Sicily on Screen: Essays on the Representation of the Island and Its Culture

by Giovanna Summerfield (Editor)

Overview

With its physical beauty and kaleidoscopic cultural background, Sicily has long been a source of inspiration for filmmakers.

Twelve new essays by international scholars--and additional writings from directors Roberta Torre, Giovanna Taviani, and Costanza Quatriglio--seek to offset the near-absence of scholarship focusing on the relationship between the Mediterranean island and cinema. Touching on class relations, immigration, gender and poverty, the essays examine how Sicily is depicted in fiction, satire and documentaries.

Situated between North and South, East and West, innovation and tradition, authenticity and displacement, Sicily acts as a microcosm of the world, a place to explore numerous narratives and develop intercultural dialogue. It is also the center of cinematographic discussions and events such as the Taormina Film Festival and the SalinaDocFest. The volume presents Sicily almost as a character and creator in its own right.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476676487
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	03/27/2020
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.58(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Giovanna Summerfield is a professor of Italian and French and associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. She is also a published poet and short-story writer.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Sicily, Light Queen Roberta Torre 1

Introduction Giovanna Summerfield 3

Part I Reporting on Sicily Through Fiction, Satire and Documentary

Sicily as a Space of Resistance Against Consumerism in Pasolini's Teorema and Coppola's The Godfather Francesco Chianese 13

The Spirit of Place in Andrea Camillen's The Shape of Water Anthony N. Fragola 37

Landscapes of Mafia and Nostalgia on Italian TV Elgin K. Eckert 59

A Satirical Gaze on Sicily: Ficarra and Picone's L'ora legale Veronica Vegna 81

Cinico TV or Trouble in Hell Giacomo Tinelli Fabio Vighi 100

Beyond Neorealism: Sicily in Vittorio De Seta's Documentaries Etami Borjan 118

On the Quixotic Routes of the SalinaDocFest: The Birth of a Festival on an Island Giovanna Taviani 139

Part II Framing Sicily Through the Gaze and Story of the Other

"Othering" Sicily in Cavalleria rusticana and the Godfather Trilogy: From Short Story, to Stage, to Screen Enza De Francisci 145

Enclaves of Whiteness: Disquieting Presences and Domesticated Territories in the Sicilian Archipelago Marcello Messina 161

Interpreting Crialese's Terraferma: Border Zones, African Diaspora and Italian Foreignness Anna Ciamparella 183

Of Miracles and Madonnas: Roberta Torre's Women on the Verge in I Baci max dati Claudia Karagoz 200

Filming a Woman's Life: Maria Occhipinti, Giuliana Saladino and Two Re-Elaborations of Sicilian Impegno Maria Rizzarelli Serena Todesco 216

"Meglio bottana che mezzo masculo": Lesbianism, Cross-Dressing and Women's Claims in Maiorca's Viola di mare Anna Lisa Somma 238

Conclusion: Sicily, the Key to Everything: Seeking and Finding in L'Avventura and Il bell'Antonio Giovanna Summerfield 257

Afterword Costanza Quatriglio 273

About the Contributors 275

Index 279