Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema

Second Edition

Gino Moliterno

Italian cinema is now regarded as one of the great cinemas of the world. Historically, however, its fortunes have varied. Following a brief moment of glory in the early silent era, Italian cinema appeared to descend almost into irrelevance in the early1920s. A strong revival of the industry which gathered pace during the 1930s was abruptly truncated by the advent of World War II. The end of the war, however, initiated a renewal as films such as Roma città aperta (Rome Open City), Sciuscià (Shoeshine, 1946), and Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), flagbearers of what soon came to be known as Neorealism, attracted unprecedented international acclaim and a reputation that only continued to grow in the following years as Italian films were feted worldwide. Ironically, they were celebrated nowhere more than in the United States, where Italian films consistently garnered the lion's share of the Oscars, with Lina Wertmüller becoming the first woman to ever be nominated for the Best Director award.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on major movements, directors, actors, actresses, film genres, producers, industry organizations and key films. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Italian Cinema.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 750 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-5381-1947-1 • Hardback • December 2020 • $209.00 • (£162.00)

978-1-5381-1948-8 • eBook • December 2020 • $198.50 • (£154.00)

Series: Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts

Subjects: Performing Arts / Film / History & Criticism, Reference / Dictionaries, Performing Arts / General

Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema

Second Edition

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Italian cinema is now regarded as one of the great cinemas of the world. Historically, however, its fortunes have varied. Following a brief moment of glory in the early silent era, Italian cinema appeared to descend almost into irrelevance in the early1920s. A strong revival of the industry which gathered pace during the 1930s was abruptly truncated by the advent of World War II. The end of the war, however, initiated a renewal as films such as Roma città aperta (Rome Open City), Sciuscià (Shoeshine, 1946), and Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948), flagbearers of what soon came to be known as Neorealism, attracted unprecedented international acclaim and a reputation that only continued to grow in the following years as Italian films were feted worldwide. Ironically, they were celebrated nowhere more than in the United States, where Italian films consistently garnered the lion's share of the Oscars, with Lina Wertmüller becoming the first woman to ever be nominated for the Best Director award.

This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on major movements, directors, actors, actresses, film genres, producers, industry organizations and key films. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Italian Cinema.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 750 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-5381-1947-1 • Hardback • December 2020 • $209.00 • (£162.00)

978-1-5381-1948-8 • eBook • December 2020 • $198.50 • (£154.00)

Series: Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts

Subjects: Performing Arts / Film / History & Criticism, Reference / Dictionaries, Performing Arts / General

Author

Gino Moliterno is former head of the Film and New Media Studies Program at the Australian National University. Among his publications are the Routledge Encyclopedia of Contemporary Italian Culture (general editor and contributor, 2000), an English edition of Giordano Bruno's Candelaio (Candlebearer, 2000), the Scarecrow Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema (2008) and (co-authored) Celluloid Immigrant: Italian Australian Filmmaker Giorgio Mangiamele (2011).

Table of Contents

Editor's Foreword (Jon Woronoff)

Preface

Acknowledgments

Reader's Note

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Chronology

Introduction

THE DICTIONARY

Appendix: Winners at the Venice Festival and of the David di Donatello and Nastri d'argento

Bibliography

About the Author

Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema

Second Edition

Gino Moliterno

Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema

Second Edition

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