Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult / Edition 1

by Howard Hughes

Overview

Italian filmmakers have created some of the most magical and moving, violent and controversial films in world cinema. During its twentieth-century heyday, Italy's film industry was second only to Hollywood as a popular film factory, exporting cinematic dreams with multinational casts to the world, ranging across multiple genres. 'Cinema Italiano' is the first book to discuss comprehensively and in depth this Italian cinema, both popular and arthouse. It is illustrated throughout with rare stills and international posters from this revered era in European cinema and reviews over 350 movies. Howard Hughes uncovers this treasure trove of Italian films, from Lucino Visconti's epic 'The Leopard' to the cult superhero movie 'Puma Man'. Dario Argento's bloody 'gialli' thrillers and Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns are explored alongside films of Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Chapters discuss the rise and fall of genres such as mythological epics, gothic horrors, science fiction, spy films, war movies, costume adventures, zombie films, swashbucklers, political cinema and 'poliziotteschi' crime films.
They also trace the directorial careers of Mario Bava, Sergio Corbucci, Francesco Rosi, Lucio Fulci, Duccio Tessari, Enzo G. Castellari, Bernardo Bertolucci and Gillo Pontecorvo.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848856080
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/30/2011
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Howard Hughes is the author of 'Stagecoach to Tombstone', 'Crime Wave', 'Once Upon a Time in the Italian West', and 'Aim for the Heart: The Films of Clint Eastwood' (all I.B.Tauris), as well as the Kamera guide to 'Spaghetti Westerns'.

Table of Contents

* Art and Artifice: An Introduction to Italian Cinema * Acknowledgements * Hercules Conquers the Box Office: Mythological Epics * Historical Escapades, High Seas and Low B's: Costume Adventures * Fall of the Empire: Sword and Sandal Spectacles * Tales from the Tomb: Gothic Horrors * Battle of the Worlds: Science Fantasy and Fiction * Vita All'Italiana: Love and Death * Shoot, Gringo...Shoot!: Italian Westerns * Passports to Hell: Euro Crime and Crimebusters * Anarachy and Allegory: Political Cinema * Mission Improbable: World War II Movies * Knifes in the Dark: Gialli Thrillers * A Funny Thing Happened: Italian Comedy * Splats Entertainment: Italian Cinema Eats Itself * Filmography * Bibliography and Sources *