Difference between pages "JCM312/Claire Denis (Discussion)" and "JCM312/Godard and Contemporary Feminism (Discussion)"

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==Colonialism and the Republic of Cameroon==
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{{Gallery
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[[File:LocationCameroon.svg]]
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|title=''Vivre sa Vie'' ([http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/Godard_Criticism_Brecht.php additional illustrations])
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|width=400
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|lines=1
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|align=center
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|File:VivreSaVieqq00_33_10qq00001.jpg|alt1=Nana looks down.|Nana looks down.
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|File:VivreSaVieqq00_33_12qq00002.jpg|alt2=Nana looks directly at the camera.|Nana looks directly at the camera.
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|File:VsV081.jpg|alt3=The look of a prostitute.|The look of a prostitute.
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|File:VsV071bOvalPortrait.JPG|alt4=Luigi and Poe's ''Complete Works''.|Luigi and Poe's ''Complete Works''.
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}}
  
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''Historical context:'' ''Chocolat'' was shot in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroon Cameroon] in the 1980s and the flashback is set in the late 1950s. Europeans (Germany) first colonized Cameroon in 1884, with France and Britain taking control as a spoil of war after World War I. The people of Cameroon began to advocate for independence in the 1950s, which was finalized by France in 1960 and Britain in 1961.
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'''MacCabe & Mulvey'''
  
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*How does ''Chocolat'', according to Mayne, show the Cameroonians' desire for independence?
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#MacCabe and Mulvey present a complicated argument about the film, ''Numero Deux'', contending that it is primarily about "the effects of capitalism on sexual relations and the oppression of the working class..." They also link "the oppression of capitalism and the alienation of sexuality."
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#*How does Godard represent the ''economics'' of prostitution in ''Vivre sa vie''? That is, how would you characterize the way that the ''economic'' activity of Nana and the other prostitutes? Are they economically "''oppressed''"?
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#*How does Godard represent the ''sexuality'' of prostitution in ''Vivre sa vie''? That is, how would you characterize the way that the ''sexual'' activity of Nana and the other prostitutes? Is it "''alienated''"?
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#**You may find it useful to compare Godard's prostitute with prostitutes from other films, such as ''Pretty Woman''.
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#MacCabe and Mulvey contend, "Female nakedness carries associations of the exploitation of women that almost no degree of formal subversion can displace."
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#*'''All Groups:''' What do they mean by "formal subversion"? They focus on Godard's ''British Sounds'' and the scene of a woman walking up/down stairs ([http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/BritishSounds.htm see frame grabs]). How does this scene supposedly illustrate this "subversion." Is sexuality "demystified," as MacCabe and Mulvey discuss?
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#*Consider the instances of "female nakedness" there are in ''Vivre sa vie'' — especially the one of the nude woman looking at the camera ([http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/Godard_Criticism_Brecht.php see frame grabs]). Is there formal subversion occurring there?
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#**'''All Groups:''' Do you think it is possible to use a naked female body in a film in such a way that it is not exploitative? Explain, and provide an example (either from a film or hypothetical).
  
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==Sexual politics in ''Chocolat''==
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'''Godard, Brecht & Wollen'''
  
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[[File:Chocolat04.jpg]]
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#'''All Groups:''' Describe at least three ways in which ''Vivre sa Vie'' incorporates Brechtian and/or counter-cinema techniques. What impact do these techniques have? What argument would Godard make for using them in a film such as ''Vivre sa Vie''? In other words, what's the point?
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#*Start with the image of Nana looking at the camera.
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#'''All Groups:''' Does ''Vivre sa Vie'' seem more "Brechtian" or more counter cinema than ''Breathless''? Why or why not? What do you imagine a ''fully'' counter-cinema film would look and sound like? As a group, plan your own counter-cinema film and be prepared to explain it to the class.
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#Toward the end of the film, Luigi "reads" Poe's "Oval Portrait"; but the voice we hear is Godard's. What parallels are there between Poe's story and Godard's film?
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#*And what's with the French subtitles in that scene (see screen shot)?
  
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#Considering the sexual politics of the gaze, how does ''Chocolat'' splice the politics of race and colonialism onto it? See [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/Chocolat_DressingScene.php the scene where Protée helps Aimée dress], in particular.
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'''Bibliography'''
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#:How does this fit in with Richard Bjornson's point (quoted by Judith Mayne, 35-6):
 
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#::Regarding Cameroonian author Ferdinand Oyono's novel ''Une vie de boy'' [The Life of a ‘Boy’]: the Europeans "want to regard the houseboy as a 'thing that obeys,' but his potential for unmasking their pretensions makes them fear that he is actually a 'person who sees.'"
 
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#:Mayne also writes, "Where ''Chocolat'' departs from those cliches [about colonial Africa] is in its refusal to grant the fulfillment of the sexual wish.... Their [the colonial wives] objectification of black men is obvious [when they talk about how handsome Protée is], but it also speaks to '''one of the key elements of virtually all of Denis's work''': objectification is one of the ways in which people engage with their own situations, and for white women who function as wives and mothers in contexts that are isolating, fantasies about African men are one of the ways in which they attempt to create a world of their own." (39-40)
 
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#:*Are African men objectified? Are white women?
 
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#:*How would the film have been different if Protée had given in to Aimee's advances? How would it have been different if Mungo Park had accepted France's invitation for a drink in the modern-day story?
 
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#Mayne: "By making the film a story about a white woman's attempt to reconnect with her past, the film evokes memory, to be sure, but it also explores the nature of seeing and being seen, of listening and silence." (40)
 
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#*Both in the present and in the past, How does France see and how is she seen? Does she principally listen and be silent?
 
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#In what sense does Mayne suggest that France may be a femme fatale?
 
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#How does France compare/contrast with Mona, in ''Vagabond''? With She in ''Hiroshima Mon Amour''?
 
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#How is the representation of the past similar/different to ''Hiroshima Mon Amour''?
 
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#Just because a film is made by a woman does not mean it will necessarily be feminist. Do you think that ''Chocolat'' is pro-feminist? Why or why not?
 
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#If, indeed, it is a feminist film, into which category does it fit? (These categories may overlap.)
 
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##Documentary
 
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##Socialist Realist
 
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##Women's cinema as counter cinema
 
  
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==Bibliography==
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#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.
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*Mayne, Judith. ''Claire Denis'' (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2005), pp. 33-48.
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#MacCabe, Colin and Mulvey, Laura. "Images of Woman, Images of Sexuality, in ''Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics'', 79-101. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
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*Kuhn, Annette. ''Women's Pictures: Feminism and Cinema''. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
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#Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In ''Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies''. London: Verso, 1982.
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/Vagabond/index.htm ''Vagabond'' examples]
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/BritishSounds.htm ''British Sounds'' illustrations]
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/BrechtIllustrations.htm Godard and Brecht: Godard's Criticism, ''Vivre sa Vie'' & ''Breathless'']
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/Godard_Criticism_Brecht.php Godard and Brecht: Godard's Criticism, ''Vivre sa Vie'' & ''Breathless'']
  
 
[[Category:TCF340 Discussion]]
 
[[Category:TCF340 Discussion]]

Revision as of 14:31, 28 October 2014

Template:Gallery

MacCabe & Mulvey

  1. MacCabe and Mulvey present a complicated argument about the film, Numero Deux, contending that it is primarily about "the effects of capitalism on sexual relations and the oppression of the working class..." They also link "the oppression of capitalism and the alienation of sexuality."
    • How does Godard represent the economics of prostitution in Vivre sa vie? That is, how would you characterize the way that the economic activity of Nana and the other prostitutes? Are they economically "oppressed"?
    • How does Godard represent the sexuality of prostitution in Vivre sa vie? That is, how would you characterize the way that the sexual activity of Nana and the other prostitutes? Is it "alienated"?
      • You may find it useful to compare Godard's prostitute with prostitutes from other films, such as Pretty Woman.
  2. MacCabe and Mulvey contend, "Female nakedness carries associations of the exploitation of women that almost no degree of formal subversion can displace."
    • All Groups: What do they mean by "formal subversion"? They focus on Godard's British Sounds and the scene of a woman walking up/down stairs (see frame grabs). How does this scene supposedly illustrate this "subversion." Is sexuality "demystified," as MacCabe and Mulvey discuss?
    • Consider the instances of "female nakedness" there are in Vivre sa vie — especially the one of the nude woman looking at the camera (see frame grabs). Is there formal subversion occurring there?
      • All Groups: Do you think it is possible to use a naked female body in a film in such a way that it is not exploitative? Explain, and provide an example (either from a film or hypothetical).

Godard, Brecht & Wollen

  1. All Groups: Describe at least three ways in which Vivre sa Vie incorporates Brechtian and/or counter-cinema techniques. What impact do these techniques have? What argument would Godard make for using them in a film such as Vivre sa Vie? In other words, what's the point?
    • Start with the image of Nana looking at the camera.
  2. All Groups: Does Vivre sa Vie seem more "Brechtian" or more counter cinema than Breathless? Why or why not? What do you imagine a fully counter-cinema film would look and sound like? As a group, plan your own counter-cinema film and be prepared to explain it to the class.
  3. Toward the end of the film, Luigi "reads" Poe's "Oval Portrait"; but the voice we hear is Godard's. What parallels are there between Poe's story and Godard's film?
    • And what's with the French subtitles in that scene (see screen shot)?

Bibliography

  1. 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.
  2. MacCabe, Colin and Mulvey, Laura. "Images of Woman, Images of Sexuality, in Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics, 79-101. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
  3. Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies. London: Verso, 1982.

External links

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