Terrorism and Cinema

Lo kitsch es asociado a la cultura de masas y del consumo masivo. Los medios de comunicación aprovechan esta cualidad para poder llegar a un mayor número de personas. El kitsch es un medio más simpático y referente para el público, sin embargo su mayor propósito es vender o darle más valor a la imagen que se promociona. ¿Qué habrá hecho que la protagonista de la película de El Exorcista  Regan se vuelva un ídolo en la cultura popular de Occidente?

The multimodal and dialogic resources of cinema make it a privileged means of experiencing the complex modalities of violent conflict in the modern world. In this sense we can say that the cinema of the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo offers an invaluable resource: the central role of mediatic depiction in the process of defining political action as legitimate or illegitimate insists we pay close attention to the work of a filmmaker who evinces a consistent and evolving concern with the nature and representation of political violence. (I'm embarrassed about this article now: the auteurist approach seems to me unreflective, and the piece recycles some cliches and errors, since pointed out by other more attentive scholars. But it represents a stage in thinking that achieved better results in my 2019 monograph on the film.)

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“Rivoluzionario professionista” convertito all’Islam, Carlos ha dedicato la sua vita combattendo “per la liberazione del mondo dallo sfruttamento imperialista e della Palestina dall’occupazione sionista”. Le armi gli “sono state imposte dalle circostanze, determinate dalla violenza stessa del nemico”, e il “terrorismo” è una fatalità imposta “dal rapporto di forze cui nessun resistente, musulmano o meno, può sfuggire, poiché è di fronte a un nemico potentissimo, senza freni né limiti in arroganza e ambizione di conquista”. Il terrorismo “è l’arma dei poveri”, “un’arma di prima scelta per ristabilire una parvenza di equilibrio contro la sproporzione dei mezzi di informazione, il cui monopolio assoluto è del nemico”, ovvero degli americani. In questo libro autobiografico commentato da Marco Marsili, Ilič Ramírez Sánchez ricostruisce le tappe della carriera che ne ha fatto il terrorista più famoso e ricercato nel mondo, dai primi attentati degli anni ‘70, all’amicizia con Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein e Mùammar Gheddafi, fino all’arresto avvenuto in Sudan nel ’94. Carlos svela la verità sugli attentati dell’11 settembre, e spiega, con una lucida analisi, la strategia statunitense della “guerra preventiva”, motivata dalla necessità di mantenere il controllo sul prezzo del petrolio, scambiato sui mercati internazionali in dollari. Una feroce critica ai media occidentali, al capitalismo, al consumismo, all’Onu, e alla sinistra occidentale, accusata di essersi adagiata “sugli allori della borghesia convertendosi al liberalismo californiano”.

The centrist Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped in 1978 and murdered 54 days later by the Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades) – a far-left revolutionary group. The kidnap has come to be perceived as the key event of the Italian ‘terrorist’
period of roughly 1969–1983, and has displaced the other events of the period in national memory. There are several films devoted to the kidnapping; Buongiorno, notte (2003), based on the memoir by one of Moro’s jailers, is unique among these in evincing a sophisticated awareness of the means by which historical understanding is constructed through a clash and superimposition of discourses, including various forms of fictional representation. The film is a meditation not solely on the Moro events in themselves, but on the place of the memory of Aldo Moro in Italian culture, and on the means by which the perception and historicising of the Moro kidnapping is generated.

This essay provides an introduction to the representation and working through in Italian cinema of the experience of terrorism during the ‘leaden years’ (anni di piombo, 1969–c. 1983). It begins by discussing the key terms ‘terrorism’ and ‘anni di piombo’ themselves before providing a short history of the different terrorisms in Italy during the long 1970s. The remainder of the essay is given over to a discussion of the key films, genres and modes that have dealt with the events or memories of that terrorism. Genres include the cop film, Italian-style comedy and auteurist films. Key titles include Cadaveri eccellenti (Illustrious Corpses, dir. Francesco Rosi, 1976), Colpire al cuore(A Blow to the Heart, dir. Gianni Amelio, 1982), La seconda volta (The Second Time, dir. Mimmo Calopresti, 1995), and Buongiorno, notte (Good Morning, Night, dir. Marco Bellocchio, 2003).

Dābiq is an electronic magazine (e-zine) utilising strategic utopianism and savagery messages supported by exemplary leadership, eschatology, and current events reports. This project analyses narrative themes present within Dābiq and how relevant and prevalent these themes are across issues. The project applies Thematic Network Analysis of the first six issues of Dābiq, laying foundations for understanding ISIL’s culture and counter-narrative development. It argues present terminology and first generation research constrain understanding of ISIL’s cultural specifics. This project establishes that rhetoric within Dābiq contains both political and religious narratives. Finally, this project establishes that ‘Exemplary Leadership’ theme dominates ISIL’s Dābiq rhetoric.

This thesis examines the generic body of a vast group of commercial crime films produced in Italy during the anni di piombo, or Leaden Years, a time peculiarly marked by widespread episodes of political violence and tragic facts of terrorism (1969-early 1980s). Generally associated with film cycles and formulas popularly known as giallo (or giallo all'italiana) and poliziottesco, these films achieved resounding success at the national box-office by conjugating the aesthetic of foreign crime films and formulas with clear references to the grim and violent Italian reality. The aim of this thesis is to assess how, and to what extent, problems and concerns associated with contemporaneous historical events had effectively influenced their production and consumption, as well as their generic identity. In contrast with traditional (and prevailing) critical accounts, this thesis contends that these films and their generic images are less concerned with terrorism and related political extremism than they are with other contemporaneous social events, such as the reigniting of culturally deep-seated regional tensions, and the crisis of a national benchmark such as the patriarchal family. In discussing this point, this thesis provides a thorough historical contextualization of the Leaden Years which does not rest exclusively on political-terrorist issues, but takes into account other topical social problems, as well as reconstructing the cultural and political-ideological complexity that marked this era. Arguments in support of this thesis have been crucially elaborated through referencing historiographical material and critical sources mostly from Italy, in an attempt to further provide the examination of these films and of their generic identity with an Italian critical and cultural perspective to date scarcely represented in the Anglo-American film studies upon which the theoretical body of the Italian crime film is prevalently built. KEYWORDS: Anni di piombo; Italian cinema; Crime film; Giallo; Poliziottesco; Filoni; Terrorism; Political violence; Italian family; Regionalism.

Comment la production vidéo de l’organisation « Etat islamique » relance-t-elle les relations entre cinéma et propagande ? Quels sont les traits de mise en scène qui caractérisent cette production ? Quels liens entretient-elle avec les images de fiction ? Et aussi, quel devenir pour le cinéma hollywoodien qui inspire parfois directement certains films de Daech ?

In this article I attempt to clarify the appeal and interrogate the political efficacy of conspiracy theory in films on the terrorism of the anni di piombo. Conspiracy is a popular, even (in some notorious cases) bestselling mode of historical and political understanding. As such its products are as easy to patronise as to enjoy, but the nature of the appeal of conspiracy theory can be elusive to discern. If the conspiracy mode lacks the epistemological or cognitive charge claimed for it by its producers, then its appeal must be accounted for in other ways – in terms, I would suggest, of the work (or ‘working through’) that it does on behalf of its consumers. One might think of it, in Aristotelian terms, less as a means of privileged explanation than as a mechanism enabled by techniques of verisimilitude to acquit certain social functions and provide metaphors for the condition of the person in complex societies. This article tests these assertions in relation to a film on the Brescia massacre, Le mani forti (Franco Bernini, 1997), and to a pair of films on the Moro kidnapping, Il caso Moro (Giuseppe Ferrara, 1986) and Piazza delle Cinque Lune (Renzo Martinelli, 2003).

Cinema has played a key role in articulating the impact and legacies of the so-called anni di piombo in Italy, the years of intra-national political terrorism that lasted from 1969 until well into the 1980s. Tragedia all'italiana offers an analytical exploration of Italian cinema's representation and refraction of those years, showing how a substantial and still growing corpus of films has shaped the ways in which Italians have assimilated and remembered the events of this period.
This is the first monograph in English on terrorism and film in Italy, a topic that is attracting the interest of a wide range of scholars of film, cultural studies and critical terrorism studies. It provides novel analytical categories for an intriguing corpus of films and offers careful accounts of works and genres as diverse as La meglio gioventú, Buongiorno, notte, the poliziottesco (cop film) and the commedia all'italiana. The author argues that fiction film can provide an effective frame for the elaboration of historical experience but that the cinema is symptomatic both of its time and of the codes of the medium itself - in terms of its elisions, omissions and evasions as well as its emphases. The book is a study of a body of films that has elaborated the experience of terrorism as a fascinating and even essential part of the heritage of modern Italy.

This piece gives a short overview of the body of Italian films that deal with the terrorism of the 'anni di piombo', the period from roughly late 1969 to the early 1980s. The article considers the films from the point of view of theme, approach (direct, displaced, allegorical etc.), and especially period (different decades). Note that several important films have been distributed since the writing of this piece, so it's rather dated, and some of my conclusions now seem to me reductive.

With its user-friendly, action movie formula, profusion of well-known actors and iconic mise-en-scène, Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex (Uli Edel, 2008) presents as a middlebrow biopic that seeks to please popular tastes rather than educate and instil some deep questions in the audience.
Uli Edel’s film about the tragically famous guerrilla group Red Army Faction, RAF, seems to adhere to the canon of  a “Cinema of Consensus” (Rentschler, 2000), which Eric Rentschler characterised the first decade of post-wall German Cinema. Compared to other films about terrorism and political violence by filmmakers of the New German Cinema, among others Die bleierne Zeit (Marianne and Juliane, Margarethe von Trotta, 1981) and Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (The lost honour of Katharina Blum, Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta, 1975) - the case study under consideration opts for less politically committed forms, which could satisfy a variegated and young audience instead of investigating with a more critical approach the decade that put Germany on the brink of social meltdown.
Although particular attention is paid to the crude violence and atrocities perpetrated by this group of terrorists, from the beginning of the film the audience is prone to align with the protagonists, seen as victims of an unjust regime, beaten by policemen and with limited civil rights. At the end, however, they emerge as brutal criminals but at the same time, as stylish youth icons.
If history repeats itself first as tragedy, and then as fashion, Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex shows the RAF terrorists as pop icons, generational myths, whose identities are defined not only by political ideas, language but also costumes. On the one hand, the adoption of a glamorous style shifts the attention from political inquiry to mere entertainment; on the other hand, it is also symptomatic of a revival culture based on videoclips and prosthetic memories of television images and advertisement.
The proposed paper aims to investigate the relationship between costumes, identity and memory in Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex drawing on studies of fashion, popular culture and society by authors such as Susan Sontag, Stella Bruzzi, Roland Barthes and Jean Baudrillard. The concept of vintage differentiates from other fashion related notions, such as kitsch, camp, trash and it indicates the recuperation of old styles, which are considered beautiful because they appear at the right time. Vintage is therefore à la page. The notion is useful here to comprehend the success of this myth-centric version of history close to fashion style. Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex reflects the emotional power of memory combined with the pervasive nature of media; and it results in a distorted perception of the past driven by mediated memories.

Dopo aver passato interi decenni ad attingere a piene mani nel canone letterario occidentale attraverso felici e infelici adattamenti, la produzione seriale televisiva italiana ha rivolto sempre più spesso il suo sguardo, negli ultimi anni, su eventi storici vicini e lontani. In questo contesto va considerato il pantheon di eroi civili e religiosi a cui sono state consacrate decine di fiction targate Rai e Mediaset. Gli anni di piombo, in particolare, hanno dato lo spunto a svariate produzioni chiamate a rivisitare il periodo più buio della prima Repubblica attraverso la ricostruzione di eventi ancora molto vicini e spesso ricchi di zone d'ombra. Dopo i primi tentativi di scarso successo ad opera di Damiano Damiani (Parole e sangue) e Carlo Lizzani (Nucleo zero), entrambi chiamati a raccontare, negli anni '80, eventi che stavano ancora sconvolgendo il Paese e che erano troppo caldi per poter essere commentati e rappresentati con distacco e originalità, tocca a Sergio Corbucci, con Donne armate, riproporre uno spaccato degli anni di piombo attraverso una doppia inflessione di genere: a pochi anni dal termine dell'emergenza, infatti, gli eventi vengono riproposti sotto la lente del thriller interamente declinato al femminile. Siamo all'inizio degli anni '90, e il maestro del western all'italiana sembra quasi farsi premonitore del successo internazionale di Thelma e Louise. Bisogna aspettare gli anni zero, tuttavia, per incontrare le prime produzioni che affrontano il periodo con maggior impatto creativo. Mediaset, prima con Attacco allo Stato e Il generale Dalla Chiesa e poi con Aldo Moro -Il presidente, privilegia il genere biopic per raccontare il periodo attraverso figure e eventi ben noti. Nel primo, Michele Soavi sceglie di rivisitare gli ultimi drammatici rigurgiti del terrorismo nostrano attraverso il racconto degli omicidi D'Antona e Biagi, ponendo l'enfasi sull'efficacia delle attività delle forze dell'ordine che riusci-

Con contributi di Pierre Sorlin, Roberto Silvestri, Paolo Varvaro, Alan O'Leary, Vito Zagarrio, Gino Nocera, Cinzia Venturoli, Guido Vitiello, Christian Uva, Susanna Pellis, María Pilar Rodríguez e Rob Stone, Maria Carla Zizolfi, Maricla Tagliaferri e Paolo Fantini, e un'intervista a Gianfranco Pannone.

Texto que forma parte de la exposición:
http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/lavirreina/es/exposiciones
De romper y rasgar (La Virreina, Barcelona)
29.11.2016 - 11.01.2017
Comisariada por Eugeni Bonet
http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/lavirreina/es/exposiciones/de-romper-y-rasgar

This research explores the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of deterrence theory with respect to military and law enforcement counter-terrorism initiatives and compares it to legitimacy theory with respect to causal counter-terrorism initiatives. The researcher defines the concepts of deterrence and legitimacy in the counterterrorism context and discusses their applicability to law enforcement and military counter-terrorism models. In further examining counter-terrorism practices, the researcher discusses ho w the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights ushered in a new age of counter-terrorism initiatives, a new way of looking at terrorism, and a new tool kit of vertical responses to the threat of terrorism. P articular attention is given to how the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights altered counter-terrorism activity during the second stage of modern terrorism from the first stage, and the effects of this app roach during the third stage of counter-terrorism. Finally, the researcher describes the different types of terrorist groups, their interaction with other groups, and provides examples of each while explaining how classification of terrorist organizations and groups helps to provide insights into methods of combating terrorism.

reshaping-the-landscape-the-representation-ofhistorical-processes-in-carlos-and-the-autobiography-of-nicolae-ceausescu/#.YWwF2S0WroA Olivier Assayas's Carlos and Andrei Ujică's The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu had their first public screenings in May 2010, at the Cannes Film Festival, on consecutive days. For all the obvious differences in their aesthetics-Ujică's "autobiography" of the Romanian dictator is a found-footage documentary, while Assayas's biopic-cum-procedural on the international terrorist is a work of reconstruction and thrillerish immediacy-they were immediately paired by some critics as 21 st century autopsies of communist bogeyman figures from the late Cold War era. J. Hoberman, for example, wrote that in a way they were both "outrageous political gangster film[s]" sharing a grand geopolitical sweep-we watch their "criminal megalomaniac" protagonists traverse the decades as they keep being "enabled by all manner of regimes". i Indian critic Srikanth Srinivasan went further, writing on his blog that Ujică deals with Ceaușescu "more or less like Assayas deals with Carlos", showing him as a man who gets "stuck in a time capsule, adhering to his beliefs and illusions when the world has moved beyond him". ii Both films are globe-hopping, decades-spanning epics of considerable length, set in dozens of countries and featuring huge casts. Assayas's Carlos is a five-and-a-half hour film commissioned by the French television network Canal Plus (French-Romanian director Radu Mihăileanu had been attached to the project at some point) and also screened as a TV miniseries. It is set between 1973 and 1994

El videojuego mantiene todo tipo de intercambios con el cine. El terror es un campo especialmente interesante para atender a los diálogos, los vaivenes y los silencios entre los dos medios. En los años 80, el videojuego trabaja con iconografías y motivos del terror cinematográfico. Se notan intentos precarios de imitar formas del sobresalto propias del género en cine pero sin llegar a apropiarse de recursos del lenguaje del cine y sin establecer un género videolúdico. El crecimiento de los motores gráficos en 3D de los 90 permite replicar recursos del lenguaje cinematográfico. La operación que condensa esta transformación es el jumpscare, elemento que modeló la enunciación del género. El survival horror se afianza como la primera forma estable de terror videolúdico. Después de 2010, el videojuego entra en un nuevo período y ensaya estrategias de shock por fuera de su relación con el cine. Algunos juegos abandonan el realismo tridimensional y los recursos cinematográficos para volver sobre desarrollos estilísticos previos y explorar el registro incierto y la vacilación de lo fantástico. Cada etapa reúne estrategias textuales que movilizan, en el plano de la enunciación, distintas formas de conmoción. El terror cinematográfico funciona como condición de producción de los dos primeros momentos, mientras que el tercero reenvía hacia el propio pasado mediático del videojuego y procura allí los insumos expresivos para desplegar nuevas formas de sobresalto.

Scrive Alessandro Marongiu: È fatto che non può sorprendere nessuno che, in un Paese come il nostro in cui il cinema è (stato?) uno dei mezzi espressivi che meglio ha saputo cogliere, riadattare e trasformare in chiave artistica gli eventi politici e della vita quotidiana e gli umori della società civile, sia stato prodotto negli ultimi trent’anni un elevato numero di pellicole sugli anni di piombo. E a rinsaldare il legame tra la settima arte e il terrorismo c’è anche un particolare, forse ancora poco noto, ovvero che l’espressione “anni di piombo” deriva proprio dal titolo di un film (Die bleierne Zeit di Margarethe Von Trotta), che vinse nel 1981 il Leone d’Oro a Venezia. In Tragedia all’italiana (2007, Angelica Editore), l’irlandese Alan O’Leary, docente del Dipartimento di Italianistica all’Università di Leeds, indaga “l’uso funzionale dei vari generi cinematografici – dalla commedia al thriller, dal conspiracy al road movie – e il significato profondo dell’aderenza o del rifiuto delle convenzioni che caratterizzano ciascuno di essi”. Nel libro, il singolo film non è mai semplicemente considerato in quanto tale, ma è visto piuttosto come elemento tipico della categoria del testo sociale, ovvero come un’opera in cui il pubblico, “riconoscendosi come destinatario del messaggio, da semplice fruitore diventa parte del processo produttivo, coinvolto dagli autori nei complicati meccanismi della Memoria”. Il sottotitolo del testo di O’Leary svela quello che è il tema centrale della sua ricerca: Cinema e terrorismo tra Moro e Memoria, per un’indagine che, dopo un’inevitabile riferimento al neorealismo, parte dagli anni Settanta e giunge fino ai nostri giorni e a produzioni note anche a vaste platee, come  La meglio gioventù e Romanzo criminale.

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