This course will look at the cultural shock of Italy's "economic boom" and the visual landscapes that filmmakers created to address it. Directors such as Fellini, Antonioni, Visconti etc. embodied the new perspectives by analyzing the new individual and societal challenges. Film stars such as Vitti, Mastroianni, and Sandrelli emerged during this period to provide new sensibilities and new instruments to understand the state crisis. Students will be asked to a) conjure up alternate ending(s) of one film from the syllabus; b) find in the Hollywood or other film traditions works that can relate to the issues presented in films from the syllabus; c) write a short scenario with characters and situations capturing a society in transition.

Luca Barattoni is Associate Professor of World Cinema at Clemson University, department of Interdisciplinary Studies. He has a Ph.D. in Italian Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill and has published extensively on Italian, Russian, and World Cinema.