SAMPLE SYLLABUS FOR ONLINE SELF-PACED SUMMER I
ARTH 359 COURSE *** SOME CHANGES MAY OCCUR
ARTH359F-WB10: Film as Art; Coen Brothers: Genre
Film in a Post-Ironic Age-Summer I 2017
Self-Paced
May 31 to July 8, 2016
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Summer Session I
Dr. Greg Metcalf
[email protected]
Course Hub is ELMS.umd.edu
Joel and Ethan Coen make films that seem funny but prove to be complicated with serious themes and
moments that provide examples of how Postmodern (or maybe Post-Postmodern) ideas play out in popular
art. The brothers re-present the classic conventions of Hollywood genre films (like Film Noir, Screwball
Comedy and the Western) to create films that are simultaneously respectful and mocking of tradition.
The Minnesotan brothers “create” an audience that is both ironically distanced and emotionally connected.
(In the 1970s someone created the term “Meta-Modernism.” It never caught on, but it labels what the
Brothers are doing – and sounds like a word that should be in the title of a course somewhere.)
The Coen Brothers’ strategies will be examined through screenings of their films in the context of their use
of genres and literary sources, and through scholarly analyses of the films. The concepts of irony and postironic culture are a filter we will use to understand the films.
The Course Specifics:
Volume I: Getting Started
Chapter One: Where It Begins: A James M. Cain Noir
Lecture: Introduction to Course: Course Intro Stuff.docx
Introduction to Coens and Genre -- Film NoirThe Brothers Coen and Film Noir are and
some Sam Raimi mixed in there.docx
Film: Blood Simple (1984)
Film: Context: "The Postman Always Rings Twice"
Readings: Intro to the Coen Brothers Filmography intintchron.pdf
Coen's Blood Simple Interviews bloodsimpint.pdf
Blood Simple Overview introbludsimple.pdf
James M. Cain and Blood Simple bloodsimplecain.pdf
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Nocturne," a Very Short James M. Cain Story nocturne -- cain copy.pdf
Blood Simple and Post-Modernism blood simple.pdf
Chapter Two: Where It Begins: A Preston Sturges Screwball
Lecture: The Screwball Comedy and Wacky Humor Raising Arizona.docx
Film: Raising Arizona (1987)
not required: Road Runner cartoons (on YouTube)
Readings: Coens' Raising Arizona Interviews razarizint.pdf
Raising Arizona Overview (missing 1 page) risariz(misspage).pdf
Missing Page from the above reading missingpage.pdf
Raising Arizona as American raisingarizona.pdf
Nihilism and Family razarizona.pdf
Chapter Three: A Dashiell Hammett Noir
Lecture: Dashiell Hammett and an Historical Drama.Miller’s Crossing.docx
Film: Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Context Film: The Glass Key
Readings: Coens' Miller's Crossing Interviews millcrossint.pdf
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Miller's Crossing Overview millcross.pdf
Miller's Crossing and Ethics milerscrossing.pdf
Existential Identity in Coen Films identity in coens.pdf
Not required (but helpful if you want to pursue Hammett/Noir issues):
One reading of the Flitcraft story Link (Links to an external site.)
Another Reading of it Link (Links to an external site.)
Paul Schrader Defines Film NoirSchrader Interview.pdf
Existential motifs in Noir existenial motifs.pdf
Chapter Four: The Writer in Hollywood
Lecture: Mocking Odets, Faulkner and themselves in a Horror FilmBarton Fink.docx
Film: Barton Fink (1991)
Readings: Coen Barton Fink Interviews bartonfinkint.pdf
Overview of Barton Fink bart.pdf
Barton Fink and Interpretation bartheid.pdf
Ethan Coen, Playwright Link (Links to an external site.)
Intro to Golden Boy and Clifford Odets Link (Links to an external site.)
Clifford Odets Video Clips: "Waiting for Lefty" clip Link (Links to an external site.)
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--Irony Readings if you pursue Irony issues
3 Types of Irony Link (Links to an external site.)
David Wallace "Irony is Dead"Link (Links to an external site.)
Wallace got Irony Wrong Link (Links to an external site.)
Beyond IronyLink (Links to an external site.)
First paper:
(@ 4-5 pages, double-spaced, typed)
Write an essay on one of the following:
1) What makes a Coen Brothers film? You can’t cover everything in 4 pages so pick 2 or 3 key points and
make the case from readings and the four films we will have seen. (you can allude to later films but the
focus should be on some or all of the first four.)
2) A criticism of the Coen Brothers is that they try to have it both way, mocking genre while manipulating
audiences to care about the genre anyway. The counter argument is that they carefully balance two (or
more) different emotional experiences to create a complicated emotional reaction. Use examples from
readings and the first four films to support whatever case you choose to make.
3) What happens if you consider Coen Brothers films as a sort of adaptation of the source inspiration (for
example, Blood Simple as a Cain adaptation, Miller’s Crossing as Hammett adaptation might work the
best, but Barton Fink might be considered as a strained adaptation of Odets/Faulkner, Raising Arizona as
an adaptation of a Road Runner Cartoon)? Explore one work from this perspective, discussing the way the
Brothers use the source material, what changes, what remains constant and what the overall effect or
relationship ends up being.
Caution: this one could go bad if you aren’t that familiar with the source materials.
4) Take an argument from one of the readings and either a) expand on it, b) refute it, or c) apply that
reading's analysis to one of the other three films from this section of the course.
Procedural stuff:
You must use information from at least one reading to support your argument.
You may use outside sources.
Use any writing style you are familiar with as long as, when you give full and proper credit when drawing
on another source and you give enough information that I can immediately find the SPECIFIC location of
your source material.
You may go longer than four or five pages. I would not go much shorter than four pages.
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You should use sources.
Do not waste time describing films. You can assume I’ve seen the films. Use description of specific parts of
scenes, etc. that support your argument with the emphasis on explaining why what you cite supports your
argument.
***If writing about IRONY, please be
clear which type you mean
Link*** (Links to an external site.)
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Volume II: Complicating Genre
Chapter One: Failure with a Tone-Perfect Frank Capra Screwball and Sam Raimi
Lecture: Depression Populism in Screwball Wrappings The Hudsucker Proxy.docx
Film: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
not required: “Meet John Doe” (Frank Capra –) Link (Links to an external site.)
Readings: Coen Husucker Proxy Interviews hudsuckint.pdf
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Hudsucker Proxy Overview hudsuck.pdf
Hudsucker and History hudsuck and history.pdf
Video on Shot/Reverse Shot Link (Links to an external site.)
Required: For Comparison Edgar Wright's Visual Cpmedy Link (Links to an external site.)
Chapter Two: Depression Homeric Epic Musical by way of Preston Sturges
Lecture: Multiple Influences and Music in the Brothers’ Films O Brother.docx
Film: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Context Film: (not required) Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges)
Readings: Coens' O Brother Interviews o brother int.pdf
Not
O Brother Overview o brother.pdf
Comedy in O Brother comedy in o brother.pdf
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VHS Ma & Pa Kettle commercial (with preview for Ma and Pa Kettle At the Fair Link (Links to an
external site.)
Ma and Pa Kettle explain Math Link (Links to an external
site.)
Chapter Three: Minnesota Noir (y’betcha)
Lecture: Minnesota Noir Fargo.docx
Film: Fargo (1996)
not required: “Fargo (the Series)”
Readings: “How to Talk Minnesotan” minnesotan.pdf
Coen's Fargo Interviews fargoint.pdf
Fargo Overview fargo.pdf
Fargo and Modernity fargomodernity.pdf
Fargo and Shame fargoint.pdf
Chapter Four: A Minnesota Dybbuk Story
Lecture: No More Autobiographical than Anything Saul Bellow WroteA Serious Man.docx
Film: A Serious Man (Robert Rodriguez – 1996)
Context Film: not required: “Seize the Day” (1986)
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Readings: Born to Kvetch born2kvetch.pdf
Sort of a Coens Interview on A Serious Man Link (Links to an external site.)
A Range of Jewish Media Responses to the Film Link (Links to an external site.)
Review of Herzog by Saul Bellow Link (Links to an external site.)
Video Analysis of A Serious Man Link (Links to an external site.)
Second Paper
Write on ONE of the following topics.(4-5 pages, double-spaced typed.) You must use the readings.
1) How does one of the Coen Brothers use their source material to work with and against the themes (or
maybe modernize and) the values or narrative tactics of the original? Is it fidelity, parody or just namechecking?
Another way to think of this is to consider, for example, Hudsucker Proxy as a set of variations on Frank
Capra, especially Meet John Doe and It’s a Wonderful Life, or O Brother, Where Art Thou? As a set of
variations on Preston Sturges, especially Sullivan’s Travels and The Odyssey, for an audience with more
modern sensibilities.
2) Is there a consistency in the way Jewish characters are presented in Coen Brothers films? If so, what is
it? Alternately, how does the humor of the Coens relate to Yiddish humor and the ideas of humour
complaint in the face of oppression and suffering?
3) How does a Coen Brothers comedy film distinguish itself from a Coen Brothers drama or tragedy. While
they all tended to be seen as black comedies, some are barely comic while others are primarily comic, so
what is the difference? And what are the similarities?
If these don’t work for you, you can also adapt one of the Final questions (quote down to the end) for
this paper.
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Volume III: Writers and Stars
Chapter One: The Coen Brothers’ Philip Marlowe
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Lecture: The Failure that Became a Cult and Noir The Big Lebowski.docx
Film: The Big Lebowski (1998)
Context Film: not required: The Big Sleep
Readings: Coens' Big Lebowski Interviews lebowskiinterviews.pdf
Big Lebowski Overview lebowski.pdf
Laziness and the BigLebowski lazylebowski.pdf
Chapter Two: A Charles McCarthy Chase Western Noir Monster Movie
Lecture: Slow Zombies No Country for Old Men.docx
Film: No Country for Old Men (2007)
Readings: No Country as Tragic Western nocountry.pdf
Moral Philosophy of No Country moralphilosophy.pdf
not required reading: “To the White Sea” To the White Sea (Coens Draft).pdf
Chapter Three: A DC Intelligence Farce, With Stars
Lecture: "Intelligence" Comedy Burn After Reading-1.docx
Film: Burn After Reading (2008)
“The Bourne Ultimatum”
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“Bridge of Spies” (Steven Spielberg 2015)
Readings:Initial Response to BAR (Time Magazine):Link (Links to an external site.)
The Coens at 30: Link (Links to an external site.)
Thoughts on BAR:Link (Links to an external site.)
"Trivia": Link (Links to an external site.)
Chapter Four: A Wallow in Genre, with Redemption
Lecture: References, Inside Jokes, and Going too Far Inside for the Audience?Hail Caesar.docx
Film: Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Readings: Hail, Caesar! as Musical Link (Links to an external site.)
Hail Caesar is the slapstick comedy about economic philosophy you need right now.docx
Hail, Caesar! References: Link (Links to an external site.)
Final Paper:
Due by 5pm EST on July 9, 2017.
If you haven’t got an idea that you want to write about, feel free to write about one of these or some
variation on them:
How do the Coen Brothers use music? Burwell’s scores are key elements of films but increasingly in the
classic American songs used in O, Bother Where Art Thou and in the film about music -- Inside Llewyn
Davis – (both under the guidance of T-Bone Burnett). This is specifically about how music becomes a
noticeable part of the Coen Brothers universe. (Inside Llewyn Davis is in the Modules on the ELMS.)
Consider No Country for Old Men a sequel to Fargo based on their world views and the almost narrating
role of the “good people” characters, the exaggerated portraits of the people and landscape of a hostile
environment, and anything else that strikes you.
Make the case that the Coen Brothers have been adapting literature to film since Blood Simple. First
through adapting authors, moving on to adapting actual novels to film. Not all films might fit into this
argument. Is Literary Genre or Film Genre more important to the Coen's work?
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Use a Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe novel to explain how the Dude takes Marlowe's place in a
Dudesque version of Marlowe's world in The Big Lebowski.
How does A Woman, a Man and a Noodle Shop relate to Blood Simple? What is lost or gained in moving
it to China and making it an historical drama? What fundamentally changes in the meaning of the film as it
is translated for a Chinese audience in a Chinese and a Chinese movie genre context? (The film is in the
Modules on the ELMS.)
Both Blood Simple and Man Who Wasn’t There are based on the writing style of James M Cain. What
makes them Cain and what makes them Coen? How can we distinguish between Cain and Coen doing
Cain. (What does that tell us about how other Coen films relate to their inspirations?) (The film is in the
Modules on the ELMS.
Consider Crime Wave and Hudsucker Proxy as failures (as many did). What does working with Sam Raimi
on scripts or the product of directing a Coen-Raimi script and Sam Raimi directing a Coen-Raimi script tell
us about the specifics of “that Coen Brothers feeling?” (Crime Wave is in the Modules on the ELMS.)
Consider Bridge of Spies and/or Unbreakable (with Coen Brothers scripts) as the other side of the Coens’
devotion to and manipulation of Genre. (And or the scriot for “To the White Sea” in the No Country for
Old Men not required readings. When they remove the comedy/irony is there still a “Coen Brothers
feeling?” (Neither of these films are in the Modules on ELMS.
Does Inside Llewyn Davis fit into the Coen’s body of work? If so, how? If not, how? (Inside Llewyn Davis
is on the Module on the ELMS, even though you did not have to see it for class.
Use Frances McDormand and/or John Goodman and/or Steve Buscemi to consider how the Coen Brothers
use the same actors in different movies. Do they change across movies or are they essentially the same in
each film. (For example, do they use Goodman as an all purpose dangerous all-American (non-Jewish
character? Do Buscemi’s deaths aggregate across the films?
How do the Coen’s use Film Noir/Hardboiled novels across their films? What – if anything – do the
different Noir films share?
Use Hail, Caesar! as a starting point to discuss the place of Genre Film – or, specifically, Genre film of an
earlier age – in their body of work? Consider character, plot devices explicit Genres we see being filmed,
but also the plot of the film itself and its lead character. Might also consider it’s relationship to Barton Fink,
another Hollywood story from an earlier era. (Hail, Caesar! will be added to the Module on ELMS as soon
as it is available, in early July. If you need to see it earlier and aren’t on Netflix, email me for other
options.)
Compare the portrait of the artist, Barton Fink with the portrait of the artist, Llewyn Davis created by the
Coens. What are they saying about artistic types and how do they show it to us?
Remember, 5 to 8 pages (double spaced) as a target length.
Use specific examples to support your argument.
Do not pad with long description.
Use readings to support – or structure – your argument.
(Links to an external site.)
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The Structure of the Course:
The course is made up of 12 "Chapters" and 3 Papers. Each "Chapter" includes a "Lecture,"
Readings, and a Film. They were constructed to be done as two "Chapters" each week, with a paper
to be written each weekend and due the following Monday.
However:
You can work at whatever pace works for you as long as all three papers have been submitted by
5pm EST on July 8, 2016.
I would urge you not to wait till then and turn all the papers in at the same time because that will
provide you with no feedback.
I will grade and give comments on papers as they come in. Generally you should receive that back
within 24 hours (unless an unexpected crisis takes me away from email for a couple days.)
Texts:
1) ALL “LECTURES” ARE REQUIRED.
“Lectures” will be posted on the ELMS home page under the "Chapter" they address. (Due to some
continuing technical difficulties, they will probably appear as written notes rather than in the
intended audio-video form.)
Just because you have to read (or listen) to them, it does not mean that you have to agree with them.
2) ALL ASSIGNED READINGS ARE REQUIRED.
There will be about 3 readings per “Chapter.”
There will also some, generally short, video links to interviews or other relevant matter.
All readings (WILL EVENTUALLY) appear below, under the "Chapter" to which they apply, as
PDFs or as online links.
The readings provide different understandings of the films (and the "Lectures" will provide different
interpretations of the films than the readings).
Some of the readings will not be especially interesting to some of you but you should read even those
closely enough to get the basic argument of the piece. Other readings will be very useful and you will
want to read those more closely.
Which is which will differ between readers.
Your job is to figure out which explanations are the most persuasive and combine them into your
own arguments in papers focused on specific topics or comparisons.
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All papers will require you to use (and credit) ideas from the readings -- you can agree, disagree,
build on the ideas or suggest better explanations. But you have to incorporate ideas from the
readings into your papers.
Use whichever system of footnoting with which you feel most comfortable to give SPECIFIC location
of cited material.
(The information on author, book, publication, etc. for each of the PDFs is on the last page of the
PDF.)
3) ALL ASSIGNED FILMS ARE REQUIRED.
There are 12 Coen Brothers films you are required to watch for the class, all available on ELMS.
Click on “Modules” (in the left hand column of the page). From there click on “Online Media
Reserves” to get to an alphabetical list of the films available to watch for the class. There will be
other films on ELMS. They are not required, but they will provide additional context for
understanding the way the Brothers work with classic Hollywood genres.
Papers:
There are three papers to write for this class.
You will have a choice between three prompts for each paper. The prompts appear after each group
of four Chapters (four Chapters equal one Volume).
Especially for the Third Paper you are urged to come up with your own subject for the paper. You
do need the instructor's approval for a non-prompted paper subject.
The breakdown for the final grade is:
First Paper (@ 4-5 pages, double-spaced, typed)
30%
Second Paper (@ 4-5 pages, double-spaced, typed)
30%
Third Paper (@ 5-8 pages, double-spaced, typed)
40%
All papers will require you to use (and credit) ideas from the readings -- you can agree, disagree,
build on the ideas or suggest better explanations. But you have to incorporate ideas from the
readings into your papers.
For useful information about doing film research:
http://lib.guides.umd.edu/film
http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/resources/filmbasics.htm (Links to an external site.)
http://www.imdb.com/
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Papers should be submitted by email to me at [email protected] or through the ELMS page.
Grades and comments should be returned by email within 24 hours of receipt.