2017/18
27854 - Films in Context II
4 and 3
Optional
5.2. Learning tasks
THEORY AND PRACTICE
a) Lectures: 1,2 credits (30 hours). Theory: formal, historical and cultural approaches to film.
b) Practical sessions: 1,2 credits (30 hours). Practice: analysis of individual films.
SUPERVISED ACTIVITIES
a) Individual or group tutorials: 0,1 credits (2,5 hours). Assessment on how to write critical analyses of film.
INDIVIDUAL WORK
a) Essay writing: 2,2 credits (55 hours). Viewing of film texts and writing of essays.
b) Individual study: 1,2 credits (30 hours). Individual work, reading of compulsory critical texts.
ASSESSMENT
a) Written exam on theory and practice: 0,1 credits (2,5 hours).
5.3. Syllabus
(27854) Trends and Contexts of English-Language Cinema II
1. Hollywood in transition in the 1970s: the New Hollywood.
Films: Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, 1977) (class)
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) (essay)
Reading: Thomas Schatz. "The New Hollywood". In Jim Collins et al. eds. 8-36
2. Reaganism and the male rampage film of the 1980s.
Films: Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) (class)
Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987) (essay)
Reading: Fred Pfeil. "From Pillar to Postmodern: Race, Class, and Gender in the Male Rampage Film". In White Guys. 1-36.
3. US American independent cinema in the 1990s.
Film: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
Reading: Justin Wyatt. "The Formation of the 'Major Independent': Miramax, New Line and the New Hollywood". In Neale and Smith eds. 74-90.
4. Genericity in the 1990s.
Films: The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995) (class)
There's Something about Mary (Bobby & Peter Farrelly, 1998) (essay)
Reading: Jim Collins. "Genericity in the 1990s: Eclectic Irony and the New Sincerity". In Jim Collins et al. eds. 242-263
5. The return of the political film in the 2000s.
Films: In the Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis, 2007) (class)
A Mighty Heart (Michael Winterbottom, 2007) (essay)
Reading: Douglas Kellner. "The Hollywood Political Thriller Against the Bush-Cheney Regime". In Cinema Wars. 165-172.
6. New realisms and new technologies in the 2000s.
Film: Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004)
Reading: Michael Renov. "The Subject in History". In The Subject of Documentary. 104-119.