NATURE AND CITY IN THE CINEMA
Fall 2015
Lecturer/Professor: Petra Dominková, PhD.
Contact: tel: 739 053 950; email: petra.dominkova@gmail.com
Office Hours: by appointment
Class Time: Thursday 7.50 – 9.25 p.m.
Prerequisites: None
Course Description:
The aim of the course is to discuss the setting of the various films – particularly variety of the natural settings, but also garden, countryside and the city – and to explain how applying the studies from the various subjects (architecture, environmentalism, philosophy, etc.) might be helpful for understanding the role that the particular setting fulfills. Students will discuss the films from the different epochs and different regions and will examine the significance of urban/rural/natural setting that those films present.
Course Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course the student will be able to:
– understand the properties of the variety of settings
– explain which significance they have
– analyze a film of interest based on the reading from the variety of the subjects
Course Requirements:
Class Attendance and Participation: I expect students to attend all classes. Students will read the texts required for each lesson and discuss them in the class. Lively discussion is expected. Students should ask anything that is not clear enough, bring their own ideas, and participate actively in the program of the course. Participation and contribution to class discussion will be taken significantly into account in the final grade. Excessive unexcused absences result in lowering of the final grade!
Presentation: A presentation based on the film and reading. Each student will lead the discussion about the film we watched. This involves bringing a handout for each student (plus me) and creating discussion questions for the group. The goal is to get us talking about how the particular film depicts urban/rural/natural setting.
Final essay (4 pages minimum, i.e. 1.400 words): On a chosen topic that corresponds to the material covered in the course; the usage of one obligatory reading is expected. The final essay cannot cover the same film the student presented on. The students will present their final paper drafts Dec-10. Due: Dec 17
Grading Table
Grade
|
percent
|
1000 points
|
333 points
|
A
|
100-96
|
1000-960
|
333-320
|
A –
|
95-90
|
959-900
|
321-300
|
B+
|
89-87
|
899-870
|
299-290
|
B
|
86-83
|
869-830
|
289-276
|
B –
|
82-80
|
829-800
|
275-267
|
C+
|
79-76
|
799-760
|
266-253
|
C
|
75-70
|
759-700
|
252-233
|
D
|
69-60
|
699-600
|
232-200
|
F
|
59-0
|
599-0
|
199-0
|
Assessment and final grade:
The course grade will be calculated as follows:
Participation in discussions and presence (33.3%) = 333 points
Presentation (33.3%) = 333 points
Final essay (33.3%) = 333 points
Weekly schedule:
Week 1 [Thu, Oct-1]
Theme: Introduction / house vs. home / attic vs. cellar
- space, place, landscape etc.
- phenomenology of space (attic vs. cellar)
- house vs. home
Week 2 [Thu, Oct-8]
Discussion: Ecstasy (Extáze, Gustav Machatý, 1932, 87’, b&w)
Reading: Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994, 3-37.
Week 3 [Thu, Oct-15]
Theme: Forest
Week 4 [Thu, Oct-22]
Discussion 1: Antichrist (Lars von Trier, USA, 2009, 108’, color)
Discussion 2: Couch to Vienna (Kočár do Vídně, Karel Kachyňa, Czech Republic, 1966, 85’, b&w)
Reading: Rolston, Holmes. “Aesthetic Experience in Forests,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 56, no. 2 (1998): 157-166.
Week 5 [Thu, Oct-29]
Theme: River / Lake / Sea
- river and its meaning
- water
Week 6 [Thu, Nov-5]
Discussion 1: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-Duk, South Korea-Germany, 2003, 103’, color)
Discussion 2: Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Yorn Gottes, Werner Herzog, Germany, 1972, 93’,color)
Reading: D’Aloia Adriano, “Film in Depth. Water and Immersivity in the Contemporary Film Experience.” Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies 5 (2012): 87-106.
Week 7 [Thu, Nov-12]
Theme: Garden
- garden and its meaning
Week 8 [Thu, Nov-19]
Discussion 1: Garden (Záhrada, Martin Šulík, Slovak Republic, 1995, 99’, color)
Discussion 2: The Draughtsman’s Contract (Peter Greenaway, GB, 1983, 108’, color)
Reading: McIntosh, Christopher. Gardens of the Gods: Myth, Magic and Meaning. London, 2005: 1-17.
Week 9 [Thu, Nov-26]
Theme: Rural vs. urban environment
- differences between countryside and city
Week 10 [Thu, Dec-3]
Discussion 1: Sunshine in the Net (Slunko v sieti, Štefan Uher, Slovak Republic, 1962, 90’, b&w)
Discussion 2: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F. W. Murnau, USA, 1927, 94’, b&w)
Reading: Helfield, Gillian, and Fowler, Catherine, eds. Contemporary Approaches to Film and Television : Representing the Rural : Space, Place, and Identity in Films about the Land. Detroit, MI, USA: Wayne State University Press, 2006: 1-14.
Week 11 [Thu, Dec-10]
Theme: Discussion about final papers (each student will present his/her work in progress)
Week 12 [Thu, Dec-17]
Final discussion
- what did (not) we learn etc.
Final essays are due
NB: All readings will be available in DropBox (if you do not use it, please register at https://www.dropbox.com/ , it is free and handy!)
[1] I expect students to think about the following places: forest (for lesson Oct-15), river (Oct-29), lake (Oct-29), sea (Oct-29), garden (Nov-12), and countryside (Nov-26) and to share their ideas with the class. Additional research is not required but will be very welcome.
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