CINEMATOGRAFO

CINEMA. —

I. Moral and Pedagogical Aspects

Appearing as early as 1895, the cinema quickly rose to the level of a true art form, evolving from silent films to talkies and sound films, from black-and-white to color and three-dimensional productions; and from simple scenes and actions to the most complex dramatic representations, panoramic views, historical and scientific depictions, and fairy tales familiar since childhood. Thus, it has become a source of entertainment for millions, the most popular form of amusement; a genuine "object lesson," more effective for most people than abstract reasoning, because it is received without difficulty or effort, but with lively enjoyment and interest, accompanied as it is by a succession of concrete images that attract and captivate. Moreover, the spoken word, dramatic action, music, color, and depth only serve to strengthen its value, power, and charm.

It is easy to recognize how extensive and profound the influence of the cinema is, for it is seen at work in all sectors and phases of life; from private habits (mimicry in dress, hairstyles, mannerisms, and behavior) to the variously directed education of character and sentiment, to the state of the family nest, and to social life. This influence can be either good or bad. Good, because, besides providing recreation, cinema representations can arouse noble ideals of life, spread valuable knowledge, provide broader understanding of the history and beauties of one's own and other countries, present truth and virtue in an attractive form, promote understanding among nations, social classes, and races, rekindle the call to natural and supernatural virtue and heroism, and contribute with positive aid and encouragement to the material and social improvement of the world. Bad, because cinema representations often become occasions of sin; they lead youth into evil paths by glorifying passions or at least attempting to create an atmosphere of indifference, pity, or excuse around them; they distort life; they obscure ideals; they destroy pure and faithful love, respect for marriage, and affection for family life; they present to Christian modesty a substitute for shameless boldness, which leads to even worse situations. When, moreover, through so-called "variety shows," with the boldness of clothing, gestures, and innuendo, they are not outright lessons in vice and corruption.

It goes without saying that, faced with such grave dangers and harms, the Church feels the duty to intervene in defense of the sound principles of civil and religious life, indicating useful means to preserve from evil and, at the same time, to bend such a splendid achievement of human ingenuity to the service of good. The encyclical *Vigilanti cura* of Pius XI, dated June 29, 1936 (AAS, 28 [1936], pp. 249-63), can be considered the magna carta of this intervention, continually reinforced and updated to meet current needs by Pius XI himself and by Pius XII for the universal Church, and by individual bishops for their dioceses.

1. Negative Means

a) The first and principal means is the formation of a sound moral conscience regarding entertainment in general and the cinema in particular, which, while remaining understanding, prevents the formation and spread of that weak moral sensitivity that does not see or tries not to see danger, or overlooks it with unfounded pretexts. The word of the Gospel must serve as the basis for this formation: *"If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you"* (Mt 5:29); *"Whoever looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart"* (ibid., 5:28); which, moreover, confirms the principles of natural ethics and pedagogy. — b) The annual promise to abstain from films that offend truth and Christian morality. Already promoted since 1939 by the bishops of Veneto, it was extended in 1942 to all members of Catholic Action. A united front in this regard, not only among Catholics but also among all who feel responsible for the education of their children, such as the Legion of Decency (v.) in America, would serve as a warning and a signal even to film producers (cf. M. Barbera, *L'autocensura dei produttori di cinematografia in America*, in *Civ. Catt.*, 1931, III, pp. 215 ff.). — c) The establishment of film ratings to inform the public which films are suitable for all, which require some reservations, and which are harmful or positively bad. These ratings must be made accessible to all through special bulletins and, in general, through the Catholic press, especially the daily press, because of its timeliness and wide circulation. And since it is not possible to have a single rating system for all nations of the world, given the differing circumstances, customs, and temperaments of each country, permanent national offices will be established (in Italy, there is the Centro Cattolico Cinematografico [C.C.C.] with its periodical publications).

2. Positive Means

Since it is not enough merely to avoid bad cinema, but it is necessary to promote good cinema, national centers, in particular, must act consistently and fervently according to these guidelines: a) to initiate, within their means, serious and artistic films; b) to influence artists and all those involved in film production, so that they create masterpieces that elevate cinema to an educational mission and make it conform to the demands of Christian conscience, employing technical competence rather than amateurism; c) to show film producers how their capital

They can very well and without harm be used according to these precepts;

d) the Catholic press, moreover, so that this 'sanitizing work' may be carried out with reviews conducted serenely, yes, but also accurately, condemning what deserves condemnation and recognizing and praising the efforts of those (governments, producers, artists) who cooperate in this action of true apostolate.

**The cinema in school teaching.** — As a rapid and widespread means of instruction, the cinema has also entered the school environment, especially with short films. These are not limited to documentaries alone, but also extend into the scientific, pedagogical, and religious fields (catechism, sacred history, Church history, liturgy, missions, lives of the saints). The importance of this fact and the consequences that follow from it are evident; the effects already achieved through the use of projections not only continue but are enhanced by the greater appeal that cinema exerts. For this reason, however, the same vigilance and caution already mentioned for other films is required, all the more assiduously maternal, the more the students are susceptible to the allure of life.

**

---

**II. HISTORY.** — The history of cinema begins on 28 December 1895 when Louis and Auguste Lumière, to the astonished interest of all, presented at the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Capucins in Paris a series of films, each of about 17 meters in length, including the famous *L'Arroseur arrosé*; Catholic cinema began in early January 1896 when Frère Bazile, a teacher at the Institut St-Nicolas in Paris, staged in the Rue Jean-Coujon some living pictures (*tableaux vivants*) drawn from the life of Christ and performed by his pupils. In September 1897 an operator was sent by the Lumière brothers to Horitz in Bohemia to film the 13 scenes of the Passion Play of Oberammergau (q.v.); the film reached 250 meters and constituted an exceptional event that interested both Europe and America, where, in the same year, R. Hollaman screened an identical version of 900 meters.

To provide cinema with expressive means thereafter was G. Méliès, who introduced such tricks as the cross-dissolve (replacement of one image with another in the same frame, achieved by progressively fading one as the other comes into focus); accelerated and reverse motion. With F. Zecca the dramatic element entered cinema.

Among the pioneers of Italian cinema, it is fitting to recall here, as a tribute to Catholic cinema, Mons. C. Respighi, who, together with R. Kanzler, produced some interesting short films on the catacombs. In 1902 C. Pathé produced in France the first *Quo vadis?*; then *Ecce Homo*, *The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian*, and the excellent *Christus*; and Zecca, two years later, a *Vie du Christ* in tableaux. F. Niblo adapted H. Wallace’s *Ben-Hur* in America (1907), where the first feature-length film also appeared: *Mose’s Life* (1910), followed a year later by *Jésus* produced in France. Meanwhile in Italy were filmed *St. Paul* (1910) and *The Divine Comedy* (1911); U. Del Colle and E. Pasquali produced *I Promessi Sposi* (1913); and E. Guazzoni presented a *Quo vadis?* that marked the triumph of Italian cinema. In America there was also *From the Manger to the Cross* (1912), shot in Palestine; in Belgium *Jesus of Nazareth* (1923) by D. Buchowetzki; in France a major documentary by G.-M. Coissac, *La petite sainte de Lisieux* (1923), and *L’agonie de Jérusalem* (1924) by J. Duvivier.

Meanwhile D. W. Griffith appeared: with him cinema attained a new spontaneity and rhythmic liveliness that had only been hinted at in E. S. Porter’s *The Great Train Robbery* (1903). He succeeded in achieving a fitting cinematic expression of the most human and true aspects of reality, investing, among other things, the technique of the dissolve with strong poetic significance and endowing cinema with the great expressive means of the close-up. Of his works *Intolerance* is remembered as convincing and humane, composed of four episodes, including *The Fall of Babylon*, *The Pharisees’ Struggle Against Christ*, and *The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre*. In 1917 E. Guazzoni filmed *Fabiola* by Cardinal Wiseman with an exceedingly faithful depiction of the catacombs, according to Kanzler’s reconstruction, and *Jerusalem Delivered*. With G. Antamoro were produced *Christus*, *St. Francis*, and *St. Anthony of Padua*, the latter very successful for the psychological solidity of its characters despite the excessive rhetorical setting.

In Germany the so-called *Kammerspielfilm* developed, achieving a murky inspiration with daring camera angles, violent lighting contrasts, and specifically with the uncut depiction of confined and sordid environments.

In Hollywood (U.S.A.) Cecil B. DeMille produced *The King of Kings* (1925), in which the figure of Christ was in a certain sense effective but shrouded in an atmosphere too violent and tragic; similarly *The Sign of the Cross*, far removed from representing the sacrifice of Christian martyrs. In Poland, however, *The Mystery of the Black Madonna*, very simple and filled with religious emotion, marked a good success; as did in France *The Virgin of the Rock*. In 1928 C. T. Dreyer created a splendid *Passion of Joan of Arc* that, closely following the trial records of the saint, found its full language in an almost constant succession and very tense rhythm of close-ups, strongly carved by light. In 1917 another *Joan of Arc* had been made with G. Farrar; two other works on the same subject were produced in France by De Gastyne and in Germany by Ucicky; the latter, more than realizing a historical page, aimed to convey a drama of characters: that of Joan, a candid angel... France boasted at that time *La vie miraculeuse de Thérèse Martin* (1929) by J. Duvivier, suffused with Christian inspiration; and Germany *I.N.R.I.* (1929) by R. Wiene. For some time cinema had been looking with interest at S. M. Eisenstein and V. I. Pudovkin, who enriched their art with a most original syntax, achieving a stark dramatic quality through editing that came to constitute an essential aesthetic feature.

Through successive experiments and systems cinema was endowed with an expressive category: sound, which, perceived as a necessity, had previously found expression in improvised accompaniment, usually the piano, during screenings; after an initial period in which its possibilities were tested, often giving rise to intrusive virtuosity, it assumed the character of an integral element when it was fused from the outset in the director’s conception: an example of perfect sound commentary in which even the pauses have profound poetic significance.

Silence is Red Dust by J. Ford. At the transition from silent to sound cinema, there was Allelujah! (1929) by K. Vidor, featuring Black performers, in which the mystical aspiration of a people toward Christian redemption merged and blended with their warm, atavistic sensuality, culminating in an expression of orgiastic and yet mystical dance.

The first evident signs of a moral and didactic concern regarding cinema appeared during this period with two international Catholic congresses (The Hague 1928 and Munich 1929), which later established the Comité international pour la Cinématographie in Paris. It should be noted, however, that the Church had long been interested in cinema.

A festival of moral films was indeed organized in Milan (1910) by Cardinal Ferrari, who concluded it with the screening of St. Paul. In the same year, at the First International Congress of Cinema in Brussels, G.-M. Coissac demanded vigorous measures to ensure the moral integrity of films. In 1912, Monsignor Couillié, Archbishop of Lyon, warned against licentious films and founded a league aimed at protecting Catholics. In 1927, Canon J. Reymond established the Comité catholique du cinéma in Paris.

On June 29, 1936, Pope Pius XI dedicated the encyclical *Vigilanti cura* to cinema, having already alluded to it in 1929 in a passage of *Divini illius magistri*, an event of great significance for the moralization of cinema. Offices of censorship were indeed established in Europe within the national directorates of Catholic Action, tasked, among other things, with encouraging morally sound film production. In Austria, the Katholische Jugendzentrale, the Stella Maris Lichtspielgesellschaft, and the Neurund Kinetamographie emerged; in the Netherlands, the Ufficio Voor Er en Deug; in Switzerland, the Vereinigung der Freunde der Kinoreforme. In America, a very lively movement emerged aimed at moralizing cinema, whose most typical expressions were the so-called "Hays Code" (which mechanically limited and excluded the representation of certain circumstances, scenes, and performances) and the Legion of Decency, which achieved truly substantial results.

In 1934, J. Duvivier made *Marie Chapdelaine*, and the following year *Golgotha*, with a very personal and perhaps questionable vision of the relationship between the masses and Jesus. It was also in this year (with *The Mask of Wax*) that color film officially appeared, as it were; this expressive category, unlike sound, has not yet moved beyond the initial phase of experimentation and virtuosity. Attempts to "tune" colors are rare and embryonic: the director continues to conceive the film in black and white, while the color technician merely enriches the chromatic intensity of costumes and sets, so that color is purely juxtaposed with the original conception.

In 1936, L. Poirier’s *L’Appel du silence* brought to the screen the life of the apostle of the Sahara, Blessed Charles de Foucauld. In 1939 in France, several documentaries were produced, including *India sacra* by the missionary Father Lhande and *Monastery* by R. Alexandre; the life of St. Vincent de Paul was also adapted for cinema under the title *Monsieur Vincent*. In Italy: *Abuna Messias*; *Don Bosco* by G. Alessandrini, drawn from episodes of the saint’s youth and intended to illuminate his unwavering faith in Providence in sheltering orphans; and, simple and beautiful, *La porta del cielo* (*The Gate of Heaven*).

In 1939, *Assisi* by A. Blasetti appeared, representing an effort to elevate nature and things in the Franciscan spirit; of the same director came *La tavola dei poveri* (*The Table of the Poor*). Also noteworthy are *Jubilaeum* by the Salesians and the missionary documentary *Conquistatori d’anime* (*Conquerors of Souls*) by R. Chiosso.

In recent years, the American movement for the moralization of cinema—and specifically the Catholic movement—has shifted from a critical and defensive stance to a more proactive one, resulting in a series of films inspired by Catholic religious figures and their work: from *Boys Town* (1944) about Father Flanagan, to *Going My Way* (1944), though not always free from overly facile pathos; to *The Bells of St. Mary’s*, *The Keys of the Kingdom*, *Joan of Arc*, and *The Fugitive* by J. Ford; in the latter film, the brief, simple, and intense final sequence is particularly successful, reaffirming the continuity of faith beyond persecution. In 1949, another *Joan of Arc* was produced in America, directed by V. Fleming with the consultation of Father Doncoeur; and in Italy: *St. Anthony of Padua*, directed by P. Francisci, which effectively highlighted the saint’s combative temperament; and *Cielo sulla palude* (*Heaven Over the Marshes*), the film by A. Genina that won acclaim at the 10th Venice International Film Festival for its lyrical evocation of the human story of St. Maria Goretti. — See Plates CIX–CX.