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- Title
The Dark Heart of Motherhood in Italy: Maternal Ambivalence in Contemporary Italian Film.
- Authors
TARNOPOLSKY, MICHELLE
- Abstract
In a country where the maternal instinct is still considered a conditio sine qua non of being a woman, maternal ambivalence is one of the ultimate taboos. But Italian filmmakers are trying to change that. Four recent Italian films--Lo spazio bianco by Francesca Comencini (2009), Maternity Blues by Fabrizio Cattani (2011), Quando la notte by Cristina Comencini (2011), and Tutto parla di te by Alina Marazzi (2012)--use everything from single motherhood and postpartum depression to infanticide as a lens through which to approach this "unspeakable" topic. This article demonstrates how the archetype of the loving, self-sacrificing mother that lies at the heart of the Italian identity is also the source of its twenty-first-century motherhood crisis and that Italian women's ambivalence about motherhood is paralleled by a national one: a deeply rooted contradiction between private worship and public lack of support.
- Subjects
ITALY; ITALIAN films; MOTHERHOOD in motion pictures; MOTION pictures
- Publication
Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research & Community Involvement, 2016, Vol 7, Issue 2, p9
- ISSN
1923-4139
- Publication type
Article