La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques

The Italian actor Totò had a unique way of acting, repeatedly compared to a living puppet on stage and on screen. This study intends to discover in this famous actor from Naples an ancient gesture, a communication tool reactivated in specific dramaturgical situations and whose digressive, sometimes...

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Main Author: Élodie Hachet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association Française des Enseignants et Chercheurs en Cinéma et Audiovisuel 2024-09-01
Series:Mise au Point
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/map/7237
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author Élodie Hachet
author_facet Élodie Hachet
author_sort Élodie Hachet
collection DOAJ
description The Italian actor Totò had a unique way of acting, repeatedly compared to a living puppet on stage and on screen. This study intends to discover in this famous actor from Naples an ancient gesture, a communication tool reactivated in specific dramaturgical situations and whose digressive, sometimes subversive use leads inexorably towards the comic. Because the city of Naples indeed has a vast vocabulary made up of typical gestures and movements that distinguish it from all other cities. Using a sample of images selected from his cinematographic work, we will attempt to analyze Totò’s gestures. The objective is to try to identify the meaning of certain precise gestures of the actor's hands and to detect a possible interpretation which would go beyond simple communication. After some historical considerations linked to communication gestures in southern Italy and their metaphorical dimension, we will look at the analysis of Totò's hand gestures in order to understand their originality.
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spelling doaj-art-cd7900c44bcd44ccb597e8de26b815202025-08-20T01:56:04ZengAssociation Française des Enseignants et Chercheurs en Cinéma et AudiovisuelMise au Point2261-96232024-09-011910.4000/12d77La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïquesÉlodie HachetThe Italian actor Totò had a unique way of acting, repeatedly compared to a living puppet on stage and on screen. This study intends to discover in this famous actor from Naples an ancient gesture, a communication tool reactivated in specific dramaturgical situations and whose digressive, sometimes subversive use leads inexorably towards the comic. Because the city of Naples indeed has a vast vocabulary made up of typical gestures and movements that distinguish it from all other cities. Using a sample of images selected from his cinematographic work, we will attempt to analyze Totò’s gestures. The objective is to try to identify the meaning of certain precise gestures of the actor's hands and to detect a possible interpretation which would go beyond simple communication. After some historical considerations linked to communication gestures in southern Italy and their metaphorical dimension, we will look at the analysis of Totò's hand gestures in order to understand their originality.https://journals.openedition.org/map/7237gestureTotòItalian cinemaNeapolitan cultureacting
spellingShingle Élodie Hachet
La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques
Mise au Point
gesture
Totò
Italian cinema
Neapolitan culture
acting
title La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques
title_full La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques
title_fullStr La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques
title_full_unstemmed La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques
title_short La gestuelle de l’acteur Totò : entre ancrage culturel, innovations et survivances archaïques
title_sort la gestuelle de l acteur toto entre ancrage culturel innovations et survivances archaiques
topic gesture
Totò
Italian cinema
Neapolitan culture
acting
url https://journals.openedition.org/map/7237
work_keys_str_mv AT elodiehachet lagestuelledelacteurtotoentreancrageculturelinnovationsetsurvivancesarchaiques