Signing Italian/American Cinema: A More Focused Look

The essays in this book all share a common notion that a greater awareness of the potentiality of signification of sign functions is an indispensable tool for a more extensive understanding of how a film might signify—indeed, about how any text might signify. That said, I should state here at the outset that my use of the binomial “extensive understanding” is by no means evaluative; my only intention is to underscore that through semiotics and its various components of interpretation we can testify to the greater potentiality of signification that any text—e.g., cinematic, written, figurative—may produce with respect to a more conventional analytical process that, as well, does not take into consideration secondary or tertiary functions of the signs in question. -- from the Introduction

In Signing Italian/American Cinema: A More Focused Look Anthony Tamburri means it. His new work employs the concentration of a neurosurgeon with the precision of a guided missile as he dissects, shatters and reexamines such films as the well-known and well-loved Big Night and not as well- known but equally beguiling Dinner Rush. Culture matters and his explanations of these films plus the classic Nuovomondo and the iconic Mean Streets makes you want to screen them a second and a third time. -- Richard Vetere, Playwright and film writer.

Anthony Julian Tamburri’s collection of essays about Italian American cinema will change the way you look at movies. Whether you study the form, teach cinema or watch for enjoyment, there is a rich garden of ideas in these essays that will challenge and delight you. Dr. Tamburri is one of the leading Italian American voices of our times. You will savor this collection. It’s an intellectual Moviola by a man who knows movies. -- Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author The Shoemaker's Wife .

Anthony Julian Tamburri is Dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute and Distinguished Professor of European Languages and Literatures. Concentrating on cinema, literature, and semiotics, he has authored 14 books in both English and Italian. His books on Italian/American cinema include, Italian/American Short Films & Music Videos: A Semiotic Reading (Purdue, 2002) and Re-viewing Italian Americana: Generalities and Specificities on Cinema (Bordighera, 2011).