1 Italian 422/Cinema Studies 422 Special Topic: Italian Popular

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Italian 422/Cinema Studies 422
Special Topic: Italian Popular Genre Cinema: Peplum, Horror and Comedy Italian
Style
M 2:30 – 3:20 LIB 253
W 2:30 – 5:30 LIB 253
I week
Jan. 13 Wed. Introduction to the course, what is genre cinema?
Ulysses (Mario Camerini, 1954, 104’)
------------II week Jan. 18 Mon. HOLIDAY - Martin Luther King Day
20 Wed. Lecture on Peplum. Hercules (Pietro Francisci, 1957, 105’)
Article on line #1 (Narrative as a formal system)
Write main points of article on blackboard before class starts.
------------III week Jan. 25 Mon. Lecture on p. Article on line #2 (Italian cinema: gender and
genre) Write main points of article on blackboard.
27 Wed. Lecture on p. Samson and the seven miracles of the world
(Riccardo Freda, 1960, 77’) Article #3 (Ancient Rome,
cinema and history) Write main points of article
on blackboard.
------------IV week Feb. 1 Mon. Lecture on p. Article on line #4. (Projecting ancient Rome)
Write main points of article on blackboard.
3 Wed.
----------------V week Feb. 8 Mon.
10 Wed.
Lecture on p. Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961, 128’)
Article #5 (Heroic bodies), part 1: pp.97-115.
Write main points of article on blackboard.
Lecture on p. Article on line # 5, part 2: pp.115-132.
Write main points of article on blackboard.
Lecture on Horror. Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher, 1958,
81’, Hammer House) Article on line #6 (Hammer: the studio
that horror built) Write main points of article on blackboard.
----------------VI week Feb. 15 Mon. Lecture on h. Article on line # 7 (A history of horrors)
The vampires (Riccardo Freda/Mario Bava, 1957,
81’) Write main points of article on blackboard.
17 Wed. Lecture on h. The mask of Satan (Mario Bava, 1960, 87’)’)
Article on line #8 (Looking at Medusa), part 1: pp. 133-153.
Write main points of article on blackboard.
------------VII week Feb. 22 Mon. Lecture on h. Article on line # 8, part 2: pp.153-173.
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Write main points of article on blackboard.
Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre, doc., 60’, 2000
[View on your own Blood and black lace (Mario Bava, 1964, 90’)]
24 Wed.
Lecture on h. The bird with the crystal plumage (Dario
Argento, 1970, 96’)
[View on your own Baron Blood (Mario Bava, 1972, 98’)]
--------------VIII week Mar. 1 Mon. Lecture on h. Article on line # 9 (Draculas, vampires, and
other undead forms). Write main points of article on
blackboard.
3 Wed.
MIDTERM (in class)
------------IX week Mar.
8M – 10W Spring Break Holid
------------X week 15 Mon. Lecture on Comedy Italian style: the birth of the comedy It. style.
Article on line 10 (The forerunners)
17 Wed. Lecture on c. Bread, love and dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1953,
91’)
---------------XI week Mar. 22 Mon. Lecture on c. Article on line # 11 (The age of Neorealismo
rosa), part 1: pp. 19-31. Write main points of article on
blackboard.
24 Wed. Lecture on c. Big deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli,
1958, 106’) Article on line # 11, part 2: pp. 31-46.
Write main points of article on blackboard. [Clips from Don
Camillo e l’onorevole Peppone, dir. Carmine Gallone, 1955,
97’, clips from Poveri ma belli, dir. Dino Risi, 1956, 101’ it.]
--------------XII week Mar. 29 Mon. Lecture on c. Article on line # 12 (Commodifying passions),
part 1: pp. 60-78. Write main points of article on blackboard.
31 Wed. Lecture on c. The great war (Mario Monicelli, 1959, 118’)
Article on line 12, part 2: pp. 78-96. Write main points of
article on blackboard.
------------XIII week Apr. 5 Mon. Lecture on c. Article on line # 13 (Italian comedies in the
1960s), part 1: pp. 49-66. Write main points of article on
blackboard.
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Wed. Lecture on c. Seduced and abandoned (Pietro Germi, 1964,
119’)
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XIV week Apr. 12 Mon.
Lecture on c. Article on line # 13, part 2: pp. 66-82.
Write main points of article on blackboard.
14 Wed.
------------XV week Apr. 19 Mon.
Lecture on c. The easy life (Dino Risi, 1962, 106’)
Lecture on c. Article on line # 14 (The protagonists of the
new comedy style), part 1: pp. 83-108.
Write main points of article on blackboard.
21 Wed. Lecture on c. Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi, 1962.
101’)
------------XVI week Apr. 26 Mon.
Lecture on c. Article on line #14, part 2: pp. 108-135.
Write main points of article on blackboard.
28 Wed.
Closing remarks. The federal (Luciano Salce, 1961, 97’)
-------------Final Week: MAY 4 Tues. to MAY 11 Tues.
------------* Feel free to come to see me whenever you need help!
Grade Distribution:
The final grade will be calculated as follows:
Final paper.............................
40%
Attendance/Class discussion …….. 5%
Midterm..........................
40%
Presentation………………………. 15%
Grade Scale:
A
94-100
A- 91-93
B+ 87-90
B
83-86
BC+
C
D
79-82
75-78
70-74
64-69
Midterm: will include essay questions on all the material covered in class (lectures,
articles, films). Please note that attendance at the screening is mandatory -- all the films
are available for extra-viewing in Hodges Library (Second floor) in order to give you the
opportunity to review the films before your exams.
Presentation: A power point group presentation.
Final: 3 essay questions ( AT LEAST 2 PAGES EACH, TYPED with bibliography)
based on the analysis of the FILMS VIEWED IN CLASS, ON THE ARTICLES READ
AND ON THE LECTURES GIVEN. (Be original !!! research the topic on your own,
watch as many movies as possible).
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Class discussion: discussion on the main points of the article read or of the film viewed.
Teacher will provide a guideline for discussion. Take notes when you read an article
(main points).
Attendance: to be active is essential in a class whose main object is critical discussion
about cinema. Good class participation requires regular attendance and actual
involvement in all class activities and assignments. You are allowed ONLY 3 absences
in the semester.
Italian Majors and Minors: the students will be required to read SOME articles in
Italian (on line) and watch some Italian movies with no English subtitles:
[CHOOSE A MOVIE FROM the comedy Italian style in Italian (Italian only
section/ 9 films available), write a summary of the story, specifying characteristics of
film, etc.]
Textbook: critical material on line.
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability
should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the Office of Disability
Services at 865-974-6087 in Hoskins Library to coordinate reasonable accommodations for
students with documented disability.
Articles on line:
Article 1 Narrative as a formal system (David Bordwell, Film Art)
Article 2 Introduction/Italian cinema: gender and genre (Maggie Günsberg)
Article 3 Ancient Rome, cinema and history (Maria Wyke, Projecting the past)
Article 4 Projecting ancient Rome (Maria Wyke, Projecting the past)
Article 5 Heroic bodies: the cult of masculinity in the Peplum (Maggie Günsberg, Italian
cinema: gender and genre)
Article 6 Hammer: the studio that horror built (John McCarty, Hammer films)
Article 7 A history of horrors- The rise and fall of the House of Hammer (Denis Meikle)
Article 8 Looking at Medusa: investigating femininity in the Horror Film (Maggie
Günsberg, Italian cinema)
Article 9 Draculas, vampires and other undead forms (ed. John Edgar Browning)
Article 10 The forerunners ( Comedy Italian style, Rémi Fournier Lanzoni)
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Article 11
The age of Neorealismo Rosa ( Comedy It. Style, R. F. Lanzoni)
Article 12 Commodifying passions: gender and consumerism in Commedia all’italiana
(Italian cinema, Maggie Günsberg)
Article 13 Italian comedy in the 1960s ( Comedy It. Style, R. F. Lanzoni)
Article 14 The protagonists of the New Comedy Style (Comedy It. Style, R. F. Lanzoni)
Filmography
Italian Peplum
Precursors: (in library)
Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914, silent, Bartolomeo Pagano) PN1995.75.C32
English
Maciste alpino (Luigi Maggi, 1916, silent, Bartolomeo Pagano) PN1997.M1875
Italian and English subtitles
The last days of Pompei (a.k.a. Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei )(Carmine Gallone,
1926, silent) PN1995.9.F67 U485 English
The defeat of Hannibal (a.k.a. Scipione l’africano) (Carmine Gallone, 1937)
PN1995.9.F67S355 English
Fabiola (Alessandro Blasetti, 1948, Michele Morgan, Gino Cervi)
PN1995.9.F67F32 English
Pepla:
Sins of Rome (Riccardo Freda, 1952) Not available/NA
Attila (Pietro Francisci, 1954, Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren) PN1995.9.F67A857
Italian
Ulysses (Mario Camerini, 1954) English PN1997.U4
Hercules (Pietro Francisci, 1957) (a.k.a. Ercole e la regina di Lidia,
Steve Reeves/Mister Universe) English PN1995.F67F42
Hercules Unchained (Pietro Francisci, 1958, Steve Reeves/Mister Universe)
(a.k.a. Le fatiche di Ercole) NA
The Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961) English PN1995.9.F67C653
Hercules and the Captive Women
(a.k.a. Hercules Conquers Atlantis, Vittorio Cottafavi, 1961) NA
Ercole al centro della terra (Mario Bava, 1961, Christopher Lee) NA
Ercole sfida Sansone (Pietro Francisci, 1963) NA
Ercole contro Moloch (Giorgio Ferroni, 1963, Gordon Scott, ex Tarzan) NA
Ercole contro i figli del sole (Osvaldo Cipriani, 1964, Giuliano Gemma) NA
Ercole contro i tiranni di Babilonia (Domenico Paolella, 1964) NA
Ercole contro Roma (Piero Pierotti, 1964) NA
Ercole l’invincibile (Al World, 1964) NA
Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus gli invincibili (Giorgio Capitani, 1965) NA
Maciste nella valle dei re (Carlo Campogalliani, 1960, Mark Forest) NA
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18 sequels
Ursus (Carlo Campogalliani, 1961) NA
Ursus nella valle dei leoni (Carlo Campogalliani, 1962) NA
Ursus gladiatore ribelle (Domenico Paolella, 1962, Alan Steele)) NA
Samson and the seven miracles of the world (Riccardo Freda, 1960) English
PN1997.S168
Sansone (Gianfranco Parolini, 1961, Alan Steele) NA
Sansone contro i pirati (Amerigo Anton, 1963) NA
Colossals-US productions:
The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. De Mille, 1956, Charlton Heston) remake
of silent film by same director/title of 1923 PN1997.T345
Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959, Charlton Heston) remake of a 1927
version by Fred Niblo PS3134.B452
Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960, Kirk Douglas) remake of silent film
PN1997.S6484
The fall of the Roman empire (Anthony Mann, 1964, Sophia Loren
Alec Guinness, Christopher Plummer, Omar Sharif) PN1997.F293
Horror:
Precursors
Nosferatu a symphony of horror (Friedrich W. Murnau, 1922, silent, Germany)
PN 1995.75.N67 English on disc one
Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931, US Universal Studios, Bela Lugosi)
PN1997.D73
Classic Horror:
Hammer Horror Series/8 Cult classics (English): PN1997.A1.H36 2005
Brides of Dracula
The curse of the werewolf (Terence Fisher, 1961) PN1997.A1.H36
Phantom of the opera
Paranoiac
The kiss of the vampire
Nightmare
Night creatures
The evil of Frankestein
Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher, 1958) English PN1997.H68123
Dracula, prince of darkness (Terence Fisher, 1965, Christopher Lee) PN1997.D735 1998
Nosferatu the vampire (Werner Herzog, 1978, Klaus Kinski) English
PN1995.9.F67.N67
Dracula (John Badham, 1979, Frank Langella) PN1997.D736 2004
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, 1897)
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1992, with Gary Oldman) PN1997.D737 2005
Rosemary’s baby (Roman Polanski, 1968, Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes)
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PN1997.R6738 2006
Italian horror:
“Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre,” documentary, 60’, dir. Garry S. Grant, 2000.
PN1998.3 B385 M26 2001 English
I vampiri /The vampires (Riccardo Freda/Mario Bava, 1957) English subtitles
PN1995.9.F67.V353
La maschera del demonio/The mask of Satan (Mario Bava, 1960, Barbara Steele)
English PN1997.9F67.M3868 2007
I tre volti della paura/Black Sabbath (Mario Bava, 1963, Boris Karloff)
English subtitles \PN1995.9.F67.T745 2007
Blood and black lace/6 donne per l’assassino (Mario Bava, 1964) English
PN1995.9.F67.B586 2005
Baron Blood /Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (Mario Bava, 1972, Joseph Cotton)
English PN1997.B312 2007
Lisa and the devil /Lisa e il diavolo (Mario Bava, 1974, Telly Savalas, Sylvia Koscina)
English PN1995.9.F67.C382 2007
Dario Argento: (English)
The bird with the crystal plumage (1970, 96’, Thriller) PN1995.9.F67.B57 2005
Deep red (1975, 123’, Thriller/horror) PN1995.9.F67.D396 2000
Suspiria (1977, 97’, Horror) PN 1995.9.F67 S88 2001
Tenebrae (1983, 110’, Thriller/horror) PN1995.9.F67.T453 1999
Comedy Italian Style:
(will arrive)
Cops and robbers/ Guardie e ladri (Steno/Monicelli, 1951) English
Toto’ and the king of Rome/Toto’ e I re di Roma (Steno.Monicelli, 1952) English
Bread, love and dreams/Pane, amore e fantasia (Luigi Comencini, 1953,) English
The art of getting along/ L’arte di arrangiarsi (Luigi Zampa, 1954) English
Toto’ and Carolina/ Toto’ e Carolina (Mario Monicelli, 1955) English
Love and Larceny/Il mattatore (Dino Risi, 1959) English
A difficult life/ Una vita difficile (Dino Risi, 1961) English
ITALIAN only
Un giorno in pretura/ A day in court (Steno, 1953) PN 1995.9.F67.G556
Un Americano a Roma/An American in Rome (Steno, 1954, Sordi)
PN1995.9.F67.A432
Lo scapolo/The bachelor (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1955, Sordi) PN1995.9.F67.S3343
Il marito/The husband (Nanny Loy, 1957, Sordi) PN1995.9.F67.M3757
Gastone (Mario Bonnard, 1959, Sordi) PN1995.9.F67.G37
Tutti a casa/ Everybody go home (Luigi Comencini, 1961, Sordi)
PN1995.9.F67.T878
Divorzio all’italiana/Divorce Italian style (Pietro Germi, 1962, Mastroianni)
PN1995.9.F67.D585
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Brancaleone alle crociate/Brancaleone at the Crusades (Mario Monicelli, 1970,
Gassman) PN1995.9.F67.B726
Amici miei/ My friends (Pietro Germi, 1975, Tognazzi) PN1995.9.F67.A433
Subtitled in English:
Bread, love and dreams/Pane, amore e fantasia (Luigi Comencini, 1953, De Sica)
PN1995.9.F67.P348
I soliti ignoti/Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, 1958,Gassman/Toto’
/Mastroianni) PN1995.9.C55.S58
La grande guerra/The great war (Mario Monicelli, 1959, Sordi/Gassman)
PN1997.G682
Il federale/The federal (Luciano Salce, 1961, Tognazzi) PN 1995.9.F67.F4314
The easy life/Il sorpasso (Dino Risi, 1962, Gassman) PN 1997.S646
Sedotta e abbandonata/Seduced and abandoned (Pietro Germi, 1964,
Buzzanca/Sandrelli) PN1995.9.F67.S42