I’ve lately become quite obsessed with retro futurism in Cinema and I’ve been binging a bunch of great oldies, especially animations like the films of René Laloux, Richard Corben, Hayao Miyazaki, etc.
But what are some standouts? I want to comprise a list on IMDB and I’m looking for titles!
There was recently a thread about favorite bad horror movies, in which I asked if this crash course would be appreciated. That thread's OP said it would be awesome, so I took that as proof positive that every single one of this sub's 2.4 million members would want to read this. Besides, who doesn't like learning about niche horror from a foreign country?*
*Does not apply to Italian Redditors. I can only assume that you're here due to an irresistable sense of patriotic duty.
Italian exploitation films are probably the most famous collection of national exploitation cinema, even more so than the United States. Italians went places with their films that other countries' filmmakers wouldn't dare. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is so violent and grimy that it resembles a snuff film? How about an Italian production that was prosecuted as an actual snuff film. Roger Ebert labeled I Spit on Your Grave as "a vile bag of garbage?" What would he think about the two Joe D'Amato films in which women masturbate horses?
There are plenty of varieties of Italian exploitation, but outside of the Spaghetti Westerns (thanks mostly to Sergio Leone) the one variety that gets the most attention are their horror films. Because Italians were so willing to push the limits, many of their most notorious exploitation films belong to the genre in which pushing the envelope was easiest. Police films and westerns could no doubt be ultra-violent and overly sexual, but for pure, sadistic, and alarmingly misogynist content, the realm of horror was the darkest and most suiting avenue to take. When the films were good, they are often held in high regard for their atmosphere, striking cinematic visuals and techniques, influence on subsequent violent horror, or promoted as a transgressive work of art.
But when they were bad, oh, were they bad. Really bad. Mind-numbingly bad. So-bad-it's-good bad. Nobody made incompetence more fun than the Italians (except for maybe MST3K).
One may ask, though: why were there so many bad Italian films? How could there be enough people to ever want to watch bad movies for this enterprise to be successful? To answer that, we need to go back, way back, to the beginning of Italian cinema.
And so, without further ado, an abridged history of bad Italian horror:
Since the beginning of film, Italian movie-goers mostly flocked to imported American output. In fact, the Italian film industry went into full-on crisis during the 1920s and may have disappeared al
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I'm asking who is interesting to join me for this Friday night to try new food, maybe going to the cinema, going to Bar/coffee listening to some music and enjoying the moment
I thought I had read texts that stated the Futurists had had a meeting in the 20s or 30s in which basically half the movement, including Balla, had disavowed Fascism and pivoted instead to follow socialism. But I can't find it now. I believe also there was some kind of international meeting within which Pirandello and Marinetti and other artists partnered with folks like Kandinski and heard complaints by German artists about oppression from the Nazis, seemingly implying these artists were sympathetic to anti-fascist arguments and that there was perhaps more artistic freedom under Italian fascism. I'm also curious how the Free State of Fiume factors into all this.
I remember seeing an interview where he mentioned this, and it seems more and more relevant. I'm worried about how all art comes through platform capitalism, and largely attacks our attention span with novelty and sensationalism. Indie artists are just loners churning out experiments that nobody listens to, and has no effect. We're just doing what the machine wants us to do, without going deep. But in-depth television shows are rewarded for their depth, and longer movies have become the norm. Like it's a time for serious artistic work, rather than the punk and experimentation we might otherwise view as authentic.
I want to revisit that interview but I can't find it. Does anybody else know what I'm talking about here?
EDIT:
I found it. It starts around 58:50 (URL includes the timestamp):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTtwrqtBI00&t=3527s
I think House of Gucci not completely bombing compared to other dramas proves there is still a small market if there is sufficient star power and the movie looks more fun. Personally though I still think the market for slower darker movies in the theatre unfortunately may never fully recover.
I could imagine something like The Wolf of Wall Street still doing well in the current situation but probably not something like Shutter Island for example.
I know this question probably gets discussed a lot but I’m interested to see what the results of an actual poll will be.
Good day,
I'm trying to find italian subtitles for the 1984 documentary called "Cinema Is A Mosaic Made Of Time" where Andrei talks to an audience in Rome regarding his approach to cinema. Can anyone help?
It had a strong link to fascism and Mussolini’s headquarters looked pretty avant-garde.
PS. Just to clarify, I am an anti-fascist who loves Dada and Surrealism. Can’t be too careful on the net.
