International Cinema: 2014

Classroom: We will watch some films in Miller Auditorium. Our regular classroom will be FT210. Be sure to show up at the classroom for the first session.

Course description: This course surveys the basic trends, genres and filmmakers that exist outside the American Film Industry. We will study various national film histories, styles and movements with an emphasis on their cultural, social and political underpinnings.

Text: “Shadow Philosophy: Plato’s Cave and the Cinema” by Nathan Andersen

Amazon rentals: You will be required to view some films outside of class. All of these assignments will be streamable from Amazon. Rentals run $2.99 or less. All of them are available at either the Public or School Libraries. Getting together for viewings is also a good way to save some money.

Course Requirements: Two papers, a final exam, blog postings, attendance and participation.

Grade Distribution:

Papers (2) - 40%

Exam - 20%

Att. & Part. - 40%

Class Blog - (+10%)

Essay: You will write two papers (4-5 pages each) on subjects TBA. A rubric will be handed out for each assignment.

Exam – There will be a final take-home exam passed out on the 7^th week of class. It is due during the last class session.

Attendance and Participation: A brief weekly paper (1 page) will be handed in covering questions and/or comments on the home viewing assignments. These will count for attendance. Any pattern of absence will adversely affect your grade. Come prepared to discuss your viewings and readings.

Extra Credit – Blog Postings – You will be invited to author on a class blog. You can post on subjects within class studies and comment on the postings of other students. Film reviews, research, clips, trailers, stills and links of interest all qualify for credit.

Disabilities Accommodations: If you have a disability or believe that you qualify for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or other laws, please contact Disability support Services at extension8248 or via email at dss@eckerd.edu as soon as possible. Appropriate accommodations can only be arranged through that office, and may not be made retroactively.

Academic Dishonesty Policy: students should familiarize themselves with Eckerd College’s policy on academic dishonesty. Information can be found at: http://www.eckerd.edu/library/services/plagiarism/ec-policies.php

Class Schedule

(All readings are from “Shadow Philosophy: Plato’s Cave and Cinema” - Andersen)

Week 1

Lecture subject: Early German Cinema

Class screening: “A Clockwork Orange”

Viewing assignment: “The Complete Metropolis”

Reading assignment: Andersen – Chapter 1

Week 2

Lecture subject: French Film

Class screening: “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” – in Miller Auditorium

Viewing assignment: “Three Colors: Blue”

Reading assignment: Andersen – Chapter 2

Week 3

Lecture subject: Italian Film

Class screening: “Rebirth” – in Miller Auditorium

Viewing assignment: “Once Upon a Time in the West”

Reading assignment: Andersen – Chapter 3

Week 4

Lecture subject: Spanish & Mexican Film

Class screening: “Abacus and Sword” – in Miller Auditorium

Viewing assignment: “Pan’s Labyrinth”

Reading assignment: Andersen – Chapter 4

Week 5

1st paper due

Lecture subject: Scandinavian Film & Ingmar Bergman

Class screening: “Winter Sleep” – in Miller Auditorium

Viewing assignment: “The Seventh Seal”

Reading assignment: Andersen – Chapter 5

Week 6 – NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING

Viewing assignment: “Solaris” (Russian version – Tarkovsky)

Reading assignment: Andersen – Conclusion (Chapter 6)

Week 7

Hand out of take-home final exam

Lecture subject: Japanese Film

Class screening: “Spirited Away”

Viewing assignment: “Rashomon”

Reading assignment: TBA

Week 8

Final exam due

2^nd paper due

Lecture subject: Guest Speaker: Nathan Anderson

Class screening: “A Clockwork Orange” in Miller Auditorium

Required Films – in viewing order

Clockwork Orange - (GB)

The Complete Metropolis - (Germany)

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - (Iran)

Three Colors: Blue - (France)

Rebirth - (Japan)

Once Upon a Time in the West - (Italy)

Abacus and Sword - (Japan)

Pan’s Labyrinth - (Spain)

Winter Sleep - (Turkey)

The Seventh Seal - (Sweden)

Solaris - (Russia)

Spirited Away - (Japan)

Rashomon - (Japan)

A Clockwork Orange - (GB)

Friday, November 7, 2014

Interview with Leone, AFI

http://americanfilm.afi.com/issue/2014/8/archives#.VFzTsew1il0

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Here is the soundtrack to Three Colors Blue: Soundtrack

I found the music interesting and thought I would share it with everyone.

Del

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Many Americans, like my wife, would prejudge an Iranian Vampire movie and think that it is just another run-of-the-mill B rated international film. And I would agree with that prevailing school of thought based on the lack of blockbuster Iranian vampire movies in the marketplace or any good Iranian movie for that matter, but after seeing A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, I now dissent from popular opinion. The movie hits you with a compelling cast of characters, a mood and atmosphere that is iconic for its genre, and even weaves into it a forbidden love story. One Hollywood reporter said, "This moody and gorgeous film is finally more about atmosphere and emotions than narrative -- and none the worse for it."

One is immediately captivated with the beautiful cast of young characters. Sheila Vand as The Girl does a wonderful job of playing the seductive vampiress who fights off her instincts to kill Arash for his life giving blood in exchange for the hope of them eventually becoming a couple. Although it is not too uncommon for the modern day, cold-blooded killing vampiress to catch a case of the conscience, this captivating flick still maintains its uniqueness in other elements of the film.

Milad Eghbali, TheStreet Urchin, adds an endearing component to the movie. The young boy is someone that you feel sympathy for immediately as he panhandles for money. He is a poor street-wise kid that is trying to survive on the street. A moment of truth in the movie is when the lives of The Girl and The Street Urchan intersect on the street. This is one of the better scenes in the movie as viewers are momentarily suspended in anticipation hoping that the vampiress has mercy on the young, innocent boy. The Girl is following the boy and when she finally confronts him, she has an opportunity to take his life for a time-honored vampire motive; a tasty human treat to alleviate any between meal vampire hunger pangs. However, moral turpitude was pushed aside by her conscience and she decided to scare The Street Urchan into being a good boy and said that she is always watching him and will come back for him if he misbehaves.

Even though The Girl does voluntarily perform noble acts of community service like killing Arash’s nemesis, the drug dealer - Saeed, the plot soon thickens when she kills Arash’s father - Hossein. Arash is overtaken with extreme grief from the loss of his father and while in this emotional fog convinces The Girl to leave the city with him. As she is packing her belongings, Arash notices all the jewelry and watches that she has collected. This tips him off that she is the killer and took all the jewelry from the bodies of her dead victims. He starts driving with her out of town and pulls off the side of the road and has what appears to be a moment of clarity. He is at a moral crossroad. The viewer is led to contemplate if he is going to confront her about her sins, leave her, or just move past it like it never happened. The movie ends with Arash getting back in the car and driving off with her. We are left to assume that he forgave her and moving forward with his life.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

25 Minutes

I found a link showing the remaining 25 minutes of The Complete Metropolis. Click on the link below if you would like to view the website.

The Complete Metropolis

Regards,
Del

Monday, October 27, 2014

Interview with Kubrick

These interviews are excerpted from the book "Kubrick" by Michel Ciment; first conducted upon the release of the films they respectively focus upon, they were corrected and approved by Stanley Kubrick for incomplete publication in magazines at those times. Complete versions were published in the French edition of Ciment's book in 1980. In July of 1981, Stanley Kubrick expressed a desire to revise these texts for all foreign editions of the book. It is Kubrick's own expanded English versions which are reprinted here.
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/interview.aco.html

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Clockwork Orange Review

Our class watched A Clockwork Orange Friday night. It's an older British movie by Stanley Kubrick set back in the early 70s. Roger Ebert had this to say about this movie, "...all it really does is celebrate the nastiness of its hero, Alex." As the movie began it had the appearance that the plot was going nowhere and moving quickly towards that end. The opening scenes were overtly raunchy for effect and they didn’t appear to contain much relevant meaning towards the plot. One student was so offended by the full-Monte nudity and brazenly undisguised displays of genitalia, that she left the class. If it weren't for the fact that this was a class assignment, this blogger would have departed from the theater as well. It surely didn't appear that the plot was headed anywhere meaningful.

Once you can get past the overacting and sexually explicit scenes at the beginning of the movie, the plot starts to develop. Alex, played by Malcolm McDowell, was a devilishly evil character. He's a character that doesn't even struggle with the morality issues of the crimes that he's committing. As a matter of fact, he acts more like the Joker from the Batman movie because he revels in committing crimes of violence and passion. Furthermore, his pleasure for committing these crimes leads him to take up arms against his friends. Alex is the leader of his self-made gang and asserts his leadership violently to his own eventual downfall.

One of Alex's friends contrives the plan for the next crime. As Alex is committing the crime, it is interrupted by the sound of the siren. The victim recognized the lyrics that Alex used to try to persuade her to open the door. Therefore, her instincts took over and she phoned the police. As Alex is acting alone in the house doing the dirty deed, the police car siren is heard nearing the house. Alex ends up killing the woman in the house by hitting her in the head with a large piece of art that takes the form of male genitalia. Alex, wielding this oversized scrotum and penis, was using it as his defense to keep the victim from hitting him with a small statue. When the victim lost her balance and fell to the ground Alex then took the tip of the penis and used it like a battering ram to bludgeon the victim in the head with it. Alex then hears the police car in hot pursuit, so he wraps up his mischievous activities and heads out the front door. The three friends greet Alex, with a not so warm welcome. Alex's friends, obviously still a bit sore over the whole ordeal that happened earlier in the day, decide to give Alex a forceful taste of his own medicine. One of the friends hits Alex in the head with a blunt object and Alex falls to the ground wincing in pain as the police arrive to arrest him.

While in jail, Alex volunteers for a experimental scientific procedure to have a mind altering experiments conducted on him. This procedure subjects him to torturous treatment of having his eyelids held open, eye drops constantly put in his eyes, graphic movies showing go on for hours on end, and in the background plays Beethoven's ninth Symphony. After the sessions have taken effect, a couple actors are hired to provoke Alex into his old violent self after the treatments. Alex cannot commit violence against the male actor who is provoking him, and he won't engage in carnal knowledge with the topless female actor. With that kind of rock solid evidence that the treatments worked, they decide to let Alex out of prison.

Ironically, karma does catch up to Alex. He runs into his friends, who are now police officers, and they take him into the woods and beat him up. Then as Alex is seeking help from my house nearby in the woods, the owner of the house lets him in to try to help him. When Alex is in the bathtub bathing he starts singing the song Singing in the Rain again. The owner recognizes Alex's voice and the tune, and he realizes this is the guy that killed his wife. So he contrives a plan to torturing Alex in a room by playing Beethoven's ninth Symphony very loud. The movie ends with Alex participating in a orgy of sorts saying, “I’m cured alright.” This lends one to believe that he is back to his old conniving self.