" Masse is a good time for the flock, unacceptable, insulting, degrading. When I see a crowd, I see a set of free people: where everyone is an individual, each with a king or a queen, each with a story that could fill a book, each an island of dignity. "
Frank Capra (1971), The name above the title - Autobiography, trans. com. Lucarini, 1989, pp. 287-288.
Frank Capra (1897-1991) had all the qualities to be named "the director of our blog," despite some questionable aspects of his conception of society that I will present. He also has all the characteristics of an author "eternal" which, beyond the inevitable dating of his works, speaks to "all", the old men of today, his contemporaries, those of us who have seen his films on TV and adolescents naturally attracted to a different kind of film. He emerges from an interview in 1985, also translated as a way of making films his strong attribution of value to human life. He accepted the suggestions of all employees, but assumed responsibility for all their work (subject, final script and director) and gave its "fingerprint" for each film to be developing certain types of content, the actors pretending to be, back in the '40s, an absolutely spontaneous acting, because he wanted His films bring the real life and real problems of real people.
The fixed points of Capra-thinking are
a) a delicate perception of the inner reality of human beings
b) a strong emphasis on moral commitment that binds men among themselves
c) a clear idea (albeit simplified) of the company as a community of people.
The first two aspects through all the films, even the most "light" and fun, because it is the constant reference between the two characterizes the idea of \u200b\u200bthe man who gives us Capra. The sensitivity of the Goat for the various facets of subjectivity balance his ethical conception avoid a fall into moralism. On the other hand recall the commitment to the other balances the emotional charge of his films avoid a fall within. A perfectly balanced synthesis of these two aspects is realized in the best-known films of Capra: 's a Wonderful Life (1946). His son Frank Capra jr. said in an interview 1991, this film was the film he had always wanted to do, because fully developed a theme important to him: "This theme, as each life affects the lives of others has always touched more deeply than any other idea that had ever had. "
I would say a few words about this work that was a great success initially, but that over the years has been increasingly appreciated. With the inclusion in the story of an innocent angel, funny, but clean of heart, to be exact a "second-class angel (without wings), which is deserving, in fact, the wings, Capra manages to treat a slight theme definitely "Heavy" as the thought of suicide at some point in life when everything is falling apart. On Christmas Eve, the main character (James Stewart) is physically rescued from the river where it was thrown and then is heard with attention. The moment you declare that his life is worthless and would prefer never to be born, is heard and a chance to see what would become the country where he lives without his small but effective contribution to the community. His brother died a child without his providential intervention, the wife would not have married, his children would not be born and the country would fall into the hands of a greedy rich man that he had actually opposed arranging soft loans to people without means. Seeing all this, he understands that even if his life had seemed foolish at a time of particular personal vulnerability, however, had the sense that he had given to it: he had built strong relationships and positive friendships and family and also had a positive effect on the lives of many people. Just the unique experience of meeting so many people, familiar without being recognized and observe their life in a social structure quite different from that to which he had contributed, she asks him to give him back his real life and give him the ability to deal with "men" the difficulties which had wanted to avoid. Indiscutibilmente commovente il finale: nell’attesa del suo ritorno, la moglie, gli amici e tutte le persone che aveva negli anni aiutato, avevano unito le loro forze per tirarlo fuori dai guai.
Il terzo aspetto del Capra-pensiero per certi aspetti è ingenuo, ma per altri aspetti tocca quel piano profondo che caratterizza la vera dimensione della politica. Tale aspetto affiora in varie opere, ma è centrale nel film del 1941 intitolato Arriva John Doe (commercializzato anche con il titolo I dominatori della metropoli ). Il film non è uno dei migliori di Capra e giustamente viene definito “prolisso, verboso, retorico” nel Morandini ( Dizionario dei film 2009, Zanichelli). Tuttavia lo spettatore viene “catturato” dallo sviluppo della narrazione. Si può dire che il film può rafforzare un “buonismo” di tipo conservatore negli spettatori più sprovveduti, ma può anche sollecitare interessanti riflessioni negli spettatori colti e capaci di “mettere da parte” l’interclassismo del regista, che in fondo “salva” il liberismo proprio denunciandone gli sviluppi “disonesti”.
La storia inizia con una trovata “geniale” di una giornalista (Barbara Stanwyck) motivata a non perdere il posto: pubblica una lettera (inventata di sana pianta) di un lettore disoccupato (John Doe) che preannuncia of wanting to take the life of "protesting" jumping from the roof of City Hall on Christmas Eve. (Note that the idea of \u200b\u200b"suicide pre Christmas in this film the theme of the movie's a Wonderful Life ). It triggers a manhunt in the city: people that want to offer a job or who are willing to host it ... the local newspaper and increases sales. The journalist does not miss the place and is charged with finding a person willing to embody the fruit of his imagination. Of course, you have dozens of beggars hoping to get some financial support or a job and one of them, a former baseball pitcher with a provincial team, unemployed and hungry (Gary Cooper) viene scelto per raccontare la sua storia e denunciare le ingiustizie subite dai “poveracci” come lui, a tutto vantaggio della tiratura del giornale locale. Il finto John Doe ed il suo amico (un mendicante “convinto” che detesta le lusinghe del denaro e vede con diffidenza tutta la situazione), vengono ospitati in un Hotel a spese del giornale, ma gradualmente la serie degli articoli prende una direzione imprevista. Nei (finti) testi di John Doe la giornalista inserisce brani del diario di suo padre (una persona che quando era in vita aveva portato avanti iniziative filantropiche) e la semplice protesta diventa, iorno dopo giorno, un appello alla solidarietà umana, alla disponibilità verso chi ha bisogno (di money, help, companionship). Born in the country of the Working John Doe and a rich Scrooge is part of the game supporting (and financing) movement arose out of nothing, rooted in the whole territory of the United States. This has, of course, personal ambitions (including political) and eventually will be met with the ex-bum character and immerse yourself in now willing to get serious and to advance the message of solidarity repeated in many public meetings.
The plot twists are continuing at a rapid pace in this film that, after half a century is still strangely present, perhaps because a movie is timeless and deals with fundamental issues of politics, while incorporating the simplicity fondamentali con cui molta gente riflette sui problemi politici.
Il primo punto da evidenziare è il mito interclassista del movimento John Doe (e del regista): cioè l’idea che si possa aspirare ad un mondo migliore senza mettere in discussione la logica del profitto e quindi il liberismo. Tale mito, razionalizzato nella dottrina sociale della chiesa cattolica e nel pensiero di tanti progressisti moderati, è in realtà un velo che occulta e in ultima analisi rafforza lo sfruttamento economico. Capra esplicita nel corso del film, anche se con le migliori intenzioni, questo mito, parlando del “popolo”, degli “umili”, senza mai mettere in discussione le spietate leggi fondamentali del capitalismo. I John Doe many are designed as individual and not as a class or a part of society. Hence, in the film says, "If spingessimo in the same direction at the same time move the world." Populism "humanitarian" side also touches deep soul, but impossible to understand the roots of exploitation are not only nell'avidità "excessive" by some, but in a "system" that allows both economic injustice standard, and injustice " excessive ".
Today, this ambiguity is the current session. In our country, which has remained free structure, many cards were reshuffled. The ruling class is not as defined as in past. New rich do not have a factory, but a simple chair occupied after regular elections and pillaged by the chair who really have the factories, but they are happy to be extortionists in exchange for favors. Old rich are unforeseen difficulties if they do not want to compromise. New rich do not have productive capital, but financial capital and multiply their wealth through a simple transaction, without taking direct advantage of workers regularly employed. Nouveaux riches, when corruption has become "organic" production system, have a role in the production chain, but still be able to collect crumbs to live in luxury. In this confusion of the surface, many "new poor" do not understand or do not want to understand more and feel "poor" instead of "exploitation" feel "consumers in distress" rather than "Class" and aspire to get better after giving up individually to improve the company together with the other . Not only that the traditional parties "deployed" and oriented to represent the class of employees, representing more than anyone, "dialogue" with the reactionary parties and the prospects to changes in the interest "of all."
In a world that is based on exploitation as it once was, but that has changed the face and in which those who fought the world has "lost face" there is a resurgence of populism and "apolitical" that can confuse all of the waters. The populism of "Scrooge"-would-be-dictators can be unmasked, but the confused anti-populism of Scrooge is a new problem that threatens to end the project can still be a better society and egalitarian single complaint of corruption, the "misrule "and" wastes ".
If, after these reflections, we examine the ideas of those who are not naive and who are also on the right side and understand that should not be questioned only corruption, but the economic structure to its roots we often see the opposite mistake: we see competent people who speak sensibly of creeping coup, questioning the roots of liberalism, which clarify the plots between finance capitalism and industrial capitalism, but which does not affect people's feelings. More easily touch the feelings of people who ride their reactionaries man nightmares "average" (ie the negative side of John Doe) and picking up votes as "nonsense local" one ("Po"), confused with fear (" others ", the" different ", non EU), or seduce with the myth of" all together "in a shared hedonism and television justified. The progressive movements and leftist ideologies do not commit these crimes, but no longer able to touch the strings of deep and positive feelings of the people. I'm not saying, then, that they must water down their programs (if they have) in a confused populism, but should involve the people on the ideal plane, moral and emotional, that should give direction to the need that we all build together to many others a better society [cf. POST Dreams and policy ].
Frank Capra came to build his career as a director, starting early from the need to liberate themselves from poverty and then stroking personal ambitions: first studies, graduating in engineering, then in the search for a job, then, not finding ways to work as an engineer, accepting the challenge of world cinema. However, if its initial efforts were motivated by the need to assert itself, that of maturity have been motivated primarily by a desire to explore people's hearts "not by force of logic but that of pity" (Autobiography, cited. P . 446).
E 'own piety, pietas , which held together the personal and professional experiences of this man keen, creative and extremely easy. It 's the pietas which gave depth to all his plays (including to the most exhilarating and comic), as well as its moral, religious and political. You may agree or disagree with his religious conception of man or his adherence to the liberal democracy of the United States, but just his heartfelt belief in the value of the person to prevent his falling into the moralism and religiosity of his naive patriotism of falling into conservativism.
Unlike most intellectually sophisticated scholars and writers he has found a way to transmit immediately and emotionally touching his conception of the person to millions of people and create a "beneficial contagion" from which humanity has not yet " healed " and from which I hope will never heal. It 'been able to "expand our soul" by making us laugh and cry, but still making us laugh with a light heart, "the spirit, humor, laughter is the hope, promise, light, taste, smell that animate days of our pilgrimage on this earth "(Autobiography, cit. p. 537).
Gianfranco
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