Description
An unprecedented survey of Italian film from the leading expert in the field
A History of Italian Cinema is a major new study from the author of the bestselling Italian Cinema – which has been published in three landmark editions and celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008. Building upon his decades of research, Peter Bondanella has now written the definitive history of the subject, from the birth of cinema to the present day. He has rethought, reorganized, and completely rewritten his previous work, which focused on postwar cinema, and has broadened his coverage of the spaghetti western and comedy genres. Bondanella also now covers a huge range of work that was not previously considered, particularly both popular and ‘B’ genres, including: the sword and sandal epic or “peplum” film of the 1950s; the Italian horror film, the so-called spaghetti nightmare films (including the subcategories of horror, the Italian zombie and cannibal films), that began in the 1950s and continue through the present; the giallo or Italian mystery thriller; and the poliziesco or Italian crime film from the 1970s to the present. This new book also examines the emergence of a “third wave” of new auteurs born in the 1950s as well as an even younger group of important directors born in the 1960s who have already made their mark on the direction of the Italian cinema in the third millennium.
Finally, A History of Italian Cinema now includes the most comprehensive bibliography of the subject ever to be assembled in an English-language publication. Erudite, comprehensive, and heavily illustrated throughout, this is an essential purchase for any fan of Italian film.
Praise for Bondanella's previous work in the field:
“Extremely interesting and stimulating.”—Bernardo Bertolucci
“A very good book and a very accurate one.”—Federico Fellini
“The librarian who does not get Bondanella immediately must be petitioned, picketed, importuned.”—Choice
“To measure the progress
and development of Anglo-American studies on Italian cinema, one needs
only to consider Peter Bondanella’s pioneering and seminal Italian Cinema…Bondanella’s
work carries the crucial merit of having opened up a panoramic view of
Italian national cinema to Anglo-American film scholars who in general
were mostly familiar with only a few masterpieces. Over the years,
Bondanella’s systematic approach has enabled and inspired countless
studies.”—Gian Piero Brunetta, Professor of History and Film Criticism, University of Padua, Italy
Table of Contents
Preface
I.
The Silent Era
II.
The Coming of Sound and the Fascist Era
III. The Neorealist Era: Masters of Neorealism—Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti
IV. The Neorealist Era: Exploring the Boundaries of Neorealism
V. The Neorealist Era: The Break With Neorealism, the Cinema of the Reconstruction in Rossellini and Antonioni, Fellini’s Trilogy of Character and Grace; and the Return of Melodrama with Visconti and De Sica
VI. The Italian “Peplum”: The Sword and Sandal Epic
VII. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: Commedia all’italiana—Comedy and Social Criticism
VIII. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: Neorealism’s Legacy to a New Generation and the Political Film
IX. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: The Mateur Auteurs—New Dimensions of Film Narrative in Visconti, Antonioni, De Sica, and Fellini
X. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: The Spaghetti Nightmare—the Italian Horror Film from the 1950s to the Present
XI. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: A Fistful of Pasta—Sergio Leone and the Spaghetti Western
XII. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: Mystery, Gore, and Mayhem--the Italian Giallo XIII. The Golden Age of Italian Cinema: Myth, Marx, and Freud in Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci
XIV. The Poliziesco: Italian Crime Films from the 1970s to the Present
XV. The Old Guard Never Surrenders: Italy’s Prewar Auteurs in the 1980s and 1990s
XVI. The Third Wave: A New Generation of Auteurs with Moretti, Nichetti, Trosi, Salvatores, Benigni, Tornatore, Giordana, Amelio, and Ozpetek
XVII. Italian Cinema Enters the Third Millennium
Endnotes
Bibliography
List of photo credits
Index
Author(s)
Peter Bondanella,
Peter Bondanella is the author of the groundbreaking Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present, Hollywood Italians, The Cinema of Federico Fellini, and The Films of Roberto Rossellini. In 2009, he was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts for his contributions to the history of the Italian cinema and his translations or editions of Italian literary classics (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Vasari, Cellini). He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, Film Studies, and Italian at Indiana University and lives in St. George, Utah.
Reviews
"Prior to this year—with the English translation of Gian Piero Brunetta’s The History of Italian Cinema and this definitive rewrite and update of Bondanella’s best-selling Italian Cinema, first published in 1983—there have been few encompassing histories of Italian cinema for the English-speaking world. Bondanella chronologically examines the development of cinema, and his uncommon analysis and accreditation of B movies reveal a layer of national identity previously marginalized or unconsidered. Of equal rarity are the detailed attention given to directors and the balanced critical representation of most, if not all, of their work. A comprehensive primer conversationally delivered and generously seasoned with film stills and photographs.
Verdict: This magnum opus of Italian film studies also contains what may be the most complete bibliography assembled on the subject. Important for students and cineastes, casuals and newbies."
-Library Journal, STARRED Review
,
"Likely to remain the standard work on the subject for years to come, Bondanella's book is a must-have for students and fans of Italian film."
--Book News
,
“Documents the history from very long experience and
research…especially good at identifying and summarising trends.”
The Stage, March 2010
,
"Bondanelle has made significant contributions to the study of Italian literature and film, and this new history--though not billed as such--is in many respects an updated edition of his Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present. But it is more than just that. here, the author pays closer attention to films of the silent era and adds or extends chapters devoted to popular genres--looking, for example, at the peplum (or so-called sword and sandal film), the 'spaghetti nightmares' (horror films), the giallo mysteries, police dramas, and 'the truly B-film comedies.' Bondanella retains the crucial examinations of neorealism, political films, social criticism in Italian comedies, and significant auteurs (Visconti, Antonioni, De Sica, Fellini, Pasolini, Bertolucci). He concludes by placing the recent work of such young directors as Pupi Avati, Ferzan Ozpetek, PAppi Corsicato, Antonio Luigi Grimaldi, Andrea Molaioli, and Francesca Archibugi among others in the context of earlier filmmakers and influences. A celebration of the author's long career as a scholar of Italian studies, this book is a sweeping course in Italian film from the silent era and Fascist period to the present. Includes photographs and extensive notes. Summing Up: Recommended."
-S. Vander Closter, CHOICE, June 2010
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