Abstract

This article focuses on the «things» of Io la conoscevo bene (A. Pietrangeli, 1965), investigating their role in the narrative as well as their relationship to the characters and to the historical context. In fact, the objects in the film (in particular the record player, the fur coat and the car) refer to broader historical issues, concerning opulent consumption (embodying social conflicts), gender consumption (with a clash between sexual identities) and youth consumption (referring to generational mismatches). Within the framework of studies on the history of consumption and the social imaginary, and mobilizing concepts from semiotics and the anthropology of objects, the analysis will also take into account the historical context of the film. This emerges through the study of the contemporary press and filmic paratexts, which help us to situate the film within a particular historical moment: the explosive advent of the new society of mass consumption