While the themes of garbage and refuse pervade many of the most important works of Italian cinema from the era of Neorealism to the present, thus far no scholarly attempts have been made to examine the commonalities germane to their portrayal and their relationship to larger questions of Italian cultural trends. The present study explores how filmmakers' depiction of the residual is synecdochic of an artistic vision that endeavors to capture reality at its most unprepared and, subsequently, comes to represent the increasing complexity of the mimetic undertaking in an Italian society thrust rapidly into the late stages of capitalism.
