The Writer and the Cinema

Prerequisite (ideally in terms of competences).

1. To know the general framework of italian literature.
2. To know how to express oneself in italian.
3. To know ho to write-up a text in italian.
4. To know the basics pertaining to narratology and textual analysis.

In this seminar we will approach the themes concerning the perception an author has of himself, of his works and of his public. We will analyse the strategies of manipulation, of argumentation, and the practical execution (or non-execution) in a selection of works of the author in question. The student will demonstrate his or her ability to use, in a critical and personal fashion, the strategies of interpretation and of analysis presented in other master courses of the program.

• To be able to analyse an Italian libretto.
• To know how a libretto functions.
• To know the characteristics of a libretto and of Italian operas.
• To know how to write-up an analysis.
• To have read the fundamental libretti.
• To know how to interpret a libretto according to semiotic and post-semiotic methods.
• To know how to recognize the distinctive traits of a libretto and to replace them in their cultural context.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Final evaluation base on an academic paper, ~12-15 pages.

This course fosters the active participation of the student. In a first moment, the teacher will introduce theoretical and analytical approaches and offer a historical overview of Italian writers and their relation to cinema. The student writes an essay on an analogous topic. He will discuss it in public and then write an academic paper.

This course investigates the strange and comic character, the loner and misfit, particularly loved by Italian writers and directors from the very beginnings.

Pier Paolo Pasolini one of the major writers, directors, and essayists, has tried to define screen writing as a new literary genre. Why don't we accept screen writing as an art form of its own, as it is now the case for plays or poetry (often written for music or other art forms)

We will investigate how novelists and playwrights approached cinema and screen writing and how they interpreted the socially unadapted person as filmic and literary character.

We will read, watch and analyze the following movies, scripts and novels:

La ricotta, written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Miracolo a Milano, directed by Vittoria de Sica, written by Cesare Zavattini, adapted from his book Totò il buono.

La voce della luna, written and directed by Federico Fellini, based on the novel Il poema dei lunatici by Ermanno Cavazzoni who participated actively as screenwriter during the shooting of the film.

•     Testi

E. Cavazzoni, Il poema dei lunatici, Parma, Guanda, 2010;

P.P. Pasolini, La ricotta, in Per il cinema, Milano, Mondadori, 2001;

C. Zavattini, Totò il buono, Milano, Bompiani 20042.

 

•     Film

V. De Sica, Miracolo a Milano (1951);

P.P. Pasolini, La ricotta (1963);

F. Fellini, La voce della luna (1990).

 

•     Testi critici

V. Cerami, Consigli a un giovane scrittore, Milano, Mondadori, 2010.

S. Chatman, Story and discourse: narrative structure in fiction and film, Ithaca (N.Y.), Cornell University press, 19783;

S. Cortellazzo, D. Tomasi, Letteratura e cinema, Bari, Laterza 2008;

N. Dusi, Il cinema come traduzione, Torino, Utet, 2006;

V. Jouve, L'effet-personnage dans le roman, Paris, Puf, 1998

B. McFarlane, Novel to Film. An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 19964;

P.P.Pasolini, Empirismo eretico, Milano, Garzanti, 19725;

L. Pirandello, L'umorismo, Milano, Mondadori, 1993 ;

Lu Shengui, Transformation Et Reception Du Texte Par Le Film: Pour Une Nouvelle Problematique De L'adaptation, Bern, Peter Lang, 1999.

 

•     Choix de textes et films pour les travaux écrits:

 G. Bassani, I promessi sposi. Un esperimento, Palermo, Sellerio, 2007;

T. Pinelli, B. Zapponi, La strada, Nardò, Besa edizioni, 2000 (oppure F. Fellini, T. Pinelli, La strada, Roma, Bianco e Nero, 1955)6;

P.P. Pasolini, Che cosa sono le nuvole?, in Per il cinema, Milano, Mondadori, 2001;

L. Pirandello, Il pipistrello, in Novelle per un anno, Milano, Mondadori, 1978;

L. Pirandello, Il pipistrello (1925), soggetto originale.

L. Pirandello, Il pipistrello (1928), soggetto originale7.

A. Tabucchi, Sostiene Pereira, Milano, Feltrinelli, 20038;

C. Zavattini, Dal soggetto alla sceneggiatura. Come si scrive un capolavoro: Umberto D., Parma, Monte Università Parma, 2005;

 

•     Film per relazioni:

V. De Sica, Umberto D. (1952);

F. Fellini, La strada (1954);

P.P. Pasolini, Che cosa sono le nuvole? (1967);

R. Faenza, Sostiene Pereira (1995).

A cineforum will accompany this course.