Module ITAL3061: ITALIAN CINEMA

Department: Modern Language and Cultures (Italian)

ITAL3061: ITALIAN CINEMA

Prerequisites

• Italian Language 2B (ITAL2031) or Italian Language 2A (ITAL2111) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: Italian Language 4 (ITAL3021) OR Italian Language 4 following Year Abroad (ITAL3091). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The focus of the module is on the historical, theoretical, and technical evolution of Italian cinema from the end of 19th century (1895) to the present.
• Its general scope is to present the history of Italian cinema as the history of a hybrid art which progressively absorbed various forms of lyric, narrative, plastic, pictorial, musical, and performative elements belonging to the Italian and non-Italian artistic traditions.
• The idea is to chart a discourse on the Italian cinema as the culminating stage of a long-lasting history of dynamic viewing, launched in Italy through the Renaissance invention of optical perspective ("camera obscura"), endorsed by the strenuous search of visual, gestural, and emotional representations in the fine arts, and transformed into a distinct cinematic language, able to influence other--non-Italian, non-European, non-Western--cultures.
• Prominent twentieth-century cultural trends, such as naturalism and decadentism, avant-garde and aesthetism, realism and neo-realism, modernism and post-modernism, will be studied as they emerge in the Italian cinematic tradition and as they differ from other.

Content

• This module is designed to introduce students to the historical, theoretical, and technical evolution of Italian cinematic experience from the appearance of the first Italian movie in 1895 up to the present. Its general scope is to present the history of Italian cinema as the history of a visual art, which progressively absorbed various forms of lyric, narrative, plastic, pictorial, musical, and performative elements belonging to the Italian and non-Italian artistic traditions. Presented as such, the history of Italian cinema becomes a history of dynamic viewing, whose background goes back to the Renaissance invention of optical perspective ("camera obscura"), to the vast repertory of visual, gestural, and emotional representations embodied in the illustrious Italian artistic tradition, to Italy itself, with its natural and urban settings, as a distinguished stage for hosting visual narratives.
• Prominent twentieth-century cultural trends, such as naturalism and decadentism, avant-garde and aesthetism, realism and neo-realism, modernism and post-modernism, will be studied as they emerge in the Italian cinematic tradition with possible recourse also to literary, artistic, and musical material. The historical dimension of the module is presented from two different perspectives: first, synchronically, paying attention to major historical events surrounding each section; second, diachronically, looking at how Italian cinema managed to re-read and re-write the Italian visual and cultural history of Italy. Its theoretical dimension, instead, is presented from three different perspectives: first, as emerging from the movies themselves; second, as emerging from the critical debates Italian cinema was/is able to stimulate nationally; third, as emerging from the prominent status Italian cinema has now acquired internationally in the academic field of film and visual studies.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should gain a solid understanding of twentieth century Italian cinematic culture, explored within the horizon of its entire evolution from the end of nineteenth century to the present.
• They should become conversant in the major figures of Italian cinema and their intellectual background.

• Students should be able to critically interpret Italian films and express their ideas in written and oral form.
• They should become at ease in comparing different genres, different performances, different material, and develop their analysis taking into consideration the interdisciplinary dimension of the cinematic experience.

• Students should be able to understand and implement in their analysis some current concepts in visual and film studies.
• They should also become aware of the hybrid dimension of cinematic culture and of the body of different agents, different skills, and different competences necessary to create a film.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• This module is taught by means of a weekly lecture and fortnightly seminars in smaller groups. Students will be encouraged to participate in class discussion, to contribute with seminar presentations and to work in close relationship with their peers. The learning environment will be supplemented by the use of duo (Durham University Online), a software that will facilitate communication between students and teacher.
• Students are required to attend all lectures and seminars and are expected to prepare themselves for classes and participate actively in discussions.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University