Syllabus E
Sample Syllabi For Use With World On Film: An Introduction
SYLLABUS E: The Construction Of Femininities In World Film: What Is The Spectrum Of International Images Of Women?
A cutting-edge study of films that reveal the evolution of the images of femininity in six national film cultures and how these basic traditions translate in the works of two auteurs of postnational film culture. The course is intended as a foundation for further investigation in more advanced courses of gender in today's films, both American and international.
For a 15-week course:
WEEK I
INTRODUCTION: THE CONSTRUCTION OF FEMINITIES IN NATIONAL FILM CULTURES
READING:
"Introduction to Part I," pp. 2-22.
SCREENING:
Cleo From 5 to 7 (Dir. Agnes Varda, 1962)
WEEK II
ITALY
READING:
Chapter 4, "Italy: The Myth of History, Neorealism, and Beyond," pp. 150-74.
Show clips from Assunta Spina (Dirs. Francesca Bertini and Gustavo Serena, 1915) ; Obsession aka Ossessione (Dir. Luchino Visconti, 1943); Open City aka Roma città aperta (Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1945)
Show clips from Assunta Spina (Dirs. Francesca Bertini and Gustavo Serena, 1915) ; Obsession aka Ossessione (Dir. Luchino Visconti, 1943); Open City aka Roma città aperta (Dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1945)
SCREENING:
La Strada aka The Road (Dir. Federico Fellini, 1954)
WEEK III
READING:
Chapter 4, "Italy: The Myth of History, Neorealism, and Beyond, pp. 174-94.
Show clips from La Dolce Vita aka The Sweet Life (Dir. Federico Fellini, 1960); L'avventura aka The Adventure (Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960); Divorce Italian Style aka Divorzio all'Ittaliana (Dir. Pietro Germi, 1962)
Show clips from La Dolce Vita aka The Sweet Life (Dir. Federico Fellini, 1960); L'avventura aka The Adventure (Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960); Divorce Italian Style aka Divorzio all'Ittaliana (Dir. Pietro Germi, 1962)
SCREENING:
8 1/2 (Dir. Federico Fellini, 1963)
WEEK IV
GERMANY
READING:
Chapter 3, "Germany, From Darkness toward Light, " pp. 108-24.
Show clips from Nosferatu aka Nosferatu, eine symphone des Grauens (Dir. F. W. Murnau, 1922); Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler aka Dr. Mabuse der Spieler (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1922); Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927)
Show clips from Nosferatu aka Nosferatu, eine symphone des Grauens (Dir. F. W. Murnau, 1922); Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler aka Dr. Mabuse der Spieler (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1922); Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927)
SCREENING:
The Blue Angel aka Die blaue Engel (Dir. Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
WEEK V
READING:
Chapter 3, "Germany, From Darkness toward Light," pp. 124-49.
Show clips from The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum aka Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (Dirs. Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlondorff, 1975); Nosferatu the Vampyr aka Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Dir. Werner Herzog, 1979); Wings of Desire aka Der Himmel über Berlin (Dir. Wim Wenders, 1987)
Show clips from The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum aka Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (Dirs. Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlondorff, 1975); Nosferatu the Vampyr aka Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Dir. Werner Herzog, 1979); Wings of Desire aka Der Himmel über Berlin (Dir. Wim Wenders, 1987)
SCREENING:
The Marriage of Maria Braun aka Die Ehe der Maria Braun (Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979)
WEEK VI
FRANCE
READING:
Chapter 1, "France: French Revolutions at the Movies," pp. 23-44.
Show clips from Rules of the Game aka La Règle du Jeu (Dir. Jean Renoir, 1939 ); Boudu Saved From Drowning aka Boudu sauvé des eaux (Dir. Jean Renoir, 1932 );L'Atalante (Dir. Jean Vigo, 1934)
Show clips from Rules of the Game aka La Règle du Jeu (Dir. Jean Renoir, 1939 ); Boudu Saved From Drowning aka Boudu sauvé des eaux (Dir. Jean Renoir, 1932 );L'Atalante (Dir. Jean Vigo, 1934)
SCREENING:
Children of Paradise aka Les enfants du paradis (Dir. Marcel Carne, 1945)
WEEK VII
READING:
Chapter 1, "France: French Revolutions at the Movies, " pp. 45-69.
Show clips from My Life to Live aka Vivre sa vie (Dir. Jean Luc Godard, 1960); Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Dir. Alain Resnais, 1959); Fat Girl aka A Ma Soeur! (Dir. Catherine Breillat, 2001); Look at Me aka Comme une Image (Dir. Agnès Jaoui, 2004)
Show clips from My Life to Live aka Vivre sa vie (Dir. Jean Luc Godard, 1960); Hiroshima, Mon Amour (Dir. Alain Resnais, 1959); Fat Girl aka A Ma Soeur! (Dir. Catherine Breillat, 2001); Look at Me aka Comme une Image (Dir. Agnès Jaoui, 2004)
SCREENING:
Jules and Jim aka Jules et Jim (Dir. François Truffaut, 1962)
WEEK VIII
INDIA
READING:
Chapter 6, "India: Cinema of Combination and Contradiction," pp. 237-58.
Show clips from Mother India aka Gharat Mata (dir. Mehboob Khan, 1957) and Aparajito aka The Unvanquished (Dir. Satyajit Ray, 1956)
Show clips from Mother India aka Gharat Mata (dir. Mehboob Khan, 1957) and Aparajito aka The Unvanquished (Dir. Satyajit Ray, 1956)
SCREENING:
Awaara aka The Vagabond (Dir. Raj Kapoor, 1951)
WEEK IX
READING:
Chapter 6, "India: Cinema of Combination and Contradiction," pp. 258-78.
Show clips from The Seedling aka Ankur (Dir. Shyam Benegal, 1974); Amar, Akbar, Anthony (Dir. Manmohan Desai, 1977 ); Bombay aka Mumbai (Dir. Mani Ratnam, 1995); Company (Dir. Ram Gopal Varma, 2002)
Show clips from The Seedling aka Ankur (Dir. Shyam Benegal, 1974); Amar, Akbar, Anthony (Dir. Manmohan Desai, 1977 ); Bombay aka Mumbai (Dir. Mani Ratnam, 1995); Company (Dir. Ram Gopal Varma, 2002)
SCREENING:
Umrao Jaan (Dir Muzzafar Ali, 1981)
WEEK X
JAPAN
READING:
Chapter 5, "Japan: Screening Feudalism and Modernism," pp. 195-225.
Show clips from Stray Dog aka Nora inu (Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1949); Tokyo Story aka Tokyo Monogatari (Dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1953); Ugetsu (Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
Show clips from Stray Dog aka Nora inu (Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1949); Tokyo Story aka Tokyo Monogatari (Dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1953); Ugetsu (Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
SCREENING:
Ran (Dir. Akira Kirosawa, 1985)
WEEK XI
READING:
Chapter 5, "Japan: Screening Feudalism and Modernism," pp. 225-36.
Show clips from Crazed Fruit aka Kuruta Kajitsu (Dir. Ko Nakahira, 1956); Double Suicide aka Shinju: ten no amijima (Dir. Shinoda Masahiro, 1969); In the Realm of the Senses aka Ai no corrida (Dir. Nagisa Oshima, 1976)
Show clips from Crazed Fruit aka Kuruta Kajitsu (Dir. Ko Nakahira, 1956); Double Suicide aka Shinju: ten no amijima (Dir. Shinoda Masahiro, 1969); In the Realm of the Senses aka Ai no corrida (Dir. Nagisa Oshima, 1976)
SCREENING:
Spirited Away aka Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Dir. Hayao Miazaki, 2001)
WEEK XII
RUSSIA
READING:
Chapter 2, "Russia: Utopia and Dystopia," pp. 70-92.
Show clips from Aelita, Queen of Mars (Dir. Yakov Protazanov, 1924); Earth aka Zemlya (Dir. Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930); Mother aka Mat (Dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1926)
Show clips from Aelita, Queen of Mars (Dir. Yakov Protazanov, 1924); Earth aka Zemlya (Dir. Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930); Mother aka Mat (Dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1926)
SCREENING:
Bed and Sofa aka Tretya Meschchanskaia (Dir. Abram Room, 1927)
WEEK XIII
READING:
Chapter 2, "Russia: Utopia and Dystopia," pp. 93-107.
Show clips from Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears aka Moskva slezam ne verit (Dir. Vladimir Menshov, 1980); Little Vera aka Malenkaya Vera (Dir. Vasili Pichul, 1988); Burnt by the Sun aka Utomlyonnye solntsen (Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov, 1994)
Show clips from Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears aka Moskva slezam ne verit (Dir. Vladimir Menshov, 1980); Little Vera aka Malenkaya Vera (Dir. Vasili Pichul, 1988); Burnt by the Sun aka Utomlyonnye solntsen (Dir. Nikita Mikhalkov, 1994)
SCREENING:
Solaris aka Solyaris (Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
THE CONSTRUCTION OF FEMININITY IN POST-NATIONAL FILM: What happens to the images of women when filmmakers are freed from the constraints of national traditions?
WEEK XIV
READING:
Chapter 7, Spain: "Luis Buñuel, Playing with Ideas," pp. 292-309.
Show clips from The Diary of a Chambermaid aka Le journal d'une femme de chambre (1962); That Obscure Object of Desire aka Cet obscur objet du désir (1977)
Show clips from The Diary of a Chambermaid aka Le journal d'une femme de chambre (1962); That Obscure Object of Desire aka Cet obscur objet du désir (1977)
SCREENING:
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie aka Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972)
WEEK XV
READING:
Chapter 10, Senegal: "Ousmane Sembène, Postcolonial Pioneer," pp. 354-77.
Show clips from Xala aka Impotence (1975) and Faat Kine (2000)
Show clips from Xala aka Impotence (1975) and Faat Kine (2000)
SCREENING:
Moolaade (2004)
Both for assignment to your students (in excerpt form) and for your own reference, you might keep a book or two about women in Hollywood film on hand. Some useful possibilities are:
Gabbard, Krin and William Luhr (eds). Screening Genders (Rutgers Depth of Field Series). Rutgers University Press, 2008.
Gilligan, Sarah. Teaching Women and Film. British Film Institute, 2008.
Kaplan, E. Ann. Women and Film: Both Sides of the Camera. New edition. Routledge, 1990.
Syllabus A: A Survey of (Inter)national Film Cultures
Syllabus B: Compass Points Of International Film: France, Italy, Japan, And India
Syllabus C: World Cinema And Propaganda