SPCM 350 – Evaluating Contemporary Film (3 credits) Recent Trends in International Cinema (1980s-2000s) Instructor: Email: Office: Office Hrs:

Dr. Hye Seung Chung (Ph.D., UCLA) [email protected] 216 Eddy Wed./Fri. 1:15 – 2:45 p.m.

Semester: Lectures: Labs: Location:

Spring 2013 Mon. & Wed. 5:00 – 6:15 p.m. @ ANAZO E 112 Mon. 6:30 – 9:10 p.m. @ Eddy 212

Student Learning Objectives: (1) (2) (3) (4)

demonstrate an understanding of basic film vocabulary and critical terminology develop an ability to evaluate, critique, and analyze the form and content of motion pictures situate film texts within larger social and cultural contexts become familiar with contemporary international films produced in response to Hollywood’s commercialized standards and formal conventions

Specific Focus of the Course: This course is designed to introduce students to the stylistic complexity and thematic richness of what might be labeled “global cinema.” Taking the end of the Cold War as our starting point (a period of the mid-to-late 1980s roughly coinciding with the rise of globalization and the opening of world markets), we will trace the recent history of various film cultures within and across national borders. In addition to ranging widely over European contexts (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain) and Asia-Pacific contexts (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand), we will explore cinematic trends in developing nations (Iran, Mexico, Republic of Macedonia, Romania). By surveying the breadth and depth of new or emergent cinemas around the globe, students will be exposed to a variety of different cultural traditions, indigenous movements, regional concerns, and social formations unique to the given case studies. We will also develop a deeper understanding of the ways in which the medium of motion pictures has been used by gifted filmmakers to address political issues while expanding this art form’s aesthetic and narrative capabilities. Attention will be paid not only to the cultural and historical contexts in which these critically lauded motion pictures were produced and distributed, but also to the significance of film form and film style in the communication process. We will look at various aspects of mise-en-scene (setting, costumes, lighting, figure expression, movement, color design, etc.) as well as the principles of narrative construction that inform our “reading” of these films as “texts.” By focusing on the constituent parts of cinematic signification in detail, students will become better equipped to sort through the oftentimes contradictory meanings of works that might “speak” to audiences differently, depending on their cultural background, political affiliation, sexual orientation, etc. NOTE: All films will be screened in their original language with English subtitles.

REQUIRED TEXTS: Ed Sikov’s Film Studies: An Introduction (Columbia University Press, 2010) additional readings available on RamCT Blackboard as pdf. files

Assignments, Grade Percentages, and Responsibilities Attendance and Attendance/participation points have a strong determining influence on final grades. Participation Students are required to attend each class meeting/film screening and participate in 15% discussions. Absences for medical emergencies or participation in official university events

are excusable only when you submit proper documentation (with the exact date you missed recorded). After 4 absences, your grade will be lowered by 2.5 points per each additional absence. You will fail the course if you miss 8 or more class meetings without an excuse. The participation component of your grade includes: preparation, speaking in class, active listening, and occasional homework (short written responses). It is important that you come to each meeting on time so that you do not disrupt lectures. Habitual tardiness will affect your grade negatively. You are expected to complete the assigned readings, make up any missed screenings, and prepare questions and ideas for the film/TV discussions. In order to foster active discussions, use of personal electronic devices (laptops, cellular phones, MP3 players, etc.) is not allowed during the class time. *** Notes on film screenings: Attending weekly film screenings is mandatory. An independent, private screening is allowed for emergency reasons and you must submit a 2-page film response as evidence of your make-up screening by Wednesday of the week when you miss a required screening. Otherwise, you will lose 2.5 points for each missed screening. Required screenings are on 2-hour reserve at Morgan Library.

Quizzes Weekly quizzes (comprising multiple choice questions and short identifications) will be 10% given to test on your reading progress/understanding of the textbook Film Studies: An Introduction and RamCT Required Readings (PDF), as well as your attentiveness to the weekly screenings. Upon completion of all quizzes, your scores will be averaged after the lowest score has been dropped. If you miss one quiz, that day will be counted as your lowest/dropped score. No make-up quiz will be allowed unless you arrange it in advance for an excusable absence.

First Writing On Mar. 4, students will submit a 5-page formal film analysis exploring the work of one Assignment filmmaker (either Krzysztof Kieslowski or Wong Kar-wai). This assignment requires 15% students to do outside screenings (watching two films by either of these directors in addition to our in-class screening). Additional details forthcoming.

Midterm Exam On March 25, students will take the midterm exam, which will consist of fill-in-the-blank (in class) questions, matching, and short essays. A substantial portion of this exam will concern the 15% process of film analysis, testing students on the critical vocabulary of this practice as well as the readings assigned throughout the first half of the semester.

Second Writing Assignment (creative writing project) 15%

On April 15, students will submit a 5-page scenario for a story that might be added (as a hypothetical “fourth episode”) to any ONE of the following in-class screenings: Before the Rain (1994), Amores Perros (2000) or The Day I Became a Woman (2000). This creative writing project will require research into the cultural settings and character backgrounds of your selected film. Additional details forthcoming.

Group Film Analysis In groups of 3 0r 4, students are required to give one 20-minute presentation on one (class presentation) required film (focusing on its thematic and stylistic elements, its director and/or other 10% creative personnel, and its historical and cultural meanings). Your presentation will be

graded based on both the quality of the research and the effectiveness of in-class delivery. Each group should prepare a 3-page study guide summarizing required readings and your findings and post on RamCT/Student Presentations by 10pm, the night before your presentation. Include in your posting 5 open-ended discussion questions about both the film and related readings to pose to classmates during your presentation. You are required to consult books, academic articles, and media interviews related to your topic and check out any supplemental materials on DVD (Wikipedia and IMDB are a good place to start but will not be counted as legitimate research sources). Also, you are encouraged to incorporate multimedia elements (such as PowerPoint slides, frame captures, and/or film clips) for effective communication. Feel free to be interactive and creative in your presentation. For fair evaluations, each group should submit to me a list of work division/credit along with your presentation materials. I will be happy to look over your draft of the study guide and discussion questions in advance.

Final Exam On May 16, students will submit the take-home final exam, which will be distributed one (take home) week in advance. This exam will consolidate various strands of discussion and lecture 20% material. Like the midterm, this will feature short essay questions, although this time the focus will be on images of families in crisis and the representation of violence in films produced within the last ten years.

General notes: Workload Two hours of out-of-class work are required each week per credit (in order for you to complete readings, quiz prep, essays, and group work), for a total of six out-of-class hours each week. Papers Your papers must be typed, double-spaced, 11 or 12-point font, 1" margins, spell-checked and proofread. Late submissions will not be accepted unless I authorize an extension in advance for special circumstances (any late papers, if accepted, will be graded down unless indicated otherwise). I will be happy to discuss your early drafts during my office hours and help you to prepare for any assignments and exams. Grades Grades will be determined by and based on quality of thought, engagement with materials, and the degree to which your writing is clear, eloquent and persuasive. 100-99 (A+); 98-93 (A); 92-90 (A-); 89-87 (B+); 86-83 (B); 82-80 (B-); 79-77 (C+); 76-70 (C); 69-60 (D); 59 and below (F) Plagiarism

You are expected to present original work; plagiarism will result in an automatic failing for the assignment and may lead to further disciplinary action per university policy. Students should be aware that quotations must be cited and that the paraphrasing of another writer’s ideas also requires citation. Be sure to talk to me if you are unsure about this issue.

Academic Integrity This course adheres to the Academic Integrity Policy of the Colorado State University General Policy Catalog (p. 7) and the Student Conduct Code.

Week Topics, Readings, and Assignments Screenings (required viewings) date MODULE 1: (a) HISTORY, FORM, FEELING (b) WESTERN EUROPEAN CINEMAS OF THE 1980S 1

Wordiness and Worldliness: Studying (Subtitled) Films

Grand Illusion (France, 1937) - clips Vive L’Amour (Taiwan, 1994) - clips

Jan 23

2

Course Introduction Cinematic Desire and Nostalgia: An Overview of International Film History

Jan 28

Film Studies, Introduction and Ch. 1 (pp.1-23) Week 2 Study Notes: “Classics of the Past…”

Jan 30

Warren Buckland, “Narration and Focalization in Wings of Desire” (RamCT)

3

European Cinema’s Postmodern Renaissance: Contemporary Trends in Film Form

Feb 4

Film Studies, Ch. 2 (pp.24-37) Week 3 Study Notes: “Movie Mechanics and Modes of Production”

Feb 6

Susannah Radstone, “Cinema/Memory/History” (RamCT)

4

“Feeling” the Film, “Sensing” the City: Cinematic Affect and Postmodern Performativity

Feb 11

Film Studies, Ch.9 (pp. 129-142) Week 4 Study Notes: “Form, Feeling, and Meaning: Evaluating Film”

Feb 13

Paul Julian Smith, “Femininity by Design” (RamCT)

Wings of Desire (West Germany, Wenders, 1987)

Cinema Paradiso (Italy, Tornatore, 1988)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spain, Almodóvar, 1988)

MODULE 2: (a) NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND FORMAL PROPERTIES OF FILM (b) INTERNATIONAL AUTEURS AND THE “AUTEUR THEORY” Plot, Story, and Style: Structure and Meaning in the Films of Kieslowski

5

Red (Rouge) (Poland/France, Kieslowski, 1994)

Feb 18 Film Studies, Ch. 6-7 (pp.89-115) Week 5 Study Notes: “Plot + Story…” Feb 20 “Authorial Style and Aspects of Mise-en-Scene” Yacovone, “Space, Theme, and Movement” (RamCT) Style as Substance, Substance as Style: Hong Kong Action and the Films of Wong Kar-wai

6

Chungking Express (Hong Kong, Wong, 1994)

Feb 25 Film Studies, Ch. 3 (pp.38-54) Week 6 Study Notes: “Cinematography, Framing…” Feb 27 T.R. Gleason and Q. Tang, “An International Auteur in Hong Kong Filmmaking” (RamCT) REMINDER: ESSAY #1 DUE MARCH 4 Formal Auteurist Analysis: (a) The Films of Krzysztof Kieslowski or (b) The Films of Wong Kar-wai For this first writing assignment you are to watch three films directed by the same filmmaker (either Krzysztof Kieslowski or Wong Kar-wai). You should then write a 5-page paper analyzing this filmmaker’s symbolic use of color, camera movement, and mise-en-scene. Additional details forthcoming. Genre, Cultural Collision, and Juxtaposition: Melodrama in Fifth Generation Chinese Films

7

Mar 4

** 1st Paper (Formal Film Analysis) Due Film Studies, Ch. 4 (pp.55-73) Week 7 Study Notes: “Shot-to-Shot” Liang Shi, “The Daoist Cosmic Discourse…” (RamCT)

Mar 6

NO CLASS (professor will be at a conference)

To Live (China, Zhang, 1994)

** Post a 5o0-word response on To Live and Shi’s essay on RamCT/Student Responses by 10pm, 3/6.

MODULE 3: (a) PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: AN ANALYTICAL SYNTHESIS (b) VOICE, VISION, AND VIOLENCE IN DEVELOPING NATIONS 8

Music, Silence, and Voice: New Zealand Woman’s Film

The Piano (New Zealand, Campion, 1993)

Mar 11 Film Studies, Ch. 5 (pp.74-88) Week 8 Study Notes: “ Music + Voice: The Fundamentals of Film Sound” Mar 13 Claudia Gorbman, “Music in The Piano” (RamCT)

9

SPRING BREAK

Mar 18 NO CLASS - 20

Extra Credit Opportunity: If you would like to receive extra credit, you should watch the New Zealand film Once Were Warriors (1994) over the break and post a 500-word response on RamCT/ Student Responses by 10 p.m., March 24

REMINDER: You should begin thinking about the creative writing assignment that is due on April 9 10

Balkan Cinema: Circles of Violence in the Former Yugoslavia

Before the Rain (Rep of Macedonia, Manchevski, 1994)

Mar 25 MIDTERM EXAM Mar 27 Katarzyna Marciniak, “Transnational Anatomies of Exile and Abjection” (RamCT)

11

Episodes and Fragments: Recent Films from Latin America

Apr 1

Film Studies, Ch. 10 (143-157)

Apr 3

Ignacio M. Sanchez-Prado, “Exotic Violence and Neoliberal Fear” (RamCT)

Amores Perros (Mexico, Iñárritu, 2000)

Episodes and Fragments: Recent Films from the Middle East

12

Apr 8

The Day I Became a Woman (Iran, Makhmalbaf, 2000)

Goli Rezai-Rashti, “Transcending the Limitations: Women and Iranian Cinema” (RamCT)

Apr 10 Anna Dempsey, “Telling the Girl’s Side of the Story” (RamCT) Tales of the New Europe: Post-Communist Romanian Cinema

13

Apr 15

**2nd Paper (Creative Writing) Due Doru Pop, “The Grammar of the New Romanian Cinema” (RamCT)

Apr 17

Ioana Uricaru, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (RamCT)

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Romania, Mungiu, 2007)

MODULE 4: (a) FAMILIES IN CRISIS AND THE EXTREMITY OF IMAGES (b) INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKING IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM 14

Reality, Verisimilitude, and Cinematic “Truth”: Lars Von Trier and Dogme 95

Dancer in the Dark (Denmark, Von Trier, 2000)

Apr 22 Jan Simons, “Von Trier’s Cinematic Games” (RamCT) Apr 24 Gavin Smith, “Lars Von Trier Interview: Dancer in the Dark” (RamCT)

15

“Extreme” East Asian Cinema: From Japan to South Korea

Apr 29 Nikki Lee, “Salute to Mr. Vengeance” (RamCT) May 1

Jonghyun Jeon, “Residual Selves: Trauma and Forgetting in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy” (RamCT)

Oldboy (South Korea, Park, 2003)

16

“Extreme” European Cinema: Returning the Gaze, Revisiting the Past

Caché (Austria/France, Haneke, 2005)

May 6

Ipek A. Celik, “‘I Wanted You To Be Present’” (RamCT)

May 8

Final discussion and course evaluations [Exam distributed]

May 16

TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM DUE (by 6:00 p.m.) in my office (Eddy 216)

Content Note Please recognize that you may not like all of the films presented in this class. These films were chosen because they a) illustrate concepts from the texts; b) are historically significant, award-winning works that have garnered accolades from international critics; and c) have not been seen by many undergraduate students, who—most importantly—will benefit from having their horizons expanded through in-class viewings. While I hope that you will find some of these films entertaining, your achievements and success in this course depend not on your level of amusement, but on your ability to apply critical concepts in specific and insightful ways. In other words, please approach each film not as a happiness-hungry consumer, but rather as a smart and sophisticated critic willing to look beyond Hollywood and American cinema. Also, some of the films foreground themes that students might find offensive, and contain images that might make you uncomfortable. Please be aware of the fact that discomfort is frequently part of the learning process, and that we can benefit from exposure to a wide variety of texts. While I will work to accommodate everyone’s concerns, the course demands that we explore sensitive topics on occasion and be mature in our discussions of selected films.