Italian 470: Topics in Italian Cinema

Italian Comedy | Commedia all’italiana

Fall 2014

Extra readings:

There is not a great deal in English on the commedia all'italiana, and much of it (Lanzoni, Günsberg) is already assigned for this class.

Graduate students or advanced undergraduates who are looking to do some additional research, however, might turn to a variety of theoretical approaches. How does commedia all'italiana problematize genre theory? star theory? auteur theory? What does commedia all'italiana have to say about biopolitics? the environment? feminism? gender studies more generally? Obviously, I can't give a reading list for every topic, but any appropriate theoretical argument might be invoked.

For those interested in exploring history and sociology, there are any number of books on Italy during the economic boom, but they will be primarily in Italian.

If you read Italian, there is a fair amount of criticism on the commedia all'italiana. Maurizio Grande is the most famous critic, and reading some his books would be a great place to start.