Topics in French Film History and Theory I: 1895-1945

Catalog description

Provide background needed to understand the broad outlines of French film history and theory in their first fifty years (1895-1945). FR 487 Topics in French Film History and Theory I: 1895-1945 (3) (IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The aim of this course is to provide the upper level undergraduate student with the background needed to understand French film in the period up to the end of World War II. This will greatly aid the student in understanding French literature and culture of the period as well. Topics will include the invention of cinema and the early days of French film; adventure serials and commercial films; avant-garde and surrealist film of the 1920s and 30s; and finally, the period often considered the 'golden age' of French film, the 1930s and 40s, and the so-called 'poetic realism' movement. Films will be supplemented with readings in criticism by writers and filmmakers of the period, as well as by the scholarship of critics and theorists writing today. The course would allow upper-level undergraduate students to partially fulfill the 400-level course requirement for French majors and minors. This course may also be used to fulfill a requirement in the newly proposed Film Studies minor. A student's performance in this course will normally be evaluated through an in-class expose, two in-class essay tests, and a short research paper. The class will be offered once a year with 50 seats per offering.