Middlebury

ITAL 6570

Cinematic World: B. Bertolucci

The Cinema of Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci is recognized internationally for his films such including: 1900, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty, Besieged and The Dreamers.
Even in his youth, Bertolucci had been a leading figure in Italian cinema during the 1960s and 1970s, and a protagonist in the movement against the old cultural traditions of film in Italy.
The course will focus on Bertolucci’s activity and film production from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. This is the period from his experience as assistant director for Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Accattone, to one of his most intriguing and politically intense films, La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo (1981).
The goal of the course is to understand, through the films of Bertolucci’s “Italian period”, the complexity of his cultural and political training by focusing on the relevance of poetry and literature in his education; on the sense of history he came to realize in postwar Italy, and eventually on the need of a new approach- both political and artistic.
To this end the student will analyze the following films: La commare secca, Prima della rivoluzione, Il conformista, Strategia del ragno, Ultimo tango a Parigi, 1900, La Luna, and La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo.
Subject:
Italian
Department:
Italian
Division:
Language School
Requirements Fulfilled:
Civ Cul & Soc

Sections in Summer 2004

Summer 2004, LS 6 Week Session

ITAL6570A-L04 Lecture (Vitti)