In September 2012 a bi–lateral film co–production agreement between Italy and the People’s Republic of China, originally signed in December 2004, was ratified by the Italian Parliament. This agreement, later revised in 2014, will hopefully pave the way for a fruitful cooperation between these two countries’ audio–visual industries. However, the first Italian and Chinese film co-production actually dates back to 1982 with the release of the TV series Marco Polo, directed by Giuliano Montaldo and co–produced by the Italian TV network RAI along with other Chinese, European, Japanese and American television companies. Marco Polo was the result of the strong political relationship that Italy and China had been developing through the 1970s. In fact, the project was conceived by the Italian Foreign Ministry along with the Chinese Ministry of Culture, long before it was handed to RAI. Not surprisingly, the choice of the source material bears a strong political value. In fact, Marco Polo’s testimony Il Milione is usually read as the story of a young man travelling from Venice to China along with his father and his uncle, in order to create a political and commercial connection between 13th century China and Christian Europe. The aim of this paper is to examine how Marco Polo stages the theme of intercultural communication, with particular attention paid to topics such as political and religious differences. In fact, I maintain that, as reflected by the series’ production history, Marco Polo can be read as an experiment in setting a common ground for the Italian and the Chinese public, while offering a spectacle that can appeal to a wider international audience.

Una missione diplomatica sugli schermi televisivi Il Marco Polo della RAI come primo esempio di coproduzione cinematografica tra l’Italia e la RPC

DI CHIARA, FRANCESCO
2017-01-01

Abstract

In September 2012 a bi–lateral film co–production agreement between Italy and the People’s Republic of China, originally signed in December 2004, was ratified by the Italian Parliament. This agreement, later revised in 2014, will hopefully pave the way for a fruitful cooperation between these two countries’ audio–visual industries. However, the first Italian and Chinese film co-production actually dates back to 1982 with the release of the TV series Marco Polo, directed by Giuliano Montaldo and co–produced by the Italian TV network RAI along with other Chinese, European, Japanese and American television companies. Marco Polo was the result of the strong political relationship that Italy and China had been developing through the 1970s. In fact, the project was conceived by the Italian Foreign Ministry along with the Chinese Ministry of Culture, long before it was handed to RAI. Not surprisingly, the choice of the source material bears a strong political value. In fact, Marco Polo’s testimony Il Milione is usually read as the story of a young man travelling from Venice to China along with his father and his uncle, in order to create a political and commercial connection between 13th century China and Christian Europe. The aim of this paper is to examine how Marco Polo stages the theme of intercultural communication, with particular attention paid to topics such as political and religious differences. In fact, I maintain that, as reflected by the series’ production history, Marco Polo can be read as an experiment in setting a common ground for the Italian and the Chinese public, while offering a spectacle that can appeal to a wider international audience.
2017
978-88-548-9506-5
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11389/23193
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