Università Roma Tre

The course addresses film narrative and stylistic forms, from classic Hollywood to contemporary cinema. Through the analysis of specific sequences and films, the course addresses classic cinema from the 1930s, the melodramatic style from the 1950s, film modernity (in particular Italian art film from the 1960s), postmodern cinema, postclassic films, mind-game films, "global films". The last part of the course is dedicated to complex and vast narratives, especially the narrative universe by David Lynch. The film analysis will be conducted through various methods and approaches; among then, structuralism and semiotics, formal analysis and style, psychoanalysis, feminist film theory. Cultural studies and approaches will be considered in order to address modernity, postmodernism, and contemporary mediascapes.
The final syllabus will be published online at https://ilariaadepascalis.wordpress.com/informazioni-generali/

Veronica Pravadelli, Dal classico al postmoderno al global. Teoria e analisi delle forme filmiche, Marsilio, Venezia 2019.

Collection of essays edited by the teacher.

Provisional filmography (it could be subjected to changes):

● Bringing Up Baby, Howard Hawks, 1938
● Written on the Wind, Douglas Sirk, 1958
● La dolce vita, Federico Fellini, 1960
● L’avventura, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960
● Prima della rivoluzione, Bernardo Bertolucci, 1964
● Die Hard, John McTiernan, 1988
● Twin Peaks, David Lynch e Mark Frost, ABC, 1990-1991 | Showtime, 2017
● Mulholland Drive, David Lynch, 2001
● Babel, Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006

The final program is online at https://ilariaadepascalis.wordpress.com/

The course focuses on narrative modes and film style from classical cinema to contemporary cinema. We will consider: 1930s classical American cinema, 1950s American melodrama, modern cinema - in particular Italian 1960s auteur cinema - postmodern and post-classic cinema, as well as mind-game films and the "global film." To study these filmic forms we will employ a whole set of methodologies: structuralism and semiotics, formal and stylistic analysis, psychoanalysis and feminist theories. More generally, we will use cultural approaches to interpret modernity, postmodernity and contemporary scenarios.

Required texts:
Veronica Pravadelli, Dal classico al postmoderno al global. Teoria e analisi delle forme filmiche, Marsilio, Venezia 2019.
Course reader: students can buy it at Copisteria CLP Via G. Rocco 11 (tel. 06 5759751):
● Raymond Bellour, “L’evidenza e il codice”, in L'analisi del film, Kaplan, Torino 2005, pp. 100-106.
● Sigmund Freud, “Alcune conseguenze psichiche della differenza anatomica tra i sessi” (1925) e “La femminilità” (1932), in Scritti sulla sessualità femminile, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1969, pp. 23-35 e 61-88.
● Veronica Pravadelli, “Introduzione”, in La grande Hollywood. Stili di vita e di regia nel cinema classico americano, Marsilio, Venezia 2007, pp. 9-16.
● Christian Metz, “Il cinema moderno e la narratività” in Semiologia del cinema, Garzanti, Milano 1972, pp. 245-272 (estratto).
● Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2. L’immagine-tempo, Ubulibri, Milano 1989, pp. 11-24.
● Elena Pulcini, “La passione del moderno: l’amore di sé”, in Storia delle passioni, a cura di Silvia Vegetti Finzi, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1995, pp. 133-180.
● Frederic Jameson, Il postmoderno o la logica culturale del tardo capitalismo, Garzanti, Milano 1989, pp. 7-51.
● Ilaria A. De Pascalis, Il cinema europeo contemporaneo: scenari transnazionali, immaginari globali, Bulzoni, Roma 2015, pp. 221-242.
● Paolo Bertetto, “L’analisi interpretativa. Mulholland Drive”, in Metodologie di analisi del film, a cura di Id., Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006, pp. 223-255.
● Lorenzo Marmo, “Tornando a casa. Desiderio spettatoriale e dispersione narrativa in Twin Peaks: The Return di David Lynch”, in SigMa – Rivista di Letterature comparate, Teatro e Arti dello spettacolo, vol. 1, 2017, pp. 537-561.


Films:

● Bringing Up Baby, Susanna, Howard Hawks, 1938
● Written on the Wind, Come le foglie al vento, Douglas Sirk, 1956
● La dolce vita, Federico Fellini, 1960
● L’avventura, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960
● Prima della rivoluzione, Bernardo Bertolucci, 1964
● Die Hard, Trappola di cristallo, John McTiernan, 1988
● Twin Peaks, David Lynch e Mark Frost, ABC, 1990-1991 | Showtime, 2017: visione integrale dell’episodio 2 stagione 1 Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer
● Mulholland Drive, David Lynch, 2001
● Babel, Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006