# 21

Italian Neo-Realism in Film

Thursday-10:00 A.M                                     Winter 2012 (10 Weeks)
Coordinator:  Lee Zlotnick                          Co-coordinator:  Marilyn Thomas
Course Description
The period between 1943 and the early '50's in the history of Italian cinema was dominated by the movement, or trend, of neo-realism.  It was the work of a group of like-minded directors and screenwriters with original ideas and techniques who were motivated to portray the life around them.
The films portrayed the poor and working class, usually filmed on location, and frequently using nonprofessional actors.  They were concerned with the economic, social and moral issues of post World War II Italy.  The films vivid and forced the audience to think seriously about where Italy, and by implication the entire post war world, was and where it was going. The impact of Italian neo-realism was enormous on French New Wave cinema, and ultimately on film-making all over the world.
We will discuss the impact of the war in Italy, the conditions of living and surviving in post-war Italy, as well as the origins and development of the important directors who made these films, their filmmaking techniques, the actors who became identified with these films and, of course, the films themselves.
There is no core book, but the following book is very helpful on the neo-realism genre and the directors and the films in the genre: Italian Film in the Light of Neorealsim by Millicent Marcus.
List of films:
Obsession:  Luchino Visconti
Open City:  Roberto Rossellini
Shoe Shine:  Vittorio de Sica
The Earth Trembles:  Luchino Visconti
Bicycle Thieves:   Vittorio de Sica
Paisan:  Roberto Rossellini
La Strada:  Federico Fellini
I Vitelloni:  Federico Fellini
Los Olvidados:  Luis Bunuel
Umberto D.:  Vittorio de Sica
Bitter Rice:  Giuseppe de Santis
Stromboli:  Roberto Rossellini

Pre-meeting:  Thursday, December 15, 10:00 a.m