Course Description: This course provides an introduction to New Hollywood cinema, with particular emphasis on its origins in the late 1960s and development in the 1970s and 1980s. It will consider both the new model of film production that emerged after the decline of the classical studio system and the artistic experiments that made this such a crucial period in the history of American cinema. Key figures covered in the course may include Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Warren Beatty, John Cassavetes, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Faye Dunaway, Terrence Malick, Dennis Hopper, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, George Lucas, Sidney Lumet, the Maysles brothers, Mike Nichols, Gordon Parks, Jr., Arthur Penn, D.A. Pennebaker, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Charlotte Zwerin, and many other directors, actors and actresses, writers, editors, production designers, and producers. We will also examine the period’s revision of classical genres and the development of new ones, including the blaxploitation film, the rockumentary, and direct cinema. The course will conclude by examining the rise of the blockbuster as an industrial model and aesthetic form, as well as the emergence of an independent film sector, two phenomena that remain key elements of the movie world today.
After successfully completing the course, students should be able to
- identify crucial films, figures, and events in the history of American cinema;
- situate New Hollywood directors and films within their historical context;
- understand the collaborative nature of Hollywood filmmaking and the role of directors and other key contributors within it;
- understand the economic structure of the American film industry in the post-studio era;
- identify and analyze major Hollywood genres and the revisionist versions that emerged after the 1960s;
- recognize the filmmakers operating on the margins of or well outside the Hollywood mainstream;
- understand and apply various methodological approaches to the writing of film history and biography;
- communicate a critical analysis of the films and approaches to film studies in discussion and in writing.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Lectures: The lectures will provide much of the historical and conceptual background necessary for this course. They will also introduce the type of film and sequence analysis that you will be asked to perform on the exam and possibly in your paper. You are strongly encouraged to attend all of the lectures. I will also the PowerPoint slides shown in class on the Canvas site (as pdfs, under “Files” and “Notes”) to help you review the material.
Reading: The reading will consist of essays and book excerpts available on our Canvas site as pdfs or via links, mostly through the UW Libraries portal. This reading is designed to provide background or supplementary material that we won't cover in as much depth in class. It should usually be finished before the first class meeting each week, with one exception: essays that discuss individual films, which should be read after you see the film. The exam will focus in part on material contained in the reading, so it’s important to remain current on these assignments.
Screenings: The films are the foundation of this class. We will usually screen two films per week, moving in roughly chronological order from the late 1960s. All of the films are available through UW Libraries and/or our Canvas site. I will post a link for each film on Canvas under “Modules.” (I will show you how this works in the first lecture.) Most are also widely available through various online sources. (Nearly every film is available for rent from Amazon Instant Video. Some are available with a Netflix or Hulu subscription.) For additional basic information about the films (e.g., running time), see www.imdb.com.
Assignments: There will be one in-class midterm (11/20). The midterm will count for 40% of the final grade. The exam will consist primarily of short answer or short essay questions focused on topics introduced in the lectures or reading and on clips from the films screened for this class. I will distribute a review sheet before the exam. We will not have an exam during Finals Week. Two short writing assignments (each 2-3 pages, double-spaced; each 25% of final grade, for a total of 50% for the two assignments) will ask you to analyze films on the syllabus and/or produce still and moving images inspired by them. A more detailed explanation of the writing assignments will be distributed midway through the quarter. Weekly exit tickets and discussion board posts will also be required; they will account for the final 10% of the overall grade. Writing a total of ten original posts of 100 words or more on the discussion board will count for full credit. Students are required to complete all evaluated assignments. Non-fulfillment of any written assignment listed above may result in a non-passing grade for the course.
Note on Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offense. It undermines the fundamental mission of the university and sanctions are therefore severe. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please see the UW Student Conduct Code: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=478-121-107Links to an external site.
Use of Plagiarism Detection Software:The University has a license agreement with SimCheck, an educational tool that helps prevent or identify plagiarism from Internet resources. Your instructor may use the service in this class by requiring that assignments are submitted electronically to be checked by SimCheck. The SimCheck Report will indicate the amount of original text in your work and whether all material that you quoted, paraphrased, summarized, or used from another source is appropriately referenced.
Religious Accommodations: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (Links to an external site). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (Links to an external site).
Disability-Related Needs: To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact UW Disability Resources for Students (DRS).
TAs:
- Office Hours: Mon 10:00 AM-12:00 PM and by appointment.
- Padelford, 2nd floor B-Wing, room B202A
- Office Hours: Fri 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM and by appointment
- Allegro Coffee, Alleyway, 4214 University Wy NE (Fri, Oct 3rd only)
- Office Hours: Tue/Thu 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM and by appointment.
- Padelford, 5th floor, room B522
- Office Hours: Thu 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM and by appointment.
- Padelford, 2nd floor B-Wing, room B202A
Reading and Screenings
All readings are available on or through this course’s Canvas site, either as pdfs or as links; all films are available for streaming via the “Modules” section of Canvas. Please watch the film or films listed for each week before the first class meeting that week. If you are unable to watch both films before Tuesday’s class, note that we will work through the films in the order they appear on the syllabus, so you should start with the first one and continue from there. Because the first classes include some necessary background material on the history of classical Hollywood cinema (that is, the historical and technical background for the course), we will fall slightly behind the screening schedule at the beginning of the quarter. I recommend that you keep watching the films regularly, roughly two per week, from the outset because it will be difficult to catch up if you fall behind. Note also that the total screening time will be longer in some weeks, especially when we watch The Godfather and its first sequel.
Content Warning: Some of the material for this course may represent complex and difficult subject matter. In the interest of our collective learning and growth, we should do our best to make this classroom a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, and thoughtfully with difficult content. The Department of CMS prepares students to critically analyze a range of topics and media forms, including challenging or controversial materials. CMS courses contextualize and historicize these materials in ways that promote thoughtful and sensitive engagement. I urge you to take care of yourselves however and whenever it becomes necessary. If you know that you are consistently triggered by anything listed above, please familiarize yourself with the material on the syllabus in advance, and, as soon as possible, talk with me about any concerns that you may have. Be aware that the University of Washington has mental health and psychological counseling resources available for students. Please visit this website for details: https://wellbeing.uw.edu/unit/counseling-center/.
SCHEDULE
Week 1 (09/25): Introduction to the Course; What’s New About New Hollywood?
Screening: Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
Reading: “The Shock of Freedom in Films” (from Time Magazine).
Week 2 (09/30-10/02): The End of Sentimentality
Screening: The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
Reading: Thomas Schatz, “The New Hollywood” (from Movie Blockbusters).
Week 3 (10/07-10/09): Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll (and Cinema)
Screenings: Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969); 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
Reading: Barbara Klinger, “The Road to Dystopia: Landscaping the Nation in Easy Rider” (from The Road Movie Book).
Week 4 (10/14-10/16): The New Documentary
Screenings: Gimme Shelter (David and Albert Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin, 1970); Harlan County, USA (Barbara Kopple, 1976)
Reading: Jonathan B. Vogels, "Can We See How They Look?: Observing The Rolling Stones in Gimme Shelter (from The Direct Cinema of David and Albert Maysles).
Week 5 (10/21-10/23): Old Genres, New Styles
Screenings: McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971); Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
Reading: Jay Beck, "The Democratic Voice: Altman's Sound Aesthetics in the 1970s" and "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (from A Companion to Robert Altman); Bradley Schauer,, "The Auteur Renaissance, 1968-1980" (from Cinematography).
Week 6 (10/28-10/30): The Margins of Hollywood
Screenings: Superfly (Gordon Parks, Jr., 1972); Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968)
Reading: Robin D.G. Kelley, "'One Nation Under a Groove': African-American Culture Since 1970" (from Into the Fire); Rebecca Bell-Mettereau, "John Cassavetes: In Your Face and Off the Grid" (from The Other Hollywood Renaissance).
Week 7 (11/04-11/06): The Godfather and New Hollywood
Screenings: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972); The Godfather: Part II (Coppola, 1974)
Please note the length of the films (the first is almost three hours, the second is over three hours) and allow for enough time to see both of the films before class.
Week 8 (11/11-11/13): Martin Scorsese
Screenings: Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976); Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
Reading: Robert Kolker, excerpt from A Cinema of Loneliness.
Week 9 (11/18-11/20): The Paranoid Style in American Cinema; Midterm
Screenings: All the President’s Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976); The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)
Reading: J. Hoberman, "The Spirit of '76: Travis, Rocky, and Jimmy Carter" (from When Movies Mattered: The New Hollywood Revisited); Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” (from Harper’s)
IN-CLASS MIDTERM: THURSDAY (11/20).
Week 10 (11/25-11/27): New Hollywood and New Media
Screenings: Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
Reading: Kathleen Fitzpatrick, “Network: The Other Cold War” (from Film and History)
NO CLASS ON THURSDAY (11/27): HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Week 11 (12/02-12/04): What Comes after New Hollywood, or, What Is Hollywood Today?
Screening: The Player (Altman, 1992); No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
Reading: Jon Lewis, “The Perfect Money Machine(s): George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Auteurism in the New Hollywood” (from Looking Past the Screen); Julie Turnock, "The Expanded Blockbuster" and "The Buck Stops at Opticals" (from Plastic Reality).