Many major Italian directors have tried their hand at narrating Italian national history. If we consider the unproduced scripts, it might be said that all dreamed of doing so. In this course we will study how Italian cinema, with references to other national cinemas, has examined national history. Italy’s cinematic representation has entered the imagination of viewers worldwide, often superseding notions of history taught in school. Scholar and director, Carlo Lizzani, stated that Italian cinema was a seismograph, capable of bringing to light deep and less visible aspects of certain twentieth century phenomena. We will analyze and study the relationships between cinema and Italian history in twelve important films plus additional ones that individual students present.