Difference between pages "Douglas Sirk as Auteur (Discussion)" and "JCM312 International Cinema"

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==Equivalent characters in the 1934 and 1959 versions of ''Imitation of Life''==
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'''TCF 340 International Cinema''' is a discussion-oriented course taught by [[User:Jeremy Butler|Jeremy Butler]].
  
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<table width="200" border="0">
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== Course objectives ==
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  <tr>
 
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    <td><strong>1934</strong></td>
 
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    <td><strong>1959</strong></td>
 
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  </tr>
 
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  <tr>
 
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    <td>Bea</td>
 
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    <td>Lora</td>
 
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  </tr>
 
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  <tr>
 
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    <td>Delilah</td>
 
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    <td>Annie</td>
 
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  </tr>
 
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  <tr>
 
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    <td>Jessie</td>
 
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    <td>Susie</td>
 
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  </tr>
 
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  <tr>
 
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    <td>Peola</td>
 
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    <td>Sarah Jane</td>
 
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  </tr>
 
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  <tr>
 
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    <td>Steve</td>
 
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    <td>Steve</td>
 
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  </tr>
 
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</table>
 
  
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==Readings==
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TCF 340 assumes the student understands generally the contours of international cinema history. The course's objective therefore is to investigate in some depth the cinematic work of a particular nation and the historical/theoretical issues pertaining to it. This term our topic will be the French cinema.
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==="Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life"===
 
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Lucy Fischer sums the previous approaches to ''Imitation of Life'' and then addresses her own concerns about the film:
 
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# "The question of women and work"
 
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# "The issue of race"
 
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# "The matter of star biography"
 
  
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Discuss these "concerns":
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The online syllabus ('''Fall 2014'''): http://goo.gl/KfRVST
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#'''Groups 4, 5, and 6:''' According to Fischer, what "cliché" is there about women's employment in the decade 1948-58? Why is it untrue? Often, films place women in the position of choosing between work outside the home and staying at home and nurturing children. How does ''Imitation of Life'' deal with this conflict—both in terms of Lora ''and'' Annie? Does Annie fit a "mammy" stereotype? According to Fischer what factors present domestic labor in a negative manner?
 
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#*And how does the presentation of work vs. motherhood differ in the 1934 and 1959 versions?
 
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#'''Groups 1, 2 and 3:''' It's not just work and motherhood that are inflected with issues surrounding race. Fischer also sees a connection between race and "performance," between race and imitations (plural) of life. What different forms of performance, of playing a role, are evident in ''Imitation of Life''? Who performs and why? (See [http://tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/ImitationOfLife_StopActing.php Lora's "sacrifice"] and [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/ImitationOfLife_SaraJaneGoodBye.php the final scene between Sarah Jane and Annie.])
 
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#*How does changing the white mother from the "Pancake Queen" to a performer change the story's meaning?
 
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#'''All Groups:''' We'll discuss Turner as a star more fully next week, but what themes (or polysemy) does Fischer say were associated both with Turner (embodied in the Johnny Stompanato scandal) and Turner's ''character'' in ''Imitation of Life''?
 
  
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==''Imitation of Life Video Essay'', by Darren Elliott-Smith==
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==Study groups==
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[[File:Elliott-Smith ImitationOfLifeqq00 08 55qq4558-02-15-14h36m00s285.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Elliott-Smith commentary on ''Imitation of Life''.]]
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{| class="wikitable" border="1"
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#'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Elliott-Smith contends, "This excessively ironic shot [Sarah Jane attacked by her boyfriend; see screen shot] draws attention to itself. Using reflection, framing and self-reflexivity – this physically distant shot demonstrates: ironic distanciation." What do you think he means by that? Does "ironic distanciation" align with your own experience of that scene?
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|-
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#'''Groups 6 and 2:''' How does Elliott-Smith contrast the performances of Lana Turner as Lora and Susan Kohner as Sarah Jane?
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|  
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#'''Groups 3 and 4:''' According to Elliott-Smith, what aspects of ''Imitation of Life'' have been appropriated by queer culture?
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'''Group 1'''
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<br clear="all">
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*Chase Bullock
 +
*Douglas Dillingham
 +
*Katherine Dudley
 +
|
 +
'''Group 2'''
 +
*Elliot Gragen
 +
*Seth Lawlor
 +
*Lindsey Martin
 +
*Reagan Snyder
 +
|
 +
'''Group 3'''
 +
*Taylor Martin
 +
*Mike McGee
 +
*Toffer Mohr
 +
*Wes Shiflet
 +
|
 +
'''Group 4'''
 +
*Hannah Perkins
 +
*Katie Smith
 +
*Lesley Smits
 +
*Nathan Turner
 +
|}
  
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==Thinking further about remakes==
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== Online study guides ==
 +
===Chronological order===
 +
#Film Analysis: [[TCF340/Butler/Narrative Structure|Narrative Structure]], ''Television''
 +
#Film Analysis: [[TCF340/Butler/Mise-en-scene|Mise-en-scene]], ''Television''
 +
#Film Analysis: [[TCF340/Butler/Cinematography|Cinematography]], ''Television''
 +
#Film Analysis: [[TCF340/Butler/Editing|Editing]], ''Television''
 +
#Film Analysis: [[TCF340/Butler/Sound|Sound]], ''Television''
 +
#Film Analysis: [[TCF340/Analytical Exercise (Discussion)|Discussion]] of Analytical Exercise
 +
#Early French Cinema
 +
#The Avant-Garde ([[TCF340/The Avant-Garde (Discussion)|Discussion]])
 +
#French Cinema Between the Wars I: Popular Front [[TCF340/French Cinema Between the Wars I: Popular Front (Discussion)|(Discussion)]]
 +
#Bazinian Realism [[TCF340/Bazinian Realism (Discussion)|(Discussion)]]
 +
#French Cinema Between the Wars II: Poetic Realism (discontinued)
 +
#French New Wave I: Alain Resnais [[TCF340/French New Wave I: Alain Resnais (Discussion)|(Discussion)]]
 +
#French New Wave II: François Truffaut [[TCF340/French New Wave II: François Truffaut (Discussion)|(Discussion)]]
 +
#French New Wave III: Éric Rohmer [[TCF340/French New Wave III: Éric Rohmer (Discussion)|(Discussion)]]
 +
#French Modernism: Jean-Luc Godard & Bertolt Brecht [[TCF340/French Modernism: Jean-Luc Godard & Bertolt Brecht (Discussion)|(Discussion)]]
 +
#Godard and Contemporary Feminism ([[TCF340/Godard and Contemporary Feminism (Discussion)|Discussion]])
 +
#French Feminism, Continued: Agnès Varda ([[TCF340/French Feminism, Continued: Agnès Varda (Lecture)|Lecture]], [[TCF340/French Feminism, Continued: Agnès Varda (Discussion)|Discussion]])
 +
#Claire Denis ([[TCF340/Claire Denis (Discussion)|Discussion]])
 +
#Godard Since 1968 ([[TCF340/Godard Since 1968 (Discussion)|Discussion]])
 +
#Cinema Ascetic: Robert Bresson
  
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#'''All Groups:''' There are many differences between the two versions of ''Imitation of Life''. One subtle change is the endings. How does each film end? (Refer to [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler/Diss/AppC/index.htm frame grabs here].) How do the endings signify different resolutions of the black daughter plotline and the white mother-boyfriend-daughter plotline?
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===List of lecture notes===
 +
[[:Category:TCF340 Lecture]]
  
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{{Gallery
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===List of discussion notes===
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|title=''Imitation of Life'': 1934 and 1959.
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[[:Category:TCF340 Discussion]]
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|width=400
 
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|lines=1
 
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|align=center
 
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|File:ImitationOfLife1934qq01 47 59qq.jpg|alt1=Final scene, 1934 version.|Final scene, 1934 version.
 
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|File:ImitationOfLife1934qq01 49 48qq.jpg|alt2=Final shot, 1934 version.|Final shot, 1934 version.
 
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|File:ImitationOfLife1959qq02 02 53qq.jpg|alt3=Final scene, 1959 version.|Final scene, 1959 version.
 
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|File:ImitationOfLife1959qq02 03 35qq.jpg|alt4=Final shot, 1959 version.|Final shot, 1959 version.
 
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}}
 
  
 +
===Extra credit===
 +
==== Shot Logger ====
 +
Prepare frame grabs for [http://shotlogger.org Shot Logger], using a French film.
  
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===Paul Willemen, "Distanciation and Douglas Sirk"===
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More details will be announced later.
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Replaced by [https://vimeo.com/80130945 ''Imitation of Life Video Essay''], by Darren Elliott-Smith on Vimeo ([http://tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/Imitation%20of%20Life%20Video%20Essay-SD_Elliott-Smith_Darren_.php local copy]).
 
  
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#How does Sirk "intensify" elements of the melodrama genre?
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== Texts & resources ==
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#Willemen concludes that the "distanciation effect" can be "used to parody the stylistic procedures which traditionally convey an extremely smug, self-righteous and ''petit bourgeois'' world view paramount in the American melodrama."
 
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#*''Petit bourgeois'' (pronounced "petty boor-jwah") is a French word meaning, literally, the "small middle-class", but more generally referring to a conservative social class of shop keepers and professionals. Thus, a ''petit bourgeois'' worldview is one that is politically and morally conservative.
 
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#*How might ''Imitation of Life'' be seen to be an attack on conservative values of the 1950s? Do you think it succeeds at that?
 
  
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==External links==
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===Books===
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SirkImages/index.php Douglas Sirk illustrations.]
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#Jeremy Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications''
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*[https://vimeo.com/80130945 ''Imitation of Life Video Essay''], by Darren Elliott-Smith on Vimeo ([http://tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/Imitation%20of%20Life%20Video%20Essay-SD_Elliott-Smith_Darren_.php local copy]).
 
  
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==Bibliography==
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===Articles and book chapters===
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# Lucy Fischer, "Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life," ''Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director'' ed. Lucy Fischer (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press) 3-28.
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In alphabetical order, not the order in which they are assigned.
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# Paul Willemen, "Distanciation and Douglas Sirk," ''Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director'', 268-272.
 
  
−
[[Category:JCM412/512 Discussion]]
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#Armes, Roy. French Cinema. NY: Oxford University, 1985.
 +
#Bazin, André. "The Era of the Popular Front." In Jean Renoir, pp. 36-52. Edited and with an introduction by Francois Truffaut. Translated by W. W. Halsey II and William H. Simon. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1973.
 +
#Bazin, André. "The Evolution of Film Language." In The New Wave, pp. 24-51. Edited and translated by Peter Graham. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968.
 +
#Bazin, André. "LE JOUR SE LÊVE . . . Poetic Realism." In LE JOUR SE LÊVE: A Film by Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert, pp. 5-12. Translated by Dinah Brooke and Nicola Hayden. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1970.
 +
#Brecht, Bertolt. "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre." In Brecht on Theatre, pp. 33-42. Edited and translated by John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.
 +
#Bresson, Robert. Notes on Cinematography. Translated by Jonathan Griffin. NY: Urizen, 1977.
 +
#Crisp, C. G. Eric Rohmer: Realist and Moralist. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1988.
 +
#Fofi, Goffredo. "The Cinema of the Popular Front in France (1934-38)." In Screen Reader I, pp. 172-224. London: SEFT, 1977.
 +
#Kuhn, Annette. Women's Pictures: Feminism and Cinema. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
 +
#Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
 +
#MacCabe, Colin. Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
 +
#MacCabe, Colin. Godard: A Portrait of the Artist at Seventy. New York: Faber & Faber, 2003.
 +
#Monaco, James. Alain Resnais. NY: Oxford University, 1979.
 +
#Monaco, James. The New Wave. NY: Oxford University, 1976.
 +
#Penley, Constance. "Les Enfants de la Patrie." Camera Obscura, 8-9-10, pp. 32-59.
 +
#Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies. London: Verso, 1982.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
[[Category:TCF340]]
 +
[[Category:TCF Classes]]

Revision as of 22:23, 6 November 2014

TCF 340 International Cinema is a discussion-oriented course taught by Jeremy Butler.

Course objectives

TCF 340 assumes the student understands generally the contours of international cinema history. The course's objective therefore is to investigate in some depth the cinematic work of a particular nation and the historical/theoretical issues pertaining to it. This term our topic will be the French cinema.

The online syllabus (Fall 2014): http://goo.gl/KfRVST

Study groups

Group 1

  • Chase Bullock
  • Douglas Dillingham
  • Katherine Dudley

Group 2

  • Elliot Gragen
  • Seth Lawlor
  • Lindsey Martin
  • Reagan Snyder

Group 3

  • Taylor Martin
  • Mike McGee
  • Toffer Mohr
  • Wes Shiflet

Group 4

  • Hannah Perkins
  • Katie Smith
  • Lesley Smits
  • Nathan Turner

Online study guides

Chronological order

  1. Film Analysis: Narrative Structure, Television
  2. Film Analysis: Mise-en-scene, Television
  3. Film Analysis: Cinematography, Television
  4. Film Analysis: Editing, Television
  5. Film Analysis: Sound, Television
  6. Film Analysis: Discussion of Analytical Exercise
  7. Early French Cinema
  8. The Avant-Garde (Discussion)
  9. French Cinema Between the Wars I: Popular Front (Discussion)
  10. Bazinian Realism (Discussion)
  11. French Cinema Between the Wars II: Poetic Realism (discontinued)
  12. French New Wave I: Alain Resnais (Discussion)
  13. French New Wave II: François Truffaut (Discussion)
  14. French New Wave III: Éric Rohmer (Discussion)
  15. French Modernism: Jean-Luc Godard & Bertolt Brecht (Discussion)
  16. Godard and Contemporary Feminism (Discussion)
  17. French Feminism, Continued: Agnès Varda (Lecture, Discussion)
  18. Claire Denis (Discussion)
  19. Godard Since 1968 (Discussion)
  20. Cinema Ascetic: Robert Bresson

List of lecture notes

Category:TCF340 Lecture

List of discussion notes

Category:TCF340 Discussion

Extra credit

Shot Logger

Prepare frame grabs for Shot Logger, using a French film.

More details will be announced later.

Texts & resources

Books

  1. Jeremy Butler, Television: Critical Methods and Applications

Articles and book chapters

In alphabetical order, not the order in which they are assigned.

  1. Armes, Roy. French Cinema. NY: Oxford University, 1985.
  2. Bazin, André. "The Era of the Popular Front." In Jean Renoir, pp. 36-52. Edited and with an introduction by Francois Truffaut. Translated by W. W. Halsey II and William H. Simon. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1973.
  3. Bazin, André. "The Evolution of Film Language." In The New Wave, pp. 24-51. Edited and translated by Peter Graham. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968.
  4. Bazin, André. "LE JOUR SE LÊVE . . . Poetic Realism." In LE JOUR SE LÊVE: A Film by Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert, pp. 5-12. Translated by Dinah Brooke and Nicola Hayden. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1970.
  5. Brecht, Bertolt. "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre." In Brecht on Theatre, pp. 33-42. Edited and translated by John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.
  6. Bresson, Robert. Notes on Cinematography. Translated by Jonathan Griffin. NY: Urizen, 1977.
  7. Crisp, C. G. Eric Rohmer: Realist and Moralist. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1988.
  8. Fofi, Goffredo. "The Cinema of the Popular Front in France (1934-38)." In Screen Reader I, pp. 172-224. London: SEFT, 1977.
  9. Kuhn, Annette. Women's Pictures: Feminism and Cinema. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
  10. Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
  11. MacCabe, Colin. Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
  12. MacCabe, Colin. Godard: A Portrait of the Artist at Seventy. New York: Faber & Faber, 2003.
  13. Monaco, James. Alain Resnais. NY: Oxford University, 1979.
  14. Monaco, James. The New Wave. NY: Oxford University, 1976.
  15. Penley, Constance. "Les Enfants de la Patrie." Camera Obscura, 8-9-10, pp. 32-59.
  16. Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies. London: Verso, 1982.
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