What are we fighting for? Michał Waszyński’s Italian-Polish films on the Second World War | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies
  4. Volume 11, Issue 3
  5. Article
Intersections between Italian and Slavic Cinemas
  • ISSN: 2047-7368
  • E-ISSN: 2047-7376

Abstract

In this article I discuss production, distribution and reception contexts of Michał Waszyński’s films () (‘The great way: The odyssey of Montecassino’) (1947) and () (1948), which were produced in Italy in the wake of the Second World War. Thus, I aim at reconstructing the wider political plan to which these films were inscribed, locating them on the backdrop of the Polish Army propaganda activity and diplomacy in Italy in the eve of the Cold War. An in-depth inquiry into archival documentation concerning different contexts of the films shows them as a nodal point for a complex set of problems. I show to what extent these films were entangled into diplomatic, political and ideological struggles between the Polish Armed Forces, the Moscow-dependent Polish government, the Allies and the Italian government in the early post-war years. On a more general scale, this analysis uncovers the negotiations over boundaries of what was acceptable in the Second World War depiction in Italian film culture.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • National Science Centre in Poland
  • ‘Philosovietism in Post-Fascist Italian Film Culture’ (Award UMO-2019/32/C/HS2/00536)
© 2023 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00200_1
2023-06-07
2024-04-24
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Andreotti, Giulio. ( 1948), Film ‘La grande strada’, MS, La Grande Strada file, Rome:: Archivio Genereale dello Stato;.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Anon. ( 1931;), ‘C ensorship review of the film Nel gorgo del destino. ’, Italia taglia, 30 July, http://www.italiataglia.it/search/opera. Accessed 20 September 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Anon. ( 1946a;), ‘ Intrighi e terrorismo dei fascisti polacchi. ’, L’Unità, 13 February, p. 1.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Anon. ( 1946b;), ‘ Le bande di Anders agenti postumi del nazismo. ’, L’Unità, 2 February, p. 1.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Anon. ( 1946c;), ‘ Una testimonianza inglese. ’, L’Unità, 23 February, p. 2.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Anon. ( 1946d;), ‘ Via i criminali di Anders!. ’, L’Unità, 9 August, p. 2.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Anon. ( 1946e;), ‘ Anders a Londra. ’, L’Unità, 3 November, p. 1.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Anon. ( 1947a;), ‘ I registi italiani denunciano l’imbavagliamento del nostro cinema. ’, L’Unità, 10 December, p. 1.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Anon. ( 1947b;), ‘ Anna Magnani é stanca di cantare. ’, Il Tempo di Milano, 3 April, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Anon. ( 1948a;), ‘ Films. ’, La Prealpina, 7 August, p. 7.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Anon. ( 1948b;), ‘ Film visti. ’, Pommeriggio Bologna, 14 February, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Anon. ( 1948c;), ‘ Le prime del cinema. ’, Il Quotidiano, 24 January, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Anon. ( 1948d;), ‘ Lo sconosiuto di San Marino. ’, Il Giornale dell’Emilia-Bologna, 22 February, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Anon. ( 1948e;), ‘ Lo sconosiuto di San Marino. ’, Sicilia del Popolo, 6 May, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Anon. ( 1948f;), ‘ Lo straniero di San Marino. ’, L’Unità, 18 June, p. 7.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Anon. ( 1948g;), ‘ Notizie circa vari settori’, ISACEM 001212, Relazione del Segretario Generale per la Moralità. , 31 January, https://sites.unimi.it/comizidamore/pubblico/index.php?cerca=sconosciuto+di+san+marino&filtri=1&ordina=&direz=&titoloRic=&tipo=vedi&idsch=5832. Accessed 8 November 2021.
  17. Anon. ( 1948h;), ‘ Prime visioni. ’, L’umanità Milano, 6 May, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Anon. ( 1948i;), ‘ Rassegna cinematografica. ’, Corriere d’Informazione, 3 May, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Anon. ( 1948j;), ‘ Scene schermi. ’, Ultimissime, 14 March, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Anon. ( 1948k;), ‘ Segnalazioni cinematografiche del C.C.C.. ’, Rivista del cinematografo, March, p. 21.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Anon. ( 1950), ‘ Pro memoria’, La Grande Strada file, Rome:: Archivio Genereale dello Stato;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Babirecki, Franciszek. ( 1943;), ‘ Problemy naszej propagandy. ’, Dziennik Polski, 889, p. 3.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Biskupski, Mieczyslaw B.. ( 2010), Hollywood’s War with Poland, 1939–1945, Lexington, KY:: University Press of Kentucky;.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Bliss Lane, Arthur. ( 1948), I Saw Poland Betrayed, Indianapolis, IN and New York:: Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers;.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Blumenfeld, Samuel. ( 2006), L’homme qui voulait être prince, Paris:: Grasset;.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Calvino, Vincenzo. ( 1946;), ‘C ensorship review of the film Montecassino (1946)’, Italia taglia, 15 October. , http://www.italiataglia.it/files/visti21000_wm_pdf/1327.pdf. Accessed 20 September 2021.
  27. Canaletti-Gaudenti, Alberto. ( 1947;), letter to Vincenzo Calvino. , La Grande Strada file, Rome:: Archivio Generale dello Stato;.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. De Mitri, Leonardo. ( 1948;), ‘ Lo smemorato girovago capita a San Marino. ’, Espresso, 22, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Dłużewska, Maria. ( 2012), Trzy dni zdjęciowe, Warsaw:: Wydawnictwo Trio;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Gavuzzo, Gino. ( 1948;), ‘ Letter to Mons. Albino Galetto. ’, ISACEM 1497, Fondo Presidenza Generale, 23 January, http://users.unimi.it/cattoliciecinema/view/dett.php?id=6624. Accessed 8 November 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Gemmiti, Arturo. ( 1946), Montecassino, Italy:: Pastor;.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Genesi, Giulio. ( 1958;), ‘ Lettera alla Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri Direzione Generale dello Spettacolo. ’, Cine Censura, 7 February, http://cinecensura.com/sesso/lo-sconosciuto-di-s-marino/. Accessed 8 November 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Gennari Treveri, Daniela. ( 2009), Post-War Italian Cinema: American Intervention, Vatican Interests, New York:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Gross, Natan. ( 2002), Film żydowski w Polsce, Kraków:: Rabid;.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Jewsiewicki, Władysław. ( 1972), Polscy filmowcy na frontach drugiej wojny światowej, Warsaw:: Wydawnictwo Artystyczne i Filmowe;.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Lityński, Zygmunt. ( 1944;), ‘ Poles of the Sangro. ’, The Spectator, 12 May, pp. 6–7.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Lukas, Richard C.. ( 1982), Bitter Legacy: Polish-American Relations in the Wake of World War II, Lexington, KY:: University Press of Kentucky;.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Materski, Wojciech. ( 2007), Dyplomacja Polski ‘lubelskiej’, Warsaw:: Oficyna Wydawnicza Rytm;.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Monaco, Eitel. ( 1942;), ‘ Censorship review of the film La vita degli altri (1942)’, Italia taglia. , 6 October. , http://www.italiataglia.it/files/visti/31768.pdf. Accessed 20 September 2021.
  40. Niewiera, Elwira, and Rosołowski, Piotr. ( 2017), The Prince and the Dybbuk, Poland and Germany:: Film Art Production and Kundschafter Filmproduktion GmbH Berlin;.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Ozimek, Stanisław. ( 1974), Film polski w wojennej potrzebie, Warsaw:: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy;.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Pasztor, Maria, and Jarosz, Dariusz. ( 2018), Nie tylko fiat: Z dziejów stosunków polsko-włoskich 1945–1989, Warsaw:: Scholar;.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Pralavorio, Luigi. ( 1947;), ‘ È arrivato lo sconosciuto di San Marino. ’, Fotogrammi Cinema e varietà, 26 April, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Quaglietti, Lorenzo. ( 1948;), ‘ Le prime cinematografiche. ’, L’Unità, 22 January, p. 3.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Radosh, Ronald, and Radosh, Allis. ( 2005), Red Star over Hollywood: The Film Colony’s Long Romance with the Left, San Francisco, CA:: Encounter Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Ramperti, Marco. ( 1948;), ‘ Le prime. ’, L’Ora d’Italia, 22 January, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Reale, Eugenio. ( 1991), Raporty Polska 1945–1946 (trans. Z. Paweł), Warsaw:: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy;.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Small, Melvin. ( 1974;), ‘ How we learned to love the Russians: American media and the Soviet Union during World War II. ’, The Historian, 36:3, pp. 455–78.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Wańkowicz, Melchior. ( 1992), Bitwa o Montecassino, Warsaw:: Wydawnictwo Polonia;.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Waszyński, Michał. ( 1947), Wielka droga/La grande strada: L’oddisea di Montecassino, Poland and Italy:: Sirena Film;.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Waszyński, Michał. ( 1948), Lo sconosciuto di San Marino, Italy:: Film Gamma;.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Wiskemann, Elisabeth. ( 1946;), ‘ The Poles in Italy. ’, The Spectator, 1 February, pp. 6–7.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Żuk, Agnieszka. ( 2015), 1937: Michał Waszyński ‘oko jako doskonały obiektyw’: W 111: Rocznicę urodzin Michała Waszyńskiego, Lublin:: UMSC;.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Jóźwiak, Karol. ( 2023;), ‘ What are we fighting for? Michał Waszyński’s Italian-Polish films on the Second World War. ’, Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies, Special Issue: ‘Intersections between Italian and Slavic Cinemas’, 11:3&4, pp. 581–99, https://doi.org/10.1386/jicms_00200_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00200_1
Loading
What are we fighting for? Michał Waszyński’s Italian-Polish films on the Second World War
Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies 11, 581 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/jicms_00200_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00200_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00200_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): anti-communism; cinema diplomacy; cold war culture; film history in transnational perspective; Polish Army Film Unit; Polish Army in Italy; Polish-Italian relations; war refugees

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error