Maschere del potere nel cinema contemporaneo

This paper aims to analyze and define, with the help of a few selected examples, some forms taken by the mask in contemporary cinema on the basis of the execution mode chosen, in accord with the director, by the actor called to metaphorically wear it. The critical interpretation of the character, a style of acting from which the ideological dimension strongly emerges, is therefore examined. In this way, the actor does not ask for identification by the viewer but contributes to highlight the most disturbing and dark sides of the human being and helps to reflect on their outward manifestations. The masks of power embodied by Javier Bardem / Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) Toni Servillo / Giulio Andreotti (Il Divo, Paolo Sorrentino, 2008), Filippo Timi / Benito and Benito Albino Mussolini (Vincere, Marco Bellocchio, 2009), Brad Pitt / Aldo Raine (Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino 2009) and Michel Piccoli / Melville Pope (Habemus Papam, Nanni Moretti, 2011) help to redefine in the contemporary cinematic landscape the deep value of the Brechtian "estrangement effect" in acting.