Abstract
Building upon the idea that “Un americano a Roma” (Steno, 1954) is seen as a response to “Roman Holiday” (William Wyler, 1953), and to Wyler’s depiction of Italy and Rome as a postcard-like reality, this paper discusses how the depiction of food in the two films contributes to the construction of Italian identity, one stereotyped by Wyler and the other parodied by Steno. Wyler tends to present a stereotypical image of Italian identity through food, and its consumption in scenes where spumante, espresso, and gelato are consumed in bar all’aperto, while the street markets (mercati) tend to identify a separate working-class Italy. “Un americano a Roma” suggests, instead, that reality is different, starting with the maccheroni scene. Alberto Sordi as Nando, a young Roman obsessed with the United States, has the intention of eating food American style (jam, yogurt, mustard, and milk), yet soon reverts to eating Italian pasta and drinking red wine, justifying this by saying “maccarone mi hai provocato? E mo’ te magno.” Although this scene is not the only reference to Italian (and American) gastronomy and eating styles in Steno’s film, it certainly represents its manifesto: Italian cuisine is superior to the American. Through parody, the film by Steno criticizes the obsession that many Italians had toward the American culture, including its gastronomy, making the point that the true Italy is not the one which Hollywood filmmaker Wyler had depicted in “Roman Holiday.”
Presenters
Chiara De SantiAssistant Professor, Modern Languages, Farmingdale State College, SUNY , United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Food in Film, Cuisines, Identity
