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Italian Cinema: Part I. Neorealism to Noir with Dr. Jennie Hirsh

Italian Cinema: Part I. Neorealism to Noir with Dr. Jennie Hirsh


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Can't make this time? A video recording will be sent to all participants after the seminar.

Part One of a four-part series, this lecture is dedicated to Italian Neorealism, the iconic, ground-breaking genre in the history of postwar Italian cinema that explores, amongst other issues, the pressures plaguing working class people during and after World War II. We will study the significance of the movement as well as some of the key examples of it, considering how stylistic and thematic aspects of this movement emerge, in particular, in works like Roberto Rossellini's Rome Open City (1945), Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thief (1948), and Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943). More broadly, we will discuss the significance of Rossellini's trilogy, which also includes Paisà (1946), and Germany Year Zero (1948). We will round out our discussion with Giuseppe De Santis' Bitter Rice (1949), an amazing hybrid of neorealism, melodrama, and film noir.

Led by an expert on postwar film, modern and contemporary art, and museum studies, Dr. Jennie Hirsh, this lecture will ground participants in the rich period of Italian cinema known as Neorealism. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased knowledge of specific directors, actors, and themes that inform this important chapter in film history.

Jennie Hirsh (Ph.D., Bryn Mawr College) is a Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has held postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton and Columbia Universities, as well as pre-doctoral fellowships from the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation, the U.S. Fulbright Commission, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Wolfsonian FIU. Hirsh has authored essays on artists including Giorgio de Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Yinka Shonibare, and Regina Silveira, and is co-editor, with Isabelle Wallace, of Contemporary Art and Classical Myth (Ashgate 2011).

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 5 reviews
60%
(3)
0%
(0)
20%
(1)
0%
(0)
20%
(1)
L
Louis Higgins (Boca Raton, US)
Fun and Interesting Class

This was a great class. The teacher's passion for the subject came through. I learned more about some early Italian movies, directors, and directors that I only really knew by name. Dr. Hirsh made it fun and helped us figured out how to watch the movies. I had a few questions after the class, and she got back to me quickly with helpful responses. I would highly recommend this class.

L
Laura (Longmeadow, US)
Neorealism

Very informative and thorough; wonderful presentation

J
Joy Hartnett (Los Angeles, US)
Fascinating Connections

As always in her excellent courses, Jennie presented fascinating connections--in this case, how WWII in Italy influenced the development of neorealism in Italian cinema. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and will watch the rerun to fill in a few spots in my notes that need it!

A
A.L. (Keene, US)

Guest did not leave comment

T
Thomas Mahan (Victoria, CA)
Please see note under 'Anything else'

Please see note under 'Anything else'

Customer Reviews

Based on 5 reviews
60%
(3)
0%
(0)
20%
(1)
0%
(0)
20%
(1)
L
Louis Higgins (Boca Raton, US)
Fun and Interesting Class

This was a great class. The teacher's passion for the subject came through. I learned more about some early Italian movies, directors, and directors that I only really knew by name. Dr. Hirsh made it fun and helped us figured out how to watch the movies. I had a few questions after the class, and she got back to me quickly with helpful responses. I would highly recommend this class.

L
Laura (Longmeadow, US)
Neorealism

Very informative and thorough; wonderful presentation

J
Joy Hartnett (Los Angeles, US)
Fascinating Connections

As always in her excellent courses, Jennie presented fascinating connections--in this case, how WWII in Italy influenced the development of neorealism in Italian cinema. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and will watch the rerun to fill in a few spots in my notes that need it!

A
A.L. (Keene, US)

Guest did not leave comment

T
Thomas Mahan (Victoria, CA)
Please see note under 'Anything else'

Please see note under 'Anything else'