English 160 - Spring, 2017

Film as Narrative

Class Information

Instructor: Simmon, Scott
CRN: 91271
Time: MW 2:10-5:00
Location: 118 Olson

Description

"21ST-CENTURY GLOBAL CINEMAS"

(See Prof. Simmon's English Department faculty web page to download a draft of this course's syllabus.)

What’s new in filmmaking around the world? Which national cinemas are now most exciting? Which themes are resonating across regions? What do these movies tell us about our times?
In this course we’ll prowl the globe--everywhere outside Hollywood--looking into the most surprising and accomplished films from the last decade and a half. With just ten weeks at our disposal, we’ll only be able to sample the best of recent trends. Although we’ll include films from nations long celebrated for their cinemas (France, Italy, Japan, Germany, etc.), we’ll explore especially in less expected places where movie industries have recently blossomed (as in Romania, Turkey, China, Nigeria, Argentina, and South Korea).
We’ll alternate weeks devoted to individual countries with class sessions that delve into story patterns that have become transnational obsessions (involving, for instance, global migration, rebellious women in traditional societies, and the shifting economics of family life). The six class hours each week will usually include one full length screening and a number of excerpted sequences. We’ll start with an introductory text, but most of our reading will be by contemporary film critics.

Grading

Two quizzes (15% each), short analysis (20%), essay (25%), and final (25%).

Texts

Film Studies: An Introduction, Ed Sikov
and readings online.