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Antonioni’s Anthropocene and Guerra’s enchanting gardens
- Source: Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies, Volume 11, Issue The Centennial of Tonino Guerra, 1920–2020, Jan 2023, p. 41 - 59
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- 15 Apr 2020
- 24 Sep 2020
- 02 Jan 2023
Abstract
This article explores the seemingly discordant ecologies that animate the ecopoetics of Tonino Guerra’s thinking, arguing that in Guerra’s work we find both a critique of human uses and abuses of the environment – in the era of environmental loss we are currently calling the Anthropocene – and an invitation to creatively reimagine our planetary place. More specifically, it addresses the contrasts between the bereft landscapes in the tetralogy of films Guerra wrote with Michelangelo Antonioni and the intricate, rich gardens of his poetry and of his hometown, Pennabilli. In contrast with (or perhaps in response to) the out-of-control gardens and unpalatable fruits of the films, Guerra’s personal philosophy led him to cultivate poetic and earthly gardens that nourish biodiversity and community and express optimism for a habitable Anthropocene future.