RMST347

Gender and Sexuality in Italian Cinema

Italy, cinema, and romantic love are closely associated concepts for many people. William Wyler’s wildly popular film Roman Holiday (1953) stands as a powerful testament to this perception. What does Italian cinema say about this subject? This course will explore nuances of love, sex, desire, and eroticism in Italian cinema within the country’s post-WWII historical, socio-political, and cultural milieus, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. The course’s three units— “masculinities,” “femininities,” and “stardom”—will cover a range of focused discussions of tropes and notions of gender and sexuality in cinema. Students will learn to contextualize contemporary Italian cinematic depictions of love and to apply critical concepts from gender studies to film analysis. All films have English subtitles.

Language of instruction: English

Instructor: Dr. Gaoheng Zhang 

Prerequisites: No prerequisites