Abstract
This article engages with cinema’s cartographic potential by exploring its capacity to either reinforce or problematise mainstream geopolitical imaginaries and the chrono-politics upon which such imaginaries are founded. Specifically focusing on Emanuele Crialese’s postcolonial cinema I seek to dispel the rendition of Southern Italy that Luchino Visconti, following Antonio Gramsci’s footsteps, articulated in his La terra trema (The Earth Trembles, 1948). While it has become almost commonplace for film critics to note Crialese’s indebtedness to Visconti, I pinpoint how Visconti’ and Crialese’s contrasting engagements with Gramsci produce radically different modes of capturing the South. By lingering on the resonances between Crialese’s borderless geopolitical imaginary and Brazilian artist Lygia Pape’s participatory street-performance Divisor (Divider, 1968) in the conclusion of this article I suggest that the Italian filmmaker articulates a productive framework to reorient North-South relations at both a local and global level.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | Senses of Cinema |
Issue number | 81 |
State | Published - Dec 1 2016 |