Topic: Italian Film from Neorealism to the New Italian Cinema.  (2nd
8 weeks course)

The Italian Cinema is a good way to study the whole Italian history,
society, ideology and behaviours. Students will have the opportunity
to know such authors as Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Antonioni,
Visconti, Pasolini, Bertolucci, who are well known even in the US;
but they will also have information about less famous directors
(such as De Santis, Monicelli, Moretti, Tornatore, Wertmüller),
about the Italian "star system", the national industry and mode of
production, the relationship between film & television.

The main historical periods are the following: the shift between
Fascism and the Postwar period, the so called "Neorealism", the
economic growth, the sixties and seventies, the contemporary time.
Main areas of interest will be the analysis of the film text, its
relationship with the social context and with politics, the
development of authorship.

The course will also focus on the difference between auteur films
and genre films (comedy, mythological, western, and so on); it will
stress the gender point of view (the female role in Italian Cinema)
and deal with the problem of the film industry.

Strong attention will be paid to the film techniques (lighting,
editing, acting, direction) and to the cinematic language and
grammar.

Midterm and final exams are required. The midterm will be a multiple
question test in class, the final a paper to be submitted by the
last class. The students could be asked either to discuss the class
topics in an oral exam or to answer to some questions about the
textbook.