Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository
Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository
they are fuelling, he threatens an implacable revenge that begins later with the violent murder of young Fabrizio Pioppi. The dark, amoral side of society is thus metaphorically represented by the way Giovanni and Attila utter their words. The content of the monologues is designed to elicit an intellectual engagement from viewers that emerges through the affective charge generated by the sinister delivery of the lines. The substance of Attila's monologue enables - and encourages - viewers to elaborate a truncated hierarchy of preference within which the Fascist labourers embodied by Attila somehow seem more coherent than their unscrupulous commanders. Such distinctions had already emerged in The Conformist through Manganiello's disgust in response to Marcello Clerici's cowardice. In 1900, Bertolucci reiterates this differentiated perspective as, during his death scene, Attila stands upright and proclaims his Fascist pride in a declamatory style, while Alfredo never pays for supporting a regime whose nature he was fully aware of. In this sense, Alfredo's opportunism is a variation of that of Marcello Clerici, reflecting a divergence between political awareness and personal conduct. Interestingly, Bertolucci defines Attila and Regina as victims because they are 'completely instrumentalized' by the ruling class who make them the interface for 'all the aggression it lacks the strength, the guts, to express directly itself (Georgakas-Rubenstein, 1985:145). Shaping the mood of 1900: charting the seasons; sex and violence as emotion markers The film's narration presents different visuals which are instrumental in generating a shifting emotional climate. The stunning colour scheme and warm lighting of the sequence related to the protagonists' childhood cast a lyrical aura on the narrative, and appear designed to create a mood of enchanted fascination. By contrast the narrative related to the class struggle during the rise and rule of Fascism is emphasized by the use of dark colours and cold lighting, which contribute to create a mood of oppression and unease. Lyricism is deployed again in the last 212
part of the film depicting the peasants' celebration at Fascism's fall. This strategy is explained by Bertolucci as he describes how he thought of the four seasons as the most appropriate structure for a film about the countryside. Summer was attached to the protagonists' childhood; Autumn/Winter to the rise and rule of Fascism; Spring 'corresponds to the Liberation Day. April 25, 1945', which he conceived as the peasants" enactment of'the Utopia of the revolution' (Georgakas-Rubenstein, 1984: 140-141). Within this evocative framework that forms the film's 'emotional backdrop', Bertolucci periodically inserts sexual and violent scenes whose camera framings and realist mises-en- scene are designed to draw viewers more strongly into the diegesis. One sequence portrays a visit made to a prostitute by Alfredo and Olmo, and it features a POV shot as they watch a screen behind which the girl undresses. This creates alignment with the viewer, and also cues anticipation and curiosity on the part of spectators regarding the extent of visual access to the girl's body and to the ensuing action that is likely to be accorded by the director, given his visual control over diegetic space. For decades, directors had exercised self-censorship to bypass potential problems of nudity in their work, but the next shot unexpectedly raises the viewer's sexual expectations by using a closed framing of the three characters - shot frontally in medium shot - as they lie on the bed. The frame composition's symmetry, the girl functioning as the central axis, confers a sense of realist simplicity on the scene which is strengthened by the cheerful dialogue between the men. Part of the frame remains blocked off by a bedstead which obscures the lower halves of the actors' bodies, but unexpectedly the camera tracks forward to reveal - shockingly for the mid 1970s - the girl as she masturbates Alfredo and Olmo simultaneously. Bertolucci therefore brings viewers into graphic visual contact with the characters' sexual act - the explicitness of the scene, finally divested of screens and other cinematic conventions - adding a concrete starkness to the narrative, and serving to anchor it more firmly to quotidian reality. A second sexually charged sequence, 213
- Page 165 and 166: 2. 'Holy family, church of good cit
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- Page 169 and 170: it towards the images being splashe
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- Page 173 and 174: to one of the character's parents a
- Page 175 and 176: Sexuality and shifts of subjectivit
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- Page 179 and 180: notion that 'Decadence cultivates a
- Page 181 and 182: engaging. Unfortunately the core of
- Page 183 and 184: Section Three: Between History and
- Page 185 and 186: II conformista/The Conformist: The
- Page 187 and 188: to the female protagonists Severine
- Page 189 and 190: constitute an example of the femme
- Page 191 and 192: despises, ranging from Fascist offi
- Page 193 and 194: the closed doors, his sense of soli
- Page 195 and 196: lying on. Bearing in mind the manne
- Page 197 and 198: Bertolucci seemed aware of the film
- Page 199 and 200: illuminated as if to imply the brig
- Page 201 and 202: hues of bluish-grey colouring are d
- Page 203 and 204: a narrative focus means that the de
- Page 205 and 206: Notes 1. They Live by Night (1948)
- Page 207 and 208: 1985: 73) should be contextualized
- Page 209 and 210: The film's cognitive structure and
- Page 211 and 212: daily life elicits nostalgia for a
- Page 213 and 214: that periodically distances viewers
- Page 215: followers), sensitive (she relates
- Page 219 and 220: engagement will again change from e
- Page 221 and 222: leadership, which is arguably assum
- Page 223 and 224: References Bachmann, G. (1973) 'Eve
- Page 225 and 226: The success of The Last Emperor ena
- Page 227 and 228: L 'ultimo imperatore/The Last Emper
- Page 229 and 230: out; the red of a notice on the wal
- Page 231 and 232: The intellectual implications of th
- Page 233 and 234: the Forbidden City. This, combined
- Page 235 and 236: Japanese. His personality fits the
- Page 237 and 238: the belief that whereas language ma
- Page 239 and 240: In addition, the presence of a hist
- Page 241 and 242: (2009) is one recent, successful ex
- Page 243 and 244: Gaut, B. (1999) 'Identification and
- Page 245 and 246: working class people depicted in th
- Page 247 and 248: strengthening viewers' alignment wi
- Page 249 and 250: experience of being out of clock ti
- Page 251 and 252: where the contemplation of this inf
- Page 253 and 254: infinite. In his discussion of sour
- Page 255 and 256: camera's 'symbiotic fusion' with th
- Page 257 and 258: criticism of contemporary Western i
- Page 259 and 260: is conveyed by Port's bleak awarene
- Page 261 and 262: Piccolo Buddha /Little Buddha: A Jo
- Page 263 and 264: concludes that all three children a
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part <strong>of</strong> the film depicting the peasants' celebration at Fascism's fall. This strategy is<br />
explained by Bertolucci as he describes how he thought <strong>of</strong> the four seasons as the most<br />
appropriate structure for a film about the countryside. Summer was attached to the<br />
protagonists' childhood; Autumn/Winter to the rise and rule <strong>of</strong> Fascism; Spring 'corresponds<br />
to the Liberation Day. April 25, 1945', which he conceived as the peasants" enactment <strong>of</strong>'the<br />
Utopia <strong>of</strong> the revolution' (Georgakas-Rubenstein, 1984: 140-141).<br />
Within this evocative framework that forms the film's 'emotional backdrop', Bertolucci<br />
periodically inserts sexual and violent scenes whose camera framings and realist mises-en-<br />
scene are designed to draw viewers more strongly into the diegesis. One sequence portrays a<br />
visit made to a prostitute by Alfredo and Olmo, and it features a POV shot as they watch a<br />
screen behind which the girl undresses. This creates alignment with the viewer, and also cues<br />
anticipation and curiosity on the part <strong>of</strong> spectators regarding the extent <strong>of</strong> visual access to the<br />
girl's body and to the ensuing action that is likely to be accorded by the director, given his<br />
visual control over diegetic space. For decades, directors had exercised self-censorship to<br />
bypass potential problems <strong>of</strong> nudity in their work, but the next shot unexpectedly raises the<br />
viewer's sexual expectations by using a closed framing <strong>of</strong> the three characters - shot frontally<br />
in medium shot - as they lie on the bed. The frame composition's symmetry, the girl<br />
functioning as the central axis, confers a sense <strong>of</strong> realist simplicity on the scene which is<br />
strengthened by the cheerful dialogue between the men. Part <strong>of</strong> the frame remains blocked <strong>of</strong>f<br />
by a bedstead which obscures the lower halves <strong>of</strong> the actors' bodies, but unexpectedly the<br />
camera tracks forward to reveal - shockingly for the mid 1970s - the girl as she masturbates<br />
Alfredo and Olmo simultaneously. Bertolucci therefore brings viewers into graphic visual<br />
contact with the characters' sexual act - the explicitness <strong>of</strong> the scene, finally divested <strong>of</strong><br />
screens and other cinematic conventions - adding a concrete starkness to the narrative, and<br />
serving to anchor it more firmly to quotidian reality. A second sexually charged sequence,<br />
213
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