La vita e l’azione. Il carattere moderno del biografico italiano

Usually, fictional biography – both written or filmed – seems to trace back the distinctive aspect of a certain life only into the sphere of the activity characterizing it. In this sense, the biographical fiction considers an individual life as an exemplary moment to analyze to superimposition between oeuvre and operation, action and production, always linkable to an end. But what happens when the center of the narration is occupied by the absence of action, of any actions? Through Giorgio Agamben’s interpretation of Aristotle’s categories of oeuvre and action, this paper aims to define a paradigm of inoperosity in Italian biographical cinema to highlight its peculiar modern character and show its specific theoretical relevance for contemporary culture.