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information to which the character has access (Smith, 1995: 82-83). Allegiance, however, is
the process by which viewers develop a moral evaluation of characters, who are thus 'ranked
in a system of preference'. For Smith, such an evaluation 'has both cognitive and affective
dimensions' since it involves categorizing the conduct of a character and being 'affectively
aroused by this categorization', this leading to a 'sympathetic' or 'antipathetic' response
(Smith, 1995: 84-85). In a film such as Vincenzo Marra's L'ora di pimta (2007) viewers
recognize the character traits of the protagonist, the ambitious police officer Filippo, as
reflecting the value system and amoral careerism typified by entrepreneurs such as Silvio
Berlusconi, and they assess Filippo's transformation into a ruthless property developer as
being harmful to his trusting partner Caterina. From this assessment develops an evaluation
which leads to an antipathetic response towards the character, and the likelihood of a sense of
allegiance towards Caterina.
Smith asserts that as a consequence of close alignment with a screen character - even
without full allegiance forming - empathic phenomena may evolve between viewers and
certain characters, due to the fact that empathy is connected to the 'cognitive ability to
perspective-take [...] to imagine being in the situation of the perceived subject' (Smith, 1995:
96). The notion of empathy can split into 'further mechanisms' which can be voluntary, like
the 'emotional simulation' of a character's reactions or involuntary, such as replicating gasps
of horror - 'affective mimicry and autonomic reactions' in Smith's terminology (Smith,
1995: 96). hi the context of L'ora di pimta and its protagonist Filippo, transient empathic
phenomena may develop in situations of tension when Filippo's property empire risks
collapse. Here, Grodal's notion of the importance of purposive, goal-oriented actions also
comes into play; viewers may not share the character's values, but they have a cognitive
awareness of the serious implications of Filippo's situation, and are drawn into the action
accordingly. The tight camera close-ups of the protagonist's tense features are an example of
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