RMST250

Italian Mafia Movies

The image of the Godfather as embodied by actors Marlon Brando and Al Pacino from the 1972 American movie is iconic in contemporary popular culture. An enduring association of the mafia with Italy permeates Western culture. Both Italians and non-Italians have impassioned responses to this prevailing cultural stereotype. Individual opinions and feelings also exist on different Italian-origin organized crime: the Cosa Nostra, Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, Banda della Magliana, and others. The mafia is an integral part of Italian culture.

Cinema has fundamentally shaped our knowledge and emotions about the Italy-mafia association. As a cinematic genre, the mafia movie was developed in both American and Italian film industries, and it addresses both the perceived glamor of mafioso bosses and the unsung heroism of anti-mafia activists. Screen culture about the Italian (anti-)mafia is complex and nuanced and open to diverse interpretations.

The guiding question of the course is not whether these filmic representations accurately depict the mafia and their contestations. Rather, we unravel the representational complexities, intentions, and agendas of the movies and of the mafia movie genre. To this end, we will conduct film analysis to understand how a movie works technically and aesthetically. We will also learn to contextualize such a film analysis within the socio-historical and cultural coordinates of the productions or narratives of the films.

The course helps students gradually build up an interpretive capacity for approaching Italian mafia movies. Lectures on contexts, in-class discussions and activities specific to individual movies, improvised oral presentations that relate critical insights to personal stories, and film reviews or essays that formally argue in defense of a standpoint will be pursued progressively. Whether you know much or little about the Italian mafia and its cinematic representations, you will gain sophistication about its wide circulation in popular culture through this course.

Language of instruction: English

Instructor: Dr. Gaoheng Zhang

Prerequisites: No prerequisites