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Home , Bernardo Bertolucci, My Voyage to Italy

Prof. VITO ZAGARRIO FALL SEMESTER 2011 Course title: “Mirroring Myths”. American Models/Italian Models in Film and Television History

Lectures: Monday 3.00-6.00 Screenings: Monday, Wednesday 6.00-8.00

Description: The course compares two Myths: on one side the American Myth for the Italian culture, on the other side the Italian Myth for the Americans. American culture, music and cinema have always been crucial for the Italian people. Since the 20s, Hollywod has been a big model for Italian intellectuals (as an example , Bernardo Bertolucci’s father); in the late 30s and 40s the American novelists were a tremendous model for such Italian writers as Vittorini, Calvino, Pavese, Sciascia, Bufalino. After the war, the Hollywood genres (above all the Western) became very important for the Italian film industry. The other way round, the Italian model has always been important for the American culture. The myth of the art cities, or the cinematic love for the are still some of the crucial points of the relationship between the two cultures. Therefore, the course is a good opportunity for the Us students to understand the Italian models and behaviour.

Method of presentation: Lectures, film viewing, discussion in class, students presentations and papers.

Required work and form of assessment: Midterm and final exams are required. The midterm is test in class, with multiple-answers questions; the final is a homework paper to be submitted by the last class. The students are supposed to give a presentation in class and can be asked to discuss the course topics in a face to face exam. The final letter grade will judge the midterm (20%), the final paper (20%), the presentation in class (20%), the class attendance (20%), the participation to discussion in class (20%).

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LIST OF FILMS TO ANALYZE:

The American Myth: Contessa di (t.l. “Countess of Parma”, by Alesandro Blasetti, a typical “screwball comedy” based on the Hollywood codes); Il signor Max (t.l. “Mister Max” by Mario Camerini; Camerini is the main comedy director during the and he refers to the Us models); (Obsession, by , taken from The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain); Riso amaro (Bitter Rice, by , shot with the Hollywood cinematic codes); Un americano a Roma (l. t. “An American in ”, by Steno, with a young Alberto Sordi, clear hommage to the postwar American Myth); Per un pugno di dollari (Fistfull of Dollars by , homage to the classic Hollywood western and archetype of the so called “spaghetti westerns”); C’era una volta in America (Once Upon a Time in America, by Sergio Leone, another Leone’s clear homage to American cinema); Marrakesh Express by (one 80s re-elaboration of the “On the Road” Myth); Se fossi in te (l.t. “If I were on you”, by Giulio Manfredonia, inspired to the Capra’s screwball comedies); My Name is tanino (by Paolo Virzì: stereotypes of Italian identities in the Italian-American families) La ricerca della felicità (Pursuit of Happiness by : the success of an Italian director working in Hollywood); Natale a Miami (t.l. “Christmas in Miami” by Neri Parenti (the trash interpretation of the Us Myth in the Italian popular “cine-panettone” film comedy).

The Italian Myth: Roman Holidays (Vacanze romane by : the Myth of the beautiful Italian country, a re-reading of the Cinderella-like fairy tale) Un tè con Mussolini (A Tea with Mussolini, by : the Myth of Florence, the art cities and the Italian landscape, seen by a group of old ladies during the Fascism).

2 Io ballo da sola (, by Bernardo Bertolucci: again, the Tuscan landscape seen by the American intellectuals and artists). (by : a portrait of the Italian-Americans in New York) SOS, Summer of Sam (by : the stereotypical representation of the Italian-Americans, described by an African-American director). My Voyage to (by Martin Scorsese: a wonderful documentary on the “classic” Italian Cinema, starting from the Neorealism). The Age of Innocence (by Martin Scorsese, again, who quotes both Visconti and Bertolucci); The Sicilian (by , who quotes Rosi and the “mafia movies”). Apocalypse Now (by : the director hires the whole crew of the early Bertolucci’s movies, above all the Dp , as an evidence of his own myth toward Italy). The Sopranos (how the tv series represents the Italian-Americans).

Required reading: The following books are obligatory: Landy Marcia, Italian Film, Cambridge University Press, 2002. Wood Mary P., Italian Cinema, New York, Berg, 2005

Recommended Readings: The following books are suggested for papers and researches (available at NYU library): Adams Sitney P., Vital Crises in Italian Cinema. Iconography, Stylistics, Politics, Austin, University of Texas Press, 1995. Bondanella Peter, Italian Cinema from Neorealism to the Present, New York, Ungar, 1983 (1998) Bondanella Peter, The Cinema of (with a foreword by Federico Fellini), Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1992. Bondanella Peter, The Films of , Cambridge & New York, Cambridge University Press, 1993. Buss Robin, Italian Films, London, Batsford, 1989. Marcus Millicent, After Fellini, Italian National Film in the Postmodern Age, Johns Hopkins, 2000. Rohdie Sam, Antonioni, London, BFI, 1990.

3 Lectures and screenings:

1) Sept. 5 Ossessione 2) Sept. 12 Riso amaro 3) Sept. 19 Once Upon a Time in the West (part 1) 4) Sept. 26 Once Upon a Time in the West (part 2) 5) Oct. 3 Once Upon a Time in America 6) Oct. 10 A Tea with Mussolini 7) Oct. 17 MIDTERM The Pursuit of Happiness 8) Oct. 31 Roman Holiday 9) Nov. 7 Stealing Beauty 10) Nov. 14 The Sicilian 11) Nov. 21 The Age of Innocence 12) Nov. 28 My Voyage to Italy part I 13) Dec. 5 My Voyage to Italy part II 14) Dec. 12 FINALS

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