Postgraduate Course: Visions of the past: History in Hollywood and European cinemas (CLLC11075)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Common Courses (School of Lit, Lang and Cult) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course will focus on the representation of history in cinema.
Although it is an invention of the twentieth century, cinema is one of the main art forms through which our fascination for the past is expressed. The medium's specific capacity for 'verisimilitude', as well as its power to capture and replay images in movement, to 'embalm' the present, as Bazin puts it, has fostered its unique relationship to history.
Through an analysis of Hollywood epics, European Heritage films, costume dramas and adaptations as well as visions of the past offered in alternative-modernist or avant-garde cinema, the course will look at a wide array of film forms, genres, as well as narrative and representational strategies at play in cinematic treatments of history. As such, it will offer a framework for discussions on issues of historical 'truth'; authenticity and cultural dominance; representation and identities (individual, collective, national and trans-national); discourse and ideology (race, gender, class, colonialism and post-colonialism), which are at the heart of recent debates on history, culture and film.
The following sample of titles exemplifies the variety of films or genres that could be discussed as part of the option The grapes of Wrath and My Darling Clementine (Ford, 19 40 and 1946, U.S); The Ten Commandments, (B DeMille, 1956, US.); The Virgin Spring (Bergman, 1959, Sweden), Hiroshima Mon Amour (Resnais, 1959, Fr), The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (Straub and Huillet, 1968, Ger.), Lacombe Lucien (Malle, 1972, Fr), Amarcord (Fellini, 1974), The Man of Marble (Andrzej Wajda, 1977), The Return of Martin Guerre (Vigne, 1982, Fr), Wings of Desire, (Wenders, 1988), Orlando, (Potter, 1993, UK), Schindler's List (Spielberg, 1993, US.), Beau Travail (Denis, 2000, Fr). |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 2, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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WebCT enabled: No |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | 10:00 - 12:00 | |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| The students will gain an understanding of the formal and theoretical issues at stake in the representation of history in film. They will be able to conduct creative comparative analysis of the work of European and non-European filmmakers and will be familiar with the work of a selection of filmmakers. |
Assessment Information
| One 4,000 word essay to be sumbitted week 11 |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Film History Representation |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Martine Beugnet
Tel: (0131 6)50 3637
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Kate Marshall
Tel: (0131 6)50 4114
Email: |
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