Interfaculty Seminar – organised by Classics and History

The Italian Film Seminar aims to bring together graduate students and senior academics from a wide range of disciplines, including classics, history, film studies, and modern languages. Alternating between screening and discussion-based weeks, this term we will embark on a journey through Italian film adaptations of Greek tragedy.

We begin with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea (1969), a clear adaptation of Euripides’ tragedy, to then move on to Liliana Cavani’s I Cannibali (1970), inspired by Sophocles’ Antigone but set up in a dystopian future – a powerful political reflection in the wake of 1968.

Our third movie will be Luchino Visconti’s Vaghe Stelle dell’Orsa… (1965), which, it has been argued, is likely inspired by the myth of Electra.

This will hopefully lead us to investigate the notion of reception itself.

Finally, we will conclude by returning to Pasolini, reflecting on his infamous 1968 Teorema. This film will take the discussion on reception a step further: we suggest that Pasolini’s Teorema (itself seemingly a source of inspiration for Emerald Fennell’s 2023 Saltburn) may be based off of Euripides’ Bacchae. But is this the case? And if it is, why does it matter?

By curating this selection of films, we invite diverse participants to discuss and challenge the very notions of adaptation and reception through fresh, interfaculty dialogues. By progressing from ‘faithful’ adaptations of classical literature to loosely inspired films, we hope to spark stimulating discussions fruitful for classicists, historians, and film scholars alike.

The seminar will take place weekly from week 1 to week 8 of Trinity Term on Tuesdays. We will host the seminar in Balliol College: screenings will take place on odd weeks while discussions on even weeks, and the discussion sessions will revolve around one brief presentation based on the week’s relevant film. Each presenter will introduce the movie, giving a quick summary of the plot, themes, and classical works from which it draws inspiration. Beyond that, presenters will be free to develop their paper however they like.

We welcome creative proposals on any topics and themes relating to the films, and we are eager to gather volunteers – with a special emphasis on graduate students and early career researchers – in the faculties of Classics and History, but students from all faculties are very welcome to apply. Presentations will last 25-30 minutes and will be followed by a discussion aimed at gathering fresh perspectives on the development of Italian cinema, history, and culture, as well as the reception of the classical world broadly defined.

Please submit a 200-word proposal on your film of choice via email to Angelica Rossi-Hawkins mailto:angelica.rossi-hawkins@seh.ox.ac.uk (History) or Valentino Gargano mailto:valentino.gargano@balliol.ox.ac.uk (Classics) if you would like to present by Friday 18 April. You can find attached the schedule for the term below. We will provide some basic bibliography in due course.

We hope to see many of you soon, and look forward to hearing your proposals.