Media Clues and Surveillance Regimes: Visual and Sound Devices in the Italian Giallo Cinema

Abstract

An often-neglected aspect in the analysis of the Italian Giallo pertains to the complex panorama of technical objects, optical, and sound devices, which contribute to characterise the atmospheres and scenes of crime and investigation. These devices are indicators of both technological and socio-anthropological changes, with a meaningful convergence between cultural practices and cinematographic imagination. In addition, the analysis on their role makes it possible to include the genre in a broader discourse on the relationship between cinema and surveillance. In particular, the essay explores their presence in the Italian Giallo from the post-WWII era to the present day, analyzing some exemplary cases in which visual and sound technologies can be considered both as staging devices – for instance, as surveillance and control tools or cognitive aids for the investigation –, and in terms of the staging of the devices themselves, with a narrative and performative function.