Italian film star Bartolomeo Pagano's "Maciste" played a key role in his nation's narratives of identity during World War I and after. Jacqueline Reich traces the racial, class, and national transformations undergone by this Italian strongman from African slave in Cabiria (1914), his first film, to bourgeois gentleman, to Alpine soldier of the Great War, to colonial officer in Italy's African adventures. Reich reveals Maciste as a figure who both reflected classical ideals of masculine beauty and virility (later taken up by Mussolini and used for political purposes) and embodied the model Italian citizen. The 12 films at the center of the book, recently restored and newly accessible to a wider public, together with relevant extra-cinematic materials, provide a rich resource for understanding the spread of discourses on masculinity, and national and racial identities during a turbulent period in Italian history. The volume includes an illustrated appendix documenting the restoration and preservation of these cinematic treasures.

Winner, American Association of Italian Studies 2016 Book Prize for Film and MediaFinalist, Wall Award, Theatre Library AssnFinalist, The Bridge Award (American Initiative for Italian Culture)

About the Author

Jacqueline Reich is Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. She is author of Beyond the Latin Lover (IUP, 2004) and Re-Viewing Fascism (IUP, 2002).

Reviews

The Maciste Films of Italian Silent Cinema is udnoubtedly a major contribution fo film scholarship.

* Gender/Sexuality/Italy *

In this path-breaking book, Reich . . . provides an interdisciplinary study of the Maciste films released in Italy between 1914 and 1926, films featuring actor Bartolomeo Pagano as Maciste, the strong man of Italian silent cinema. . . . Recommended.

* Choice *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253017451
Author Jacqueline Reich
Format Paperback
Page Count 432
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 558g