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V45.0881S

V45.0881 (Spring):
French Cinema, French Culture: "Contemporary French Cinema"

 
Lectures: Mondays and Wednesdays 3.30 - 4.45pm
Location: TBA
Screenings: TBA

The course surveys French cinema from the 1980s to the present day. Formal issues will be discussed in the context of French civilization. Students will be required to regularly cross the perspectives of French history and film analysis.

 
No knowledge of cinema studies or French required. The course and the discussions are conducted in English. The midterm test, the essays and the final test must be written in English.

 
The course will discuss the following topics:
 

The Crisis of Political Modernism : The “Cinéma du look” and Heritage Cinema
Luc Besson: Subway (1985)
Alain Corneau: All the Mornings of the World (Tous les matins du monde, 1991)

Body, Gender and Sexuality
Claire Denis: Nénette et Boni (1996)
André Téchiné: Wild Reeds (Les Roseaux Sauvages, 1994)
Bruno Dumont: The Life of Jesus (La Vie de Jésus, 1997)

Post-colonial Identities
Mehdi Charef: Tea in the Harem (Le Thé au Harem d’Archimède, 1985)
Matthieu Kassovitz: Hate (La Haine, 1995)

Representations of the Past : the (Re)writing of National History
Jacques Audiard: A Self Made Hero (Un Héros très discret)
Rachid Bouchareb: Indigènes (2006)

A New Social Cinema?

Robert Guédiguian : The Town is Quiet (La Ville est tranquille, 2000)

Laurent Cantet: Human Resources (Ressources humaines, 1999)

Raymond Depardon: Tenth District Court (10e chambre: instants d’audience, 2004)

French Cinema between Globalization and Nostalgia

Olivier Assayas: Irma Vep (1997)

Nicolas Philibert: To Be and to Have (Etre et avoir, 2002)