Vita Futurista

Futurism was the art of the avant-garde in Italy from 1909 to 1944. Its development, its artistic stimuli, its creative influences on art and society and its political implications are all closely linked with the personality of Filippo Marinetti. Futurist theory preceded practice - Futurism itself had no precedent. The Futurists' target was an Italian culture rooted in nineteenth-century values - an immobile society devoted to classicism and operatic melodrama. Against this background Marinetti mobilized young writers, painters, sculptors, inventors and, later, politicians into the Futurist revolution of society by means of creative activism. Art and life fused in a magnificent rhetorical gesture; movement became the supreme quality; irrationalism, adventure and war were glorified. Having given Futurism its prestigious launch in Paris, Marinetti returned to Milan and formed the first group of Futurist artists with the poets Luciani, Palazzeschi, Buzzi and Govani, and the painters Balla, Boccioni, Carrà and Severini; and Russolo joined soon after. Memorably this film includes contemporary versions of performances and `art of noise' pieces that show Futurism to be the precursor of modern performance art and avant-garde music. Marinetti welcomed the First World War as a cleansing expression of pure energy that would sweep away the old world and replace it with a new Futurist society. He allied himself, and Futurism, to Italian Fascism, which gradually usurped and neutralized the movement. The film, therefore, documents the impact of Futurism on art and society, while charting the social development that led to the establishment of Fascism in Italy and to war. Vita Futurista was mainly shot at the huge exhibition of Futurist art at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. It includes dramatic recreations, rare archive film of the principal characters and a host of artworks. The film is constructed, like Futurism itself, from a montage of ideas and concepts. This is not period imitation but a witty response to Futurist structures and techniques characteristic of the Futurists themselves.

`...well documented, well produced, a production that honors speed and machines. The producers contend that Futurism was the precursor of modern performance art and avant-garde music. They present a montage of ideas with well-edited old footage of museum sculptures and industrial sites. The Art of Noise is an ensemble of vocalists and musicians who generate sounds ranging from strange, seemingly prehistoric noises to scraping industrial materials. All this is held together with interviews (for which translators are provided) ... the production and editing are done by highly skilled professionals.' Video Rating Guide for Libraries, USA

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