OVERVIEW

The course focuses on the main historiographical and theoretical aspects of the film screenplay.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Aim of the course is to deepen the knowledge of the film script both from a theoretical point of view and from a historiographical point of view, analyzing its structure as an antecedent form to the film but also as an autonomous writing regime. Another aim is to inscribe the screenplay in a network of discourses that can allow students to understand its interactions with the cultural, visual, productive and economic framework of reference. The teaching also aims to offer, through the study and analysis of the screenplay, critical and analytical tools to understand phases, contexts and issues in the history of cinema, entertainment and the cultural industry.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the main theoretical and historiographical aspects of film screenwriting, placing its various forms in the appropriate eras and contexts. They should also know and be able to articulate the main aspects of the film cases analyzed in class, and the historical and theoretical issues related to them.

TEACHING METHODS

Classes will be held in-person (face-to-face teaching).
All students are encouraged to register on the course page on the Aulaweb platform.  

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

This teaching aims to delve into the main aspects of the history and theory of film screenwriting. After a first part of a historiographical and theoretical introduction on writing for film, where concepts and notions such as narrative, action, storytelling, adaptation, etc., the relationship between film writing and eroticism will be examined. It will address the ways in which sexual themes are addressed in Italian cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, with specific reference to aspects such as body representation, gender roles, male and female identity, family changes, and nudity. Some specific cases of art cinema, erotic cinema and Italian popular cinema will be analyzed. Films, original screenplays, archival documents, paratextual sources and articles will be compared in order to question the ways in which sexuality and eroticism are told in a specific cross-section of the history of Italian cinema and the history of our country.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for students using the teaching for 6 cfu​:

1) F. Vanoye, La sceneggiatura. Forme, dispositivi, modelli, Lindau, Torino, 1999

2) G. Maina, F. Zecca (a cura di), Sessualità nel cinema italiano degli anni Sessanta. Forme, figure e temi, «Cinergie», n. 5, 2014 (https://cinergie.unibo.it/issue/view/629/57) (ONLY THE ISSUE ON SEXUALITY HAVE TO BE STUDIED)

3) F. Di Chiara, G. Rigola (a cura di), Voglie matte, merli maschi, peccati veniali. La questione sessuale nel cinema popolare italiano dal miracolo economico all’avvento del porno, «Schermi», anno V, n. 9, 2021 (https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/schermi/article/view/16079/14405) (ONLY 5 ESSAYS HAVE TO BE STUDIED)

Non-attendees must add:

Age, Scriviamo un film. Manuale di sceneggiatura, il Saggiatore, Milano, 2021

Bibliography for students using the teaching for 9 cfu​:

1) F. Vanoye, La sceneggiatura. Forme, dispositivi, modelli, Lindau, Torino, 1999

2) G. Maina, F. Zecca (a cura di), Sessualità nel cinema italiano degli anni Sessanta. Forme, figure e temi, «Cinergie», n. 5, 2014 (https://cinergie.unibo.it/issue/view/629/57) (ONLY THE ISSUE ON SEXUALITY HAVE TO BE STUDIED)

3) F. Di Chiara, G. Rigola (a cura di), Voglie matte, merli maschi, peccati veniali. La questione sessuale nel cinema popolare italiano dal miracolo economico all’avvento del porno, «Schermi», a. V. n. 9, 2021 (https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/schermi/article/view/16079/14405) (THE ENTIRE ISSUE IS TO BE STUDIED)

Non-attendees must add:

Age, Scriviamo un film. Manuale di sceneggiatura, il Saggiatore, Milano, 2021

Mandatory filmography for all students:

Dolci inganni (Lattuada, 1960)

La voglia matta (Salce, 1962)

Vedo nudo (Risi, 1969)

Il merlo maschio (Festa Campanile, 1971)

Il Decameron (Pasolini, 1971)

Malizia (Samperi, 1973)

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

GABRIELE RIGOLA (President)

LUCA MALAVASI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Classes will begin on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

Class schedule

HISTORY, FORMS AND MODELS OF THE FILM SCRIPT

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam consists of an oral exam in which the knowledge acquired and critical-analytical capacity in discussion will be assessed with particular reference to the cases analysed in lectures. 

Exam schedule