Gillo Pontecorvo: From Resistance to Terrorism [Paperback]

Carlo Celli (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0810854406 | ISBN-13: 978-0810854406 | Publication Date: October 20, 2005

Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo is best known for his films about anti-colonial insurgency and terrorism. In this book, containing several black and white photos, author Carlo Celli examines Pontecorvo's entire career, from his days as a leader in the anti-Nazi/fascist resistance during World War II to his 1992 short documentary about Algeria's struggle with Islamic fundamentalism. This is the first book-length study in English of Pontecorvo's entire career, and features in-depth examinations and re-readings of his major films Kapó (1959), The Battle of Algiers (1965), Burn! (1969), and Ogro (1979). The book also addresses Pontecorvo's largely unknown early documentaries and features, such as Giovanna (1956) and The Wide Blue Road (1957). Celli concludes with an examination of the documentary films that Pontecorvo made in the 1990s including Return to Algiers (1992). This work will be of interest to academics and students of film, but it will also have an appeal to readers concerned with issues regarding the political use of violence in the 20th century--whether it be defined as terrorism, counter-insurgency, or freedom fighting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a detailed biography and filmography of Gillo Pontecorvo and his work....highly informative.... (Italian Culture, Vol. 24-25 (2006-2007) )

The name of Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo recently made the newspapers as it was revealed that his most famous work, 1966's The Battle of Algiers—depicting the doomed French colonial anti-insurgency campaign against the Algerian National Liberation Front, whose brutal but effective tactics would be denounced as "terrorism" by the French—was being afforded a special showing at the Pentagon, newly interested in the film's themes for the obvious reasons. In this work, Celli (Bowling Green State U.) surveys the entire career of the filmmaker, providing readings of Pontecorvo's early and late documentaries, as well as fictional major works such as The Battle of Algiers, Kapó, Burn!, and Ogro. While traditional concerns of film studies occasionally make their appearance in his treatment, Celli's main concern, as it was with Pontecorvo, are political themes, especially Pontecorvo's unresolved themes of justification of violence and terrorism for reasons of national liberation. (Reference and Research Book News )

About the Author

Carlo Celli is an Associate Professor at Bowling Green State University. He has written extensively on Italian cinema, and is the author of The Divine Comic: The Cinema of Roberto Benigni (Scarecrow, 2001).

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (October 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810854406
• ISBN-13: 978-0810854406
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,701,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carlo Celli B.A. University of Virginia (1986), Ph.D. UCLA (1992) also studied at the universities of Florence and Bologna. He is currently Professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and author of books on the historical, economic and social factors influencing culture. Works include:

The Essence of Machiavelli: The Prince (Axios Press 2011)

National Identity in Global Cinema: How Movies Explain the World (Palgrave MacMillan 2011)

Il carnevale di Machiavelli (Leo S. Olschki 2009)
- info at http://www.olschki.it/Prosp/SP/2008/58434.pdf

A New Guide to Italian Cinema (Palgrave MacMillan 2007)

From Resistance to Terrorism: The Cinema of Gillo Pontecorvo (Scarecrow Press 2005)

The Divine Comic: The Cinema of Roberto Benigni (Scarecrow Press 2001).

He has published on literature, film and culture in journals including Annali d'italianistica, Critical Inquiry, Film Quarterly, Italica, Italian Culture, Italian Quarterly, Journal of Popular Film and Television, Renaissance Quarterly, Romance Quarterly and has contributed/consulted for periodicals including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.