The New Neapolitan Cinema

The best studies of Italian culture are often written by foreigners so perhaps it’s not by chance that The New Neapolitan Cinema, an excellent book by the young English researcher Alex Marlow-Mann, shows up the limitations within which earlier studies of Neapolitan cinema have been carried out... The author works with typically Anglo-Saxon rigour, ferreting through film and book archives; cataloguing films, books and much more besides; compiling and comparing data, percentages, statistics and locations. But he also writes as a scrupulously open-minded historian and critic, offering striking insights and bursts of creativity and avoiding both over- and under-valuation in order to place the phenomenon of the New Neapolitan Cinema back in its correct proportions. (translated from Italian) -- Alberto Castellano * Il Manifesto *
Scholars of film and Italian Studies will be glad to find this informative, descriptive volume in their libraries…Marlow-Mann’s study helps to fill a void in the scholarship on contemporary Naples in the English-speaking world and provides an accurate and extensive record of the body of works produced by the contemporary Neapolitan filmmakers with very useful appendices. -- Patrizia la Treccchia * Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studes *
Scholars of film and Italian Studies will be glad to find this informative, descriptive volume in their libraries…Marlow-Mann’s study helps to fill a void in the scholarship on contemporary Naples in the English-speaking world and provides an accurate and extensive record of the body of works produced by the contemporary Neapolitan filmmakers with very useful appendices. -- Patrizia La Trecchia * Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studes *
Marlow-Mann produces detailed analyses of a substantial body of films enriched by first-hand insights and interviews with directors, as well as a useful set of appendices charting exhibition statistics, figures relating to production companies and audience location. Marlow-Mann’s book is a comprehensive and well-researched discussion of an important cinematic phenomenon whose treatment, in English, has been limited and fragmentary. -- Monica Boria * Modern Italy *
Marlow-Mann produces detailed analyses of a substantial body of films enriched by first-hand insights and interviews with directors, as well as a useful set of appendices charting exhibition statistics, figures relating to production companies and audience location. Marlow-Mann’s book is a comprehensive and well-researched discussion of an important cinematic phenomenon whose treatment, in English, has been limited and fragmentary. -- Monica Boria * Modern Italy *
An exemplary piece of scholarship, marshalling a wealth of factual information and an intimate knowledge of a broad range of films, many of which are largely unfamiliar to English language audiences. The book’s analysis of cinema’s role in the construction of identity is steeped in film history and is a rewarding and original comment on the culture of which the New Neapolitan Cinema forms a highly valuable part. -- Dr Louis Bayman, Kings College London * Viewfinder *
An exemplary piece of scholarship,marshalling a wealth of factual information and an intimate knowledge of a broad range of films,many of which are largely unfamiliar to English language audiences.The book’s analysis of cinema’s role in the construction of identity is steeped in film history and is a rewarding and original comment on the culture of which the New Neapolitan Cinema forms a highly valuable part. -- Dr Louis Bayman, Kings College London * Viewfinder *
An exemplary piece of scholarship, marshalling a wealth of factual information and an intimate knowledge of a broad range of films, many of which are largely unfamiliar to English language audiences. The book’s analysis of cinema’s role in the construction of identity is steeped in film history and is a rewarding and original comment on the culture of which the New Neapolitan Cinema forms a highly valuable part. * Viewfinder *
This superbly researched volume provides a wealth of information on the recent renaissance of filmmaking in Naples, considered in its broader cultural context. Not only does the author build a persuasive analysis of this body of films, but he also offers crucial insights into the conditions of their production. -- Áine O'Healy, Loyola Marymount University