Italian Cinema

Catalog description

This course will present older and contemporary Italian cinema and students will learn how to break down a film plot, examine the protagonists' characteristics and behavior, and be able to look for critical themes and recurring story elements throughout the film. The focus will be on post-WWII Italian cinema, primarily. Each film will be introduced along the lines of its own unique political, historical, and socio-cultural relevance. Films will be studied and discussed with the intent of developing knowledge of the major features of film analysis and the appropriate terminology to discuss them. An examination of each director's own cinematic agenda, as well as the time frame of each film's production in relation to events in Italy and to the world events will also assist the students in understanding the factors contributing to a film's creation as well as the comment on society that each film makes.