88911 - VISUALIZING THE ITALIAN SOCIETY

Learning outcomes

Obiettivi formativi dell’insegnamento: This course is based on the sociological analysis of some films produced in Italy from the end of World War II to the ‘80 with the aim of to use Italian movies as telescopes on the past and to reflect on the present of Italian culture, from both the historical and social point of view. At the end of the course, students will have a knowledge about: • Italian cinema from the beginning of the twentieth century to the 1980s • political and social transformations from the early 1900s to the 1980s • elements of Italian history from 1900 to post-war period • notions on sociological and anthropological models, necessary to interpret social transformations in Italy in the analyzed period

Course contents

This course is based on the analysis of some films made in Italy from the end of World War II to the half of the ‘70 and in the classroom will be showed some of the most important movies of the Italian film history among which “La dolce vita”, “Rome open city”, “Bread and chocolate” “900” , with the purpose of to use these films as telescopes on the past and to reflect on the present of Italian culture, from both the historical and social point of view. For this reason in this course, Italian cinema is used as a way to analyze the political and social context of Italian history since the beginning of 1900 to the end of 1970., so the analysis will be done using films that refer to historical events and films that deal with issues related to everyday life and Italian culture in the years considered. In other words, this is a visual - sociology course on Italian culture, where movies are used as data as well as a stimulus for the debate. In addition, another level of analysis will concern the styles, the schools and the directors of the shown films, and the technical and social contexts that influence the different styles. In this step, will be considered the mass communication linguistic techniques (figures of speech, metaphors, analogies), to identify both obvious and hidden messages in movies.

The detailed syllabus of the lessons will be available on this page in September

The language of the course: English

 

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students (attendance of at least 5 lessons of 7) it is sufficient to pass the final exam to use the material made available on the web (access with password), the notes taken in class, and the reading of the material related to the films analyzed during the course that will be provided by the teacher.

For non-attending students, the exam will be carried out on the basis of the following chapters of the following book:

Peter Bondanella and Federico Pacchioni , A History of Italian Cinema, 2nd edition, Bloomsbury Academic - 2017

Chapters:

2. Industry and Ideology: The Talkies during the Fascist Era

3. Neorealism: A Revolutionary and Problematic?New Film Aesthetic

4. Neorealism's Many Faces: Widening the Range of the Camera's Eye

5. The Cinema of the Reconstruction and the Return of Melodrama

7. Commedia all'italiana: Social Criticism for Laughter's Sake

8. The Italian Art Film: Auteurism in Visconti, Antonioni, Fellini, and De Sica

9. Neorealism's Legacy to a New Generation, and the Italian Political film

10. Myth, Marx, and Freud in Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci

14. The Poliziesco: Italian Crime Films from the 1970s to the Present

N.B .: Access to the material on the web is only for attending students, as it is useful material only if integrated with the lectures, and it is necessary to pass the written exam that will take place on a single date after the end of the course. The written exam is reserved only for attending students

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons.

The course has a greater value if it is attended because in the lesson are given indications and keys of reading that go beyond those provided by the official text adopted. It is a course in which cinema is used as a key to understand aspects of Italian society from the post-war period to today (even if will be used films produced until the end of the 70s ) through a historical-sociological reading of the film genres and stories narrated. For this reason, attending students will have a fundamentally different path from non-attending students. By reading the book alone, non-attending students will be able to take advantage of a preparation linked to cinematic aspects only, while attending students will follow a path with a more complete and multifaceted point of view about the topics that will be treated in the classroom. Their preparation will take place mainly in the classroom, through the explanations present on the website dedicated to this course, reading the material provided by the teacher and taking notes during the lessons as most of the exam questions will concern the analysis of the characters and scenes discussed in class and moreover, during the lessons, sociological concepts that are not present in the textbook, will be provided.. For this reason, attending students will not have to study the official textbook, unless they wish for their personal interest.

Assessment methods

The exam aims to evaluate the achievement of the teaching objectives.

The exam procedures are two different types, one for attending students and one for non-attending students.

Attending students have the opportunity to take the exam in the written form (in English) on a unique date that will be communicated at the end of the course. Who does not want to attend to the written exam or is not satisfied with the vote received in the written test, can attend the oral exam, on the different dates that will be indicated in the exam sessions, always in English.

Non-attending students cannot attend the written exam but only the oral one, always in English, on the different dates indicated in the exam sessions. For students not attending the course, the exam will be based solely on the contents of the official course book

 

Examination evaluation table

GRADE - CONDITIONS - RANGE OF CONDITIONS

30-29-28

-The answers are all correct and very satisfying as content

- The themes suggested by the questions are well detailed

- The answers contain additional elements to those in the documents provided in the classroom or from the textbook

- The answers are well-argued with many examples

- The answers are enriched by a critical reading of the topics

The final result of the exam as a whole is: excellent

(30) more than satisfied conditions

( 29 ) predominantly satisfied conditions

( 28 ) almost satisfied conditions

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27 - 26 - 25

-The answers are mostly correct and quite satisfying as content

- The themes suggested by the questions are enough detailed

- The answers contain some additional elements to those in the documents provided in the classroom or from the textbook

-- The answers are sufficiently argued and present enough examples

- Some answers are enriched by a critical reading of the topics

The final result of the exam as a whole is: good

(27) more than satisfied conditions

(26) predominantly satisfied conditions

( 25) almost satisfied conditions

______

24 - 23 - 22 

-The answers are not always fully correct, there are inaccuracies OR they are scarce as content

- The themes suggested by the questions are less detailed

- The answers contain a few additional elements to those in the documents provided in the classroom or from the textbook

- The answers are poorly argued and have few examples

-Few or no responses are enhanced by a critical reading of the topics

The final result of the exam as a whole is: sufficient

(24) more than satisfied conditions

(23) predominantly satisfied conditions

( 22 ) almost satisfied conditions

-------

21 - 20 - 19 -18

-The answers are not entirely correct there are inaccuracies and they are very scarce as content

- The themes suggested by the questions are not at all detailed

-- The answers do not contain additional elements to those in the documents provided in the classroom or from the textbook

- The answers are superficially argued and have few or no examples

- Missing or poor the critical reading of the topics

The final result of the midterm as a whole is: barely sufficient

21) more than satisfied conditions

(20) predominantly satisfied conditions

( 19/18 ) almost satisfied conditions

------

Fail 

- The responses are for the majority wrong, there are many inaccuracies and they are very scarce as content

- The themes suggested by the questions not being widely discussed

- The answers do not contain additional elements to those in the documents provided in the classroom or from the textbook

- The answers are insufficiently argued and have few or no examples

- Missing or poor the critical reading of the topics

The final result of the midterm as a whole is: totally insufficient

Teaching tools

Each lesson will be preceded by the vision of a complete film or an extract, then the analysis of the film will be carried out with the aid of a dedicated website that will also be accessible to the students attending, through the use of a password.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Losacco