Neorealism: key characteristics
Neorealist directors made "Films of Everyday
Life" particularly focusing on the working class and on social problems.
They used mostly non-professional actors
They generally shot on location (often in cities devastated by war, also note necessity since main studio destroyed by war)
Much of the sound is dubbed after filming...even dialogue.
They emphasized a gritty, authentic feel (even when they had relatively large budgets).
Neorealist films are deeply influential. However, they are the work of a small number of directors in a brief era. Almost all were directed by Vittorio De Sica (1901-1974), Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977), or Luchino Visconti (1906-1976).
Almost all were made between 1945 and 1949. In 1949, the "Andreotti Law" pushed filmmakers away from this style.
The Andreotti Law was named after Giulio Andreotti, then a state undersecretary for entertainment (later Prime Minister, still later tried [and acquited] for murder and mafia connections). It provided financial supports and incentives to the Italian film industry, required theaters to play Italian films, taxed imported films, and denied export permits to films that depicted Italian society negatively. So, it created a system like ratings censorship in the US. Italians were not prohibited from making films critical of Italian society. It just became very difficult to get those films financed and shown. The result was that De Sica, Rossellini, and Visconti moved away from neo-realist style.