Thoughts on Bondanella's book about Italian Cinema

I don't know why, maybe it's growing up in New York, or living in the City, or having Italian friends and girlfriends, or studying Italian History, or, perhaps it's just the fact that they are so damn good, that I like Italian films. I remember in High School watching Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Apocalypse Now and Streetcar Named Desire with Brando. In college it was Fellini. I bought 81/2 at Barnes and Noble in Vestal. I watched and kind of understood it. Living in Shanghai introduced me to Bertolucci whom I, excuse my French, adore. I don't know how many times I've watched Last Emperor. At least five. I've got the special edition with all the extras. It is one of my favorite movies ever. It combines two things of which I'm very fond of; Italian filmmakers and Chinese History. Furthermore, last Summer, this summer I've been busy with the GRE and beginning photography, I watched La Dolce Vita an instant hit, Bertolucci's 1900 which was great, I love history, The Conformist, and Rosselini's War Trilogy. I wanted to study Italina Neo-realist films. In fact I was planning on studying abroad in Italy next Spring, but I got a job teaching film. Sadly, not Italian film, but I'm attempting to persuade my boss to allow a trailer course about Italian cinema.

Anyway, sorry for the long digression. The book starts out with a brief history of silent Italian film and progresses into a discussion of Italian Cinema during the Fascist period. Two films, which I would like to watch, have so far come to my attention, Cabiria which is a silent film and inspired D.W. Griffith's Indifference, and Ossessione which was the spark that lit the fire to Italian Neo-realism and really animated the whole of film history in the post-WWII era. So much came from Italian Neo-realism, the French New Wave, it influenced Third World Cinema, as well as American, and West Germany's cinema productions.

Since I'm not going to Italy I thought I'd read as much as I could about Italian Cinema and write a blog about it. I will, as time permits, read the book and other materials, and write my thoughts in this blog.