Italian Film examines the extraordinary cinematic tradition of Italy, from the silent era to the present. Analyzing film within the framework of Italy's historical, social, political, and cultural evolution during the twentieth century, Marcia Landy traces the construction of a coherent national cinema and its changes over time. Her study traces how social institutions--school, family, the Church--as well as Italian notions of masculinity and femininity are dealt with in cinema and how they are central to the conceptions (and misconceptions) of national identity.It also demonstrates the vital links between Italian film and other art forms,including opera,popular music,literature,and painting.A comprehensive survey of this subject,Italian Film also offers fresh readings of films from each period surveyed

Marcia Landy is Distinguished Service Professor of Engish and Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.She is the author of <Fascism in Film: The Italian Commercial Cinema,1930-1940>;<Film,Politics,and Gramsci>and<The Folklore of Consensus:Theatricality in the Italian Cinema,1930-1943>