THE CINEMA OF ITALY

The Cinema of Italy examines recurring historical, thematic and stylistic features of 24 of the most important Italian sound films. Viewing Italian cinema at the intersection of history, politics, art and popular culture, the 24 concise essays of this anthology contextualise each film within both Italian and Western film culture. Alongside the crucial lessons of neorealist masterpieces such as Rossellini's Paisan and De Sica's The Bicylce Thieves, this collection looks at how Italian cinema has confronted both the nation's history (1860, Senso, The Conformist, Lamerica), the so-called 'Southern question' (Salvatore Giuliano, Padre Padrone), as well as modern configurations of labour and gender relationships through the films of Camerini, De Santis, Olmi, Pasolini, Antonioni, Wertmüller and the Taviani Brothers. The Cinema of Italy also considers the very personal works of Fellini, Ferreri and Moretti and gives special attention to those filmmakers (Argento and Leone) whose cinema directly addresses such international film genres as horror and the western.

June 2004
288 pages

978-1–903364–98–7 (pbk)	£18.99	£16.14 with 15% online discount - add to basket
978-1–903364–99–4 (hbk)	£50.00	£42.50 with 15% online discount - add to basket

Giorgio Bertellini is Assistant Professor in the Film and Video Studies Program and the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Emir Kusturica (1996) and editor of Italian Silent Cinema: A Reader (2007).

'This attractively produced volume … is aimed principally at anglophile undergraduate and general audiences, and brings together twenty-four new essays on key Italian films … Here clear and lively essays draw attention to links between film and society.'
– Clodagh Brook, Italian Studies

'Giorgio Bertellini masterfully succeeds in designing a volume that will be of use and interest to students, cinéphiles, and scholars … The Cinema of Italy is remarkable for the clarity, conciseness and quality of the contributions as well as for the caliber of its contributors.’
– Piero Garofalo, Quarterly Review of Film and Video

'Zooms in on 24 shrewdly-chosen films to offer an innovative and highly accessible introduction to the richness of Italian film culture … Provides fresh and informative readings of films you'll want to see, whether for the first time of the fiftieth.'
– Barbara Spackman, University of California, Berkeley

‘The wide-ranging anthology will encourage those interested in Italian film to explore further.'
– Mary Wood, Birkbeck College, University of London

'For a book aimed mainly at film students it is highly readable, and most importantly conjures an enthusiasm for the films that will encourage readers to track down and view any that are unfamiliar ... the introduction is excellent giving an overview of the history of Italian cinema and setting the context and breadth of the writing.'
–  www.close-upfilm.com