Italian Masterpieces: Portrayal of a Culture through its Cinema

Course description

The course will introduce students to the magic world of the “director superstar” Federico Fellini, who influenced the art of cinema all over the world.

Here’s a quotation from American director David Lynch, to give an example of how influential Fellini was to international directors: “If I had to choose films that represent, for me, examples of perfect filmmaking, the first would be 8 ½, for the way Federico Fellini managed to accomplish with film what mostly abstract painters do – namely, to communicate an emotion without ever saying anything in a direct manner, without ever explaining anything, just by a sort of sheer magic”.

After “meeting” the Master, students will discover the main trends and filmmakers in contemporary Italian cinema. Since cinema is a mirror to our world, students will learn a lot about contemporary Italian society through the seventh art.

Course contents

In the first part of the course, after an introduction to cinema language and Italian cinema, we will focus on Federico Fellini’s career, from his debut as screenwriter during Neorealism to the masterpieces of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

We will then explore the boundaries of contemporary Italian cinema with the most significant directors and their movies: Roberto Benigni, Gabriele Salvatores, Matteo Garrone and Paolo Sorrentino (who won for best film in a foreign language at the Academy Awards 2014).

Course requirements

Students will watch the 7 mandatory films that will be screened at Università Cattolica, in days and hours to be scheduled. The film will then be discussed in class with the Professor. It is crucial that students watch the film prior to discussion in class.