Ask the ‘Dust Jacket’. Robert Towne’s Film Adaptation of John Fante’s Ask the Dust

Claudia Peralta, Fulvio Orsitto

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter begins with a discussion of the film Ask the Dust in terms of cinematic hybridity (being at once a novel adaptation and a transgeneric film, with many references to genres such as noir and melodrama) and with background information on both the literary source and its author John Fante, and on the film director (and screenplay writer) Robert Towne. Afterward, the chapter focuses on the two main protagonists of the narrative: Arturo Bandini (who must be considered Fante’s alter-ego) and Camilla Lopez. The former is seen struggling with his Italian Americanness. On the one hand, he wears with great pride his Italian last name and is obstinately loyal to it—he wants to keep it as it, without anglicizing it (not even when he is asked to do so by his love interest). On the other hand, he is also ready and willing to play what the authors call the ‘assimilation game’. Yet, the only way he knows how to play it is by inflicting on other minority members the same verbal abuses he suffered as the son of Italian immigrants. Hence Camilla—acting effectively as the protagonist’s ‘ethnic mirror’—is crucial in making him embark on a journey of self-discovery that will culminate, at the end of the film, with an open-hearted apology to her that demonstrates how Bandini has turned from wiseacre to an honest writer, and how he has finally been able to accept his Italian Americanness.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationItalian and Italian American Studies
Pages31-63
Number of pages33
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Publication series

NameItalian and Italian American Studies
ISSN (Print)2635-2931
ISSN (Electronic)2635-294X

Keywords

  • Ethnic rediscovery
  • Film adaptation
  • Gloria Anzaldúa
  • Italian American identity
  • John Fante
  • Robert Towne

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