Course Description
This course provides students with an introduction to Italian cinema from the 1940s to the present within the socioeconomic and historical context of Italian society. This survey course will analyze major works by major Italian directors as Rossellini, Fellini, De Sica, Antonioni, Wertmüller, Bertolucci, the Taviani brothers and Moretti. The course will consider the different ways in which these directors drew on a variety of artistic and intellectual traditions to explore the political and social issues thrown up by Italy’s controversial fascist past and the profound social implications of the ‘economic miracle’. It will also discuss the economic and cultural factors that lay behind the development of this distinctive cinema and the degree to which these film-makers were able to maintain a national element in their work as the art film became increasingly international in the 1970s.

Course Aims and Objectives
The aim of this course is to provide students with those analytical instruments that enable them to critically review Italian films through a thorough historical and sociological perspective. Attention will be given to the intellectual, historical, cultural, and literary matrix of each movie.

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

• Explore the degree to which these ‘art’ films reference political and social issues in Italy
• Gain knowledge of the innovative narrative and visual strategies used by ‘art’ film auteurs and their artistic, cultural, intellectual and political influences
• Be aware of the historical relationship between neo-realism and the ‘art’ films of the period
• Gain a familiarity with the economic and cultural relationship between Italian national cinema and Hollywood
• Demonstrate personal qualities (such as independence, ability to take responsibility, self-esteem and confidence) and transferable skills (such as negotiation/working effectively with others, communication, objective-setting, planning and creativity)
• Approach the study of film in a scholarly manner through careful planning, research, analysis and written work.

Films we will watch entirely in class:
Bycicle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica), Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini), Mamma Roma (on the fieldtrip) (Pier Paolo Pasolini)

Film students have to watch on campus facilities during the semester:
Rome Open City (Roberto Rossellini), La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti), Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini), La Dolce vita (Federico Fellini), Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi), L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni), The Night of the Shooting Stars (Paolo e Vittorio Taviani), Dear Diary (Nanni Moretti), Io non ho paura (Gabriele Salvatores), Voyage to Italy (Martin Scorsese)

Films students are advised to watch:
Viaggio in Italia (Roberto Rossellini), La Strada (Federico Fellini), La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni), The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci), Lamerica (Gianni Amelio)