This paper is available for the academic year 2024-25 at Part IB.听
This paper offers the opportunity for comparative study of European Cinema. The paper opens with an introduction to film language and to cinema鈥檚 fundamental properties as a medium. Students will learn techniques for close analysis of film texts as well as developing an intellectual understanding of the ontology of film, of film as an indexical medium, and of key aspects of film language. The variety of lecture topics introduce students to key areas in European film history and film theory, through close work on a series of prescribed films and through theoretical reading as well as broader comparative work. The paper is taught in English, all prescribed readings are in English, and all prescribed films are subtitled in English. Should they wish to do so, however, students are welcome, with the advice of their supervisors, to expand their engagement to include materials in language areas in which they have proficiency.
The paper begins with two lectures on Film Language, which introduce cinema as a complex mode of representation. There are several further topics, including: 鈥楥ities and Bodies: Early Cinema鈥�, 鈥楢rt and Industry鈥�, 鈥楾he Neorealist Moment鈥�, 鈥楢rt Cinema鈥�, 鈥楳igrant Lives鈥�, 鈥楺ueer Rules鈥�, 鈥楶hilosophy and the Moving Image鈥�. There are generally two or more prescribed films per topic. Students may supplement the list of possible films for discussion with other appropriate examples, in consultation with their supervisor.
Information on the topics, films and suggested and essential reading can be found in the听听(on Moodle, requires Raven login).
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General Theory and Context
Jacques Aumont, 鈥楪riffith鈥攖he Frame, the Figure鈥�, in Thomas Elsaesser, ed.,听Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative听(London: BFI, 1990), 348-59
Andr茅 Bazin, 鈥楾he Ontology of the Photographic Image鈥�, in Bazin,听What is Cinema?听vol. 1, Hugh Gray, ed. and trans. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 9-1
_______, 鈥楾he Virtue and Limitations of Montage鈥�,听What is Cinema?听vol. 1, Hugh Gray, ed. and trans. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 41-52
Walter Benjamin, 鈥楾he Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction鈥�,听Illuminations, Hannah Arendt, ed. (New York: Schocken Books, 1969), 217-251
Sergei Eisenstein, 鈥楢 Dialectic Approach to Film Form鈥�,听Film Form, Jay Leyda, ed. and trans. (San Diego, NY and London: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1949), 45-63
_______, 鈥楧ickens, Griffith, and the Film Today鈥�,听Film Form, Jay Leyda, ed. and trans. (San Diego, NY and London: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1949), 195-255
Tom Gunning, 鈥楾he Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, its Spectator and the Avant-Garde鈥�, in Thomas Elsaesser, ed.,听Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative听(London: BFI, 1990), 56-62
Laura听Mulvey, 鈥榁isual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema鈥� [1975]
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Introductory texts on film form, film analysis, and writing about film
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (NY: McGraw Hill, 2008) other editions acceptable
Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing about Film (New York and Harlow: Longman, 1998)
Amy Villarejo, Film Studies: The Basics (London: Routledge, 2007)
You are expected to attend the lectures, seminars and supervisions for the entire paper. The first supervision assignment, accompanying the film language lectures and seminars, will be an exercise in close reading and formal analysis. Typically you will produce a substantial supervision essay for each of the subsequent lecture topics, although some supervisions may be organised around group work, presentations, and/or other assignments addressing听the screenings and readings. Follow-up supervisions are offered in Easter Term as a means of preparing for the exam. Students work with one supervisor across the year. Seminars meet weekly. All students, including those writing Optional Dissertations, are expected to attend the seminars and to make one un-assessed seminar presentation.
Please see the听.
The exam is structured in two parts. Part I is a comparative commentary question, in which students are asked to identify a pair of stills (from a range of three paired options) taken from two of the prescribed films, to analyse them individually, and to discuss them in relation to one another. Part II requires students to answer two (out of a range of ten) questions (some focusing on a particular topic, some inviting engagement across topics. Each answer must address films from more than one language area. Scripts as a whole must address films from at least two language areas (excluding English).听
Dr Leila Mukhida |
