Italian Cinema

(Hardback)

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Description

Italian Cinema presents an overview and analysis of one of the most prolific and influential of national cinemas. Italian film has always drawn on a wide range of popular themes - from ancient history to the mafia, the family, the Risorgimento, terrorism, corruption and immigration - and on an equally diverse range of film genres - from comedy to westerns, horror, soft-porn, epics and thrillers. Commercial constraints, state and European funding, international competition, as much as cultural and political trends, have all influenced the sorts of film that get made and exported. Outlining the artistic, cultural, technical and commercial context of film, Italian Cinema presents a history from silent to contemporary film. As well as illuminating the work of classic directors such as Visconti, Fellini, Rossellini, Antonioni and Rosi, the book explores the interaction between art and popular cinema, visual style and spectacle, space and architecture, gender representations and politics.

Reviews

'Simply the best book available on any national cinema, capturing the look, feel and pleasure of film. It is a lifetime's work: a very successful integration of a profound knowledge of Italian cinema and culture, combined with a long and intensive involvement in the dynamic and combative culture of film theory, teaching and debate.' Barry Curtis, Middlesex University 'A pleasure to read. Mary Wood's discussion of a wide range of films and topics - genres, auteurism, landscape, realism, melodrama, history past, gender, nationhood - is admirable, providing fascinating insights into individual films as well as insights into the economic, cultural and political context of Italian cinema.' Marcia Landy, University of Pittsburgh 'Wood's great strength is her ability to construct sophisticated readings of films, genres, directors and the themes within this framework.' Italian Studies 'Majestic.' Italian Studies Vol 63 No 1, Spring 2008

Author Bio

Mary P. Wood is Reader in European Cinema at Birkbeck College, University of London