Film Theory 3 - Lecture 6

 

 There is a lot more to Italian cinema …

•Audiences

•Historical and social context

•Economics

“A forkful of westerns: industry, audiences and the Italian western,” Christopher Wagstaff 

•prima visione and seconda visione – cinemas that attracted a middle class sophisticated audience usually in major cities, audience selected a film to watch

•terza visione – less populated areas, cheaper tickets, audience went to cinema based on habit rather than selecting a film. Films were more formulaic and popular films

 Examples of filone

•Giallo – based on detective novels

•Spaghetti Westerns

•Mondo/Cannibal film

•Poliziottesco – police procedural

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 directed by Sergio Leone

•Use of sound

•Use of Music

•Lack of dialogue

•Use of eye line and cutting

•Differences in scale

•Use of camera to tell a story

•Fragmentation of body

•Catholic references 

  Focus on Giallo

•Italian for "yellow" and stems from the series of cheap paperback crime and mystery novels with trademark yellow covers.

Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Lucio Fulci

(Giallo Directors)

•These films may be stylish and expressionistic, but at their worst they challenge our senses and the standards of ‘good taste’

•Exploitation movies

•Gross out movies

•Similar to American Grindhouse/Drive-in movies

•Wonderful titles used to sell the concept

-The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (Dario Argento, 1970)

-The Black Belly of the Tarantula (Paolo Cavara , 1971)

-Don't Torture a Duckling (Lucio Fulci, 1972)

-The House with Laughing Windows (Pupi Avati , 1976)

-A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Lucio Fulci,1971)

-Five Dolls for an August Moon (Mario Bava,1970)

-The Bloodstained Butterfly (Duccio Tessari, 1971)

-Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Dario Argento, 1971)

-Death Walks on High Heels (Luciano Ercoli, 1971)

-The Case of the Bloody Iris (Giuliano Carnimeo, 1972)

Amateur detective as tourist 

•The protagonists are usually American or British, visiting Italy

•They usually work in the creative industries (artist, writer, musician, fashion, photography)

•They seem to evoke a cosmopolitan ‘jet set’ life style

 Current Vernacular Films

•Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky,2010)

•Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino,2007)

•Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980 )

•Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

•Black Christmas (Bob Clarke, 1974)