OCTOBER 1
Films:
The Last Laugh (Murnau 1924) DVD 377
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Wiene 1920) DVD 3299
Readings (to be done by October 7):
Thomas Elsaesser.
“Germany: The Weimar Years,” in course reader.
Janet Bergstrom.
“Friedrich Wilheim Murnau,” in course reader.
Paper topic
(paper due October 8. Graduate students send papers via email to
gmairs@calarts.edu; undergraduates send papers to TA Matthew Lax at
laxco@outlook.com):
Your
assignment for today is to compare the visual styles of one of the films
screened tonight to Broken Blossoms.
You only have two pages, so you should think very small – take one short scene
(or even a single shot) from Broken
Blossoms and compare it to a short scene from The Last Laugh or The Cabinet
of Doctor Caligari, making very specific, concrete reference to the
framing, the editing, the lighting , the makeup, the performance style– any
element that intrigues you. DO NOT compare the stories but instead how the
films function in visual terms.
