ITA3520

Filming the nation: the recent past in European cinema

P Andronikos and R Lampugnani

8 points
* 2-3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton

Objectives Students will be expected to watch all of the prescribed films and to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of their historical and cultural background; of the major ideological and political developments in Europe between the wars and after the Second World War; of the relationship between cultural productions and socio-political realities; and of the nature of cinematic narrative.

Synopsis Taking as its starting point films by Theo Angelopoulos' The Travelling Players, Bertolucci's Il conformista, and the Tavianis; Night of the Shooting Stars, this subject explores the way in which European directors responded to the challenge of presenting their nation's recent past in film, after the Second World War and civil clashes between fascism and communism had made that past a problematic memory. The selection of films to be studied will include works by Bertolucci, Rossellini, De Sica, and Voulgaris. Students taking this subject as part of the Italian major will focus more on Italian films and will read the novels on which the films are based.

Assessment Seminar paper (1000 words): 15%
* Essay (2500 words): 45%[breve]Examination (2.5 hours): 40%
* Option of 2500-word essay in place of the examination.

Prescribed texts

Bassani G Il giardino dei Finzi Contini latest edition
Moravia A Il conformista latest edition
Italian Section Filming the nation: An Italian reader 1998