French 41
French Film and Culture; 1895-present
Course description:
This is a survey course of French cinema, from the early silent films first shown in 1895 to today’s contemporary films. We cover important periods and movements in French filmmaking including poetic realism, Nouvelle vague (New Wave), and postwar mode rétro (inspired by the past). Since French film, as in all national cinemas, is deeply tied to its country’s history and culture, we will also discuss the socio-historical backgrounds in which these films were made when appropriate.
Course requirements:
The following components make up your final grade…
*Participation in class discussion: 15%
*2 short papers (4-5 pages): 45% (first paper 20%, second paper 25%)
*Final exam (blue book exam): 20%
*In-class presentation: %10 (includes a brief handout and resources to accompany the week’s film and questions to prompt class discussion—see handout)
Course Expectations:
I expect you to come to class on time and prepared: the course doesn’t work if nobody has seen the film. Please come see me or send an email if you have questions about your writing or about the topics covered in class. Free writing tutoring is available by appointment at Covel Commons.
View the Tuesday films over the weekend. We will view the Thursday films in class unless otherwise noted.
Week 1: Introduction, the silent films of Georges Méliès and Louis Lumière.
Tuesday: The two traditions of cinema. Review basic cinema terminology for analysis.
Read: Excerpts from Film Art –chapters 2 and 3
Thursday: Silent film and early sound: the foundations of (French) cinema
- Feuillade Les Vampires (excerpts)
- La Souriante Mme Beudet and cinematic Impressionism
- Surrealists, L’Age d’or (1930)
Read: Dudley Andrew, “Impressionism and Surrealism” in Mists of Regret
Week 2: The 1930s: the politics of culture: The Popular Front & class consciousness in France
JULY FOURTH HOLIDAY—no class!
PLEASE READ/VIEW FOR THURSDAY:
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (1936) Jean Renoir
Read: Excerpt from Faulkner (58-71), Renoir, My Life and My Films: “The Popular Front”
Thursday: 1930s and “Poetic realism”: defining a tricky term
Quai des brumes (1938) Marcel Carné
Read: Chapter 6 Film Art “Mise-en-scène", Mists of Regret excerpts
Week 3: The Occupation and Recovery: Negotiating a new culture of qualité
Le Corbeau (1943) Henri-Georges Clouzot
The Occupation’s effects on the French cinema; Andre Greven and Continental Films
Read: Alan Williams “War and Occupation” in Republic of Images
Thursday: Paper 1 due (4-6 pages)
La Ronde (1950) Max Ophuls
Read: “A Certain Tendency of French Cinema” (François Truffaut), Alan Williams, “Liberation” and article on La Ronde
Week 4: The New Wave—what is it, where did it come from and what did it do for French cinema?
Touchez pas au Grisbi (1954) Jacques Becker
Read: Jacques Siclier, “New Wave and French Cinema”, Articles on Grisbi
Thursday: Cléo de 5 à 7 (1961) Agnès Varda
Read: Janice Mouton “Agnes Varda’s Cleo in the City”
Week 5: La mode rétro: living in the past, owning up to the present
Lacombe Lucien (1974) Louis Malle
Read: Landscapes of Loss chapter on Louis Malle
Thursday: The Sorrow and the Pity (to be finished over the weekend)
Readings to be announced/handout in class
Week 6: French cinema today: beyond Amélie
La Fille seule/A Single Girl (1995)
Read: Review
Paper 2 due
Before the Final: Watch Swimming Pool (2003) François Ozon
Read: Interview with Ozon, movie review