Programme

PROGRAM: NEOREALIST CINEMA. THE FILMS OF MARCO FERRERI.
The first part is dedicated to the most emblematic theories, films, authors, figures and styles of post-war cinema. The major works of Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti, Giuseppe De Santis, Pietro Germi, Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni are analyzed. Particular emphasis is given to the thought and practices of Cesare Zavattini.
The second part is devoted to the films of Marco Ferreri. We analyze the dominant themes of the Ferreri imaginary and the style of the films, from the Spanish debut - between neorealism and “esperpento”- to the postmodern representations of the 90s.

Core Documentation

TEXTS: Gian Piero Brunetta, Cinema italiano. Una storia grande 1905-2023, Einaudi, Torino 2024 (pp. 121-191); Stefania Parigi, Neorealismo. Il nuovo cinema del dopoguerra, Marsilio, Venezia 2014; Alberto Scandola, Marco Ferreri, Il Castoro Cinema, Milano, 2004 (available on https://univr.academia.edu/AlbertoScandola); a compilation of texts on neorealism by the teacher (you can find it at the beginning of the course in the Moodle Platform).

FILMOGRAPHY:
NEOREALISM: Ossessione (1943) by L. Visconti; Paisà (1946) by R. Rossellini; Germania anno zero (1948) by R. Rossellini; Ladri di biciclette (1948) by V. De Sica; La terra trema (1948) by L. Visconti; Riso amaro (1949) by G. De Santis; Miracolo a Milano (1950) by V. De Sica; Il cammino della speranza (1950) by P. Germi; Due soldi di speranza (1951) by R. Castellani; Pane, amore e fantasia (1953) by L. Comencini; La strada (1954) by F. Fellini; Il grido (1957) by M. Antonioni.
MARCO FERRERI: El cochecito (1960), La donna scimmia (1964), L’harem (1967), Break-up/L’uomo dei palloni (1963-1968), Dillinger è morto (1969), La grande abbuffata (1973), Non toccare la donna bianca (1974), Ciao maschio (1978), Chiedo asilo (1979), Storia di Piera (1983), Diario di un vizio (1993), Nitrato d’argento (1996).

Attendance

Attendance at the course is strongly recommended

Type of evaluation

The written test is divided into two parts. The first one requires a synthetic reflection on a period, a current, a genre, a theme, a style, an author treated during the course. The second one requires a thematic, narrative and stylistic analysis of a film included in the exam program. Duration of the test: 2 hours.

Programme

The course examines the period from the 1930s to the present, focusing on the key stages that have shaped the history of Italian cinema in terms of films, auteurs, and genres, with particular attention to the relationship between film production and the country’s historical, political, and social context. From this perspective, cinema will be analyzed not only as an art form, but also as a privileged medium for the representation, interpretation, and construction of historical memory and Italian national identity, understood as a problematic, stratified, and continually evolving condition. Within this framework, special attention will be devoted to the topos of the beach, long central to the national imagination and to Italian cinematic tradition. The course will examine the aesthetic, narrative, productive, and cultural features of selected films in which the “seaside condition” becomes a privileged lens through which to investigate the major historical, social, and anthropological transformations experienced by the country over more than half a century, highlighting how these changes are reflected and reworked in cinematic forms and languages, also in relation to the tensions and ambiguities that traverse the construction of national identity.

Core Documentation

TEXTS:

G.P. Brunetta, Cinema italiano. Una storia grande. 1905-2023, Einaudi, Torino 2024 (dal Neorealismo in poi)

C. Uva, L'ultima spiaggia. Rive e derive del cinema italiano, Marsilio, Venezia 2021

C. Uva (a cura di), Matteo Garrone, Marsilio, Venezia 2020

FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS:
G.P. Brunetta, Guida alla storia del cinema italiano 1905-2003, Einaudi, Torino 2003 (dal cap. III in poi);

C. Uva, L'ultima spiaggia. Rive e derive del cinema italiano, Marsilio, Venezia 2021.


FILMOGRAPHY

1860 (1934) di A. Blasetti; Roma città aperta (1945) di R. Rossellini; Domenica d’agosto (1950) di L. Emmer; La spiaggia (1954) di A. Lattuada; Senso (1954) di L. Visconti; La grande guerra (1959) di M. Monicelli; La lunga notte del '43 (1960) di F. Vancini; L’avventura (1960) di M. Antonioni; Accattone (1961) di P. P. Pasolini; Il sorpasso (1962) di D. Risi; Prima della rivoluzione (1964) di B. Bertolucci; Per un pugno di dollari (1964) di S. Leone; L’ombrellone (1965) di D. Risi; Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (1970) di E. Petri; C'eravamo tanto amati (1974) di E. Scola; In nome del Papa Re (1977) di L. Magni; Sapore di mare (1982) di C. Vanzina; Colpire al cuore (1982) di G. Amelio; Palombella rossa (1989) di N. Moretti; Ferie d’agosto (1996) di P. Virzì; Buongiorno, notte (2003) di M. Bellocchio; Diaz (2012) di D. Vicari

Type of delivery of the course

Course delivered in person by soliciting the active participation of students and also remotely using the Teams digital platform.

Attendance

Not mandatory but strongly recommended

Type of evaluation

Written test with open questions.