The history of cinema as a whole is drenched in the influence of Italian artistry. One of cinema’s earliest pioneers was director and inventor Filoteo Alberini, patenting the kinetograph allowing moving images to be projected to multiple people at once.

Countries like France and Italy were trailblazers in the development of motion pictures, but the technology was not yet advanced enough to include sound or colour.

On one hand, this was beneficial to studios, as silent films are a universal language. However, without televisions in every home, a different angle was required in getting the public excited for a new release.

Enter the film poster.

Artists were called upon to portray the genre and feel of a film in the form of large works of art, which would be mass produced and plastered over buildings in different countries. These artists had to develop signature ways of being universally understood through saturated colours, passionate brushstrokes and cartoonish typography, making them easily translated for consumption by the masses.

For over a century now, the film poster has been the main vehicle for a new picture’s publicity. They would be posted against the meek backdrop of crumbling buildings in post-war towns and cities, providing a pick-me-up for exhausted patrons looking for an escape from reality.

“A great movie poster arouses expectations – of romance and mystery, action and excitement, glamour and escape – that few movies can truly fulfil” – Dave Kehr

These posters were meant not to startle, but seduce an observer, making them want to know more. They had to evoke a film’s themes, atmosphere and characters through visual means. As Italian cinema’s unique visual aesthetic changed over decades, so did their primary form of advertising. Studios dedicated entirely to Italian film posters began appearing, and typographic design warped and spun around wars and cultural movements, making an increasingly distinctive art style as it went.

In my next blog post, I am looking specifically at how these posters’ typographic design reflected the ever-changing face of Italian cinema.