Comparative Literature 381 - Self-Reflectve Avant-Garde Flm

Fall
2013
01
4.00
Don Levine

M 3:35PM 7:00PM

UMass Amherst
32120
Explores modern origin of film experimentation in avant-garde modes such as Expressionism, Surrealism and contemporary results of this heritage. Trying to determine if film is the most resolutely modern of the media, we'll look at cinema as the result of two obsessive concerns: 1) the poetic, dreamlike and fantastic, 2) the factual, realistic and socially critical or anarchistic. Thus, we'll attempt to discover how modern culture deals with avant-garde imperatives to always "make it new.? Films and filmmakers such as Breathless (Godard), My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant), The American Soldier ( Fassbinder), others. Requirements: one 5-page paper for midterm, ten-page final paper or project;
attendance. (Gen.Ed. AT)
Multiple required components--lab and/or discussion section. To register, submit requests for all components simultaneously.
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.