Beyond the Latin Lover: Marcello Mastroianni, Masculinity, and Italian Cinema [Paperback]

Jacqueline Reich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2004

Marcello Mastroianni is considered by many to be the epitome of the Latin lover, the consummate symbol of Italian masculinity. In Beyond the Latin Lover, Jacqueline Reich unmasks the reality behind the myth. In her investigation of many of Mastroianni's most famous characters in Italian cinema, she reveals that beneath the image of hyper-masculinity lies the figure of the inetto, the Italian schlemiel at odds with and out of place in a rapidly changing world. Diverse roles throughout his career—the impotent man, the cuckold, and the unruly woman's victim, among others—present an anti-hero caught in traditional but increasingly unsteady modes of masculinity. Far from being a study of just one Italian film star, however, Reich's work demonstrates that Mastroianni's inetto is a reflection of the unstable political, social, and sexual climate of post-war Italy and its constantly shifting gender roles.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Among his 40 films, Marcello Mastroianni played a homosexual, a cuckolded husband, a pregnant man and, as he said, "wretches, where sex didn’t even enter the picture." Yet, as demonstrated in this fascinating study of his work, the film icon never shook the Don Giovanni image of his star turn in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. It is the iconography of this virile Italian stereotype, the "Latin lover," that Reich puts under scrutiny here, and she provides an entertaining analysis of the evolution, manufacture and commodification of this supposed hypermasculinity. Grounding her observations of the actor’s many cinematic identities in an analysis of post-fascist Italy’s transformation into an industrialized country, Reich points out that Mastroianni actually spent most of his career sending up the notion of "bella figura" (or masculine perfection), choosing, rather, to play the part of the "inetto" (or comic foil). His choice, she argues, reflects Italy’s mid-century struggle for economic success and political consensus. A delightful section on Mastroianni’s work with leading lady Sophia Loren explains how the voluptuous actress not only playfully antagonized him in La fortuna di esere donna (Lucky to Be a Woman) and Matrimonio all’italiana (Marriage… Italian Style), but, in doing so, redefined Mastroianni’s on-screen masculinity by opposing it with a new image of the "unruly woman." While rather dense and academic, the book offers an engaging examination of how social conditioning informs gender identity. Even more captivating, however, is its insightful look into the dynamic career of one of film’s enduring international icons, as both a lover and a loser. 41 photos.
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About the Author

Jacqueline Reich, Associate Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is co-editor of Re-viewing Fascism (IUP, 2002).

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (March 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253216443
• ISBN-13: 978-0253216441
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interested in a new perspective on Italian masculinity?, August 2, 2010

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Stefanie Casey (The Cultural Sojourner) "Stef" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Beyond the Latin Lover: Marcello Mastroianni, Masculinity, and Italian Cinema (Paperback)

Inspired by Mastroianni's own recollections in the documentary 'Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember,' this book explores his many cinematic roles, definitions of masculinity, and Italian culture. As Italy searches for identity in the post war years, gender roles require similar redefinition. Mastroianni's characters explore a myriad of types: the good guy, the Latin lover, the homosexual, the impotent, the inetto, the aging male. What I find most intriguing in Mastroianni's collected films are his consistent choices to play against the typecast of the Latin Lover. He allows himself to be vulnerable, powerless, weak, old. His work universalizes not only evolving male and female identities but Italy's journey. What a lifetime achievement! Grazie, Marcello!!!