European Cinema and the Concept of the Auteur



European Cinema and the Concept of the Auteur

Post-War European Cinema

European cinema refers to films and film production associated with the countries of Europe. This means it covers a huge diversity. Historically, Europe was the birthplace of the most important film movements artistically: the Expressionist German, neorealism Italian, the New Wave French, and the Dogme Danish etc. It also provided countless exiles to Hollywood before and during World War II as Ernst Lubitsch (German), Billy Wilder (Polish), or Greta Garbo (Swedish). European cinema mastered by showing the depths of humanity in their work and make messages meaningful and high-end, which represents the main goal and first in the world of cinema ideal. After the Second World War, German industry weakened, France continued to dominate the world market for art cinema in the decades of 1950 and 1960, producing very independent filmmakers who experienced various modes of expression.

The Neo-realism was a cultural movement, born and developed in Italy during the Second World War and immediate post-war period, which were very important reflections on the contemporary film. In the cinema the greatest exponents of the movement, arose spontaneously namely the directors Roberto Rossellini , Luchino Visconti , Vittorio De Sica , Giuseppe De Santis , Pietro Germi , Alberto Lattuada , Renato Castellani , Luigi Zampa and the screenwriter Cesare Zavattini , who joined in the following decade, Francesco Maselli and Carlo Lizzani. Italian Neorealism was influenced by the films from different countries: the ideas of the cinema-eye of Dziga Vertov, naturalistic images of Renoir and French black realism. All these influences come together in an intense realism films which were shot on location with nonprofessional actors, combining documentary and fiction to show the problems of society. This movement began with Rome, Open City (1945) by Roberto Rossellini, the main architect of the movement along with Vittorio de Sica, Luchino Visconti and Giuseppe de Santis. The war and the situation left by its after effects were some of the recurring themes of most of the movies. Open City described the Nazi occupation of Rome and the Italian people's resistance. Vittorio de Sica portrayed the poverty and social dislocation in postwar Italians. Bicycle Thief (1948), was filmed entirely in the streets of Milan, and reflected the harsh realities of postwar Italy. Visconti, author of works such as Rocco and his brothers, started from a more aesthetic approach by introducing a poetic inspiration in reality.

In the fifties Neorealism started losing strength. Italian cinema started portraying friendlier life in the movies and was drifting toward social comedy. However, the neorealist tradition remained preserved in authors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel. While Federico Fellini, who had participated in the beginnings of the movement, gave a more poetic theme, as shown in La Dolce Vita (1960) or eight and a half (1963). Also one of the most controversial directors of the 1960, Michelangelo Antonioni, emerged from the neorealist movement. In the seventies the Italian film shifted ...