The Influence of Italian Cinema on Martin Scorsese

Italian neorealism is one of the most historically influenced periods of cinema . Rooted in Italian resistance of northern Italy during the close of World War II , the movement is greatly influenced by sociohistorical factors of the time . From its earliest days during the resistance against the German occupation , to the devastating aftermath of the War and the hopelessness of reconstruction that ensued , neorealism painted a picture of "real " Italian life from 1943 to 1952 . Few other periods of film history are so deeply influenced by the political ideal and social history of

their time . Italian neorealist film parallels the changing political and social hopes and realities of its time . In particular , as the social institutions of Italy became increasingly complex with the reconstruction , neorealism 's presentation of social problems went from having a clear cut victim and oppressor relationship as in Open City , to having grayed out lines of good and bad , concealing who was truly at fault for the problems at hand . Similarly , the movement reflects how the feeling of hope for a renewed society of equity slowly faded away to be replaced by the darker reality of hopelessness and disparity in the future on the part of the lower-classes

Similarly , the feeling of realism accomplished by the cinematographic mode and mise-en-scene , when combined with the life of the common people of Italy , could only evoke a sense of the grim nature of the post-war times , the harshness of poverty and unemployment , the social chasm between the "haves " and the "have-nots , and the isolation of the individual from the societal group . It was these ideas which gave meaning to the films of the neorealist movement they transcended the minimal narratives as the important themes of the play , speaking out against the plethora of maladies which plagued post-war Italian life

In Rome , Roberto Rossellini had started filming his classic , Open City while the Germans still occupied the streets . With the city 's studios destroyed , he was forced to resort to shooting in the streets , and did so on stock that was purchased bit by bit from street vendors and taped together . This resulting film would be hailed as the first of the great Italian neorealist movement

To understand the effects of Rossellini 's work , it is necessary to define neorealism here . In its most general terms it is a group of films that shared core characteristics of method , the use of non-professional actors , natural lighting , and location shooting attitude , the desire to get closer to everyday reality subject matter , the lives of the post-war popular classes and ideology , the hope of political renewal in its early years , and later a loss of hope coinciding with the failure of the renewal . Each of these characteristics built on the preceding one culminating in the directors ' ultimate goal of conveying the hope (and later , pessimism ) of renewal

The use of non-professional actors , and location shooting provided the viewer of the neorealist film with images different from those seen in typical cinema of the...