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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY
COURSE CODE: "CMS/ITS 241"
COURSE NAME: "Italian Cinema"
SEMESTER & YEAR:
Summer Session I 2024
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SYLLABUS
INSTRUCTOR:
Vito Zagarrio
EMAIL: [email protected]; [email protected]
HOURS:
MTWTH 3:40 PM 5:30 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS:
45
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
This course carries 3 semester hours of credit.
OFFICE HOURS:
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course surveys films, directors, and film movements and styles in Italy from 1945 to the present. The films are examined as complex aesthetic and signifying systems with wider social and cultural relationships to post-war Italy. The role of Italian cinema as participating in the reconstitution and maintenance of post-War Italian culture and as a tool of historiographic inquiry is also investigated. Realism, modernism and post-modernism are discussed in relation to Italian cinema in particular and Italian society in general. Films are shown in the original Italian version with English subtitles.
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SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
History, Ideology, Film grammar, gender issues, will be discussed in relation to Italian cinema, in particular, and Italian society, more in general. Directors to be treated include (but are not limited to) De Sica, Rossellini, Fellini, Pasolini, Monicelli, Bertolucci, Bellocchio, Nicchiarelli, and Sorrentino. Films are shown in the original Italian version with English subtitles.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will learn how to analyze film texts using specific historical, cultural, and theoretical approaches.
Students will learn how to write analytical essays that employ specific critical frameworks.
Students will learn and be able to discuss key social, political, and economic events, and movements in contemporary Italian history.
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TEXTBOOK:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments | Format | Local Bookstore | Online Purchase |
| History of Italian Cinema | Peter Bondanella, Federico Pacchioni | London, Bloomsbury, London | 9781501307638 | | | | | |
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REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
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GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
| Assignment | Guidelines | Weight |
| Attendance, Participation and Discussion in class | Students are expected to actively and critically participate to class discussions. Students officially authorized to attend to remote are required to keep the Camera on and to promptly interact with the class. | 25% |
| Midterm Exam | The midterm exam is a in class exam. Questions on readings, screenings, and a 3-4 pages essay on a given topic | 25% |
| Oral Presentation | The oral presentation is organized by groups. The presentation topic is discussed with the professor. The students will choose the composition of the group and the format (power point, video, clips, and so on). | 25% |
| Final Exam | The final exam is an in-class exam with questions on readings and class discussions + a critical essay on a given topic. | 25% |
-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________
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ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred.
In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment,
may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student
who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from
the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation
to the President, who will make the final decision.
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STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap.
Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning
of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
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SCHEDULE
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SCHEDULE
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Week 1
May 20-24
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Silent Film and Neorealism
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Monday 20
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Introduction to the course.
Film screening: My Voyage to Italy by Martin Scorsese, part 1
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Tuesday 21
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Lecture: Italian silent film and Italian film during the Fascism
Sequences from Cabiria by Giovanni Pastrone (1914)
The relationship between Italian cinema and the Fascist regime.
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Wednesday 22
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Film screening: Paisan by Roberto Rossellini, 1946
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Thursday 24
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Discussion in class about Neorealism.
Screening of sequences from Open City by Roberto Rossellini, 1945.
Scenes from The Earth Trembles by Luchino Visconti, 1948
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Week 2
May 27-30
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The “Auteur” Cinema
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May, Monday 27
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Film Screening: 8 ½ by Federico Fellini
Home work: La dolce vita by Federico Fellini, 1960
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May, Tuesday 28
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La dolce vita
Analysis of La dolce vita’s ending.
Film techniques workshop. The professor will give some elements of “film grammar” and “mise en scène” (the directorial work).
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May, Wednesday 29
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Film screening: The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino, 2013
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May, Thursday 30
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Lecture: Fellini and Us.
Discussion in class: A comparison between La dolce vita and La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty)
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Week 3
June 3-6
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The Italian Comedy Yesterday and Today
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Monday, 3
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Film screening: Il sorpasso by Dino Risi, 1962.
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Tuesday, 4
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Lecture: The Comedy Italian Style and the genre films.
Sequences from Big Deal on Madonna Street by Mario Monicelli and Divorce Italian Style by Pietro Germi.
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Wednesday, 5
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Film screening: Smetto quando voglio by Sidney Sibilia, 2014.
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Thursday, 6
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Lecture:
The New Italian Comedy and the Italian Cinema of the 2000s
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Week 4
June 10-13
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The Italian Genres
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Monday, 10
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Film screening: Fistfull of Dollars by Sergio Leone, 1963
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Tuesady, 11
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Lecture: The Spaghetti Western.
Sequences from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Sergio Leone, 1966, and Once Upon a Time in the West by Sergio Leone, 1968.
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Wednesay, 12
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Film screening: Suspiria by Dario Argento, 1977
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Thursday, 13
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Lecture: The Genre Film in Italy
Discussion: The “peplum” (Roman mythological film) and other film genres, both in Italy and in the US (horror, melodrama, musical, etc.).
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Week 5
June 17- 20
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Italian Cinema in the New Millennium
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Monday, 17
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Film Screening: Call Me by Your Name by Luca Guadagnino, 2018
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Tuesday, 18
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Sequences from Suspiria by Luca Gudagnino (remake of Argento’s movie), 2018
Comparison between Suspiria by Argento and Suspiria by Guadagnino
Lecture:
Gender and women directors in contemporary film (scenes from Corpo celeste by Alice Rohrwacher, Terramatta by Costanza Quatriglio, and other films by women directors).
The GLBTQ+ topics
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Wednesday 19
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Film screening: Gomorrah by Matteo Garrone, 2008
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Thursday, 20
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The New Italian Cinema.
Final discussion
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Friday 21
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IN CLASS FINAL EXAM
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