Following Peter Bondanella's suggestions, our course on the History of Italian cinema will deal mainly with the period of its greatest achievements, that is the period that goes from 1960 up to 1974 approximately, but the other periods of the history of Italian cinema will not be forgotten. In fact, during the first lessons, students will be given an outline of the history of Italian cinema concerning the beginning of the century, the fascist period and, in particular, neorealism, while the lessons in the latter half of the course will be devoted to more recent and contemporary Italian authors and films. To have a paramount view of Italian
cinema we will attempt to combine the authors and souci-historic approach with the genre approach. This will mean dealing with Authors' films, "spaghetti" western, Comedy Italian Style etc., at films that achieved great critical and commercial acclaim and that probably had a certain influence on some American authors of the "New York and New Hollywood generation" of the late 60s and early 70s and, what is more important, whose knowledge is essential for a correct understanding of the films from the contemporary Italian minimalist new wave.
Method of presentation:
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Required work and form of assessment:
Field Studies: if possible, students will be accompanied on a visit to a film set or a TV studio.
Attendance and class participation: 25%; mid-term in class written exam: 20%; Final exam: Oral presentation: 25% + Research and opinion paper (7-10 pages): 30%
content:
Two lessons composed of two hours will be dedicated to each author or topic. Each author and movie will be introduced from both historical and sociological perspectives and then the film which best represents the author will be analyzed in its narrative structure, mise en scène and linguistic style through the screening of clips (or of the entire film when possible). Students will be expected to join in the debate and to bring their own critical points of view into the discussion.
In the second part of the course (that is after the mid-term paper), each student will be encouraged to give a short oral presentation with clips of a film (unseen in class); the student can opt for a 'classic' film which dates to the period analyzed in the course or, better, the student can choose a contemporary (Italian) movie of their liking. A list of suggestions will be provided, but it is not exhaustive.
OUTLINE OF COURSE
1+ 2
Italian Cinema at the beginning of the century and during the fascist regime.
About and around Neorealism
Main film(s) presented: Rome Open City (1945) +
Paisà (1946) by Rossellini,
Bicycle Thief. By De Sica
3+4
Luchino Visconti and the passage to Realism
Main film(s) presented: Rocco and his Brothers (1960)*
5+6
Michelangelo Antonioni and the narrative of revelation
Main film(s) presented: L’avventura (1960)* or Blow up (1966)*
7+8
Pier Paolo Pasolini and the subproletarian people
Main film(s) presented: Accattone (1960)*
9+10
Federico Fellini and the triumph of fantasy and poetry
Main film(s) presented: La dolce vita (1959)* or 8 1/2 (1963)*
11
Field Studies or review of first 10 lessons
12
Mid term paper Covering up to lesson 10
13+ 14
Comedy Italian style or Italian political thriller
Main film(s) presented: Divorce Italian Style (1963)
15+ 16
Bernardo Bertolucci and the “author’s cine par excellence”
Main film(s) presented: The Conformist, (1970)**
17+ 18
Sergio Leone and the “spaghetti” western
Main film(s) presented: For a Few Dollars More (1964)**
19+ 20
The New Renaissance: G. Tornatore and G. Salvatores
Main film(s) presented: New Cinema Paradiso (1988)*
21+ 22
The Neo-Neorealism: M. Risi and G. Amelio
Main film(s) presented: Mary Forever (1988)*
23
Final paper
Films marked with * are subtitled in English
Films marked with ** are dubbed in English
Required readings:
• Bondanella Peter, Italian Cinema from Neorealism to the Present, F. Ungar Pub. Co., New York (the most recent edition).
• Buss Robin, Italian Films, B.T. Batsford Ltd., London 1989.
Recommended readings:
Liehm Mira, Passion and Defiance: Film in Italy from 1942 to the Present, University of California Press, Los
Angeles & Berkeley (The most recent edition).
Millicent M., Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986.
Witcombe R.T., The New Italian Cinema, Secker & Warburg, London, 1982.
Other Resources:
LIST OF FILMS SUGGESTED FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS:
Classics
1. Title: Riso amaro - Author: G. De Santis
Mins: 105’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FR1
2. Title: Bellissima - Author: L. Visconti 1951
Mins: 90’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FB4
3. Title: Viaggio in Italia - Author: Rossellini 1953
Mins: 80’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FV2
4. Title: I vitelloni - Author: F. Fellini 1953
Mins: 92’ - Language: subtitles - Available from: IES Lib.
5. Title: Il Gattopardo - Author: L. Visconti 1963
Mins: 190’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG1
6. Title: Deserto Rosso - Author: M. Antonioni 1964
Mins: 120 - Language: subtitles - Available from: IES Lib.
7. Title: Teorema - Author: P.P.Pasolini 1968
Mins: 108 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FT1
8. Title: Il Giorno del civetta - Author: D. Damiani 1968
Mins: 104’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG5
9. Title: Spider’s Strat. - Author: B. Bertolucci 1970
Language: subtitles - Available from: Provenzano
10. Title: The Conformist - Author: B. Bertolucci 1970
Language: English dub - Available from: Provenzano
11. Title:Last Tango in P. - Author: B. Bertolucci 1972
Mins: 124 - Language: Engl/Fr. - Available from: IES Lib. FL3
12. Title: 1990 (2 videos) - Author: B. Bertolucci 1976
Language: English - Available from: Provenzano
13. Title: C’eravamo tanto amati - Author: E. Scola 1974
Language: Italian - Available from: Provenzano
14. Title: Una giornata part - Author: E. Scola 1977
Mins: 105 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG2
15. Title: L’ultima donna - Author: M. Ferreri 1975
Mins: 108’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FU1
Following Peter Bondanella's suggestions, our course on the History of Italian cinema will deal mainly with the period of its greatest achievements, that is the period that goes from 1960 up to 1974 approximately, but the other periods of the history of Italian cinema will not be forgotten. In fact, during the first lessons, students will be given an outline of the history of Italian cinema concerning the beginning of the century, the fascist period and, in particular, neorealism, while the lessons in the latter half of the course will be devoted to more recent and contemporary Italian authors and films. To have a paramount view of Italian
cinema we will attempt to combine the authors and souci-historic approach with the genre approach. This will mean dealing with Authors' films, "spaghetti" western, Comedy Italian Style etc., at films that achieved great critical and commercial acclaim and that probably had a certain influence on some American authors of the "New York and New Hollywood generation" of the late 60s and early 70s and, what is more important, whose knowledge is essential for a correct understanding of the films from the contemporary Italian minimalist new wave.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Field Studies: if possible, students will be accompanied on a visit to a film set or a TV studio.
Attendance and class participation: 25%; mid-term in class written exam: 20%; Final exam: Oral presentation: 25% + Research and opinion paper (7-10 pages): 30%
Two lessons composed of two hours will be dedicated to each author or topic. Each author and movie will be introduced from both historical and sociological perspectives and then the film which best represents the author will be analyzed in its narrative structure, mise en scène and linguistic style through the screening of clips (or of the entire film when possible). Students will be expected to join in the debate and to bring their own critical points of view into the discussion.
In the second part of the course (that is after the mid-term paper), each student will be encouraged to give a short oral presentation with clips of a film (unseen in class); the student can opt for a 'classic' film which dates to the period analyzed in the course or, better, the student can choose a contemporary (Italian) movie of their liking. A list of suggestions will be provided, but it is not exhaustive.
OUTLINE OF COURSE
1+ 2
Italian Cinema at the beginning of the century and during the fascist regime.
About and around Neorealism
Main film(s) presented: Rome Open City (1945) +
Paisà (1946) by Rossellini,
Bicycle Thief. By De Sica
3+4
Luchino Visconti and the passage to Realism
Main film(s) presented: Rocco and his Brothers (1960)*
5+6
Michelangelo Antonioni and the narrative of revelation
Main film(s) presented: L’avventura (1960)* or Blow up (1966)*
7+8
Pier Paolo Pasolini and the subproletarian people
Main film(s) presented: Accattone (1960)*
9+10
Federico Fellini and the triumph of fantasy and poetry
Main film(s) presented: La dolce vita (1959)* or 8 1/2 (1963)*
11
Field Studies or review of first 10 lessons
12
Mid term paper Covering up to lesson 10
13+ 14
Comedy Italian style or Italian political thriller
Main film(s) presented: Divorce Italian Style (1963)
15+ 16
Bernardo Bertolucci and the “author’s cine par excellence”
Main film(s) presented: The Conformist, (1970)**
17+ 18
Sergio Leone and the “spaghetti” western
Main film(s) presented: For a Few Dollars More (1964)**
19+ 20
The New Renaissance: G. Tornatore and G. Salvatores
Main film(s) presented: New Cinema Paradiso (1988)*
21+ 22
The Neo-Neorealism: M. Risi and G. Amelio
Main film(s) presented: Mary Forever (1988)*
23
Final paper
Films marked with * are subtitled in English
Films marked with ** are dubbed in English
• Bondanella Peter, Italian Cinema from Neorealism to the Present, F. Ungar Pub. Co., New York (the most recent edition).
• Buss Robin, Italian Films, B.T. Batsford Ltd., London 1989.
Liehm Mira, Passion and Defiance: Film in Italy from 1942 to the Present, University of California Press, Los
Angeles & Berkeley (The most recent edition).
Millicent M., Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1986.
Witcombe R.T., The New Italian Cinema, Secker & Warburg, London, 1982.
LIST OF FILMS SUGGESTED FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS:
Classics
1. Title: Riso amaro - Author: G. De Santis
Mins: 105’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FR1
2. Title: Bellissima - Author: L. Visconti 1951
Mins: 90’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FB4
3. Title: Viaggio in Italia - Author: Rossellini 1953
Mins: 80’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FV2
4. Title: I vitelloni - Author: F. Fellini 1953
Mins: 92’ - Language: subtitles - Available from: IES Lib.
5. Title: Il Gattopardo - Author: L. Visconti 1963
Mins: 190’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG1
6. Title: Deserto Rosso - Author: M. Antonioni 1964
Mins: 120 - Language: subtitles - Available from: IES Lib.
7. Title: Teorema - Author: P.P.Pasolini 1968
Mins: 108 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FT1
8. Title: Il Giorno del civetta - Author: D. Damiani 1968
Mins: 104’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG5
9. Title: Spider’s Strat. - Author: B. Bertolucci 1970
Language: subtitles - Available from: Provenzano
10. Title: The Conformist - Author: B. Bertolucci 1970
Language: English dub - Available from: Provenzano
11. Title:Last Tango in P. - Author: B. Bertolucci 1972
Mins: 124 - Language: Engl/Fr. - Available from: IES Lib. FL3
12. Title: 1990 (2 videos) - Author: B. Bertolucci 1976
Language: English - Available from: Provenzano
13. Title: C’eravamo tanto amati - Author: E. Scola 1974
Language: Italian - Available from: Provenzano
14. Title: Una giornata part - Author: E. Scola 1977
Mins: 105 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG2
15. Title: L’ultima donna - Author: M. Ferreri 1975
Mins: 108’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FU1
16. Title: Crist stopped at.Eboli.. - Author: F. Rosi 1979
Mins: 214’ - Language: subtitles - Available from: IES Lib. FC3
Recent and contemporaries
1. Title: Bianca - Author: N. Moretti 1983
Mins: 96 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FB7
2. Title: La famiglia - Author: E. Scola 1986
Mins: 126’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FF1
3. Title: Marrakech Expr - Author: Salvatores 1988
Mins: 110’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FM1
4. Title: Donne con le gonne - Author: F. Nuti 1991
Mins: 119 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FD4
5. Title: La stazione - Author: S. Rubini
Mins: 92’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FS3
6. Title: Caro diario - Author: N. Moretti 1993
Mins: 98’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FC1
7. Title: Sud - Author: Salvatores 1993
Mins: 92 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FS5
8. Title:Grande cocomero - Author: F. Archibugi 1993
Mins: 105 - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FG3
9. Title: Ladro di Bambini - Author: G. Amelio 1992
Mins: 125’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FL1
10. Title: Piccolo Diavolo - Author: R. Benigni
Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. CP1
11. Title: Maniaci sentimen - Author: S. Izzo 1994
Mins: 95’ - Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. FM6
12. Title: Chiedi alla luna - Author: G. Piccioni
Language: Italian - Available from: IES Lib. CC2
13. Title: Il Postino - Author: Troisi-Radford 1994
Mins: 113 - Language: subtitles - Available from: IES Lib. FP7
14. Title: Volere volare - Author: M. Nichetti
Language: subtitles - Available from: Provenzano