Few national cinemas offer as compelling a mirror to social transformation as Italy’s. In the decades following World War II, Italian filmmakers shaped a legacy of innovation, reflection, and artistry that still resonates on the global stage. A four-part series explores pivotal moments in Italian cinema—from the birth of Neorealism to the bold experimentation of contemporary filmmakers.
Art historian Jennie Hirsh guides participants through the films, directors, and cultural shifts that defined this cinematic evolution, offering a deeper understanding of how Italian film captured—and questioned—its time. Through clips, discussion, and visual analysis, Hirsh illuminates the aesthetic and ethical foundations of each period in Italian cinema and its enduring legacy in world film.
October 5 Neorealism and the Rise of Postwar Cinema (1943–1950s)
In the aftermath of World War II, a seismic shift transformed Italian filmmaking. Known as Italian Neorealism, this groundbreaking movement captured the lived realities of working-class life in a devastated nation. With its focus on location shooting, non-professional actors, and stories rooted in social struggle, Neorealism offered a raw, poignant counterpoint to the escapism of earlier genres.
To begin, Hirsh examines this powerful moment through pivotal works such as Roberto Rossellini’s influential trilogy, which includes Rome, Open City; Paisà; and Germany Year Zero. She also explores Luchino Visconti’s proto-neorealist work Ossessione, along with Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves along with Giuseppe De Santis’s genre-blending Bitter Rice, a compelling intersection of Neorealism, melodrama, and noir.
November 9 La Dolce Vita and the Road to Recovery (1950s–1960s)
As Italy entered a period of rapid modernization in the late 1950s and early 1960s, its cinema reflected a society in transition. The economic miracle of these years—characterized by consumerism, urbanization, and shifting values—gave rise to films that mixed satire, nostalgia, and bold experimentation.
Hirsh explores how directors such as Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini responded to postwar complexities. Works like Fellini’s The White Sheik and La Dolce Vita captured the disorientation and allure of a changing Italy, while Pasolini’s Mamma Roma, Decameron, and lesser known but important short film La Ricotta reflected on morality, poverty, and the visual legacy of Italian Renaissance painting.
Hirsh also revisits the role of Cinecittà—Mussolini’s 1937 state-run studio turned postwar refugee camp—and its reinvention during this cultural revival.
December 7 Projections of Fascism (1970s–1980s)
In the decades after World War II, Italian filmmakers confronted the legacy of Fascism with growing intensity. The politically charged cinema of the 1970s turned its lens on Mussolini’s regime and its impact on national identity.
Hirsh investigates how directors approached the memory of dictatorship and resistance, using film as both reflection and critique. Featured works include Bernardo Bertolucci’s stylish and psychologically layered The Conformist ; Lina Wertmüller’s Love and Anarchy, an exploration of political passion and personal despair; Ettore Scola’s A Special Day, set against the backdrop of a Fascist parade; and the Taviani Brothers’ The Night of the Shooting Stars, which revisits World War II through a unique blend of memory and myth.
Through art direction, architecture, and historical allegory, these films interrogate the aesthetics and ethics of Fascist ideology and deepen understanding of how cinema helped Italy process its fractured past.
January 11 Contemporary Crises and Postmodern Projections (1990s–Present)
From the 1990s to today, Italian cinema has reflected a rapidly changing society through diverse genres and bold storytelling. Directors have turned inward to explore the personal and political dimensions of modern life.
Hirsh traces these developments through both celebrated and lesser-known films—including Nanni Moretti’s Caro Diario and We Have a Pope, Gabriele Salvatores’ Mediterraneo, Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, Alice Rohrwacher’s Heavenly Body, and the Taviani Brothers’ Caesar Must Die. She highlights how contemporary Italian directors have experimented with innovative styles to reflect social history while focusing on marginalized figures and themes such as gender, race, incarceration, class, and alienation—offering a look at how Italian cinema continues to reinvent itself in the 21st century.
4 sessions
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