Soviet-Italian Cinematic Exchanges, 1920s–1950s

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between the conceptual framework of the early Soviet avant-garde (of which cinema formed a vital part) and that of neorealism, bringing out the moments of concrete mediation in the dialectical relationship between avant-garde and realism in cinematic history. It presents a broad outline of the dissemination of early Soviet film theory in 1930s–40s Italy (a period encompassing the rise and fall of fascism) and shows how this dissemination helped initiate the formulation of the neorealist discourse. The chapter points to the presence of Italian neorealism in the Soviet cinema of the postwar and post-Stalin period, suggesting aesthetic interdependence between the Cinema of the Thaw in the Soviet Union and Italian neorealism.