received by critics, with particular reference to Italian cinema. An update of the debate over ideology is pertinent in terms of its currency. Firstly, because of the recent trend of films that treat the political as their subject matter: ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards (Stefano Sollima, 2012), Diaz – Non pulire questo sangue (Daniele Vicari, 2012), Cosimo e Nicole (Fransceco Amato, 2012), Viva l’Italia (Massimiliano Bruno, 2012), L’ultima ruota del carro (Giovanni Veronesi, currently in production), to cite just a few among the most recent titles. Secondly, because the debate itself faces the historical contingencies of a now global world dominated by the pervasive ideology of neo-liberalism and inscribed in an intermedial technoscape that, while exhibiting similar drivers for change, is profoundly different from the context of the post-1968 season that functioned as the accelerator of a theoretical and critical overhaul. I will first outline what I consider a few blind spots concerning critical approaches, definitions and ungrounded common places that are still widespread in commentaries on Italian cinema; I then suggest a few points for further discussion with particular regard to modes of reality and genres.
Russo, Paolo
School of Arts
Year of publication: 2013Date of RADAR deposit: 2020-07-07