FREN 544/844 Formes cinématographiques de l'histoire
Course objectives
There are four main objectives for this class.
1/To gain familiarity with important French films and filmmakers from the beginnings of cinema to the present.
2/To explore some of the principal theoretical questions that are raised by film practice in relation to history.
3/To examine and question film representations of critical moments in twentieth- and twenty-first-century French history.
4/To explore, think about, and practice "cinematic forms of history" in the broadest possible sense.
Photocopied documents
Coursepack disponible au Copy Shop, Elliewood Avenue
Books
These titles have not yet been received but will be available at the Student Bookstore, on the Corner. I will let you know when they arrive.
Prost, Antoine, Petite histoire de la France au XXè siècle. Paris: Armand Colin, 2003.
Duras, Marguerite. Hiroshima mon amour. Paris: Gallimard, Collection Folio, 1999. (any edition acceptable)
Films
Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis (1864-1948) Lumière. “Sortie des usines Lumière à Lyon” (1895), “Le Jardinier (l’Arroseur arrosé)” (1895), “L’arrivée d’un train à la Ciotat” (1896). DVD 0064
Georges Meliès (1861-1938). Le voyage dans la lune (1902). DVD 0064
Luis Bunuel (1900-1983)/Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Un chien andalou (1929). DVD 6432
Jean Renoir (1894-1979). La grande illusion (1937). DVD 377
Henri-Georges Clouzot (1907-1977). Le corbeau (1943). DVD 6283
René Clément, Jeux interdits (1952) DVD 5723
Alain Resnais, Nuit et brouillard (1955) DVD 3227
Chris Marker (1921-)/Alain Resnais (1922- ). Les statues meurent aussi (1953)/DVD 2948 disc 2
Jean-Luc Godard (1930- ). À bout de souffle (1959). DVD 2529
Alain Resnais, Hiroshima mon amour (1959) DVD 2948 (coursepack)
Gillo Pontecorvo, La bataille d’Alger (1966) DVD 4037
Marcel Ophüls (1927- ). Le chagrin et la pitié (1969). DVD 2116 pt. 2
Daniel Vigne, Le retour de Martin Guerre (1982) DVD 0003
Jacques Audiard, Un héros très discret (1996) DVD 5483
Rachid Bouchareb, Indigènes (2006)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004), DVD 4739
Grading
· Participation 30%
· Exposés 10%
· Response papers 10%
· Essay 30% (20% first version, 10% second version)
· Final project 10%
Exposés
Each week, one member of the class will be responsible for presenting and contextualizing the reading/viewing material and leading discussion. The exposés should be approximately 20-30 minutes in length, not including discussion (which may go over time, depending on how it goes). An excellent exposé will present some brief introductory material for contextualizing the film and filmmaker, engage the other students with questions, present a thematic overview of the film, and provide a close reading of one sequence (2-3 mn max), using pertinent film vocabulary. Think of this as a chance to work on your pedagogy, with really great students! There is no set format, as long as the various elements are included. Questions might be asked at the beginning, all through the presentation, or at the end, depending on how you want the format to work.
Response papers
Each week you will hand in a 1-2 page written response, in French, to the film or reading assigned for the week. These papers will not receive grades as such, but I will make the following distinctions:
Y indicates that the work is good, solid, thoughtful work, in good French
+ indicates that the work is particularly original or exceptional, in excellent French
- indicates that the work appears hasty, superficial, or otherwise leaves considerable room for improvement, or that the French needs considerable revision to be acceptable
A good response paper is not a summary, but a thoughtful response to the material that makes connections with other readings/films, raises questions, or workshops an idea or argument.
Film analysis paper
Each student will be required to complete a film analysis paper, 10-15 pages for FREN 544, 20-25 pages for FREN 844, double spaced, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman Font, correct and consistent Chicago or MLA Style citations.
1/The paper will analyze a French film from any period that is or is not covered in class. It should address some aspect of the central theme of the course, "Les formes cinématographiques de l'histoire."
2/The paper will include all necessary and relevant secondary sources, whether theoretical or directly related to the film or director.
3/The paper will make a substantial and original argument about the film and will relate this argument to the relevant secondary sources. How does this argument fit with what others have written about the film? The argument should be firmly grounded in specific quotations and references to the film. These quotations and references will address form as well as content, that is to say, they should not be only thematic in nature but should also be grounded in formal film practice and the language of film.
4/The audience for the paper will be a film studies journal and its readers, well versed in film language and theory, but not necessarily familiar with the literature on French cinema in particular. Contextual information necessary for these readers to situate the chosen film should also be included. At the FREN 844 level, I expect a publishable paper to come out of this course.
Creative final projet
For this project, you may work alone or with someone else. I encourage you to start thinking about it now; it should not take you too long to execute, but I suspect it will take you some time to develop an idea. Description of project.