Film Poster - Sherlock, Jr.
English  373S:
Film Theory and Criticism
Jefferson Hendricks
Centenary College of Louisiana
Fall 2007

Texts/Calendar
Policies and Requirements
General Links for Writers
Writing About Film
Film Links
Contact Info 		Three Colors Trilogy



Texts:  
1.  Richard Barsam,  Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD) --  Norton , 2nd ed.  --  ISBN-13: 978-0393928655  [Barsam]

2.  Stanley Cavell,  Pursuits of Happiness:  The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage  --  Harvard U. Press  (reprint ed.)   --  ISBN-13: 978-0674739062  [Cavell]

3.  Annette Insdorf,  Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski  --  Miramax Books  --  ISBN-13: 978-0786884742   [Insdorf]



Calendar:  
Wk 1:   The Film Experience:  Pleasure and the Act of Criticism
Tu    Aug  28
  • Introduction to Course  

Th    Aug 30   
  • Film:    Sherlock, Jr.   (USA, 1924.  Dir. Buster Keaton)



Wk 2:   Narrative and the Art of Cinematic Storytelling

Tu    Sept  4
  • Film:   Stagecoach  (USA, 1939.  Dir. John Ford)
  • Required Readings:
    • Barsam,  Chapter 2:  "Narrative"
    • John Ford  --  John Baxter, Film Reference.com
    • John Ford  --  Richard Franklin,  Senses of Cinema
    • Ford Til '47  --  Tag Gallagher,  Senses of Cinema
    • John Wayne  --  Robin Wood and John McCarty, Film Reference.com

Th  Sept 6
  • Required Readings:
    • Stagecoach  --  David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art:  An Introduction, 4th ed.   [pdf file]
    • "The Spectator-in-the-Text: The Rhetoric of  Stagecoach"  --  Nick Browne,  Film Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Winter, 1975),  pp. 26-38.    [Available on JSTOR through the Magale Library]
    • Narrative  --  Richard Neupert,  Film Reference.com
Wk 3:   Film as a Composed Image:  Mise-en-Scène, Design, and Composition

Tu    Sept 11    
  • Required Readings: 

Th    Sept 13
Wk 4:   Cinematography and Acting:  Klute as Case Study

Tu    Sept 18
  • Film:  Klute   (USA, 1971.  Dir. Alan J. Pakula)
  • Required Readings: 
    • Barsam, Chapter 4:  "Cinematography" 
    • Alan J. Pakula  --  Deborah H. Holdstein and R. Barton Palmer, Film Reference.com 
    • Cinematography  --  Murray Pomerance, Film Reference.com
    • Lighting  --  Deborah Allison, Film Reference.com

Th    Sept 20
  • Required Readings: 
    • Barsam, Chapter 5:  "Acting"
    • Klute  --  Karli Lukas, Senses of Cinema
    • Klute  --  Thomas L. Erskine
    • Acting  --  Cynthia Baron,  Film Reference.com  (all sections)

*****  Fr Sept 21:  1 page review due by 2:00 pm to Ms. Palmer in Jackson Hall 304
Wk 5:   Editing and Sound:  The Conversation as Case Study

Tu    Sept 25
Th    Sept 27


Wk 6:  Stanley Cavell on The Lady Eve

Tu    Oct 2
  • Film:  The Lady Eve  (USA, 1941.  Dir. Preston Struges)

Th    Oct 4
  • Required Readings: 
    • Cavell, "Cons and Pros:  The Lady Eve"
    • The Lady Eve  --  Robin Wood, Film Reference.com
    • The Lady Eve  --  Peter Tonguette,  Senses of Cinema
Wk 7:  Genre Study:  Mid-Term Exam

Tu    Oct 9  
  • No Class:  study for mid-term exam

Th    Oct 11
  • Mid-term Exam
Wk 8:    Fall Break


Tu    Oct 16       NO CLASS  --  Fall Break  
 

Th    Oct 18       NO CLASS  --  Fall Break  
Wk 9:    Genre Study:  Stanley Cavell on It Happened One Night and Bringing Up Baby

Tu    Oct 23

Th    Oct 25
  • Required Reading:
      • Cavell, "Leopards in Connecticut:  Bringing Up Baby"
Week 10:   Genre Study:  Stanley Cavell on The Philadelphia Story

Tu    Oct 30
 Th    Nov 1
*****  Fri  Nov 2:  1st essay (1000 words) due by 2:00 pm to Ms. Palmer in Jackson Hall 304
Week 11:     Genre Study:  Stanley Cavell on His Girl Friday

Tu    Nov 6
  • Required Readings:  
    • Howard Hawks  --  David Boxwell,  Senses of Cinema
    • Howard Hawks  --  Wikipedia
    • Genre  --  Barry Keith Grant, Film Reference.com   (all sections)  
  • Background Readings: 

Th    Nov 8
Week 12:    Genre Study:  Stanley Cavell on The Awful Truth

Tu    Nov 13
  • Required Readings: 
    • Leo McCarey  --  Robin Wood, Film Reference.com
    • Leo McCarey  --  Paul Harrill,  Senses of Cinema
    • Irene Dunn  --  Jeanine Basinger and Corey K. Creekmur, Film Reference.com
    • "Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage" --  David R. Shumway, Cinema Journal,  Vol. 30, No. 4 (Summer, 1991), pp. 7-23.   [Available on JSTOR through the Magale Library]

Th    Nov 15
  • Background Readings: 
Week 13:      THANKSGIVING BREAK

Tu    Nov 20    NO CLASS

Th    Nov 22    NO CLASS
Week 14:     Auteur Theory:  Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Double Life of Veronique and Blue   
Tu    Nov 27  
  • Required Readings:  
    • Before film viewing:

Th    Nov 29  
  • Film:  Three Colors:  Blue  (France/Poland/Switzerland/UK, 1993.  Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski) 
Week 15:     Auteur Theory:  Krzysztof Kieslowski's   White and Red

Tu   Dec 4      

Th   Dec 6 
  • Film:    Three Colors:  Red   (France/Poland/Switzerland/UK, 1994.  Dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski)    
 
*****  Fr Dec 7:  Final Essay (2000) words due by 2:00 pm to Ms. Palmer in Jackson Hall 304
Week 16:     Final Exam Review and Evaluation
Tu    Dec 11     
  • Review Kieslowski and The Double Life of Veronique and The Three Colors Trilogy
  • Background Readings: 
    • "Music in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Film "Three Colors: Blue  -- A Rhapsody in Shades of Blue: The Reflections of a Musician"  --   Irena Paulus, Graham McMaster,
      International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music,  Vol. 30,  No. 1 (Jun., 1999),  pp. 65-91.             [Available on JSTOR through the Magale Library]
    • The Three Colors Trilogy  --  John Ottenhof,  Christian Century
  • Final Exam Review and Evaluations

Th    Dec 13      No Class  --  Study for Final Exam

Final Exam

Dec 17:  4-7 pm  Jackson Hall 304