CMS 423 A: East European Film

Autumn 2024
Meeting:
TTh 3:30pm - 5:20pm / SAV 264
SLN:
12939
Section Type:
Lecture
Joint Sections:
GLITS 314 A , SLAVIC 423 A
Instructors:
TAYLOR EFTIMOV
SAME AS GLITS 314 A AND SLAVIC 423 FROM EAST TO WEST, FROM LITERATURE TO FILM
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest 1.jpg

Image from One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

FROM EAST TO WEST, FROM LITERATURE TO FILM

CMS 423 A, SAME AS SLAVIC 423 A AND GLITS 314 A

Professor Gordana Crnković

TA Taylor Eftimov

Our class looks into how celebrated film directors from post-World War II, socialist Eastern Europe, after they emigrated to the “West,” used Western literature to understand their new environment and make films in a different, market-based rather than state-sponsored film industry.

We will first get to know the unique film production of socialist-era Eastern Europe and the importance of literature in that region. We will then move on to see how East European directors employed their “reader” skills once they started working in the West. They often made film adaptations of Western literary works that still articulated their own artistic vision.

The films we shall study include a few most well known films from socialist Eastern Europe—such as experimental and playful Daisies directed by Věra Chytilová, Miloš Forman’s Loves of a Blonde (Czechoslovakia, 1966 and 1965), or Dušan Makavejev’s Man Is Not a Bird (Yugoslavia, 1965). Afterwards we will focus on these directors’ Western works based on literature, including Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Agnieszka Holland’s Washington Square, and others. We shall also read a few excerpts from literary works (available on Canvas) and parts from two short novels, and focus on the ways literature gets adapted into films.

Requirements: viewing of films and reading of a few literary excerpts. Three multiple-choice quizzes. All three sections (Slavic, C LIT, GLITS) do the same work – this is all one class!

Note there are NO prerequisites or recommended preparation for this class.

For any questions email Professor Gordana Crnković at crnkovic@uw.edu.

Catalog Description:
Studies major East European film makers who left their countries at some point in their careers. Compares East European and Western production of those directors who worked partially in the West. Offered: jointly with SLAVIC 423.
GE Requirements Met:
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
November 3, 2024 - 9:05 pm