The Tears of Naples' Daughters: Re-interpreting the Sceneggiatain Mario Martone's L'amore molesto

This article sets out to explore the relationship between L’amore molesto (Mario Martone, 1995) and the kind of traditional Neapolitan narratives exemplified by the sceneggiata and the filone napoletano through an analysis of its intertextual relationship with Lacrime napulitane (Ciro Ippolito, 1981).It will be argued that L’amore molesto constitutes less a complete break with tradition than a complex reconfiguration of the ideological basis and functional aims of traditional Neapolitan cinema, making them more congenial to contemporary audiences. In this respect it is exemplary of the approach employed by the New Neapolitan Cinema that emerged in the 1990s and of which it is part.