Module ITAL3061: ITALIAN CINEMA

Department: Modern Languages 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). 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 development of Italian cinema from the end of the 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 narrative, pictorial, musical, and performative elements belonging to other forms of representation.
• The module will concentrate on the ways in which cinema has consistently developed new narrative and visual means of representing developments in Italian society and culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
• Prominent twentieth-century cultural trends, such as naturalism, aestheticism, 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. The module aims to present the history of Italian cinema as the history of a visual art which progressively absorbed various forms of narrative, pictorial, musical, and performative elements belonging to other forms of representation. The module will concentrate on the ways in which cinema has consistently developed new narrative and visual means of representing developments in Italian society and culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
• Prominent twentieth-century cultural trends, such as naturalism, aestheticism, realism and neo-realism, modernism and post-modernism, will be studied as they emerge in the Italian cinematic tradition. 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 visual and cultural history of Italy. Its theoretical dimension, instead, is presented from two different perspectives: first, as emerging from the movies themselves; second, as emerging from the critical debates Italian cinema was/is able to stimulate nationally and internationally.

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 interpret critically 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

• The module will be taught in Term I and in Term II on a 'long thin' basis.
• Lectures (1 hour weekly) will deliver key information about the module.
• A fortnightly seminar with smaller groups will allow for individual presentations and active discussions.
• 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