ITAL 152 Lecture Notes - Nobody Sees, Cinema Paradiso, Emilia-Romagna
11 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
University of Oregon
ITAL 152
Italian Cinema
Spring 2018
Prof: Rigoletto, S.
Exam Guide
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SECTION1 - Cinema Paradiso
●Background Information
○reated in the 1980s
■Most likely 1988
○Cinema really mattered and was considered the most important form of
entertainment.
○Between the 1940s and the 1960s
■Most important time for Italian cinema because it was a time where
everybody went to the movie theaters with their families as a family
outing
■Had the largest and most dynamic film industry.
■Had more screens than in America.
■Parish Cinemas: owned and managed by the Catholic Church.
○Told from the point of view of an aging filmmaker in Rome, looking back at his
childhood in Sicily.
○The experience of watching films was mediated by cinemas which were the most
important form of entertainment and for socialization.
○This is a film about nostalgia and looking back at the past as well as a particular
moment of the past.
○A lot of the pleasure of this film is about remembering what life was like in this
small Sicilian village.
○The pleasure of village life is shared with the audience
○Patrick Rumble
■Said that “Cinema Paradiso has been so popular with American audiences
because it taps into a rootedness that Americans have been forced to
repress in the name of social mobility and economic advancement.”
■Claims that this film is so popular with the American population because
of its ability to invoke their desire for community and stability.
○There is something that American culture has lost
■It is about experiencing what a culture has lost
○It is a film about watching films
○Today we watch films through a number of screens, not just by going to the
movie theater anymore, like we used to.
○This has changed our experience of watching films.
■Rather than being about going to see it at the theater it has become
about entertainment.
■The environment now is now different because in movie theaters you are
being social compared to just watching alone on your cell phone.
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■It becomes more of an event and commonality because it is harder to get
people come to the theater.
■Going to the movie theaters has become so expensive
■It has become more of an everyday experience
●The Film Itself
○Created by an aging filmmaker
○Created in the 1980s
■Most likely 1988
○Cinema really mattered and was considered the most important form of
entertainment.
○Between the 1940s and the 1960s
■Most important time for italian cinema because it was a time where
everybody went to the movie theaters with their families as a family
outing
○What are some aspects that could be seen as striking to how the story is
told/how events unfold?
■Starts over 30 years into the future but doesn’t say year
■Shows the main character driving as the first time seen
■This is a lot of aggression towards others
■The children are smoking during the movie
■People are smoking at the movie theaters
■Everybody is talking during the movie
■Nobody sees kissing in movies
■They watch some American films in the movie
■Movies were a lot shorter back then
■Everyone did their own thing during the movie such as breastfeeding and
kissing
○What aspects stand out and alter the way the film looks?
■Most scenes are dark or have blue in them
○Characters
■Salvatore di Vita: Main Character (Toto)
■Maria: Salvatore's Mother
■Salvatore’s Father
■Elena: Salvatore’s Love of his Life
■Boccia: Salvatore’s friend
■Alfredo: Film player, mentor
■Anna: Alfredo’s Wife
■Father Alfredo: Priest at the church. In charge of cutting the intimacy out
of films by ringing the bell and telling Alfredo.
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