This study argues that neorealism’s visual genius is inseparable from its almost invisible relation to the Fascist past: a connection inscribed in cinematic landscapes. While largely a silent narrative, neorealism’s complex visual processing of two decades of Fascism remains the greatest cultural production in the service of memorialization and comprehension for a nation that had neither a Nuremberg nor a formal process of reconciliation. Through her readings of canonical neorealist films, Minghelli unearths the memorial strata of the neorealist image and investigates the complex historical charge that invests this cinema. This book is both a formal analysis of the new conception of the cinematic image born from a crisis of memory, and a reflection on the relation between cinema and memory. Films discussed include Ossessione (1943) Paisà (1946), Ladri di biciclette (1948), and Cronaca di un amore (1950).

The notion of landscape is a complex one, but it has been central to the art and artistry of the cinema. After all, what is the French New Wave without Paris? What are the films of Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee without New York? Cinema and Landscape frames contemporary film landscapes across the world, in an exploration of screen aesthetics and national ideology, film form and cultural geography, cinematic representation and the human environment. Written by well-known cinema scholars, this volume both extends the existing field of film studies and stakes claims to overlapping, contested territories in the humanities and social sciences.

THE ITALIAN CINEMA BOOK is an essential guide to the most important historical, aesthetic and cultural aspects of Italian cinema, from 1895 to the present day. With contributions from 39 leading international scholars, the book is structured around six chronologically organised sections: THE SILENT ERA (1895–22) THE BIRTH OF THE TALKIES AND THE FASCIST ERA (1922–45) POSTWAR CINEMATIC CULTURE (1945–59) THE GOLDEN AGE OF ITALIAN CINEMA (1960–80) AN AGE OF CRISIS, TRANSITION AND CONSOLIDATION (1981 TO THE PRESENT) NEW DIRECTIONS IN CRITICAL APPROACHES TO ITALIAN CINEMA Acutely aware of the contemporary 'rethinking' of Italian cinema history, Peter Bondanella has brought together a diverse range of essays which represent the cutting edge of Italian film theory and criticism. This provocative collection will provide the film student, scholar or enthusiast with a comprehensive understanding of the major developments in what might be called twentieth-century Italy's greatest and most original art form.

The history of cinema, and notably that of post-war Italian cinema, can only be understood adequately in the context of other contiguous cultural disciplines. World literature, including that of France, Germany, and Russia, played a key role in the development of post-war Italian film and the cinematic technique it has come to embody. Moving away from the usual modes of defining this period—a trajectory that begins with neorealism and ends with Bertolucci—author Carlo Testa offers proof that coming to terms with literary texts is an essential step toward understanding the motion pictures they influenced. The means of recreating literature for the screen has changed drastically over the last half-century, as has the impact of different national traditions on Italian cinema. Testa's work is the first to explicitly and deliberately link postwar Italian cinema to general intellectual concerns such as the relationship between literary authors and cinematic auteurs. Moreover, his analysis of the impact of French, German, and Russian cultures on Italy brings forth a new reading of Italian cinema, a new paradigm for exploring complex issues of authorship, culture, and art.

In Recent Italian Cinema, two fundamental questions are asked: the first concerns whether Italian cinema, as national cinema, is in reality reduced to a niche market in its own territory. The second relates to what Italian audiences do with domestic films.For nearly two decades, most Italian films have been produced outside box office returns, through a practice of subsidy and co-financing between many institutional and private entities. Thus Italian cinema has had to define its mode of production and use-value of films in a different way. It is clear that it is no longer possible to separate national cinemas from the grip that the American film industry has on world markets, in terms of imagination and modes of production, distribution and exhibition. It is thus only by examining the multiple layers of description and analysis, which take into account the presence of Hollywood, that we can come to an understanding of what recent Italian cinema actually is.

Italian cinema is now regarded as one of the great cinemas of the world. Historically, however, its fortunes have varied. Following a brief moment of glory in the early silent era, Italian cinema appeared to descend almost into irrelevance in the early1920s. A strong revival of the industry which gathered pace during the 1930s was abruptly truncated by the advent of World War II. The end of the war, however, initiated a renewal as films such as Roma città aperta (Rome Open City), Sciuscià (Shoeshine, 1946), and Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), flagbearers of what soon came to be known as Neorealism, attracted unprecedented international acclaim and a reputation that only continued to grow in the following years as Italian films were feted worldwide. Ironically, they were celebrated nowhere more than in the United States, where Italian films consistently garnered the lion's share of the Oscars, with Lina Wertmüller becoming the first woman to ever be nominated for the Best Director award. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on major movements, directors, actors, actresses, film genres, producers, industry organizations and key films. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Italian Cinema.