ONLINE CLASS: Italian Cinema Appreciation – The Two Faces of De Sica

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Hello Italian Film Aficionados! 

Join Il Chiostro’s Italian Film Appreciation Series exploring two very different sides of neo-realist master filmmaker Vittorio De Sica!

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow and Bicycle Thieves

2 Sundays, March 2nd and March 23rd from 4:00 – 6:00 PM EST.

For the man behind Bicycle Thieves (1948) to make a frothy and frivolous film like Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) felt to some like a betrayal of the principles of Italian Neo-realism.

However, aside from being embraced by audiences worldwide and winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is a highly successful, snappy, satirical comedy that reveals the Italian character from both the upper and lower echelons of society.

Over the course of three sexy, funny anecdotes, De Sica touches on issues like the absurd Italian judicial system, bourgeois hypocrisy, Catholic guilt, and working-class camaraderie… Sophia Loren is at her most beautiful in this film, place, and time.

And then, there is the unforgettable heartbreak and enduring pleasures of De Sica’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, Bicycle Thieves.

A hallmark of neorealism, the movement that helped Italy secure a central place in postwar world cinema, Bicycle Thieves is both a political parable and a spiritual fable, a hard look at the conditions of the Roman working class surviving in Rome’s rougher quarters after World War II — and an exploration into the state of an individual’s heart and soul.

Join Andy and Linda Mironti for Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow on Sunday, March 2nd, and Giuliano Ciabatta for Bicycle Thieves on Sunday, March 23!

Both of these films are widely available on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV. Please watch the film before the scheduled talkback. Then join us for the presentation with Andy and his co-hosts discussing the films’ histories, the performers’ careers, reception by the critics and the public, and, as always, a lively discussion among the participants.

We hope you will join us for a deep dive into the world of Italian Cinema!

How it Will Work

• Watch the films via streaming before the discussion.
• On the day of the class, follow our Zoom invitation to access the discussion.
• Listen in as Andy, Linda, and Giuliano make their presentation about the film, historically, culturally, and artistically.
• Participate in a Q&A discussion of the film.