Traveling with Ugo – Regional stereotypes in Ugo Tognazzi’s comedy


Traveling with Ugo is a journey through the Italian cinema of the fifties, sixties, and seventies, in the companionship of the actor Ugo Tognazzi. The courseware aims to illustrate stereotypes, masks, and regional interpretations that identified the characters played by the Cremonese actor in his extensive filmography.

The journey from north to south includes six stages in different Italian regions: Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily.

Attendance and Credentials

Attendance
FREE!
Attendance Certificate
FREE!

Category

Arts and Humanities

Training hours

36

Level

Beginner

Course Mode

Self Paced

Language

Italian

Duration

6 weeks

Type

Online

Course Status

Self Pacement

Enrollments Start

Sep 11, 2023

Course Opens

Sep 25, 2023

Course Closes

Not Set

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
·       Identify Italian comedy as a genre and formula
·       Recognize the main actors of Italian comedy and their roles
·       Identify regional stereotypical characterizations.
·       Improve their knowledge of Ugo Tognazzi’s filmography. 
·       Acquire tools for film analysis and for the interpretation of audiovisual texts. 


The course is aimed at anyone interested in learning more about the figure of Ugo Tognazzi, one of the leading actors in Italian comedy, and at lovers of Italian cinema in general. Fans of recent Italian history can also benefit from attending. No prerequisites are required for understanding the topics covered.


  • Mariapia Comand, Commedia all’italiana, Il Castoro, Milano 2010;
  • Enrico Giacovelli, C’era una volta la commedia all’italiana, Gremese, Roma 2015;
  • Masolino D’Amico, La commedia all’italiana. Il cinema comico in Italia dal 1945 al 1975, La nave di Teseo, Milano 2021
  • Gabriele Rigola, Una storia moderna: Ugo Tognazzi. Cinema, cultura e società italiana, Kaplan, Torino 2018


Further bibliography

  • Aldo Bernardini, Ugo Tognazzi, Gremese, Roma 1998; 
  • Francesca Cantore, Andrea Minuz, Italiani all’estero. Prospettive comparate per lo studio della commedia all’italiana, in «La Valle dell’Eden», a. n. 37, 2021, pp. 47-60;
  • Remi Fournier Lanzoni, Comedy Italian Style: the Golden Age of Italian Film Comedies, Continuum, New York 2008; 
  • Alessandro Garavaglia, Tognazzi ’60, Bibliotheka, Roma 2022; 
  • Jean Gili, La comedie italienne, Henry Veyrier, Parigi 1983; 
  • Maurizio Grande, Abiti nuziali e biglietti di banca, Bulzoni, Roma 1986; 
  • Maurizio Grande, La commedia all’italiana, a cura di Orio Caldiron, Bulzoni, Roma 2003;
  • Giacomo Manzoli, Da Ercole a Fantozzi. Cinema popolare e società italiana dal boom economico alla neotelevisione (1958-1976), Carocci, Roma 2012;
  • Elena Mosconi (a cura di), Io lo conoscevo bene. Viaggio semiserio nei personaggi di Ugo Tognazzi, Cremona produce, Cremona 2015; 
  • Ignazio Senatore, Ugo Tognazzi, Gremese, Roma 2022;
  • Vittorio Spinazzola, Cinema e pubblico. Lo spettacolo filmico in Italia 1945-1965, Bulzoni, Roma 1985 


The course is broken up into six video lessons where Ugo Tognazzi's interpretations of several characters are presented with their regional characterizations. For a deeper exploration of the ideas raised, it is advised that you watch all the films that are being mentioned. Additionally, each lesson comes with a specific bibliography.