FORMS AND LANGUAGES OF THE GENDER CINEMA

Degree course: 
Corso di First cycle degree in History and Stories of the Contemporary World
Academic year when starting the degree: 
2019/2020
Year: 
2
Academic year in which the course will be held: 
2020/2021
Course type: 
Basic compulsory subjects
Language: 
Italian
Credits: 
8
Period: 
First Semester
Standard lectures hours: 
64
Detail of lecture’s hours: 
Lesson (64 hours)
Requirements: 

None.

Final Examination: 
Orale

The acquisition and correct understanding of the course contents will be assessed through an oral examination (two questions) concerning the readings suggested in the section below as well as on other materials uploaded on the e-learning platform.
The mark of the oral examination (expressed on a scale of 30) will take into account the accuracy of the answers (worth 60% of the mark), as well as students’ analytical and presentation skills (worth 40% of the mark).

Assessment: 
Voto Finale

The course deals with the main historical, theoretical and social problems related to the evolution of the most important film genres from the 1970s onwards, analysing in particular the national realities of the United Stares, France and Italy from a comparative angle.
The course focuses on three genres:
- the science fiction: the course specifically explores how the massive use of special effects and technological innovations applied to visual languages changed a genre that has marked the history of the cinema from the very beginning
- the horror movie: the course analyses the features and social role of the so-called American “New Horror” as well as the Italian detective-thriller movies of the 1970s and 1980s up to the recent trends that revived the genre in the new millennium
- the relationship between cinema and history: a monographic study of the American Civil War (1860-65) through the analysis of four western movies.

Among the learning objectives we find:
- knowledge of the History of Cinema, particularly the production of the last 50 years related to the genres and authors under consideration
- ability to connect the trends and film genres to their historical and social framework
- capacity to analyse the text and narrative of a film
- capacity to critically assess the differences of movies produced in different geographic and cultural contexts in terms of language and content.

The courses analyses the following topics:
- Basic elements of History of Cinema from 1968 to the present
- Formal and thematic features of the main genres of the period
- Focus on the formal and thematic features of the genres under scrutiny
- In-depth analysis of some films deemed seminal in the study of the genres under scrutiny (minimum two films per genre)
- Trends in contemporary film genres.

- Antonio José Navarro, L'impero del terrore. Il cinema horror statunitense post 11 settembre, Bietti Heterotopia, 2019
- Roy Menarini, Cinema e fantascienza, Archetipo Libri, 2012
- Reid Mitchell, La Guerra Civile Americana, Il Mulino, 2016
Additional readings concerning the American Civil War will be listed in the course’s e-learning page.

FILMOGRAPHY
- The Village, M. Night Shyamalan (2004)
- Hostel, Eli Roth (2005)
- Diary of the Dead, George A. Romero (2007)
- Liberaci dal male, Scott Derrickson (2014)
- Via col vento, Victor Fleming (1939)
- Soldati a cavallo, John Ford (1959)
- Lincoln, Steven Spielberg (2012)
- Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino (2012).

Convenzionale

The educational objectives of the course will be achieved through 64 lecture hours.

Students are required to previously schedule a meeting by sending an e-mail to the lecturer (mauro.gervasini@uninsubria.it)

Professors