Terrorism, Italian Style: Representations of Political Violence in Contemporary Italian Cinema

Ruth Glynn (Editor), Giancarlo Lombardi (Editor), Alan O'Leary (Editor)

Series: imlr books

Published in association with: Institute of Modern Languages Research

The legacy of Italy’s experience of political violence and terrorism in the anni di piombo (‘years of lead’, c. 1969-83) continues to exercise the Italian imagination to an extraordinary degree. Cinema has played a particularly prominent role in articulating the ongoing impact of the anni di piombo and in defining the ways in which Italians remember and work through the atrocities and traumas of those years. Terrorism, Italian Style brings together some of the most important scholars contributing to the study of cinematic representations of the anni di piombo. Drawing on a comparative approach and a broad range of critical perspectives (including genre theory, family and gender issues, trauma theory and ethics), the book addresses an extensive range of films produced between the 1970s and the present and articulates their significance and relevance to contemporary Italian society and culture.

Contents

Introduction: Terrorism, Italian Style

Ruth Glynn, Giancarlo Lombardi, Alan O’Leary

SECTION 1: TERRORISM AND GENRE

1 Navigating the Labyrinth: Cinematic Investigations of Right-Wing Terrorism

Mary P. Wood

2 ‘In pieno fumetto’: Bertolucci, Terrorism and the commedia all’italiana

Alan O’Leary

3 Primetime Terror: Representations of the Armed Struggle in TV Drama

Giancarlo Lombardi

SECTION 2: FAMILY MOTIFS AND FEMINIZING TERROR

4 Keeping it in the Family: Politically Motivated Violence in Tre Fratelli, Colpire al Cuore and Segreti Segreti

Max Henninger

5 To Strike at the Heart of Family and State: Gianni Amelio’s Colpire al Cuore

Ellen Nerenberg

6 Terrorism, a Female Malady

Ruth Glynn

SECTION 3: SCREENING MORO

7 Screening the Moro Case

Rachele Tardi

8 A Spectre is Haunting Italy: The Double ‘Emplotment’ of the Moro Affair

Nicoletta Marini-Maio

9 Moro Martyred, Braghetti Betrayed: History Retold in Buongiorno, notte

Dana Renga

SECTION 4: TERRORISM AND ETHICS

10 Ethics of Conviction vs Ethics of Responsibility in Cinematic Representations of Italian Left-Wing Terrorism of the 1970s

Leonardo Cecchini

Glossary

Bibliography, Filmography and Theatrical Production

Paperback: 9780854572281 / 244 pages / mm x mm

Ruth Glynn (Editor)

Giancarlo Lombardi (Editor)

Alan O'Leary (Editor)

Subject: Italian Studies, Languages, Cultures and Societies

BISAC codes: SOC002010

Thema codes: ATFA

Keywords: Aldo Moro Case, Anni di piombo, Brigate Rosse, Commedia all' italiana, Italian serial drama, Memory studies Bombing, Neo-fascists, Piazza Fontana, gender studies