Course Catalog

This course surveys the richest and most alluring
period of cinema from its peak following the end of World War II, through the global movements that revitalized its decline, to its subsequent reformation by digital technologies at the turn of the century. It was by no coincidence that cinema was dubbed the art of the 20th century: taking advantage of technological advancements, newer generations of filmmakers reinvented the expressive possibilities of cinema by turning their cameras directly onto social realities and into individual psyches. Each week, the course will explore key developments in international film cultures by situating films within broader social, political, and cultural contexts. The course will also map the influential aesthetic trends,significant critical developments, and fundamental institutional factors that altogether configured cinema as a voice for political comment as well as a medium of entertainment. Through weekly readings and class discussions, students will learn about the irresistible power of international cinemas and the differing national traditions that resisted the ideological and commercial
dominance of Hollywood.

The course analyzes the work of one of the greatest, most influential film directors in the history of cinema, whose prodigious career spanned the silent and sound eras. Hitchcock made major contributions first to British film, then to the classic Hollywood style. Students begin by establishing Hitchcock’s concept of pure cinema, and then trace the biographical origins of his fascination with “fright”. They also explore the major influences in his work. The director’s move to American cinema focuses on his volatile work relationship with his producer, David Selznick, in films like Rebecca and Spellbound. A study of this transition culminates in an in-depth analysis of Hitchcock’s debt to the Surrealists, the subsequent fascination of the French New Wave for his works and his role as an inaugural auteur. Hitchcock’s command of his craft and his technical innovation to create masterpieces of suspense transformed modern cinema.

From its earliest inceptions, cinema has been built out of and nurtured by the Science Fiction which dominated the end of the 19th Century. Fantasy, a brainchild of the Enlightenment, has also had a profound impact on the early directions of cinema, notably with the work of Méliès. Cinema has equally been fueled by rapid transitions in early 20th century developments in psychology, notably the Freudian concept of the uncanny. Technological progress, the urban alienation associated with the Modernist aesthetic and the advent of wars fought through technologically advanced weaponry have contributed to a long-standing fascination with these cinematic genres. This fascination is informed by these genres’ simultaneous escapist tendencies and their abilities to create striking allegories for the disturbing trends of the cinematic age. In this course, students explore the themes of both fantasy and science fiction cinema, such as the dichotomy of utopias and dystopias; the “trucage” of the early screen and the eminent fear of apocalypse which pervades much of these genres’ canons throughout their evolutions. Pivotal theorists such as Gerard Genette, Tzevetan Todorov, Susan Sontag and others are considered in order to provide the intellectual backdrop for these genres’ progressive move into central cinematic areas of study. The origins of the genres and the principal film directors who have shaped the genre are also analyzed in depth.