MARCH 5

Films:

Daisies (Chytilova 1966) DVD 5059     

Simon of the Desert (Buñuel 1965) DVD 3281  

Duck Amuck (Jones 1953) Blu-Ray 114 disc 1

Reading (to be done by March 11):

Małgorzata Radkiewicz. “Angry 
young girls: 
Gender representations in 
Věra Chytilová's Sedmikrásky and Pasti, pasti,  pastičky.”  

Paper topic (paper due March 12. All undergraduate papers to be printed and stapled and brought to class. All graduate papers to be sent via email to elkrugamigos@earthlink.net, attached as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt file):

Discuss the final scenes of Daisies. How do you read them in relationship to the film’s first 70 minutes? Pay particular attention to the scene in the water that begins the sequence, the dialogue in the cleaning scene, the short montage that follows it, and the final text.

FEBRUARY 26

Film:

Masculine Feminine (Godard 1965) DVD 1752        

Excerpts:

Breathless (Godard 1959) Blu-Ray 060 (opening to 8:08)

Tout va bien (Godard/Gorin 1972) DVD 1398 (opening to 5:20, 1:08:14 to 1:14:07)

Reading (to be done by March 4):

Gene Youngblood. “Jean-Luc Godard: No Difference Between Life and Cinema”  (in course reader)

Maany Farber. “Jean-Luc Godard”  (in course reader)

Paper topic (paper due March 5. All undergraduate papers to be printed and stapled and brought to class. All graduate papers to be sent via email to elkrugamigos@earthlink.net, attached as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt file):

No new assignment – use this week to turn in all your short papers and catch up on the reading. Please remember that this week is the drop dead date – the first five papers must be turned in by 4 pm.

FEBRUARY 19

Films:

Happiness (Varda 1964) DVD 5230        

Antoine et Colette (Truffuat 1962) DVD 388

Excerpt:

Band of Outsiders (Godard 1965) DVD 623 (45:07 to 51:50)

Reading (to be done by February 25):

François Truffaut. “Evolution of the New Wave: Truffaut in  interview  with Jean-Louis Comolli, Jean Narboni (extracts).”  (in course reader)

Jonathan Rosenbaum. “Sexism in the French New Wave.”

Paper topic (paper due February 26. All undergraduate papers to be printed and stapled and brought to class. All graduate papers to be sent via email to elkrugamigos@earthlink.net, attached as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt file):

Write about whatever you find most striking about Happiness. Aim for specificity: frame your argument through a detailed discussion of one or two short scenes.

FEBRUARY 12

Film:

Rio Bravo (Hawks  1959) Blu-Ray 011        

Excerpt:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks  1953) DVD 263 (21:20 – 25:00)

 

Reading (to be done by February 18):

Peter Wollen. "The Auteur Theory."  in course reader)

Paper topic (paper due February 19. All undergraduate papers to be printed and stapled and brought to class. All graduate papers to be sent via email to elkrugamigos@earthlink.net, attached as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt file):

Discuss two articles from the PRINTED reader, including today’s piece by Peter Wollen. You can choose the approach you take – you can compare their approaches, if you like, or you can discuss how their visions of the films in question differ from your own. But I expect substantial reference and citation to the pieces you reference.

FEBRUARY 5

Film:

Voyage to Italy (Rossellini  1954) Blu-Ray 265        

Reading (to be done by February 11):

Roberto Rossellini.  "Rossellini's Ten Commandments to his students at the Centro Sperimentale." (in course reader)

Eric Rohmer. "The Land of Miracles."  "(in course reader)

Paper topic (paper due February 12. All undergraduate papers to be printed and stapled and brought to class. All graduate papers to be sent via email to elkrugamigos@earthlink.net, attached as a .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt file):

There is a long tradition of films that have unlikely and puzzling endings, conclusions that may seem out of place with the rest of the film, that leave us with hanging questions or unsettled feelings. In the case of Voyage to Italy, the ending has always been interpreted in a number of ways, including by Rossellini. 

For this week, I want to sit with your experience of the film for a few days and then write about the ending – how do you feel about the conclusion you just saw? Do you take it at face value or do you see any irony in the scene? Does it seem genuinely happy? I want you to reference details of the shooting and editing, as well as performance in your discussion. Keep in mind its last lines:

"Tell me that you love me." 

"Well, if I do, will you promise not to take advantage of me?"

"Yes, but tell me, I want to hear you say it."

"Alright, I love you."

JANUARY  29

Film:

Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi 1954) Blu-Ray 273

        

Reading (to be done by February 4):

Robin Wood. “The Ghost Princess and the Seaweed Gatherer: Ugetsu Monogatari and Sansho Dayu.” (in course reader)

Alexander Jacoby. “Kenji Mizoguchi.”

Assignment for the week. Graduates, please email essay to me at elkrugamigos@earthlink.net; undergraduates, please bring a printed copy to class:

There is no written assignment this week. You are to use the week to catch on all the assigned readings in the class thus far. There will be assignments requiring reference to the readings coming soon.

JANUARY 22

Film:

Umberto D (DeSica 1952) Blu-Ray 180

excerpts:

Open City (Rossellini 1945) DVD 2658 – 46:40 to 57:00

The Postman Always Rings Twice (Garnett 1946) DVD 4235 – 1:19 to 5:54

Ossesione (Visconti 1943) DVD 527 – 1:29 to 8:20

What is neorealism? from kogonada on Vimeo.

Reading (to be done by January 28):

Cesare Zavattini - "Some Ideas on the Cinema"

Amédée Ayfe, “Neo-Realism and Phenomonology,” both in course reader.

Please note that the Zavattini piece was unable to be included in the digital version of the reader. This includes the free material sent as you wait for the hard copy of the reader to arrive. If your hard copy of the reader has not yet arrived, you can find this essay - one of the most important we will read this semester - at: http://tinyurl.com/qh3xnlq

Assignment for the week. Graduates, please email essay to me at elkrugamigos@earthlink.net; undergraduates, please bring a printed copy to class:

Imagine one of your favorite narrative films as a neo-realist film. How does it change the look and the story, the texture and the editing of the film? Be specific, and root your discussion in just one short scene, which you describe in detail.