The Role of Literature in the Films of Luchino Visconti
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From Page to Screen: the Role of Literature in the Films of Luchino Visconti Lucia Di Rosa A thesis submitted in confomity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) Graduate Department of ltalian Studies University of Toronto @ Copyright by Lucia Di Rosa 2001 National Library Biblioth ue nationale du Cana2 a AcquisitTons and Acquisitions ef Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 WeOingtOn Street 305, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Otiawa ON K1AW Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence ailowing the exclusive ~~mnettantà la Natiofliil Library of Canarla to Bibliothèque nation& du Canada de reprcduce, loan, disûi'bute or seil reproduire, prêter, dishibuer ou copies of this thesis in rnicroform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format é1ectronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation, From Page to Screen: the Role of Literatuce in the Films af Luchino Vionti By Lucia Di Rosa Ph.D., 2001 Department of Mian Studies University of Toronto Abstract This dissertation focuses on the role that literature plays in the cinema of Luchino Visconti. The Milanese director baseci nine of his fourteen feature films on literary works. As such, a study of his cinerna provides ample opportunity to analyze the ways in which literature can be used to create cinema. I have developed the hypothesis that there can be different modes of cinematic adaptation. 1 have termed these modes source. infience, and blueprint. I have selected three films from Visconti's filmography to illustrate how each mode can be defined. Chapter 1 examines Visconti's second film, La terra trema (The bthTrembles. 1948).This chapter illustrates how a literary source can give a film a precise artistic, historical, and ideological grounding; at the sarne time, the source's message can be rnoulded in order to modemize the meaning of adaptation. I have labelleci this use of literature as "source." Chapter 2 examines the 1954 film, Senso (The Wonton Countess). This chapter analyzes the way in which Visconti em ploys speci fic literary and artisti c "influences" to advance his experiment with cinematic neorealism in a unique way. Combining a critical rereading of history and the genre of melodrama, Visconti heads in a new and controvenial direction with Senro. Finally, Chapter 3 examines il Gattopardo ( 7he Leopmd, 1963). This chapter presents a case in which Visconti foilows a literary text very closely, to the point that one can speak of that text as a "bluepnnt-" Based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's 1958 novel, the film aims to prove that similar effects can be achieved in Iiterahire and in film despite the differences between the two media. 1 wish to thank the individuals who have aided me on the long joumey through the writing of this dissertation. 1 extend my gratitude to my dissertation cornmittee, Rocco Capoui. Luca Somigli, and Manuela Gien, for their valuable feedback. 1 would partîcularly like to acknowledge Professor Gien for her pragmatism and for her dedication to this project. She has been a tremendous guide and resource, and 1 am delighted to share this milestone with her. Many thanks also 30 to Emanuele Licastro and to Arnilcare Iannucci. who graciously agreed to be a part of my commi ttee. Next, 1 wish to thank Olga Pugliese and Guido Pugliese, who have offered me support, encouragement, and friendship. as well as opportunities for study and work. in conclusion, I wish to extend my gratitude to my family. In pa&ular, I wish to thank Mridui Bama and Chandana Bamah for their encouragement and good wishes. Many, many thanks to my husband, Rustom Barua, for things too numerous to mention, but mainly for his infinite endurance and patience. Last but not least, 1 wish to thank my parents, Girolamo and Maria, for everything that they have done. and for everything that they are. I thank them not only for their support, but also for their tenacity, their conviction, and their strength. iii ~NTROOUC~ONESTABLISHINO f HE PARAMETERS:VISCONTI, NEOREAUSM,AND LJTERATURE 6 0.1 A Critical Perspective 11 0.2 Literature and Cinerna: the Ties that Bind 15 0.3 The Use of Literature in Cinematic Neorealism 24 0.3.1 An Unexpected Combination 24 0.3.2 The Shift Towards Neorealism: a Rupture? 28 0.3.3 Literary Neorealism vs. Cinematic Neorealism 34 0.4 Visconti's Filmography 41 CHAPTER1 LA TERRA TREMA 49 1 .lThe Development of a Neorealist Sensibility 50 1.1.1 ltalian Cinema from Fascism to Neorealism 51 1.1.2 Visconti's "Formative Yearsn 59 1.2 The Significance of Verga 64 1.2.1 Verga vs. Visconti 66 1.2.2 The Risorgimento vs. the Reconstruction 68 1.2.3 The Southem Question 70 1.2.4 Art as Experiment 72 1 -3 1 Malavoglia as Source: an Analysis 78 1.3.1 The "Visual" in Verga and Visconti 81 1 -3.2 Character 84 1.3.3 Language 86 1.4 Conclusion 91 2.1 Realism vs. Spectacle 2.2 Senso as Spectacle 2.3 Melodrama and Influence 2.3.1 Defining "Melodrama" 2.3.2 Melodrama and Visconti 2.3.3 Melodrama and Senso Table of Contents v 2.4 Senso as tnffueme: an Analysis 2.4.1 Opera as Melodrarna 2.4.2 Il Trovatore 2.4.3 Giuseppe Verdi 2.4.4 Visual Arts 2.4.5 Literature 2.5 Conclusion 3.1 Blueprint = Adaptation? 3.2 On Adaptation 3.3 11 Gattopardo as Blueprint: an Analysis 3.3.1 Plot StfUdufe 3.3.2 The Depiction of Death 3.3.3 Narrative Strategies 3.3.4 A Textual Cornparison of the Bal1 Scene 3.4 Conclusion C. 1 Other Areas for Study C.2 How Can One Speak about 'Adaptationn? Establishing the Parameters: Visconti, Neorealism, and Literature Quando ebbe risolti alcuni dei suo problemi tecnici. il cinema, da d~i~entc~riodivenuto rocconto, comprese che alla letteratura era Iegato il suo destino. (De Santis and Alicata 62) Neorealism constitutes ia via maestra of Italian film. [. .] it is the point of deparnire for ail serious postwar cinematic practice. and [. .] each director had to corne to tenns with it in some way I-. .l (Marcus, ItuIiun Fiirn xvi i) Visconti is the on1y filmmaker who has trul y succeeded in perpenüiting the literary tradition of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Bacon 188) Luchino Visconti, the Milanese filmmaker who hel ped to define post-World War II Italian cinema is celebrated for his contributions to Itaiian neoredism. To be sure, while his artî stic contributions in the advancement of neorealkt ideals are noteworthy, there are other associations that one can make when one thinks of Visconti and of his body of work. One can think of him as one of the principal mteurs of Italian post-World-War II film. One can also make a strong association between the works of Visconti and the world of literature. Of Visconti's feahire films. a mere five, Bellissima (Bellissima, 195 1), hghe srelle ddbrsa .. (Mu,1965), La chtadegli &i (Ine Dmned, 1%9), Lucibig (Lucibig, 1973), and 6 Establishing the Parameters: Visconti, Neorealism. and Literature 7 Gnppdijtmiglitz in m interno (ConveisatianPiece, 19743. do not have a primary witten source. And, even among these, precise literary references and allusions can be uncovered without too great an effort. As interesting as it may prove to discem and categorize the ongins of the many literary references in Visconti's cinema, it is an exercise that has been attempted and successfully executed by many critics. It is also an exercise that exhausts i tsel f quite quickly; to know that Proust and Dostoevsky, for example. are influences on the directa is important, but to limit oneself to uncovenng the precise reference points in which shades of these two authors may be found in Visconti's body of work, is not productive nor original. It is far more useful, rather, to approach Visconti's cinema wi th the intention of seeing the process by which that which is "literary" is transfomeci into that which is "cinematic," and to evaluate the ways in which as has been suggested that which in Visconti is "cinematic," can also be termed "literary." Because a filmmaker's working process does not develop in a vacuum. it is crucial to evaluate the histoncal, social. and aesthetic environment of the pend in which the films were made, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the works in question. 1 would like to postdate that Visconti's cinema provides examples of a variety of methods for adaptation. Specifically, I can identie three different modes of adaptation in Visconti, which I would li ke to define as source, influence, and blueprint . l These three modes constitute three different uses of literature in the process of creation of the cinematic text. I will explore one of these modes in each chapter of the dissertation, using one of Visconti's films to illustrate each mode. The modes can be best defined by describing the way in which each is contextualized in the three chapters of this work. To begin with, Chapter I examines an instance in which the director uses a distinct literary source to breathe life into his film and '1 developed tbis idea of the three different uses of literahre in Visconti during a meeting with Manuela Gieri.