A History of Italian Cinema

An unprecedented survey of Italian film from the leading expert in the field

A History of Italian Cinema is a major new study from the author of the bestselling Italian Cinema - which has been published in three landmark editions and celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008. Building upon his decades of research, Peter Bondanella has now written the definitive history of the subject, from the birth of cinema to the present day. He has rethought, reorganized, and completely rewritten his previous work, which focused on postwar cinema, and has broadened his coverage of the spaghetti western and comedy genres. Bondanella also now covers a huge range of work that was not previously considered, particularly both popular and 'B' genres, including: the sword and sandal epic or "peplum" film of the 1950s; the Italian horror film, the so-called spaghetti nightmare films (including the subcategories of horror, the Italian zombie and cannibal films), that began in the 1950s and continue through the present; the giallo or Italian mystery thriller; and the poliziesco or Italian crime film from the 1970s to the present. This new book also examines the emergence of a "third wave" of new auteurs born in the 1950s as well as an even younger group of important directors born in the 1960s who have already made their mark on the direction of the Italian cinema in the third millennium.

Finally, A History of Italian Cinema now includes the most comprehensive bibliography of the subject ever to be assembled in an English-language publication. Erudite, comprehensive, and heavily illustrated throughout, this is an essential purchase for any fan of Italian film.

Praise for Bondanella's previous work in the field:

"Extremely interesting and stimulating."-Bernardo Bertolucci

"A very good book and a very accurate one."-Federico Fellini

"The librarian who does not get Bondanella immediately must be petitioned, picketed, importuned."-Choice

"To measure the progress and development of Anglo-American studies on Italian cinema, one needs
only to consider Peter Bondanella's pioneering and seminal Italian Cinema...Bondanella's work carries the crucial merit of having opened up a panoramic view of Italian national cinema to Anglo-American film scholars who in general were mostly familiar with only a few masterpieces. Over the years,
Bondanella's systematic approach has enabled and inspired countless studies."-Gian Piero Brunetta, Professor of History and Film Criticism, University of Padua, Italy