Between theory and manifestos

Within the framework of film theories, different types of discourses on the cinematic apparatus can be distinguished. Hence, as a guiding principle, the theoretical discourse must remain separate from the critical and historical one, and from the discourses concerning aesthetics and poetics. Nevertheless, as Alberto Boschi points out, such distinction is at times problematic, especially when we are faced with a certain set of texts dating back to the period between the two world wars (Boschi 1998: 14).

In the first place, then, in order to delimit what theory is, we need to individuate what the theoretical texts are. Secondly, we need to single out other texts characterized by a strong theoretical inflection and those cases in which the film itself acts as an essay bringing forth theoretical concepts on the cinema. In surveying what contributions the Futurists might have provided to the film theory debate, we must take into account their manifestos in the first place, but also – and in equal terms – all the fragments of their cultural debate. Within the Futurist movement itself, in fact, several positions can be traced: they are often distant from one another, thus revealing the different ‘souls’ of this movement. Although it might be a complex task, the scholar concerned with film theory must be able to trace theoretical insights within statements of different nature: such insights anticipate or interpret with particular clarity the Zeitgeist and new artistic developments.