Histories & Contexts of Cinema Rediscovering Italian Cinema. From Gothic Horror to Spaghetti Western

We very much look forward to welcoming both new and returning students to the University of Southampton. Unless otherwise stated, all courses will be taught in person at our Avenue Campus.

We would like to advise that you will need to have the appropriate technology and suitable internet connection in place, as we will be making use of online materials. At Southampton, we use a virtual learning environment (VLE) called Blackboard which is used to deliver learning materials and real-time online teaching for our students.

Histories and Contexts of Cinema - Rediscovering Italian Cinema. From Gothic Horror to the Spaghetti Western

From the late 1950s to the late 1970s the Italian film industry was the most dynamically developing one in the world. Apart from the acclaimed work of arthouse directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni or Federico Fellini, Italian cinema introduced numerous successful film genres. Often low budget and based on exploiting foreign formulas, such as the British horror film or the Hollywood western, Italian film genres were criticized for being cheap imitations. However, genres adapted by the Italians were also filtered by their tradition, the socio-political climate of their times, and a loose approach towards the rules of film conventions, which resulted in extravagant and violent representations of Italian popular cinema. 

This course evaluates the most successful and significant of Italian genres: the mythological sword-and-sandal film (known as peplum), gothic horror, the spaghetti western, the police action film (known as poliziottesco), and thriller (known as giallo).

This 6-week course will take place in person on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm starting on 16th October 2024 and finishing on 20th November 2024.

Please see our price list below:

• Standard price - £115.00
• Staff/student/alumni price - £100.00

Please note: if you select the staff/student/alumni price option, you must use an online store account that has been set up with your University email address and fill out your University staff, student or alumni ID number when prompted as part of the questionnaire data section.

When booking a course please do consult our Terms and Conditions which set out our cancellation and refund policy. Please note, that should we need to move teaching online, you will not be entitled to any refund other than those already set out in our Terms and Conditions.

Course Description