Understanding the Italian Filone

University of Glasgow Department of Film and Television Studies

Beyond “Brutality”: Understanding the Italian Filone’s Violent Excesses

by

Robert J. Edmonstone Matriculation #: 9703623 Supervisors: Dr. Ian Garwood / Dr. Karen Boyle

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Contents

Abstract Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Introducing the Filone: Industry, Cycles and Censorship 2. Investigating Violence and Spectacle in the Filone 3. Theorising Excess and Violence in the Filone 4. Narrative versus Excess in the Filone 5. Violence, Attractions and the Filone Viewer 6. “Sonic Spectacle” and Mismatching Conclusion Appendix A: Core Corpus of Study Appendix B: Filoni Examined for Study Filmography Bibliography

4 6 7 27 71 98 129 188 231 266 277 280 288 297

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Figures

1.4.1

Italian, French and American Peplum Posters

p.48

1.4.2

Western Posters

p.51

1.4.3

Giallo Posters

pp.53-4

1.4.4

Poliziotteschi Posters

p.56

1.4.5

Horror Filone Posters

p.59

1.4.6

Mondo / Cannibal Film Posters

p.61

1.4.7

Other Minor Filone Posters Scene-by-Scene Overview of Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore Scene-by-Scene Overview of Solamente Nero (Dis)equilibria in Uomini si nasce poliziotti si moure and Solamente Nero Song and Dance Numbers in Singin’ in the Rain

pp.63-4

4.3.1

pp.144-8

4.3.2

pp.149-56

4.3.3

p.158

4.3.4

p.179-80

5.2.1

Opening Sequence of Shane

pp.195-200

5.2.2

Opening Sequence of Mannaja Extract from Opening Sequence of 2019 - Dopo la caduta di New York Dual Focus in the Filone

pp.205-9

6.4.1

pp.241-5

7.1.1

p.274

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Abstract “Brutality” has long been held up by critics to be one of the defining features of the Italian filoni; a body of popular genre film cycles (peplum mythological epics, horror films, giallo thrillers, poliziotteschi crime dramas, westerns and others) released during a frenzied period of film production between the late 1950s and mid 1980s. A