The Italian Neorealist movement was a cathartic reaction to the horrors during the Second World War in Italy and widespread resulting poverty experienced by millions of Italian people. Mussolini’s fascist regime had tasked many of Italy’s directors to producing propaganda films throughout the war, and the majority of other films being produced at this time […]

An Analysis of Mad Men’s Pilot Episode[1] A well-dressed man sits alone at a small table in a smoke-filled bar, scribbling furiously on a napkin. The music (Don Cherry’s 1955 hit Band of Gold) and the surroundings let us know we’re somewhere in the late ‘50s or early ‘60s. From the way he’s scribbling and his […]