Italian Film and Transnational Cinema (351-0-20)

Instructors

Alessia Ricciardi
847/491-8259
1860 S. Campus Drive, Crowe Hall #2-133

Meeting Info

FRIT Grad Sem Rm 2130 - Crowe: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

The course will explore films by Michelangelo Antonioni and filmmakers he has influenced, including Wim Wenders, Wong Kar-wai, and Sofia Coppola. We will examine how their distinct cinematic languages express the loneliness, displacement, alienation, and desire for connection that characterize modern life.

Although emerging from different cinematic traditions, the films we will study develop a remarkably resonant visual and narrative language for articulating experiences of loneliness and longing. These are not merely emotional states but also ways of experiencing the visual and sensory dimensions of modernity, particularly in an age of increased mobility, technological mediation, and geographic displacement. Through music, fragmented narration, repetition, editing, and color, longing becomes almost tangible, as fleeting moments are transformed into enduring affective experiences.

We will focus on how these directors transform cinematic space into a medium of emotional intensity and render longing an aesthetic experience.

This course is taught in English.

Evaluation Method

Participation in class discussion (20%), Oral presentation (20%), Short essay (3-4pages) (20%), Final Oral Exam (40%)

Class Materials (Required)

Class materials will be made available on Canvas.

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
SoC Humanities and Fine Arts Distro