MCST 275 - Theoretical Approaches to European and American Cinema

Cross-Listed as GERM 275

All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. In this course we shall approach films as a medium that, through all of its means (from dialogue to more formal aspects, such as camera angle or editing), raises and attempts to negotiate philosophical, ideological, and political issues and conflicts. We shall be exposed to different methodologies of film analysis while examining: (a) a few representative films of three influential European film movements (German expressionism, Italian Neo-Realism, French nouvelle-vague), as a means of tracing the itinerary of European cinema from an action-oriented to a reflection-oriented practice; (b) the British and later American work of Alfred Hitchcock, as a mode of cinematography that employs the “gaze” as a principle of structural organization; and (c), American films of the 1970’s - 1990’s, as attempts to represent the world of late capitalism. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)