Includes bibliographical references (pages [243]-246) and indexes.
Cabiria: women in the Italian colossals -- Women-as-spectacle in love-story films: the dramma passionale versus the melodrama genre and the phenomenon of divismo -- "Mothers of Italy": the legacy of fascism in Italian cinema -- Women in neorealist cinema -- A woman's search for change and meaningful relationships in the films of the 1950s -- Women and men as victims of violence and alienation int he films of the 1960s -- The sexual power game and its impact on women and men in the films of the 1970s -- Decentering the masculine and spotlighting the feminine in films of the 1980s -- Female agency in the films of the 1990s