This course will compare four modern Italian novels and four short stories to the films they inspired (also all works by Italian directors). All the books will be read in English translations and the films will be viewed with subtitles or dubbed in English. The books and films are as follows:

1. Igino Ugo Tarchetti's Passion (1869) and its film version "Passione d'amore" (1981) directed by Ettore Scola

2. Four short stories by Luigi Pirandello ("The Other Son," (1905) "Moon Sickness" "Mizzaro's Crow" (1902) and "The Jar") and their film adaptations in Kaos (1984) by the brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani

3. Alberto Moravia's Two Women (1957) and Vittorio De Sica's eponymous film shot in 1960

4. Giorgio Bassani's 1962 novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and De Sica's 1970 interpretation of it under the same title

5. Dacia Maraini's 1990 novel The Silent Duchess and the 1997 film, also of the same title, that director Roberto Faenza based on it.