Not Just Neorealism: Italian Cinema, Its History and Politics
RL&L 245
Fall 2026
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
FILM 302, WLIT 248 |
This introductory course on Italian cinema, taught in English, investigates major silent and sound films and contextualizes them, their production, and the subjects they treat within a historical, cultural, and political framework. We will trace the intersection among politics, ideology, and Italian cinema, from its Golden Age of silents through fascism and neorealism (as well as its contested legacy), from a consideration of the "exquisite" examples of the auteur directors like Fellini and Sorrentino to the ways these and other directors enter into dialogue with genre cinema (the giallo, spaghetti westerns, melodrama, etc.), and beyond. Featured filmmakers will be drawn from this list: Pastrone, Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Bertolucci, Antonioni, Wertmuller, Cavani, Pasolini, the Taviani Brothers, Leone, Sorrentino, Rohrwacher, Nicchiarelli, Crialese, and others. Additional material includes readings in film theory and criticism, Italian history, literary sources, screenplays, and interviews. For interested students with advanced competency in Italian, there will be a .50 credit (CLAC) discussion section, ITAL245/CGST245, at a time to be determined but very likely after our second class of the week. Italian and Romance Studies Majors, please see additional comments below. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Film Studies Minor)(Film Studies) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
MAJOR READINGS:
Primary Films
Gianni Amelio, Lamerica
Michelangelo Antonioni, Blow-up
Dario Argento, Deep Red
Bernardo Bertolucci, The Conformist
Vittorio De Sica, Bicycle Thieves
Federico Fellini, La dolce vita, Amarcord
Matteo Garrone, Gomorra
Pietro Germi, Divorce, Italian Style
Sergio Leone, Once Upon a Time in the West
Roberto Rossellini, Rome, Open City
Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, The Night of the Shooting Stars
Secondary films:
Gianni Amelio, Il ladro di bambini
Michelangelo Antonioni, Attempted Suicide, The Eclipse
Dario Argento, Suspiria, Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Stendhal Syndrome
Marco Bellocchio, Vincere, Buongiorno Notte, Nel nome del padre
Bernardo Bertolucci, Before the Revolution, Last Tango in Paris, Besieged, Stealing Beauty
Alessandro Blasetti, 1860
Jonas Carpignano, A Ciambra, Meditteranea
Liliana Cavani, The Night Porter Sergio Corbucci, Django Vittorio De Sica, Umberto D.
Giorgio Diritti, The Man Who Will Come, Shun Li and the Poet
Matteo Garrone, Tale of Tales, Dogman, Primo amore
Luca Guadagnino, Suspiria, I Am Love
Pietro Germi, Seduced and Abandoned
Fred Kudjo Kuwornu, 18 Ius soli, Blaxpoitalian
Armando Manni, Elvis and Marilyn
Carlo Mazzacurati, Vesna Goes Fast, The Right Distance, Another Life
Mohsen Mellitti, Io, l¿altro
Nanni Moretti, Caro diario, Ecce bomba, Aprile
Susanna Nicchiarelli, Cosmonaut, Nico 1980
Max Ophuls, Everybody¿s Woman
Ferzan Özpetek, Steam: The Turkish Bath
Giovanni Pastrone, Cabiria
Elio Petri, Investigation of a Citizen of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Accattone, Theorem, Medea,
Dino Risi, Il sorpasso/The Easy Life
Francesco Rosi, Hands over the City, The Truce, Fire at Sea
Roberto Rossellini, The Man with a Cross, Paisà, Germany Year Zero
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Marco Tullio Giordana, Once You¿re Born You Can No Longer Hide
Luchino Visconti, La terra trema, Days of Glory, Rocco and his Brothers, The Leopard Lina Wertmuller, Seven Beauties, Swept Away, Love and Anarchy
Readings and other materials supplied by instructors.
Students may need access to Netflix for part of the course.
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Examinations and Assignments:
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS: presentation, written + oral midterm, written + oral final, daily group work |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND/OR COMMENTS: Students will watch at least one film weekly and are required to complete readings about films, also on a weekly basis.
This course is cross-listed with FILM and WLIT.
This course has an Italian language section that attaches to it: ITAL 245 for .50 credits. It meets once weekly. Students seeking credit for an Italian-language course for the ITST Major must take 1.5 credits. ITST students may take only the English-language course for an English-language course acceptable to the major. |
| Instructor(s): Nerenberg,Ellen Times: .M.W... 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 22 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 22 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 5 | FR: 5 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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