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For this assignment you’re to write a paper of approximately 2,000 words in length (New Times Roman 12 font, double-spaced = 7-8 pages). You are strongly encouraged to select your essay topic from the list of topics offered below. The subject topics range from one of the genres studied in class (horror, western, melodrama) to one of the post-World War II film movements studied in class (New Wave Iranian Cinema, Italian Neo-Realism, Soviet Socialist Realism, Contemporary Japanese Cinema). This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of suggested topics, but a selective offering.
In mom cases the topics can be modified to fit a different film/genre. I am also willing to entertain personalized topics, if there is one that you feel very strongly about that cannot be accommodated by this list (I. E. If you want to write on the avian-garden or documentary). However, any modification from this list, or personalized essay topic must be approved by your instructor. Pleased include a word count at the end of the essay, and when you perform any kind of formal scene or shot analysis please provide a DVD/BAD time code at the end of the description (I. E. 35’20” = thirty-five minutes and twenty seconds).
The essay is due on Wednesday, April 9 at the Mel Happening School of Cinema office, FOB-319, before 5:pm (alternatively you may hand the paper in class on April 7). There should be a box on the desk with my name or the course code for you to place your paper in. If you are writing on New Iranian Cinema, your essay is due at the Cinema office by 5:pm on April 16. If you want your final essay returned with comments you must provide an EASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope), otherwise your paper will be recycled. It is strongly recommended that in preparation for your essay you review The Film Experience, Chi. 2, “Writing a Film Essay,” up. 35-467 which will help you in terms of doing research, properly sourcing your citations, taking notes, and organizing your paper. Genre 1 . “Violence in the classic Hollywood western, as LOL argued, is ‘socially necessary,’ a means toward a noble end, and when used in this light it represented “manly virtue” (LOL 101). The violence pictured between cowboys and Indians, the Cavalry and the Confederates, are all necessary struggles in the larger process of civilization that will ultimately lead to the realization of a utopian community the settlers were Sistine to build in this new-found land” (Ever Jan Van Lenten).
Discuss this quote in relation to the classic American western and then compare its meaning to either Clint Statehood’s Unforgiving or Sergei Lens’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 2. “Lens’s western world parodies Hollywood western ideology of manifest destiny and heroic masculinity by highlighting the complete disintegration of community, family, and moral values under the rule of masculine violence and a selfish will to power” (Ever Jan Van Lenten). Fem. assignment By ammonium the classic Hollywood “western ideology. ” 3.
Has the persona evolved across the films? 13. “The whole of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly can be interpreted, or ‘read’, in terms of both of the cinematic exploration of spaces or shapes, and of experimentation with a pure iconography: icons of death, the church, the war, and icons normally associated with the traditional Western -redefined in this free’ context” (Christopher Fraying, Spaghetti Western, p. 175). Use this quote as a starting point for a formal analysis of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. 14.
High Noon is seen by many historians and cultural critics as a grand metaphor for the HUGH period (The House of Un-American Activities), roughly 1947-1952, where McCarthy-era paranoia ran rampant and many filmmakers were blacklisted for their decision to not “name names” or because of tenuous left wing associations. Do an historically based analysis of such a reading. Your paper should incorporate a textual-formal analysis of the film to demonstrate how the film’s narrative and characterization reflects this symbolic reading. 5.
Trace formal, stylistic, and/or thematic patterns across two or more films from one of the genres studied in class (spaghetti western, horror, melodrama). At least one of your chosen films must have been screened in part or whole in class. 16. Compare the Canadian film Ginger Snaps and its treatment of the wolfram/werewolf figure against the treatment of the wolfram (or werewolf) film made in another country. Possible options include Great Britain (The Curse of the Werewolf, The Company of the Wolves, Dog Soldiers), Spain (Paul Anyways Walden Dankness films), United States (The Wolf Man, The Howling,
An American Werewolf in London) . Compare and contrast how the treatment of the material differs. What aspects are “Canadian” about Ginger Snaps? Does Ginger tension or All the Boys Love Andy Lane with an early slashes film (1978-1982). You should consider social and historical context, as well as Carol Clover’s theory of the “final girl. ” 18. Violence is an important tool of the horror genre. Discuss the parameters of violence in the horror genre. This is a broad subject so you must fine tune your topic.
The following are possible areas of focus: 1) Discuss the relative rite of explicit violence versus atmosphere (the less is more approach). 2) Does the use of violence ever become merely exploitative or gratuitous? 3) What is the function of style in the representation of violence? 19. Contextual Haute tension as part of the recent wave of French Horror. What are some of the qualities, trends, thematic developments of recent French horror? How does Haute tension reflect these? 20. Discuss the documentary The American Nightmare as a social/cultural analysis of the horror genre.
What are its defining statements about the horror genre? Does it do a proper Job of conceptualizing the mere historically? Do you agree with its ‘reading’ of the horror genre’s development? 21 . Discuss Let the Right One In within the context of the “New Vampire” film. How does the new vampire film differ or add to older traditions of the vampire? How does director Alfresco modernize the gothic trappings of the classic vampire tale? How does the figure of the vampire compare to older vampire figures? 22.
Using Brigit Cherry’s essay “Gothic and Grand Signals: Violence and the Gendered Aesthetics of Cinematic Horror” as a starting point, discuss the idea of a “feminine aesthetic” in the horror film. According to Cherry’s research, what type of horror films are women more likely to watch and enjoy? Use either Ginger Snaps or Let the Right One In as a case study for the possibility of a “feminine aesthetic” in horror film. 23. Use what the textbook defines on pages 341-344 as a ‘descriptive approach to genre’ to analyze either the horror, western or melodrama genre. 4. Write a paper that approaches from a critical perspective the cultural phenomenon of the ‘So bad its good’ film (SOBBING). Why do so many of these films become cult films? Are all ‘SOBBING’ films cult films, and vice versa? What is it that attracts people to champion failed art? Why is it important (according to Richard McCullough) that these films be written “as a fan about fan culture” (p. 193)? Ideally you should focus your analysis on The Room, but if you would like to use another film as a case study, you must get the instructor’s approval.
As research for your paper you can go beyond the assigned readings, be you MUST reference the assigned reading by Richard McCullough (and ideally, also the reading by Marc Convince ). National Cinema 1 . Structure a discussion of neo-realism around the issue of film realism. Why were these post-war Italian films defined as being “realist”? Your essay should narrow the focus by isolating one of the following areas of realism: style, subject matter, or form. You must refer to the textbooks discussion of Realism (up. 406-408) but will need to go beyond the textbook for your research. 2.
The great French film theorist/historian And Basin once said, “There is no neo-realism, only neo-realist filmmakers. ” Do a comparative analysis between two of the following neo-realist directors: Roberto Reselling, Vitriol De Sick, Federate Felling, Lucking Viscount. How do the approaches o neo-realism of the respective directors differ? Is this difference one of style, subject The Bicycle Thieves is often thought of as one of the most representative neo-realist films in terms of cinematic realism (shot on location, use of long takes, non-expressive editing, moving camera, etc. . Do a close formal analysis of these qualities. Is this reputation Justified? Does the film veer away from these realistic style tropes? You must refer to the textbooks discussion of Naturalistic miss-en-scene (up. 87-93). 4. The New Wave (post-sass) Iranian Cinema is characterized by a particular form of intimate reflexivity. This form of unique reflexivity includes confusing the distinction between actor and character, professional and non-professional actor, and incorporating formal devices that either expose the narrative apparatus or mirror the narrative from within.
Explore one or more of these aspects of Iranian reflexivity (you can also outline other ways in which these films are reflexive) in Certified Copy. 5. Chart the influence of neo-realism on one New Wave Iranian film (suggested films include, The White Balloon, The Runner, The Apple, Homework, Where is the Friend’s Home, The Mirror). 6. Do an auteur analysis of one New Wave Iranian filmmaker (either Bass Sartorial, Mosses Mikhail, Safari Pain, Dairies Emeriti, Samara Mikhail, Abraham Baize or Thymine Milan). You must incorporate the textbooks discussion of authorship (up. 10-11), as well as other secondary material on authorship. 7. DOD comparative analysis between the classic Agenda-Geek film Tokyo Story and its modern equivalent, Tokyo Sonata. Which elements does director Oshkosh Sarasota carry over from the Zoo film? How does his contemporary agenda- geek differ? How are the differences a reflection of historical changes? . Explore the ways in which Oshkosh Sarasota introduces aspects of the supernatural into his otherwise realist, agenda-geek film Tokyo Sonata. 9. Do an art history comparison between socialist realist painting and a socialist realist film. 10.
Do a close analysis of a thaw’ period socialist realist film and chart how these films begin to challenge the ideology of the more orthodox socialist realist films. Your film should be chosen from one of the following: The Steamroller and the Violin, Van’s Childhood, The Cranes are Flying, and Ballad for a Soldier. 1 1 . Compare and contrast an early (1932-1953) socialist realist film with a later socialist realist film (1959-1965). 12. In relation to emerging late twentieth century Global Cinema, national identities are in the process of being defined in relation to postcolonial and post revolutionary realities.