Cinema, political

The essay analyses the conjunction between cinema and politics, describing its correlation with the great historical processes of the 20th century. The reconstruction of the main experiences of political cinema—the Soviet avant-garde; regime cinema under Nazism and Fascism; the democratic reeducation intent carried out through cinema in the postwar era; the militant cinema of the 1970s—is accompanied by analysis of the theoretical debate which follows and often leads the cinematic practice. The political intent of cinema cannot be measured so much, or exclusively, by the contents of a film, as by the representational machine: Cinema itself is interpreted as an ideological apparatus, and its strength has to be evaluated by its ability to shape and to create an image of power.