My name is Benjamin (Ben) Lewis and here is my first blog entry for my Italy Through Film Class at Fitchburg State University.
1. The source of my interest in Italy is the fact that I love world cinema. Countries that to me are very interesting in terms of the cinema they produce are Japan, Spain, Mexico, France, and of course Italy. Italian films have always seemed to be such a great reflection of the country and when I saw that there was a course dedicated to Italian cinema I jumped to take it (literally, I jumped and reserved it).
2. Unfortunately my knowledge regarding Italy is very small in nature. From what I am aware of it is a country with rich culture that we fought in World War II but has since become a friend to the United States. Everything else I know about the Italy are a few world like "ciao" (hello, goodbye), "bellissima" (woman), and "Quanto per l'elefante mancini?" (How much for the left handed elephant?).
3. Most of my knowledge about Italy comes from a world history class I took in eighth grade and the few Italian films that I have seen.
4. What I would like to learn most about Italy is the inspiration that Italian directors such as Fellini and Antiolini get and develop in their cinema. What are the themes that drive these men to make these films?
5. The few Italian films I have seen are Rome Open City, The Bicycle Thieves, 8 1/2, and Cinema Paradiso.
6. One example of one Italian film I have seen and what impressed me about it was The Bicycle Thieves. The Bicycle Thieves is one of my all time favorite films and what I love about it is the simplicity of the story. I love how through the course of less than a couple of hours we become witness to the desperation the main character, Antonio embraces with his son in order to find the bicycle, which has become the symbol of their very livelihood and how in a final act of desperation Antonio has to resort to becoming a bicycle thief himself.
So that was my first blog entry (of many). Stay tuned as you and I explore Italian cinema together, ciao!
