Summary: Neo-Realism in Film

Neo-Realism is an influential film movement of the late 1940s that originated in Italy during the World War II and died out in 1950s. It was inaugurated by Jean Renoir but associated with post-war directors such as Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti and Vittorio de Sica.


 It also refers to films that are made outside the studio, with shooting on real locations. The absence of a script and the use of non-professional actors are all designed simultaneously to cut costs and increase the impression of naturalness and realism.

A Neo-realist film has characters that are ordinary people but believable. The film topics are mostly about poverty and unemployment. It has little or no supplemental lighting. It also has a linear storytelling and a dialogue that is natural and includes range of dialects. It also has real location settings, just like what we see in documentaries.