Up, down and in crisis: Architecture, technology and modernity in the commedia all’italiana

Manfredo Tafuri’s Marxist architectural theory provides a lens for analysing social dynamics in comedy Il vedovo ( The Widower ) and Luigi Comencini's episode ‘L'ascensore’ (‘The Elevator’) in Strange Occasion from 1972. Tafuri’s concern with history, capital and modernity aligns with the commedia all’italiana ’s critique of consumerism and the spectacle of wealth. In The Widower , the Torre Velasca symbolizes social aspiration and collapse, while in ‘The Elevator’, spatial confinement reveals tensions of gender and religion. Drawing on Tafuri and Debord, in this article I argue that both films use architecture and vertical space to question post-war ideals of progress, confronting viewers with the contradictions of Italy’s economic boom and cultural modernity.