Introduction to Italian Cinema (251-0-20)
Instructors
Domietta Torlasco
847/491-8269
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-131
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Italian cinema has changed the way in which we conceive of the moving image and its relationship to reality in its social, political, and affective dimensions. This course begins with the heyday of Neorealism in the 1940s (Rossellini's war trilogy, De Sica's Bicycle Thieves, and Visconti's The Earth Trembles), placing this defining moment in film history in the context of World War II and the break from the Fascist period. Particular attention will be devoted to questions of gender and race, as the memory of Italy's racial laws and colonial past in Africa was about to be dimmed by the cultural politics of postwar recovery and, later, the economic miracle. Mindful of this process of historical erasure, we will turn to the remarkable output of the 1960s and 1970s and analyze they way in which different directors (Fellini, Antonioni, Visconti, Rosi, Pasolini) treated the problems of industrialization, migration, and organized crime. Finally, we will assess the return of a documentary approach to reality in films like Garrone's Gomorra (Gomorrah, 2008) and Rosi's Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea, 2016) in the context of globalization and the resurgence of populism and right-wing politics. Throughout the course, we will work to acquire the critical and methodological tools necessary to analyze film as a complex mode of cultural production.
Class Notes
All materials will be posted on Canvas.
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area