The Italian American Provocateur: Catholicism, Women, and Sexual Violence in the Films of Abel Ferrara

This chapter explores the culturally complex and often controversial work of Abel Ferrara through the lens of his Italian American heritage, his Catholic upbringing, and his provocative portrayals of women and violence. Margherita Sprio situates Ferrara within a lineage of Italian American filmmakers, arguing that his films reflect a deeply embedded diasporic identity marked by Catholic iconography, moral ambiguity, and a fascination with trauma. Drawing on examples such as Ms. 45, Bad Lieutenant, and Mary, the chapter interrogates Ferrara’s recurrent engagement with sexual violence, female suffering, and male crisis, while also foregrounding the religious and familial motifs that permeate his work. Sprio critiques the binary depictions of women in Ferrara’s films yet acknowledges how female characters often emerge as moral centres within these fractured narratives. The chapter concludes by linking Ferrara’s recent work in Rome to a broader sense of cultural dislocation and hybrid identity, positioning him as a transnational filmmaker whose oeuvre resists simplistic categorisation.