IN THE MANY YEARS I have been working on this book (and it is up to the reader to decide if they have been well spent or not), I have incurred many intellectual debts, which are impossible to relate in detail here. I will limit myself to remembering those who, through conference invitations and collections, allowed me to progress in my research: Giuliana Bruno, Paolo Bertetto, David Bordwell, Domenec Font, Elio Franzini, Miriam Hansen, Leonardo Quaresima, David Rodowick, Ayako Saito, Tom Gunning, Steve Ungar, Federica Villa, and Giulia Carluccio.
Among the friends and colleagues who read portions of the manuscript, I want thank for their precious advice Gianni Canova, Ruggero Eugeni, Maria Grazia Fanchi, Anne Kern, Pietro Montani, Peppino Ortoleva, Guglielmo Pescatore, Francesco Pitassio, Antonio Somaini, Pierre Sorlin, Massimo Locatelli, and Giacomo Manzoli. Luca Mazzei and Silvio Alovisio were extraordinarily helpful in locating materials. A special thanks goes to Francesca Piredda and Deborah Toschi for their revision of footnotes. For the realization of the English edition, I’m deeply indebted to Erin Larkin, for her patience in translating my Italian, and to Jennifer Pranolo, for her merciless scrutiny in revising the manuscript. Jeffries “Toby” Levers was generous in his stylistic suggestions for the final English version. Also, my copyeditor Roy Thomas at Columbia University Press did wonderful work on the manuscript. My editors, Elisabetta Sgarbi at Bompiani and Juree Sondker at Columbia University Press, deserve a special mention for their positive attitude.
This book has a special tie to Yale University. I finished the book during my residency there as a visiting professor in 2005; the English version was improved with further references (and in some points rewritten for the sake of clarity) during the spring semester of 2007, when I again taught at Yale. I’m deeply indebted to Dudley Andrew, Giuseppe Mazzotta, and Penny Marcus for making possible my teaching and research experience at Yale. Discussions with David Quint, Christopher Wood, and Brigitte Peuker were incomparably productive. A special thanks to Charlie Musser for his “Wednesday night dinners,” so rich in intellectual and personal exchange.
This book was written at a time in which recognition for my teachers is becoming ever more acute, and my need to repay what I gained from them ever stronger. Thus I dedicate this work to those from whom I have learned the most: Christian Metz, Lino Micciché, Gianfranco Bettetini, and Giovanni Cesareo; and to my students, past and future, with the hope of having taught them, too.