Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present [Paperback]

Peter Bondanella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2001

Praise for Italian Cinema:

"Extremely interesting and stimulating."—Bernardo Bertolucci

"A very good book and a very accurate one."—Federico Fellini

"The librarian who does not get Bondanella immediately must be petitioned, picketed, importuned."—Choice

"To measure the progress and development of Anglo-American studies on Italian cinema, one needs only to consider Peter Bondanella's pioneering and seminal Italian Cinema: from Neorealism to the Present...Bondanella's work carries the crucial merit of having opened up a panoramic view of Italian national cinema to Anglo-American film scholars who in general were mostly familiar with only a few masterpieces. Over the years, Bondanella's systematic approach has enabled and inspired countless studies."—Gian Piero Brunetta, Professor of History and Film Criticism, University of Padua, Italy

This new edition of the bestselling Italian Cinema examines films made from 1989 to the present as well as analyzing the earliest days of Italian filmaking. New coverage includes the Italian horror-film genre, Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful), Bernardo Bertolucci (Stealing Beauty), Franco Zeffirelli (Tea with Mussolini), Michael Radford (The Postman [Il Postino]), Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo), Maurizio Nichetti (The Bicycle Thief), Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, The Starmaker), and much more. This fully revised and updated new edition includes:

• All new notes

• An extensive bibliography

• DVD information

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very good book and a very accurate one."—Federico Fellini

"The librarian who does not get Bondanella immediately must be petitioned, picketed, importuned."—Choice

"Extremely interesting and stimulating."—Bernardo Bertolucci

"This comprehensive guide to Italian cinema focuses on cinema as an art form, and the key role played by the director. Bondanella's firsthand knowledge of the Italian language and culture—a level of knowledge unavailable to most American film critics/writers—provides students and aficionados of Italian cinema with in-depth insights."—Book News

"The premier single volume reference to Italian films available to an English readership....This comprehensive reference is an essential, core addition to any personal, professional, or academic film reference library."—The Bookwatch, July 2001

To measure the progress and development of Anglo-American studies on Italian cinema, one needs only to consider Peter Bondanella's pioneering and seminal Italian Cinema from Neorealism to the Present. Despite its shortened account of silent and early sound Italian films, Bondanella's work carries the crucial merit of having opened up a panoramic view of Italian national cinema to Anglo-American film scholars who in general were mostly familiar with only a few masterpieces. Over the years, Bondanella's systematic approach has enabled and inspired countless studies."—Gian Piero Brunetta

About the Author

Peter Bondanella is the author of the groundbreaking Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present, Hollywood Italians, The Cinema of Federico Fellini, and The Films of Roberto Rossellini. In 2009, he was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts for his contributions to the history of the Italian cinema and his translations or editions of Italian literary classics (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Vasari, Cellini). He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, Film Studies, and Italian at Indiana University and lives in St. George, Utah.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Continuum; 3rd Edition edition (April 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826412475
• ISBN-13: 978-0826412478
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Until his retirement in 2007, Peter Bondanella was Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature, Film Studies, and Italian at Indiana University. A member of the European Academy of Sciences and the Arts and past President of the American Association for Italian Studies, Bondanella has written numerous books and articles on Italian literature and cinema and has translated or edited a number of Italian literary classics (Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Cellini, Vasari). His latest works are A HISTORY OF ITALIAN CINEMA and NEW ESSAYS ON UMBERTO ECO (Eco is shown in the photo on the left with Bondanella on the right). Bondanella now lives in Utah's desert country (St. George, UT) with his two Italian greyhounds Dante and Gianluca and his wife Julia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Panoramic Postcard of Italian Cinema, June 11, 2001

By 

Vincent M. Silenzio "progressive.doc" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present (Paperback)

Bondanella offers a superb overview of the Italian national cinema, and explains the central contribution of Italian auters and artists to this quintessentially 20th Century artform. With encyclopedic sweep, the reader is served bite-sized portions of every major Italian film in a series of full-length chapters. The narrative is crisp and well-paced. The morsels may be bite-sized, but in the end, the reader is treated to an enormous feast of gourmet cinema.

Organized in a roughly chronological framework, Bondanella takes us from the humble beginnings of cinema in the Italian peninsula through to the present day. The discussion of the Neorealist moment, for example, traces the artistic and social roots of the movement, and touches upon it's profound (and continuing) influence within Italy and around the world. The 3rd Edition revises some of the text, and updates the final chapters on the most recent developments in Italian filmmaking.

The discussion is organized most often as a series of capsules addressing nearly every major Italian film. The result is a combination between historical exposition and film encyclopedia. I haved repeatedly turned to Bondanella's book to gain a quick insight or two into a film I may be lucky enough to be able to rent, see in one of New York's innumerable film venues, or catch on cable. Professor Bondanella could have possibly done more at times to explain the context in which these films were made. The political and social backdrop of the Italian peninsula has been an important determinant of the artistic output of it's people. It is not that these details are ignored --- in fact they are very well represented at many points in the narrative, and much more detail in a volume as compact as this one would likely have undermined the project as a whole --- but the reader may need to consult other sources at times to gain a more contextualized understanding or to clear up a confusing point here and there.

But this criticism should be made with a caveat. Bondanella sets out to provide the reader with a coherent narrative of the breathtaking accomplishments in film art in Italy. He succeeds in that task brilliantly. The panorama of 20th Century Italian film presented is as awe-inspiring as the most idyllic Tuscan villa or the Alpine vistas of the Alto-Adige. Reader's wishing to gain an appreciation of the central importance of Italian cinema will not be disappointed.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With a select bibliography on the Italian Cinema, July 3, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present (Paperback)

Now in an expanded and fully updated third edition, Peter Bondanella's Italian Cinema From Neorealism To The Present continues to be the premier single volume reference to Italian films available to an English readership. From the silent movie era and the fascist period, through the various masters of neorealism, down to the present day, this comprehensive reference is an essential, core addition to any personal, professional, or academic film reference library. Of special interest are the select bibliography on the Italian Cinema, the information on locating Italian films on videocassette and DVD, and a comprehensive index.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, June 8, 2010

By 

Mr. Modi - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present (Paperback)

Gives a complete history of Italian cinema and does a good job describing the differences between the different eras. If you like to read about cinema you'll like this.