In the decade between 1943-1952, Italian cinema produced a series of films that departed dramatically from the traditions of mainstream cinema. These 'Neorealist' films were enormously influential around the world and had a lasting impact on film technique and style. We will be exploring the following films:
Rome: Open City (1945) This legendary classic marked a watershed moment in cinema history, vividly announcing the emergence of Italian Neorealism. Roberto Rossellini’s movie, shot in documentary fashion, focuses on Resistance members who fight against the Nazis that have occupied Rome. There are many legendary moments in this film.
Bicycle Thieves (1948) BICYCLE THIEVES is arguably the most famous and quintessential Italian Neorealist film in history. Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini and director Vittorio De Sica tell the emotionally involving tale of a poor man and his son, who desperately search throughout Rome for his stolen bicycle, since his livelihood in the struggling postwar economy depends upon their finding it.
Journey to Italy (1954) Roberto Rossellini’s Neorealist “scenes from a marriage,” stars then-wife Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders as a traveling couple with a deteriorating connection who seek to turn things around. Much of the storyline is improvised and said to be based on the director and Bergman’s own relationship. This film became an inspirational touchstone and inspired New Wave.
Films will be viewed on your own time (details to follow). Discussions will take place on the above dates and times.
Students will receive email confirmation of their registration immediately, and another email with instructions for joining the class via Zoom about 24 hours before the lectures. Please be sure to check your clutter/junk/spam folders for these emails. If you cannot locate these emails, please email us.
The cost of the program is $30 or $25 for Plaza members. The price includes all film discussions.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS:
Peter Mascuch, PhD - Associate Professor of English and American Studies, and Coordinator of the Cinema Studies Program, Peter Mascuch has taught at St. Joseph’s College since 2003. He specializes in film studies with a particular focus on American cinema since 1945. Dr. Mascuch has regularly moderated series, events, and many Q&A sessions at The Plaza.
Campbell Dalglish is an award winning writer/director/producer and a tenured professor of film in the Film Program at The City College of New York/CUNY, where he created the Improfilm Festival in its 6th year at the IFP in Brooklyn. He is a co-founder of the Plaza Cinema and writes reviews of the Plaza films for the Long Island Advance.
Isabella Rossellini is an Italian–American actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian neorealistfilm director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted for her successful tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet (1986) and Death Becomes Her (1992). Rossellini received a Golden Globe Awardnomination for her performance in Crime of the Century (1996). Her father, Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini, was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and producer. Rossellini was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such as Rome, Open City, Paisan, and Germany, Year Zero.
