IV.

Decline of Italian Cinema

In the 1970s Italian cinema as a distinct entity began to fall apart. Audiences and production levels declined. Leading directors were increasingly tempted by the lure of the international film, signal examples being Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris (1972, with Marlon Brando) and Antonioni’s The Passenger (1975; Professione: Reporter, with Jack Nicholson). Of the great masters of the post-war period only Fellini remained strongly rooted in an Italian background (albeit interpreted in a singularly idiosyncratic manner). The world of the Mafia, terrorism, and political corruption, however, continued to provide themes both for established directors such as Francesco Rosi, with Cadaveri Eccellenti (1975; Illustrious Corpses), and for a new generation of actor-directors such as Nanni Moretti and Roberto Benigni. The biting and often nihilistic satire of the so-called “new comics” is quite unlike the gentler “comedy Italian-style” popularized by actors of an earlier generation such as Marcello Mastroianni. It has also been less successfully exported—the glory days of Italian cinema have indisputably passed despite a slight resurgence in the international popularity of Italian cinema in the 1990s with films like La Scorta (Ricky Tognazzi, 1993) and Caro Diario (Nanni Moretti, 1994; Dear Diary). Directors such as Gianni Amelio (1994; Lamerica) have not enjoyed the international acclaim they deserve. Only Bertolucci has been able to capitalize on earlier success, notably with the Academy Award-winning The Last Emperor (1987) and most recently with Stealing Beauty (1996) and L'Assedio (1998; Besieged), though these are chiefly English-language films. At the 1999 annual Academy Awards Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in La Vita è Bella (1997; Life Is Beautiful). The film, which he also directed, drew both acclaim and controversy for its story of a father using humour to shield his family from the horrors of a World War II concentration camp. Benigni's win marked the first time that the best actor award went to someone in a foreign-language production; the film also won awards for Best Foreign Film and Best Dramatic Score.