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ML1101 International Film 1: Contexts and Practices
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ML1101 International Film 1: Contexts and Practices
Term 1 only
Convenor: Dr Jon Hughes
Tutors: Dr Jon Hughes, Dr Sarah Wright
Assessment:
Formative assignment: Essay plan (0%)
Essay 1: 30%, 1,200-1,500 words; Essay 2: 60%, 1,500-2,000 words.
Online (Moodle) Test: 10%
Overview
This course runs in Term 1 only and introduces you to key moments in the history of International film via a series of significant and canonical films representing various film styles and genres, and important individual filmmakers. It assumes no previous experience of studying film, and will acquaint you with the fundamentals of classical film theory and their application. The course encourages critical thinking both about the medium of film, and the problematics of regional or national cinemas. Films studied include The Blue Angel, Citizen Kane, Bicycle Thieves and Psycho as well as more recent, much discussed films such as Volver and Pan's Labyrinth.
Key Primary Bibliography / Filmography:
Set Films:
The Blue Angel (Joseph von Sternberg, 1930, Germany)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941, US)
Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica (1948)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960, US)
Volver (Pedro Almodovar, 2006, Spain)
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006, Spain/Mexico)
Secondary Literature: General, Theoretical, Introductory
You do not need to read all of these texts, though your lecturers may refer to some of the names here, and dipping into some of them will help you think about some of the questions raised in the course and to research your essay questions.
Abrams, Nathan, Ian Bell and Jan Udris (2001), Studying Film. London: Arnold, 2001
Armes, Roy (1994), Action and Image: Dramatic Structure in Cinema. Manchester and NewYork: Manchester U.P.
Blandford, Steve, Barry Keith Grant and Jim Hillier (2001). The Film Studies Dictionary
Cook, Pam (1985) The Cinema Book. London: BFI
Corrigan, Timothy (1998) A Short Guide to Writing About Film. New York: Longman
Crofts, Stephen (2000) ‘Concepts of national cinema’ in World Cinema. Critical Approaches, eds John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson. Oxford University Press, pp. 1-10
Eisenstein, Sergei (1943, rpt 1986), The Film Sense. London and Boston: Faber and Faber
Ezra, Elisabeth (2004) European Cinema. Oxford: OUP
Giannetti, Louis (1990) Understanding Movies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Fifth Edition
Hayward, Susan (1996) Key Concepts in Cinema Studies. London and New York: Routledge
Lapsley, Robert and Westlake, Michael (1988), Film Theory: An Introduction. Manchester University Press
Monaco, James (1981), How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History, and Theory of Film and Media. Revised Ed. Oxford: OUP.
Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey (ed) (1996), The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford: OUP
Vincendeau, Ginette (1995) Encyclopedia of European Cinema. London: Cassell/BFI