Film Studies Thesis Proposal and Thesis: 2011

FILM STUDIES 2009-2010
SCHOOL OF DRAMA, FILM AND MUSIC TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
BCFilm: Film & Film Theory
Lecturer: Dr Paul McGuirk email: pauldmcguirk@gmail.com
Timetable:
Lectures: Monday 6-7 pm in JM Synge 2039; Thursday 6-7 pm in Thomas Davis 2043
Screenings: Monday 7-9 pm in JM Synge 2039

Course Outline
This Broad Curriculum course will trace the emergence and evolution of film and film theory from its origins in the late nineteenth and twentieth century to the present. Over that time many movements and theories of cinema have emerged and, in many cases, been eclipsed. The principal theoretical approaches will be examined and assessed in terms of their historical importance and their practical application. The development of cinema both as an art form and an industry will be examined and, in addition, consideration will be given to the various ways in which national cinemas have emerged and evolved over time. The aim of this course is to expose students to the diversity of filmmaking practices and provide them the theoretical tools that will allow them analyze the connections between cinema and the various social, economic and cultural contexts in which films have been produced.

Readings
There is a list of suggested readings for each week. This list is not meant to be exhaustive and it is hoped will encourage further independent research. Please ensure that you have read something from the list each week before you attend the lectures.

Lectures
Each week the first lecture will establish the context for the film in question. The second lecture will be more flexible and will aim to either provide a further lecture on a related topic or offer an opportunity for general discussion.

Screenings
There will be occasions when the film being screened exceeds the two-hour time slot.

Registration
Students must register for the course through the Broad Curriculum Website. If you wish to cancel your registration and drop out of the course then you must email the Broad Curriculum administration at bccourse@tcd.ie to de-register.

Assessment
An essay of 2500 words is required. You must achieve an overall mark of 40% to pass the course.
There will be no written final exam. You should also familiarise yourself with the Broad Curriculum
Assessment/Examination Regulations, which are on the Broad Curriculum website.
STUDENTS ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT IT IS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE FAMILIAR WITH TRINITY COLLEGE’S POLICIES CONCERNING PLAGIARISM
TWO copies of essay must be submitted for assessment. One copy should be handed in to the Drama office in the Samuel Beckett Centre. Another copy of the same essay should be submitted via Turnitin.com. Failure to submit via Turnitin.com will result in the essay not being assessed. Essays are not accepted via email. 2

COURSE OUTLINE – MICHAELMAS TERM 2009
Week One: No lectures or screening

Week Two: Early Cinema: Formalism & Expressionism
Screening: Sunrise (FW Murnau, US, 1927)
Suggested Readings:
Lucy Fischer, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (London: BFI Classics, 1998)
David A Cook, A History of Narrative Film,3rd Ed, (New York: Norton, 1996) pp. 115-122
Thompson & Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction (New York: McGraw Hill, 2003, pp. 174-8
Tom Gunning, ‘Early American Cinema’ in John Hill & Pamela Church Gibson, eds., The
Oxford Guide to Film Studies (Oxford University Press, 1998) pp.255-271
Tom Gunning, ‘The Cinema of Attractions: Early cinema, its spectator and the avant-garde’ in Thomas Elsaesser, ed. Early Cinema: Space, Frame & Narrative. (BFI, 1991) pp.56-62

Week Three: French Poetic Realism
Screening: Le Jour se lève (Marcel Carné, France, 1939)
Suggested Reading:
Maureen Turim, ‘Poetic Realism as psychoanalytical & ideological operation’
In Hayward & Vincendeau, eds. French Film: Texts & Contexts (Routledge, 2000)
Dudley Andrew, Mist of Regrets (Princeton UP, 1995) pp. 319-332
Thompson & Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction (McGraw Hill, 1994) pp. 328-332
David A Cook, A History of Narrative Film 3rd Ed (Norton, 1996) pp. 378-391)

Week Four: Classical Narrative
Screening: Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, US, 1942)
Suggested Readings:
Robert B Ray, A Certain Tendency of The Hollywood Cinema (Princeton UP, 1985) pp. 89-112
Richard Maltby, ‘A Brief Romantic Interlude: 3½ seconds of the Classical Hollywood Cinema’ in
Bordwell & Carroll, Post-Theory (U Wisconsin Press, 1996) pp. 434-459
Umberto Eco, ‘Casablanca: Intertextual Collage’, Faith in Fakes (Minerva, 1995) pp. 197-212
Robin Wood, America in the Movies (Columbia UP, 1989) pp. 24-28
Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (McGraw Hill, 2001) pp. 68-90 & pp.415-418.
Pam Cook & Mieke Bernick, The Cinema Book (London: BFI, 1999) pp.39-42.

Week Five: Hollywood, Realism & Expressionism
Screening: Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, US, 1941) [Bank Holiday: Arrange own viewing]
Suggested Readings:
Marilyn Fabe, Closely Watched Films (University of California Press, 2004) pp.78-98
Laura Mulvey, Citizen Kane (London: BFI Classics, 1992)
Pauline Kael, The Best Film Ever Made (London: Methuen, 2002)
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (McGraw Hill, 2001) pp.110-127.

Week Six: Film Noir
Screening: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, US, 1944).
Suggested Readings:
Richard Schickel, Double Indemnity (London: BFI Classics, 1996)
Frank Krutnik, In A Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre & Masculinity (Routledge, 1991) pp. 137-163
James Naremore, More Than The Night (University of California Press, 1998) pp. 81-95
Janey Place, ‘Women in Film Noir’ in EA Kaplan, ed. Women in Film Noir (BFI, 1998) pp.47-68
Paul Schrader, ‘Notes on Film Noir’ Silver /Ursini, eds. Film Noir Reader (Limelight, 1998) pp. 53-64
Claire Johnston, ‘Double Indemnity’ in Kaplan, ed. Women In Film Noir(BFI, 1998) pp. 89-97

Week Seven: Study Week - No Lecture.

Week Eight: Italian Neo-Realism
Screening: Ladri di biciclette/ The Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, Italy, 1948) 3
Suggested Readings:
Millicent Marcus, Italian Films in the Light of Neorealism (Princeton UP, 1986, pp. 54-75
Marilyn Fabe, Closely Watched Films (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004) pp.99-121
Andre Bazin, ‘Bicycle Thieves’ in What Is Cinema II (U of California Press, 1971) pp. 47-60
Mark Shiel, Italian Neorealism: Rebuilding the Cinematic City (Wallflower, 2006)
Thompson & Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction (New York: McGraw Hill) 2003, pp.353-372
Week Nine: The French New Wave
Screening: Les 400 coups/ The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, France, 1959)
Suggested Readings:
Marilyn Fabe, Closely Watched Films (University of California Press, 2004) pp.120-134
Anne Gillain, ‘The Script of Delinquency’, Hayward & Vincendeau, eds (Routledge, 2000) pp. 142-157
Homes & Ingram, François Truffaut (Manchester UP, 1998) pp. 41-51; 127-130; 146-149.
François Truffaut, ‘A Certain Tendency in French Cinema’ in Graham & Vincendeau, eds.
The French New Wave: Critical Landmarks (Palgrave/Macmillan/BFI, 1968/2009) pp. 39-64
Andre Bazin, ‘La politique des auteurs’, Graham/Vincendeau, eds. The French New Wave, pp.130-48

Week Ten: Hollywood, Genre & Authorship
Screening: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (John Ford, US, 1962)
Suggested Reading:
Robert B Ray, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema (Princeton UP) pp.215-243.
Jim Kitses, Horizons West: Directing the Western from Ford to Eastwood (BFI, 2004) pp. 118-125
Richard Slotkin, Gunfighter Nation (New York: Harper Perennial, 1992) pp. 1-26
Robert Warshow, ‘The Westerner’ in The Immediate Experience (Harvard UP, 1962/2001) pp. 105-204
Andre Bazin, ‘The Western: the American Film par excellence’ & ‘The Evolution of the Western’ in
What Is Cinema II (University of California Press, 1971) pp. 140-157

Week Eleven: The European Art Film
Screening: 8 ½ / Otto e mezzo (Federico Fellini, Italy, 1963)
Suggested Reading:
Marilyn Fabe, Closely Watched Films (University of California Press, 2004) pp. 152-172.
Peter Bondanella, The Films of Federico Fellini (Cambridge UP, 2002) pp. 93-116
_____ The Cinema of Federico Fellini (Princeton UP, 1992) pp.163-179

Week Twelve: The European Art Film
Screening: Persona (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden, 196 6)
Suggested Reading:
Lloyd Michaels, Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Cambridge UP, 2000,
Christopher Orr, ‘Scenes from the Class Struggle in Sweden’ in Lloyd Michaels,
Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Cambridge UP, 2000, pp. 86-109.
Susan Sontag, ‘Bergman’s Persona’ in Lloyd Michaels, Ingmar Bergman’s Persona,
Cambridge UP, 2000, pp. 62-85
Robin Wood, Ingmar Bergman (Studio Vista, 1969) pp. 143-159
_____ ‘Persona Revisited’, Sexual Politics & Narrative Film (Columbia UP, 1998) 4

Early Cinema: Formalism & Expressionism
French Poetic Realism
Hollywood, Realism & Expressionism
Classical Narrative
Film Noir
Italian Neo-Realism
The French New Wave
Hollywood, Genre & Authorship
The European Art Film