This class is the third part of a three-class sequence on the
history of film; but it may be taken independently of parts one and
two. The course gives an overview of the worldwide history of film
since 1960. One film screening a week will be supplemented by clips
from other important films. There will be a combination of lecture and
class discussion.
As it is not really possible to cover more than fifty years of film history in depth in the course of a single semester, the approach will be selective. We will concentrate on several important moments in film history, and focus mostly on the 1960s and 1970s, a crucial period of transition from classical to modernist cinema. These moments include: the French New Wave of the 1960s; the Italian art cinema of the 1960s and 1970s; the New Hollywood of the 1970s; the New German Cinema of the 1970s; the Japanese New Wave of the 1960s; parallel developments in Russian and Eastern European cinema of the 1960s; the American independent cinema of the 1980s and 1990s; and recent cinemas of East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, from 1990 to the present).
Since class time is limited, students will be asked to watch a number of additional films on their own. These are listed in the syllabus as "Supplemental Viewing." Six short papers will be due in the course of the semester; each of these should be a report on one of the films from the Supplemental Viewing lists. For whichever film you choose, you should write a précis, a brief historical placement, and a critical discussion, describing the film in its own terms, and relating it to the films that we have screened and discussed in class.
August 31, September 7, September 12: The French New Wave.
Francois Truffaut, Antoine et Colette (France, 1962).
Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot le Fou (France, 1965).
Other directors: Alain Resnais, Agnes Varda, Eric Rohmer.
Reading: Short History, pp. 239-255.
Supplemental Viewing: Francois Truffaut, The Four Hundred Blows (1959); Francois Truffaut, Jules and Jim (1962); Jean-Luc Godard, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967); Alain Resnais, Last Year at Marienbad (1961); Agnes Varda, Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962); Eric Rohmer, Claire's Knee (1970).
September 14: NO CLASS
September 19, 21, 26, 28: Italian film in the 1960s and 1970s.
Michaelangelo Antonioni, Red Desert (Italy, 1964).
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Teorema (Italy, 1968).
Federico Fellini, Toby Dammit (Italy, 1968).
Other directors: Luchino Visconti, Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci.
Reading: Short History, 212-217, 258-269.
Supplemental Viewing: Federico Fellini, 8 1/2 (1963); Pier Paolo Pasolini, Arabian Nights (1974); Luchinco Visconti, The Leopard (1963); Michaelangelo Antonioni, L'eclisse (1962); Bernardo Bertolucci, The Conformist (1970); Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris (1972); Sergio Leone, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966).
October 3, 5, 10, 12: The New Hollywood (1970s).
Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver (1976)
Robert Altman, McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
Other directors: Stanley Kubrick, John Cassavetes, Francis Ford Coppola, Alan Pakula, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg.
Reading: Short History, pp. 274-287, 351-372.
Supplemental Viewing: Stanley Kubrick, 2001 (1968); John Cassavetes, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976); Francis Ford Coppola, The Conversation (1974); Steven Spielberg, Duel (1971); George Lucas, THX 1138 (1971); Alan Pakula, The Parallax View (1974); Robert Altman, Nashville (1975); Brian De Palma, Carrie (1976); Roman Polanski, Rosemary's Baby (1968); Sam Peckinpah, The Wild Bunch (1969).
October 5: First Paper Due (on French or Italian film)
October 17, 19, 24, 26: The New German Cinema (1970s).
Rainier W. Fassbinder, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974).
Werner Herzog, Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972).
Other directors: Wim Wenders, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff
Reading: Short History, pp. 271-274, 302-310.
Supplemental Viewing: R. W. Fassbinder, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972); R. W. Fassbinder, The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979); R. W. Fassbinder, Veronika Voss (1982); Werner Herzog, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974); Wim Wenders, The American Friend (1977); Wim Wenders, Wings of Desire (1987); Margarethe von Trotta, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975); Volker Schlöndorff, The Tin Drum (1979).
October 19: Second Paper Due (on New Hollywood)
October 31, November 2: The Japanese New Wave (1960s/1970s).
Nagisa Oshima, Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1968)
Seijun Suzuki, Branded To Kill (1967)
Other directors: Shohei Imamura.
Supplemental Viewing: Nagisa Oshima, Violence at Noon (1966); Nagisa Oshima, In the Realm of the Senses (1976); Shohei Imamaura, The Pornographers (1966); Shohei Imamura, Vengeance is Mine (1979); Seijun Suzuki, Tokyo Drifter (1966).
November 2: Third Paper Due (on New German Cinema)
November 7, 9, 14, 16: The USSR and Eastern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s.
Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrei Rublev (1966)
Vera Chytilova, Daisies (Czechoslovakia, 1967).
Other directors: Milos Forman, Andrzej Wajda, Miklos Jancso, Dusan Makavejev.
Reading: Short History, pp 290-301.
Supplemental Viewing: Andrei Tarkovsky, Solaris (1972); Milos Forman, Loves of a Blonde (1965); Miklos Jancso, The Red and the White (1968); Dusan Makavejev, WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1972); Andrzej Wajda, Man of Marble (1977).
November 21, 28, 30: Chinese-Language Cinema since 1990
Tsai Ming-liang, The Hole (1998)
Wong Kar-Wai, In the Mood for Love (2000).
Reading: Short History, pp. 322-323, 336-350.
Supplemental Viewing: Edward Yang, Yi Yi (2001); Hou Hsiau-hsien, Flowers of Shanghai (2000); Tsai Ming-liang, Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2005); Wong Kar-Wai, Chungking Express (1994); John Woo, The Killer (1989); Zhang Yimou, Raise the Red Lantern (1991); Chen Kaige, Farewell My Concubine (1993); Jia Zhang Ke, Platform (2000); Johnnie To, Vengeance (2010).
November 28: Fourth Paper Due (on Japanese, Soviet, or Eastern European cinema).
December 5, 7, 12: Other World Cinema Since 1990.
Claire Denis, Beau Travail (1999).
Abbas Kiarostami, A Taste of Cherry (1999).
Supplemental Viewing: Krzsztof Kieslowski, The Double Life of Veronique (1991); Emir Kusturica Underground (1995); Pedro Almodovar, Talk To Her (2002); Lars Von Trier, Breaking the Waves (1996); Michael Haneke, Caché (2005); Cristi Puiu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005); David Lynch, Mulholland Drive; Takeshi Kitano, Sonatine (1998); Chan-wook Park, Old Boy; Kim Ki-duk, 3-Iron (2004): Gaspar Noé, Enter the Void.
December 7: Fifth Paper Due (on Chinese-language cinema since 1990)
Friday, December 16: Sixth Paper Due (on other-than-Chinese-language cinema since 1990).
Please note the new University rules regarding withdrawals:
Students must send withdrawal requests through Pipeline by the end of the 10th week (November 12, 2011, Fall term); after November 12th, students WILL NOT be allowed to withdraw.