“The real reason why we wrote this book is the desire to see musicals return: we dream of seeing ‘Tuta Gold’ at the cinema”. With this joke the journalists Marta Cagnola and Simone Fattori introduce their volume ‘Musicarelli – Italy of the 60s in musical films‘, published by Vololibero editions.
Musicals were a specific cinematographic genre of the Italian 1960s. Despite their naivety and simplicity of writing and making, these films, shot between 1959 and 1970, accurately represent that decade: that of the economic boom and the revolution in customs. “Filmed in a short time, with often repetitive plots, they were the perfect opportunity to amplify the success of a singer, a song, a musical genre. Forerunners of video clips, their roots were in the tradition of Italian melodrama, but the construction of the stories and the popularity of the protagonists have made it an authentic cultural phenomenon”, explain the authors.
Through the analysis of over 70 films, extrapolating their recurring themes (from the clash between generations to women, from television to the Sanremo festival, from discography to advertising, to military service), the volume tells the story of the most popular soul of the celebrated Sixties . The book also contains exclusive interviews with the undisputed stars of that epic: Rita Pavone, Laura Efrikian, Al Bano, Bobby Solo, Mal, Shel Shapiro, Giacomo Agostini, Mario Tessuto, Orietta Berti and Iva Zanicchi. The volume also contains the profiles of all the films covered and a playlist with 60 of the most significant songs, with a relative QR code that refers to their listening.