Journey to Italy (1954) and Understanding a Landscape

16 minutes into Journey To Italy (1954), the primary characters, Katherine and Alex Joyce, are at a villa they have inherited from Alex’s uncle. Tony Burton, a caretaker at the villa, invites them up to the terrace and begins listing the general places of interest around the house. Rossellini’s usage of documentary traditions in the portrayal of these locations place the viewer into the perspective of the tourist, beginning with Vesuvius which the camera cuts to as he begins to speak of it:

Due to the image and description being provided simultaneously, we have not been given any preparation for the appearance of Vesuvius: the name does not anticipate the image or vice versa, they are not compared but presented as a singular object. While the name “Vesuvius” is obviously a human choice for means of perception, it is shown here to be inherent to the volcano. Tony talks about the volcano further:

As they come after the volcano has been shown, however, these elements are understood as a state of the object in a specific timeframe, rather than elements of the object itself. We then see Vesuvius emerge in the background, establishing a clear physical relation between it and the characters, but Tony has already moved onto a new place:

Pompeii’s presentation is notable as unlike Vesuvius, it is not shown at all and is only understood from how Tony relates to it: the direction of his point, the guiding information on where it is, and of course the name “Pompeii”. After this, Rossellini combines the image-alongside-name relation used to portray Vesuvius with the name-without-image relation used to portray Pompeii, giving the names of two locations but only showing the first onscreen:

The scene continues with these various principles applied throughout: Resina, Naples and Ischia are described but not shown, the Isle of Capri is shown halfway through its name and its image lingers as Tony begins to locate the Sorrento Peninsula, but cuts back to the terrace as the name is said instead of showing it. Katherine and Alex briefly mention how beautiful it all is, before moving back into the house.

The relations between sound and image in this scene establish a variation in what information the viewer receives about each location: for some, they are shown the physical location and can gain information from that, whereas in others they are purely reliant on how Tony relates himself to them and perceives them. Names have a fairly constant importance, being mentioned for each location in the scene. Journey To Italy highlights the importance that perspective has on someone’s life, whether they are willing to acknowledge the reality of their life or hide behind an unmaintainable lie, which can be seen in this scene’s contrast of object and description.