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2013/14 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ITAL3340 Bad Christmas Films: The Italian Cinepanettone

20 creditsClass Size: 20

Module manager: Alan O'Leary
Email: A.oleary@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2013/14

Pre-requisite qualifications

Requires a good knowledge of Italian.

Module replaces

ITAL3025

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

The Italian film industry tends to struggle from crisis to crisis, but has always survived by providing critically despised films, usually comedies, for a popular audience. Since the early 1980s it has produced a series of films released annually in December and colloquially referred to as 'cinepanettoni' ('film-Christmas-cakes').These might be compared to the British 'Carry On' films in their regular cast of stock comic types, and their use of a broad sexual humour; however, they are remarkably hybrid films which sometimes feature thriller or travelogue elements, or references to contemporary politics and society.The films are designed to appeal to a variegated public of all ages, and have been successful enough to have become part of the annual Christmas rituals for large numbers of Italians.Still, few Italians with a university degree will admit to having watched a 'cinepanettone'; indeed, the films are seen as symptomatic or even partly causative of the election of successive right-wing governments.How true is this? How can such films be studied? Should they be valued - and how? And what do we really know about who the audiences are and what they do with the films?

Objectives

On completion of this module students will have gain a good knowledge of the genre of the Italian Christmas film and its part in Italian film culture and in the Italian way of life more broadly.

They will have learned to critically analyse and account for the appeal of such films and to appraise sceptically the standard dismissal of popular genres. They will have gained some knowledge of the theory and methodology of audience studies.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should:
- be well informed about the genre of Italian Christmas film and its discursive construction through criticism and publicity discourse
- have the ability to critically analyse and account for the appeal of the Christmas films
- be aware of theories relating to 'distinction' in taste
- be aware of some of the methods of audience studies and statistical analysis.

Skills outcomes
Students will learn some theory and methodology of statistic analysis and audience study.

Syllabus

The course will cover a selection (six to eight) of the many Christmas films produced in Italy since the first in 1983, with examples from each decade and from the different directors, scriptwriters and main actors who have produced the films.

We will study the origins and offshoots of the Christmas film genre, as well as the unusual 'ritual' aspect of the annual consumption of these films as part of the holiday festivities.

The syllabus will also feature secondary material - interviews, journalism and academic criticism - the study of which is intended to show how perceptions of the genre of the Christmas films are discursively constructed.

The course will also feature introductory materials for the study of the Italian film industry (incl. the study of statistics) and for its audiences (ethnographic and survey tools). This course is based on the module leader's ongoing AHRC-funded research project.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Group learning	78	1.00	78.00
Seminar	11	2.00	22.00
Private study hours			100.00
Total Contact hours			100.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

- Private and group study, reading of texts, preparation for general class discussion: 128 hours
- Preparation and writing of two assessed essays: 44 hours
- Preparation for presentation: 6 hours.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will be monitored firstly through their participation in class (particularly in group work), secondly through their class presentations, and thirdly through their performance in the first essay.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	Essay 1, 2,000 words	45.00
Essay	Essay 2, 2,000 words	45.00
Presentation	1 x group presentations	5.00
Presentation	1x group presentations	5.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 25/03/2014

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