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Film I (ENGL2723)
Course Syllabus Description This course is designed to study film as narrative. The theoretical and critical approach is primarily from a cultural studies perspective, but students will also be introduced to the history of cinema and its relation to art and aesthetics. Evaluation (1) Essay 20% (2) Journal (40%) Final exam: take home 40%
Assignments:
Essay
For your essay, you must compare and contrast at least two films watched in class with two or more films of your own choosing. Remember, you will be judged on the films you choose so choose wisely. By the end of the course you should have acquired some cineliteracy skills and so you will be expected to discuss film as a narrative form in both your final essay and your final exam. Among other things, students should have an understanding of the nature of modern fame, the difference between art and entertainment, the roll of politics and money in movies, the manipulative nature of the Hollywood imperative, the commodification of sexuality and culture, and the nature of art house and auteur cinema. Your paper is due onTuesday October 12th. Your paper should be between 6 and 8 typed pages double spaced. You must submit your papers to me on-line and YOU MUST confirm that I have received them in a readable format.
Journal
A more informal style of writing, your journal should record notes from on line lectures, conversations with fellow students, family, friends et. al. about cinema and its cultural impact. The journal/notebook should also highlight research you have been doing: reading and viewing you will have done over the years. Remember, you have been viewing— and have been influenced by— film culture for most of your life, so you already have considerable content to reflect upon. You must try to look back critically, and not just nostalgically, about much of this cinema and what it has meant to you in terms of culture, politics, sexuality and identity, among other things. This is the independent learning section of the course. There is a large section of Hollywood, Independent, Art House, Auteur and World cinema on line and in our library and students are encouraged and expected to become familiar with some of them. Students with access to on line streaming from Netflix to Criterion will find most of what they need there. You will be expected to write reviews and summaries of their themes, plots, performances and style; and to make comparisons with other films you have seen over your lifetime of movie viewing. You should try to write/ compose at least three entries per week. The length of these entries depends on your writing skills, but try to avoid point form. Set a goal of one or two pages per week. Remember, the journal is also a writing and communicating exercise. Do not fear the blank page, as no one learns how to write well overnight. You must, however, try to critique the celebrity culture that has largely been the background of your movie-going experience. Try to step back from it and critique its negative power and qualities while at the same time appraising the merits of film and film culture in general. The journal is to be handed in on the exam day in December.
NOTE: Students should be aware that the staff at our writing centre are on line to help you with your writing, composition skills. Since the goal of the Writing Centre is to help students improve their own writing, Writing Centre staff are not permitted to make direct changes to students’ papers, or influence the ideas in the paper. Instead, staff will carefully read students’ writing, ask students questions about their intentions, and advise students on how best to improve their essay structure, use of sources, grammar, etc. Students who need help understanding course content should consult with a peer tutor. Please note that the Writing Centre does not assist with take-home exams.
NOTE: Exam: You will be given 6 or more questions on the last day of class from which you will choose two questions and write two essays from four to six typed pages in length. All take homes are due on the day of the exam. Only a legitimate excuse from the Registrar’s Office will be accepted for late exams or papers at the end of term. Texts and Films There will be a series of digital handouts. Students should also consult professor Donovan’s web page for the course. Note: some films may be subject to change.
1. Lesson I Introduction: What's All this Sitting in the Dark?
Lesson: Art versus entertainment; The Hollywood imperative; the pitfalls of the star system; the dangers of fame; the commodification of culture; the first mass media; the politics of cinema;
Topics: Run Lola Run: culture, politics, art and entertainment—from Bergman to blockbusters. Readings: Fame in the Twentieth Century by Clive James. This free on-line book is highly recommended especially for the early chapters that define the nature of modern fame and its relation to celebrity culture and cinema.https://archive.clivejames.com/video/vplayerFAME.htm
Students should read short on line biographies of D.W. Griffith; Sergie Eisenstein; F.W. Murnau; Charles Chaplin; Walt Disney; Fritz Lang; Alexandre Astruc and Orson Welles. David Thomson's are the best but there are many on line as well.
2. Topics And Lessons
The Power and reach of movie culture. Andre Breton famously noted that there is a cinema age but we out grow it. Similarly, Jean Luc Goddard remarked that cinema was about boys looking at girls. Both of these comments highlight human sexuality and youth culture.
3. Auteurs and Cahier du Cinema. The European Tradition: Closely Watched Trains Objectives or Goals: Understanding politics and cinema; the uses of allegory; Topics: Do we have an art form here? Eisenstein and the theory of Montage; the dilemma of aesthetics: D.W. Griffith’s, John Ford, Leni Riefienstahl and racism; German expressionism and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The French New Wave. Theory: Astruc, Bazin, and Cahiers du Cinema, Francois Truffaut, Jean Luc Godard, and Alain Resnais. The Czech New Wave. The Czech New Wave: Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched TrainsReadings: Mise-en-scene; montage; the auteur theory;Andre Bazin; Jean Renoir; John Luc Goddard; Analyzing Film; Alexander Astruc; Milos Forman.Assignments: New Journal entries
4. The politics of sex and the Hayes Code. The Last Picture ShowDate: Monday , September 30, 2013Topics: From the Last Picture Show to Blue Velvet : freedom from the Code. The Celluloid ClosetReadings: Hollywood Censored, morality codes, Catholics, and the Movies
5 American cinema and the independents: fighting the studio standardDate: Monday , October 7, 2013Topics: Robert Altman, John Cassavetes/ Gina Rowlands, and John Sayles. Lonestar
Lesson 6 Don't Frighten the children! Animation, Claymation and Stop Motion from Chuck Jones to Matt Groening
Topics: The Empire of the Mouse; Watership Down Readings: Walt Disney; Selections from 7 Minutes: The Life and Death of the American Animated Cartoon: the anarchy of wartime chase cartoons; snafu; racism; Red Hot Riding Hood vs. Swing Shift Cinderella
Lesson 7 Hidden auteurs in Hollywood
Topics: The Big Lebowski and the first Gulf War
Lesson 8 Avoiding the icon: Mike Leigh's Secret's and Lies
Topics: British New Cinema and Social Realism; Race, class and old school cultural imperialism. Blood Class and Nostalgia: from the Bard to Jane Austen and James Bond.Readings: Mike Leigh, Carol Reid, David Lean
Lesson 9 Deflating the blockbuster: art house cinema on the installment plan
Topics: Dogma 95 and The Celebration
Lesson 10 Tarantino as auteur: violence, race and the seduciton of hard core cool; or, Am I getting this?
Topics: from Peckinpah to Django
Lesson 11 Bergman Light and the Nordic image Topics: Babette's Feast