LITERATURE AND CINEMA

Knowledge of the historical development of the relationship between literature and cinema, from the beginning until today. Deepening of the problems determined by the different nature of the two media; semiotic and aesthetic mechanisms that are the basis of every literary adaptation. In terms of critical evaluation, it will be confronted the problem of judgment on the outcome of the film adaptations of literary texts.

The course will examine aspects of literary and cinematographic telling, with particular reference to the script and the matter of adaption It will conduct a historical and critical analysis of literary works and films adapted from them. It will provide useful information to define the characteristics of film criticism.

The course will be divided into the following three modules:

A. Telling and showing: tha adaptation (1 credit);

B. The filmed word. Medial reception of Italian literature (3 credits);

C. Italian writers and cinema (2 credits).

It requires the preliminary reading of the following works of Italian literature:

- D. Alighieri, Divina Commedia

- G. Boccaccio, Decameron

- L. Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal

- G. Bassani, Il giardino dei Finzi Contini

Students can choose among the available editions.

We recommend the integral vision of the following films which will be partially screened during the lessons:

- Decameron, by P. P. Pasolini

- Maraviglioso Boccaccio, by P. e V. Taviani

- Il giardino dei Finzi Contini, by V. De Sica

- Il fu Mattia Pascal, by M. l’Herbier

Critical essays:

• F. Sabouraud, L’adattamento cinematografico, Torino, Lindau, 2007 (94 pp.).

• G. Manzoli, Cinema e letteratura, Roma, Carocci, 2003, pp. 57-93.

• N. Dusi, Il cinema come traduzione. Da un medium all’altro: letteratura, cinema, pittura, Torino, Utet, 2006, pp. 13-31.

• E. Ripari, Storia cinematografica della letteratura italiana, Roma, Carocci, 2015 (335 pp.).

• A. Cinquegrani, Letteratura e Cinema, Brescia, Editrice La Scuola, 2009 (288 pp.).