Aesthetics

Question 1

What gives the film a memorable aesthetic style?

Answer 1

The use of sound motifs

Question 2

What is the effect of the repeated phrase ‘Buongiorno Principessa!’?

Answer 2

Trigger romantic and comic meanings, it is the catchphrase that Guido uses to woo Dora

Question 3

What influenced the visual style and performance in the first half of the film?

Answer 3

Keaton and Slapstick comic traditions

Question 4

A feature of expressionism

Answer 4

Figure expressionism and movement

Question 5

How does the aesthetics and visual style undergo a dramatic transformation?

Answer 5

The Mise-en-Scène and incidental music brings a grimmer and less expressive visual style into play

Question 6

What elements of slapstick comedy do we still see in the second half of the film?

Answer 6

Through the performance motifs e.g guido’s winks to Joshua and silly walks. Later becoming poignant and taking on a different meaning in a changed narrative setting