HIST 3035 - Reel History: World War II in Film

The aim of this course is to explore the relationship between the past and its representation on film with particular emphasis on World War II. It takes various themes in the history of the war to examine how film has represented, reconstructed and interpreted the mid-twentieth century crisis. The course compares feature and documentary films with more traditional historical texts and sources in order to chart how filmmakers have approached the war. Why did some aspects of the war draw more attention than others? How did different people address the same subjects? Who has been responsible for shaping our understanding of the war and why was so much invested in its recreation on the screen? Students will address such questions and should complete the course with an understanding of the influence of film on popular perceptions of the war and an awareness of the dynamic process of remembering and forgetting history that is inherent in the production of historical films.