CMS 240: Writing in Cinema and Media Studies
FILM, REALISM, REALITY
Jeanne Dielman (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
Instructor: Calac Nogueira
M/W 11:30 am — 1:20 pm
Office Hours: By Appointment - calac@uw.edu
This course explores the multiple paths through which cinema meets reality. Although every form of art is concerned with reality at some level, cinema's capacity to mechanically (and now digitally) reproduce the world made the 'real' a long-lasting issue in film theory. For film theorist Andre Bazin, this capacity is what distinguished cinema from other arts and constituted its essence. However, films never provide us with reality as such, but rather with a world filtered by a series of formal choices. In this sense, film's strong impression of reality is supported by various artifices that make up film language and its style. Through the examination of films from different genres, styles, and periods, this course invites students to consider cinema's engagement with reality on multiple levels, as well as the political and ethical stakes involved in reproducing the world through cinema.
Among the questions we will ask ourselves are: How have a medium of reproduction of reality become a form of art? What makes a film realist? How have the standards of "realism" in film changed throughout time? What distinguishes fiction films and documentaries? How have filmmakers reflected critically on cinema's power to reproduce reality? What kind of ethics does cinema's connection with reality entail? Films analyzed include works from Italian neorealism, Wanda (Barbara Loden, 1970), Moi, un Noir (Jean Rouch, 1957), Black Girl (Ousmane Sembène, 1966), among others.
In addition, this course also introduces students to basic concepts of film analysis. No previous knowledge of film theory is required.
Learning objectives:
By the end of this course students should be able to:
- Grasp how films are organized in terms of narrative, form, and style
- Write thoughtful, well-supported analyses of films, connecting the film’s form and style with its larger themes
- Demonstrate acquaintance with the major ideas of realist film theories
- Think critically about how films depict and represent reality