"After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world"
About this Quote
The context matters: Italy didn’t just lose a war; it endured a moral and infrastructural collapse, followed by occupation, poverty, and a national identity crisis. Out of that came neorealism’s defining aesthetic: streets instead of sets, nonprofessional faces instead of polished stars, stories shaped by scarcity rather than spectacle. De Laurentiis is claiming that what the market calls “production value” can be the enemy of truth. When you have nothing to hide behind, you’re forced into contact with the real.
There’s also a canny bit of myth-making. “We did the best movies in the world” is less a verifiable ranking than a brand: the underdog nation remakes itself as cultural superpower. It’s a rebuttal to Hollywood dominance and a reminder that cinema isn’t born from abundance; it’s born from compulsion. The subtext is almost defiant: you can bomb the city, but you can’t bomb the urge to narrate it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Laurentiis, Dino De. (2026, January 17). After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-the-war-there-was-no-industry-we-lost-the-59235/
Chicago Style
Laurentiis, Dino De. "After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-the-war-there-was-no-industry-we-lost-the-59235/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"After the war, there was no industry. We lost the war. We had our whole city destroyed. No money. No studio. No film. No camera. No equipment. We would shoot in the street. We had no actors. Nothing. But we wanted to do movies. And we did the best movies in the world." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-the-war-there-was-no-industry-we-lost-the-59235/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
