FILM 1001 - French Cinema: History, Genre and Style

This course will introduce you to 12 key French films released over the past hundred years. It will introduce each film's social and cultural context, and explore their visual and thematic richness. It will also identify the industrial, economic and political backdrops against which the films were produced, and examine the role cinema was playing at several crucial moments in French society (such as the 1930s, the post-war era, and the 21st century). Building on skills developed in 'Introduction to Film Studies' around issues of genre, history, visual style, editing, gender and sound, you will apply various methodological frameworks to answer the question 'What is so French about French cinema?'. You will focus on the set of cinematic issues raised by each film, but you will also concentrate on emerging themes that are common to all. Moreover, you will use each film to (a) analyse cinema as an art form, (b) see what is distinctly 'French' about the film in terms of narrative, form and aesthetics, and (c) highlight the wider changes in French society as explored in the films.