Charles University in Prague – Faculty of arts
Cultural Studies
FILM NOIR, ITS ANTECEDENTS AND DESCENDANTS
Fall 2008
Bc. level / Cultural Studies / English language
Lecturer/Professor: Petra Dominková
Contact: tel: 739 053 950; email: amaliehod@yahoo.com
Office Hours: by appointment
Class Time: TBA
Prerequisites: Willingness to read, think, speak, write and learn about cinematography and cultural critique are the only prerequisites.
Course Description: The aim of the course is to introduce one of the most interesting American style/genre film noir as well as its antecedents and descendants. What is so unique about this style/genre that it has been capturing the attention of film theorists since the 1970s? Which are the typical traits of film noir? Why did it originate in the US in this particular epoch? And – what is it, anyhow? A style? A genre? A mood? A movement? A tendency? Each lecture is focused on a particular aspect of film noir and students will have a chance to watch the variety of clips and selected feature films in their entirety.
Course Learning Objectives: By the end of the course the student will be able to define film noir and understand the specificity of it.
Course Requirements:
Class Attendance/Participation: I expect students to attend all classes (including screenings). Participation to class discussion will be taken into account in the final grade.
Presentation: A presentation based on a film seen within the class. Bring written outline!
Midterm essay (4 pages minimum, i.e. 1.400 words): An essay about chosen film noir. Due: TBA
Final essay (6 pages minimum, i.e. 2.100 words): On a chosen topic that corresponds to the material covered in the course. Due: TBA
Assessment and final grade:
The final grade will be calculated as follows: Class Attendance and Participation (20%); presentation (20%); midterm essay (25%); final essay (35%)
REQUIRED READING (all readings will be available in the electronic version)
Erickson, Glenn: “Expressionist Doom in Night and the City.” In: Film Noir Reader, ed. by Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Limelight Editions, New York 2001, pp. 203 – 208.
Franklin, James C.: „Metamorphosis of a Metaphor: The Shadow in Early German Cinema”. The German Quarterly vol. 53, no. 2 (march 1980), pp. 176 – 188.
Horsley, Lee: „An Introduction to Neo-Noir: Coining a Term.“ http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/NeoNoir.html
McLean, Adrienne L.: “’It’s Only That I Do What I Love and Love What I Do’: ‘Film Noir’ and the Musical Woman“.Cinema Journal vol. 33, no. 1 (autumn 1993), pp. 3 – 16.
Metz, Walter: “’Keep the Coffee Hot, Hugo’: Nuclear Trauma in Lang’s The Big Heat”. Film Criticism vol. 21, spring 1997, pp. 43 – 65.
Naremore, James: “American Film Noir: The History of an Idea”. Film Quarterly vol. 49, no. 2 (winter 1995 – 96), pp. 12 – 28.
Place, Janey, and Lowell Peterson: “Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir.” In: Movies and Methods (vol. 1), ed. by Bill Nichols. University of California Press, Los Angeles 1976, pp. 325 – 338.
Robertson, Pamela: “Structural Irony in ‘Mildred Pierce,’ or How Mildred Lost Her Tongue”. Cinema Journal vol. 30, no. 1 (autumn 1990), pp. 42 – 54.
Schrader, Paul: “Notes on Film Noir.” In: Film Noir Reader, ed. by Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Limelight Editions, New York 2001, pp. 53 – 64.
Stewart, Garrett: “’The Long Goodbye’ from ’Chinatown’”. Film Quarterly vol. 28, no. 2 (winter 1974 – 75), pp. 25 – 32.
Weekly schedule:
Week 1 [Wed, Feb-20]
Theme: Introduction – What is film noir? Style/genre/mood/tendency/movement?
Screening: Where the Sidewalk Ends (Otto Preminger, 1950, 95’).
Week 2 [Wed, Feb-27]
Theme: Antecedents I – German Expressionism + French Poetic Realism
Screening: Nosferatu (Nospheratu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, F.W. Murnau, 1922, 94’)
Reading: Franklin
Week 3 [Wed, Mar-05]
Theme: Antecedents II – Gangster movie
Screening: Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy, 1931, 79’)
Reading: Naremore
Topics for midterm essay
Week 4 [Wed, Mar-12]
Theme: Visual style of film noir
Screening: Night and the City (Jules Dassin, 1950, 101’).
Reading: Erickson
Week 5 [Wed, Mar-19]
Theme: B movie
Screening: Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950, 88’)
Reading: Place – Peterson
Week 6 [Wed, Mar-26]
Theme: Femme Fatale and suppressed homosexuality
Screening: Gilda (Charles Vidor, 1946, 110’)
Reading: McLean
Week 7 [Wed, Apr-02]
Theme: Communism and film noir (threat from the east + McCarthyism)
Screening: Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953, 80’)
Reading: Schrader
Week 8 [Wed, Apr -09]
Theme: Censorship
Screening: The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953, 89’)
Reading: Metz
Week 9 [Wed, Apr -16]
Theme: Nature in film noir
Screening: The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, 93’)
Reading: http://www.geraldpeary.com/reviews/the/night-of-the-hunter.html / http://www.imdb.com/Reviews/333/33307
http://www.notcoming.com/reviews/nightofthehunter/
Week 10 [Wed, Apr -23]
Theme: On the border with other genre (western and melodrama)
Screening: Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945, 111’)
Reading: Robertson
Topics for final essay
Week 11 [Wed, Apr -30]
Theme: Descendant I – neo noir – the 1960s and 70s
Screening: The Long Goodbye (Robert Altman, 1973, 112’)
Reading: Stewart
Week 12 [Wed, May-07]
Theme: Descendant II – neo noir – contemporary cinema
Screening: Sin City (Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, 2005, 124’)
Reading: Horsley
Week 13 [Wed, May -14]
Theme: Conclusion – discussion about class
Screening: Will be chosen by students.
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