21L.011 The Film Experience, Fall 2011
Syllabus
(PDF available)
NOTE: Some of these files are restricted to registered members of the class. An MIT Certificate is required to access some of these files.
| Tue | Thu | Required Film: | Required Reading: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept | I. THE SILENT ERA | ||
| 8 | Porter, The Great Train Robbery
Griffith, A Beast at Bay |
Cook, A History of Narrative
Film, (4th ed) Pp 1-41, 51-85 Gunning, "An Aesthetic of Astonishment" |
|
| 13 | 15 | Griffith, Lonely Villa, Musketeers of Pig Alley |
Cook, 177-182 Mast, from A Short History of the Movies |
| 20 | 22 | Chaplin, The Immigrant , Easy Street , Modern Times | Agee, "Comedy's Greatest Era" |
| 22 | CLOSE READING EXERCISE DUE | ||
| 27 | 29 | Murnau, Nosferatu, The Last Laugh | Cook, ch. 4-5 |
| Oct | II. HOLLYWOOD GENRES | ||
| 4 | 6 | Capra, It Happened One Night Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window Hawks, His Girl Friday [Second screening on Thurs., Oct. 6 at 7 pm in 3-270.] |
Cook, ch. 7-8 |
| 6 | FIRST PAPER DUE | ||
| -- | 13 | Capra, Hawks and Hitchcock continued | |
| 18 | 20 | Donen/Kelly, Singin' in the Rain |
Braudy, "Genre: The Conventions of Connection" |
| 20 | MIDTERM EXAM | ||
| 25 | 27 | Fosse, Cabaret | Cook, ch. 12 |
| Nov | |||
| 1 | 3 | Ford, The Searchers |
Cook, 845-868 Stone, "The Search Party" |
| 3 | SECOND PAPER DUE | ||
| 8 | 10 | Altman, McCabe and Mrs. Miller |
Lethem, "The Greatest Death Scene" |
| III. INTERNATIONAL MASTERS | |||
| 15 | 17 | Renoir, Grand Illusion | Cook, 303-326 |
| 22 | -- | DeSica, Bicycle Thieves | Cook, 355-368 Zavattini, "Some Ideas on the Cinema" |
| 29 | -- | Truffaut, The 400 Blows | Cook, 431-458 |
| Dec | |||
| 1 | THIRD PAPER DUE | ||
| 6 | 8 | Kurosawa, Rashomon |
Cook, 735-745 |
| 13 | Summary Perspectives: Film as Art and Artifact | ||
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