Religious Biopics
The re-emergence of the biographical trend in contemporary Italian fiction has been accompanied by – and has received a vigorous, decisive impulse from – the rise of the religious biopic in the production of domestic drama. The surge of interest in religious arguments and personalities that began to emerge on the threshold at the start of the 21st century can be traced to questions of faith, spirituality, religious visions of life that have been embodied and explored in the narratives of many American prime time series in recent years that have been dubbed in Italy. These include shows like CSI, Battlestar Galatica, and Lost. Whereas the expansion of themes and figures taken from Christianity (The Passion of Christ, Kingdom of Heaven) which has occurred in Hollywood movies has made “films about religion and religious figures a significant part of popular culture” in the early 21st century.
Nonetheless, the large number of religious biopics and wide-ranging cluster of “heroes of the faith” (Christian Catholic) to be found in Italian fiction stories in the last two decades is something of a phenomenon which, in terms of its remarkable range and duration, might be considered unique in today’s international panorama. The existence and influence of religious factors ingrained in the historical lifestyle of Italian society and culture has led to the persistent and majority held sense of belonging to the catholic faith, which is seen by most Italians as a fundamental part of their collective identity as well as their national history.
The greater sensitivity of Italians with respect to religious issues, as opposed to people in other industrialized countries, the high percentage (between 75 and 85%) of those who claim to be believers, the gender and generation gap between believers and non-believers narrower than elsewhere, the minority but still consistent nucleus of practicing Catholics. All these emerge systematically from international comparative research and induce religious phenomena analysts to speak of an “inherent religiousness” of the Italians. A “catholic imagination” springs to life from this, populated by saints, statues, churches, cathedrals, which contributes to symbols, icons and religious hallmarks being profoundly rooted in Italians collective imagination and is in all probability not unrelated to their lasting catholic sentiment.
Nonetheless, the large number of religious biopics and wide-ranging cluster of “heroes of the faith” (Christian Catholic) to be found in Italian fiction stories in the last two decades is something of a phenomenon which, in terms of its remarkable range and duration, might be considered unique in today’s international panorama. The existence and influence of religious factors ingrained in the historical lifestyle of Italian society and culture has led to the persistent and majority held sense of belonging to the catholic faith, which is seen by most Italians as a fundamental part of their collective identity as well as their national history.
The greater sensitivity of Italians with respect to religious issues, as opposed to people in other industrialized countries, the high percentage (between 75 and 85%) of those who claim to be believers, the gender and generation gap between believers and non-believers narrower than elsewhere, the minority but still consistent nucleus of practicing Catholics. All these emerge systematically from international comparative research and induce religious phenomena analysts to speak of an “inherent religiousness” of the Italians. A “catholic imagination” springs to life from this, populated by saints, statues, churches, cathedrals, which contributes to symbols, icons and religious hallmarks being profoundly rooted in Italians collective imagination and is in all probability not unrelated to their lasting catholic sentiment.