Spectacle, myth, fable. These are the main categories that have traditionally defined Sergio Leone’s cinematic production, but it is necessary to underline how much they are fueled by a profound, layered political interest. Leone’s cinema bears witness to a critical outlook both on the subjects it showcases and on its representational means. Far from any militancy and escaping ideological classifications, Leone’s perspective is problematic and unreconciled: it is grounded in the coexistence of different elements in a state of perennial productive tension and instability. The adjective “political” takes on a deeper meaning when it is used to denote the director’s ability to narrate and interpret key aspects of Italian national identity and history. The abstract quality of his production relies on an original use of different genres, particularly sword-and-sandal and the Spaghetti Western, which allowed Leone to insert frequent symbolic references to both history and then-current events. On the stylistic level, his constant disobedience to classical models and his need to revolutionize forms were motivated by an authorial desire to make films politically, though still within a conception of cinema as an industrial spectacle.
News Media, Knowledge, and Political Interest: Evidence of a Dual Role From a Field Experiment