Seminar: Blow-Up

Led by Wellesley College professor Maurizio Viano, an expert in Italian cinema, this seminar will contextualize Blow-Up within both the year of its release (1966, one of the best years of modern cinema) and the work of Michelangelo Antonioni.

The director's stylistic innovations constituted a milestone in the development of the recently emerged sub-genre of "slow cinema," which emphasizes long takes and limited narrative. The seminar will also address the rarely talked about short story by Julio Cortázar that Antonioni loosely adapted, as well as the thematic and formal features that make Blow-Up a cinematic treasure.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Maurizio Viano currently teaches in the Cinema and Media Studies program (CAMS) at Wellesley College. In addition to a book on the cinema of Pier Paolo Pasolini (A Certain Realism , U.C. Press, Berkeley, 1993), he has published essays on film, theory and other juicy topics in both academic journals and anthologies. A major pedagogic highlight of his thirty-five years at Wellesley College is that he was the prime mover behind the foundation of CAMS in 2000—the program that he co-directed until May 2018.

ABOUT COOLIDGE EDUCATION SEMINARS

Want to learn more about some of your favorite classic films? Coolidge Education is excited to introduce new one-night seminars at select Big Screen Classics events. Attendees can sign up to hear a 30 minute lecture before the film from an expert, and then stick around after the screening for a moderated discussion with other seminar attendees. Tickets are $25 ($22 for Coolidge members and students) and include a reserved seat for the film screening.