Film & Media Studies 355 - Bunuel, Saura, Almodovar

(Offered as SPAN 239, EUST 249, and FAMS 355.) This course will consider the filmography of directors who have borne the label “auteur” as a distinction both within Spanish and transnational cinema. Students will explore how “auteristic” cinema has been used as a strategic practice for branding Spanish films, and will study stylistic features associated with each auteur. We will investigate fetishism and dream sequences in Buñuel’s filmography (Un chien andalou, El ángel exterminador, Viridiana). Saura’s metaphorical films will be analyzed as representations of the opposition to Francoism (The Hunt, Cría cuervos). We will study Almodóvar’s mastering of the language of melodrama in films such as All About My Mother and Volver. Finally, we will study lesser-known Spanish auteurs such as Luis García Berlanga (Welcome Mr. Marshall), Víctor Erice (El Sur), and Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me). Conducted in Spanish.

Requisite SPAN 199, 211, 212 or consent of the instructor.  Limited to 20 students.  Spring semester. Visiting Professor Rodriguez-Solas.