Humanities 224 Contemporary Global Cinema
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (CLOs)
1. Connect how the social and political times in which a film is produced affects its style and content.
2. Explain why film is becoming an international art.
3. Identify national and universal issues being addressed in foreign films from a variety of countries.
4. Analyze global social, economic, and political issues addressed in foreign films from multiple
perspectives
5. Articulate personal responses to current global film productions and reconsider these responses as
knowledge and experience change.
6. Differentiate between film as mass consumption entertainment and film as cultural art.
7. Research and present information about historical times, places, and people portrayed in films viewed in
class, and make judgments regarding the accuracy of interpretations suggested in the film.
8. By carefully using facts, make accurate generalizations about people of other cultures without
stereotyping or showing bias.
9. Demonstrate an aesthetic understanding of current national film movements and auteur directors.
10. Draw reasonable inferences about cultural values visualized in global cinema.
11. Actively and enthusiastically demonstrate involvement in the issues being explored in classroom
discussions.
12. Draw information from a variety of printed and visual sources and clearly present that information in
both written and oral formats.
13. Demonstrate effective social interaction behavior while working with groups.
14. Be prepared for and actively participate in group and class activities.
Course Outline
I.
Third world cinema: films from the underdeveloped emerging nations that explicitly examine the
political, social and cultural issues of those nations, especially the nations of Latin America and Africa.
A.
Methods and goals of film production
1.
Well-developed, sophisticated and nationalized film, as in Cuba, Bolivia and Chile
2.
Cinema made by several Third World countries who make a small number of feature
films for both national consumption and international distribution, as in Senegal, Egypt,
and Ethiopia
3.
Films from countries with such repressive totalitarian governments that the films
become underground acts of rebellion as in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru
B.
Themes shared by Third World films - nationalism
1.
An attack on the affluent nations of Europe and America
2.
Criticism of the unimaginable poverty of the peasants
3.
Contrast of the old backward methods and traditions with the new, often resulting in a
loss of a treasured culture
C.
Marxist themes and methods shared by Third World films
1.
The use of film as a tool for social change
2.
The assumption that imperialism and neocolonialism exploit the peasantry and
proletariat
3.
An identification with oppressed groups such as women, outcasts, and racial minorities
1
II.
III.
4.
The belief in the equal worth of all human beings
5.
A rejection of religion
D.
Style is neorealistic
1.
Low budget traits
2.
Realistic mise en scene and sound
Fifth Generation Chinese Cinema
A.
Convergence and collaboration among Hong Kong, China and Taiwan
1.
Films about hardship and injustice in the era before Communism
2.
Films about suffering from the excess of Communist political dogma
B.
Major artists of the Fifth Generation
1.
Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou - depict the workings of politics and ideology at a human
level, filming the daily life they had observed in the countryside during the Cultural
Revolution
2.
Ang Lee - from Taiwan - producing and directing international productions, e.g. Sense
and Sensibility
English language cinema from nations such as Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand
A.
Great Britain possesses the economic and cultural resources to develop mainstream projects
that Hollywood could not do well and blends 1.
The old: literate scripts, first-rate actors, a high level of craftsmanship, and an intense
class consciousness with
2.
The new: an obsession with the recent past
3.
Many of the works are adaptations of respected literature, such as A Room with a View,
and Howard's End
4.
Themes are deeply felt affirmations of such British virtues as civility, duty and courage,
especially in troubled times
B.
Australia
1.
The government subsidizes films with local content that feature history and topography
of Australia
2.
"Ocker" comedies - feature a male protagonist presented as being typically Australian:
naive, vulgar, not too bright, good hearted, and down to earth, - e.g., Crocodile Dundee
3.
Well known auteurs include Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford, Fred Schipiai, Fillian
Armstrong and George Miller
a.
Many of the directors of importance are now making films in Hollywood
b.
directors find the transition to Hollywood easy, and find it difficult to hold on to
their "Australianness"
C.
Canada
1.
Experienced a sudden and unexpected boom in feature cinema production due to
government grants and tax incentives
2.
Canada is often referred to as Hollywood north
a.
Canadian films are very Hollywood in style
b.
Numerous Hollywood films are being made in Hollywood
3.
A truly Canadian cinema does exist in the work of new directors, primarily from Quebec
D.
The Small but developing industries
1.
New Zealand: Jane Campion's The Piano
2.
Scotland: Bill Forsyth's Gregory Girl
2
3.
Ireland: Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot
IV.
Eastern European current cinema production is beginning to recover from recent economic crises and
political upheavals
A.
Traits Eastern European cinema share
1.
Filmmakers are enjoying a new freedom of personal expression
2.
New methods and techniques are breaking from traditional forms
3.
The most important films are departing from the usual entertainment emphasis
4.
Films offer the moral, ethical, and aesthetic sustenance looked for in art works
B.
National emphasis for individual countries
1.
U.S.S.R.
a.
Greater efforts are being made to reach international audiences and the
financial returns this will bring
b.
New auteurs include Nihita Mikhalkov and Andrei Tarkovsky
2.
Yugoslavia: Film production has virtually ceased due to the bloody civil war, and it is
impossible to predict what kinds of films may emerge when it is ended
3.
Czechoslovakia: Most distinctive cinematic contribution has been in celebration and
gentle criticism of individual lives lived more or less oblivious to the earthshaking events
that have marked its history along with that of its neighbors
4.
Hungary: Cinema has an emphasis on life in the villages rather than life in the big city,
with strong ties to Hungarian literature
5.
Poland: Films seem to be increasingly concerned with moral choices being made by
ordinary people well outside the public issues of their time
V.RVI. Recent European Cinema of Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Scandinavian countries - "The
Eurofilm"
A.
Most-noted films internationally financed, made by creative personnel drawn from several
countries and designed for worldwide consumption
1.
Additional funding through governments: state-owned television, state subsidies, and
tax exemptions for investments in cinema
2.
Private funding through independent television, banks and corporations and media
conglomerates
B.
Content of Eurofilms
1.
Popular genres and literary adaptations
2.
Retreat from the radical extremes of political criticism
3.
Depiction of middle class social problems
4.
Portrayal of history and psychological experiences
C.
Art cinema revived in Eurofilms
1.
Emphasis on the beauty of the image
2.
Less emphasis on the narrative line
3.
Emphasis on universality of themes rather than a national cinema
D.
Selected new Eurofilm auteur directors
1.
German: Rainer Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders
2.
Spain: Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodovar
3.
Italy: Vittorio and Paolo Taviani, Lina Wertmuller, Bernardo Bertolucci
4.
France: Claude Le Louche, Claude Berri, Jean Rappenau, Claude Chabrol
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VII.
VIII.
IX.
Middle Eastern Cinema - a diverse cinema
A.
Israel
1.
Small film industry that focuses on psychological problems of the middle class or films of
personal reflection
2.
Major current auteur director - Moshe Mizrahi
3.
Strong affiliation with the western world and encourages co-productions with European
countries
B.
Egypt/Syria/Lebanon/Kuwait/Jordan
1.
More closely tied to third world cinema style, with new cinemas primarily conveying
social protests
2.
Most famous auteur - Youssef Chahine
C.
Turkey
1.
Strong government censorship and punishment of filmmakers who expose the
government's oppression.
2.
Attempting to attract western capital since most films must be made with European cofinancing
D.
Iraq/Iran
1.
Strong government control of the industry
2.
Films must reflect Middle Eastern culture and/or condemn western traditions
3.
Newest Iranian-acclaimed production The White Balloon, directed by Jafar Pahahi
India : quantity is high and quality is low
A.
Quantity: leader in the number of films produced per year
1.
Distributed only in the local market as the only form of popular entertainment
2.
Subject to fierce government intervention
3.
Must have "stars," singing and dancing, and end happily
B.
Quality:
1.
Satyajit Ray - India's premier filmmaker
a.
Unites the traditions of India's culture, painting and mystic beliefs with Western
cinema
b.
Focus falls on personal relationships and the small intimacies of everyday life.
2.
New Cinema
a.
Examines social problems (often from a Marxist perspective)
b.
Neorealistic in style
c.
Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay is an example of New Cinema which has no place in
Bombay's mainstream industry
Multinational Art Cinema
A.
Film production is crossing national boundaries for three main reasons: political, economic and
thematic.
1.
Political reasons have forced exodus of filmmakers from their homelands
a.
"Blacklisted" Hollywood filmmakers to Europe
b.
Eastern Europeans to the United States
2.
International co-productions solve economic problems, and an international assortment
of stars guarantees box-office appeal in more than one country
3.
Some filmmakers shoot outside native boundaries because thematic commitments
require the alternative visual or social environment
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B.
Examples of multinational films
1.
The Last Emperor: source-autobiography of Pu YI, From Emperor to Citizen, published in
China; screenplay - Mark Poploe (English); director - Bernardo Bertolucci (Italian);
budgeted - five British and European banks; principal crew members - Italian; cast substantial number of Chinese-Americans from California; filmed - in China and Rome;
distributed - Shochiku-Fuji, a Japanese conglomerate
2.
The Three Musketeers, according to director, Richard Lester:
It was a film whose producer had a Mexican passport and who was the honorary consul
for Costa Rica in Switzerland. The company that employed me was from Liechtenstein,
the company that produced the film in pre-production was French; it was a Spanish film
when it was made. I found out afterwards that I'd probably made the best Panamanian
film ever, and in the end it qualified for the British Academy Awards as a British film.
The technicians were almost entirely British but the cast were primarily Americans and
the film was shot in Spain. The money came from God knows where. All I know is that
whenever one asked the producers about profits, they started speaking in Russian.
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