Musicarello

{{Short description|Italian film sub genre; musical comedy typically featuring a young singing star}} {{Italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} [[File:I ragazzi del juke-box Curtis 2.jpg|thumb|Betty Curtis in ''Ragazzi del Juke-Box'' (1959) by Lucio Fulci]] The '''''musicarello''''' ({{IPA|it|muzikaˈrɛllo|pron}}; {{plural form}}: '''''musicarelli''''') is a film subgenre which emerged in Italy and which is characterised by the presence in main roles of young singers, already famous among their peers, and their new record album. In the films there are almost always tender and chaste love stories accompanied by the desire to have fun and dance without thoughts.<ref name="musicalmaestro">{{cite web|url=https://musicalmaestro.altervista.org/i-10-musicarelli-piu-belli/|title=La Commedia Italiana:Classifica dei 10 Musicarelli più importanti degli anni '50 e '60|access-date=30 November 2022|language=it}}</ref> ''Musicarelli'' reflect the desire and need for emancipation of young Italians, highlighting some generational frictions.<ref name="treccani"/> The genre began in the late 1950s, and had its peak of production in the 1960s.<ref name="Hotz"/>

==Name== [[File:Altissima pressione.jpg|thumb|''Highest Pressure'' (1965) by Enzo Trapani]]

According to critics, the name ''musicarello'' is a reference to the successful TV series ''Carosello''.<ref name="treccani"/><ref name=mus>{{cite magazine|last1=Della Casa|first1=Steve|last2=Manera|first2=Paolo|title=I musicarelli|magazine=Cineforum|year=1991|page=310}}</ref> In particular, the name ''musicarello'' combines the words ''{{lang|it|musica}}'' ("music") and ''Carosello'': in fact, the singers who were the protagonists of the ''musicarelli'', thanks to their notoriety, often appeared in many episodes of TV series ''Carosello''.<ref name="treccani"/>

==Background== [[File:Mi vedrai tornare.jpg|thumb|''Mi vedrai tornare'' (1966) by Ettore Maria Fizzarotti]]

The genre began in the late 1950s, and had its peak of production in the 1960s.<ref name="Hotz">{{cite thesis|last=Hotz|first=Stephanie Aneel|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2152/75660|title=The Italian musicarello : youth, gender, and modernization in postwar popular cinema|work=Texas Scholar Works|date=2017-05-03|doi=10.26153/tsw/2764|doi-broken-date=18 July 2025 |hdl=2152/75660}}</ref> The film which started the genre is considered to be ''I ragazzi del Juke-Box'' (1959) by Lucio Fulci.<ref name=scs/> The ''musicarelli'' were inspired by two American musicals, in particular ''Jailhouse Rock'' (1957) by Richard Thorpe and earlier ''Love Me Tender'' (1956) by Robert D. Webb, both starring Elvis Presley.<ref name="treccani">{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/musicarello_%28Enciclopedia-del-Cinema%29/|title=Musicarello|access-date=30 November 2022|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.casadelcinema.it/?event=canzoni-canzoni-canzoni|title=Canzoni, canzoni, canzoni|access-date=30 November 2022|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.viv-it.org/schede/musicarelli|title=I musicarelli|access-date=30 November 2022|language=it}}</ref>

One of the pioneering films of the ''musicarelli'' was the version for the Italian market of the American musical film ''Go, Johnny, Go!'' (1959) by Paul Landres starring Jimmy Clanton, Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens and Eddie Cochran, released in Italy as ''Vai, Johnny vai!''. Some sequences were inserted from scratch in the film with the Italian singer Adriano Celentano who introduces and concludes the story by playing some of his songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orrorea33giri.com/lucio-fulci-canzoni-discografia/|title=Lucio Fulci alla sbarra: tutta la musica del terrorista dei generi |date=19 November 2020 |access-date=1 December 2022|language=it}}</ref>

==Characteristics== [[File:Al bano e romina nel sole.png|thumb|Al Bano and Romina Power in ''Nel sole'' (1967) by Aldo Grimaldi]]

''Musicarello'' is characterised by the presence in main roles of young singers, already famous among their peers, and their new record album. At the heart of the ''musicarello'' is a hit song, or a song that the producers hoped would become a hit, that usually shares its title with the film itself and sometimes has lyrics depicting a part of the plot.<ref name="Pavone">{{cite book|last=Pavone|first=Giuliano|title=Giovannona Coscialunga a Cannes|language=it|location=Florence|publisher=Tarab|year=1999|isbn=88-86675-49-6}}</ref>

''Musicarello'' can be defined as the forerunner of the music video, a way of bringing teenagers to the cinema attracted by the plot as by the singers' performances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.modulazionitemporali.it/al-teatro-litta-di-milano-debutta-glinnamorati-il-musicarello/|title=Al Teatro Litta di Milano debutta "Gl'innamorati – Il Musicarello"|date=18 December 2019 |access-date=30 November 2022|language=it}}</ref> In fact, the films are born from agreements between record companies and film companies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ravveduto|first=Marcello|title=La nazione del miracolo : l'Italia e gli Italiani tra storia, memoria e immaginario (1963-1964)|publisher=Castelvecchi|year=2018|isbn=978-88-3282-298-4|oclc=1035687553 |language=it}}</ref> In the films there are almost always tender and chaste love stories accompanied by the desire to have fun and dance without thoughts.<ref name="musicalmaestro"/>

Unlike most film musicals, this subgenre has an evident age-based focus while musical films until that time had been produced in a way generally undifferentiated for tastes and ages, ''musicarello'' is explicitly targeted to a youthful audience and usually has in its plot a vague polemic against conformism and bourgeois attitudes,<ref name=mus/><ref>{{cite book|author=Scuola nazionale di cinema|editor1-last=De Vincenti|editor1-first=Giorgio|editor2-last=Miccichè|editor2-first=Lino|title=Storia del cinema italiano: 1960|volume=10|language=it|location=Venice|publisher=Marsilio-Edizioni di Bianco & nero|year=2001|isbn=88-317-7841-2}}</ref> even if it does not fail to reflect the desire and need for emancipation of young Italians, highlighting some generational frictions.<ref name="treccani"/>

The genre was referred to as a curious mix between ''fotoromanzi'', traditional comedy, hit songs and tentative references to tensions between generations.<ref name=mus/> The key figures in this genre were directors Piero Vivarelli and Ettore Maria Fizzarotti, and actor-singers Gianni Morandi, Little Tony, Rita Pavone and Caterina Caselli.<ref name=scs>{{cite book|last=Aulenti|first=Lino|title=Storia del cinema italiano|language=it|location=Padova|publisher=Libreriauniversitaria.it|year=2011|isbn=978-88-6292-108-4}}</ref>

==Decline and end of the genre== With the arrival of the 1968 student protests the genre started to decline, because the generational revolt became explicitly political and at the same time there was no longer a music equally directed to the whole youth audience.<ref name=mus/> For some time the duo Al Bano and Romina Power continued to enjoy success in ''musicarello'' films, but their films (like their songs) were a return to the traditional melody, and to the musical films of the previous decades.<ref name=mus/>

== Notable films== [[File:Lucio Fulci 94.jpg|thumb|Lucio Fulci in 1994]]

==See also== {{Portal|Film|Italy}} * Cinema of Italy * Music of Italy * Musical film

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book|first=Simone|last=Arcagni|title=Dopo Carosello: il musical cinematografico italiano|language=it|location=Alessandria|publisher=Falsopiano|year=2006|isbn=88-89782-03-X}} *{{cite book|first=Renato|last=Venturelli|title=Nessuno ci può giudicare: il lungo viaggio del cinema musicale italiano|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Fahrenheit 451|year=1998|isbn=88-86095-30-9}} *{{cite book|first1=Steve|last1=Della Casa|first2=Paolo|last2=Manera|title=Il professor Matusa e i suoi hippies: cinema e musica in Italia negli anni '60: con un dizionario dei cantanti e dei complessi e una filmografia ragionata|language=it|location=Acireale-Rome|publisher=Bonanno|year=2011|isbn=978-88-7796-770-1}}. *{{cite book|first=Daniele|last=Magni|title=Cuori matti: dizionario dei musicarelli italiani anni '60|others=In collaboration with Maurizio Maiotti; and with the participation of Manuel Cavenaghi, Fulvio Fulvi; preface by Ruggero Deodato|language=it|location=Milan|publisher=Bloodbuster|year=2012|isbn=978-88-902087-7-5}}

Category:Italian films by genre Category:Film genres Category:Musical films * Category:1950s in film Category:1960s in film Category:1970s in film