TCF 340 International Cinema
French Film

Course Description:

TCF 340 assumes the student understands generally the contours of international cinema history. The course's objective therefore is to investigate in some depth the cinematic work of a particular nation and the historical/theoretical issues pertaining to it. This term our topic will be the French cinema.

Assignments:

1. An analytical exercise based upon the principles discussed in Bordwell and Thompson's Film Art. Worth 15 points.
   
   
2. Three exams. The first two will be during classtime (12 October and 2 November) and the third will be administered during the final exam period: Thursday, 16 December, 8-10:30 a.m. Early exams will not be given. Each is worth 25 points, for a total of 75.
   
   
3. One take-home essay, which will synthesize concepts presented over the course of the entire semester. Essay topics will be distributed 9 December and the essay will be due at the final exam period: 16 December, 8:00 a.m. It must be word-processed and, if necessary, properly footnoted. Worth 10 points.

Grade scale:

A  93-100   C  73-76
A- 90-92    C- 70-72
B+ 87-89    D+ 67-69
B  83-86    D  63-66
B- 80-82    D- 60-62
C+ 77-79    F  59 and below

Film Screenings & Credits:

Most films will be shown on videotape/DVD Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. in room 216. You may bring guests with you. There will be no other screenings of the films, but Blockbuster Video does carry a few of the titles, and two or three of them are available in the audio-visual section of the Gorgas Library.

Credits are available from the Internet Movie Database. Follow the links below to find credits for specific films.

Attendance Policy:

Each student is permitted four absences. Each absence beyond four will result in one point being deducted from the student's final grade (maximum penalty: five points).

Course Schedule (subject to changes announced in class):

Reading List

Available at local bookstores:

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction. Fifth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Available through the Academic Publishing Service (Supe Store):

In alphabetical order, not the order in which they are assigned. The format used here adheres to the Turabian style for bibliographies--which is different from its footnote style.

1. Armes, Roy. French Cinema. NY: Oxford University, 1985.
2. Bazin, André. "The Era of the Popular Front." In Jean Renoir, pp. 36-52. Edited and with an introduction by Francois Truffaut. Translated by W. W. Halsey II and William H. Simon. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1973.
3. Bazin, André. "The Evolution of Film Language." In The New Wave, pp. 24-51. Edited and translated by Peter Graham. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968.
4. Bazin, André. "LE JOUR SE LÊVE . . . Poetic Realism." In LE JOUR SE LÊVE: A Film by Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert, pp. 5-12. Translated by Dinah Brooke and Nicola Hayden. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1970.
5. Brecht, Bertolt. "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre." In Brecht on Theatre, pp. 33-42. Edited and translated by John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.
6. Bresson, Robert. Notes on Cinematography. Translated by Jonathan Griffin. NY: Urizen, 1977.
7. Crisp, C. G. Eric Rohmer: Realist and Moralist. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1988.
8. Fofi, Goffredo. "The Cinema of the Popular Front in France (1934-38)." In Screen Reader I, pp. 172-224. London: SEFT, 1977.
9. Godard, Jean-Luc and Anne-Marie Miéville. "FRANCE/TOUR/DETOUR/TWO/CHILDREN." Camera Obscura, 8-9-10, pp. 60-73.
10. Kuhn, Annette. Women's Pictures: Feminism and Cinema. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.
11. Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
12. MacCabe, Colin. Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 1980.
13. Monaco, James. Alain Resnais. NY: Oxford University, 1979.
14. Monaco, James. The New Wave. NY: Oxford University, 1976.
15. Penley, Constance. "Les Enfants de la Patrie." Camera Obscura, 8-9-10, pp. 32-59.
16. Wollen, Peter. "Godard and Counter Cinema: VENT D'EST." In Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter-Strategies. London: Verso, 1982.

Disabilities Accommodation Policy:

Every effort will be made to accommodate students with disabilities. Please notify Jeremy Butler at the start of the semester if you require such accommodations.

Academic Misconduct Policy:

All acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.