Response 1
Answer one of the following questions:
- We're watching both silent and sound films this week. Chose one of the two films screened and make an argument about how it explores the limits and possibilities of the medium itself.
- Using Canudo's essay and at least one of the week's films, argue for or against film's status as an art (try, as best you can to think about this question in the context of when the essay was written—thinking about the short films we watched and Abel's discussion of exhibition spaces).
Response 2
Answer one of the following questions:
- Using Epstein but also Canuda and Cendrar's writings as inspiration, write your own argument about the power and possibility of cinema as a medium.
- Analyze how Epstein's films (le Tempestaire and Six et demi, onze) either support or contradict his written arguments about cinema (Hint: You may want to focus on just one element, i.e., photogénie, etc.).
Response 3
Answer one of the following questions:
- Some films might be considered classic for the style, others for their message. Write a response that argues that La Grande Illusion is a classic film because of the message it conveys (Hint: You'll want to define this message first).
- Building on the readings (Vigo's article about "Social Cinema" as well as the analyses of La Grande Illusion and its reception) write your own argument about what the political role of film should be.
Response 4
Answer one of the following questions:
- Following up on our discussion of La Grande Illusion, what is the social message of Le Corbeau? You might make an argument about class, gender, social cohesion etc....
- Use the historical context from Williams (and whatever else you know about Vichy) to make an argument about what Clouzot's take on Vichy France.
Response 5
Answer one of the following questions:
- Write a response paper that argues for the status of Funny Face as classic French film - you might think stylistically here or in terms of its content.
- Think about our class - and the other contexts in which you have studied French film - and make an argument about how what we're doing fits into the global networks of French film culture that Scott and Schwartz both describe in their articles.
Response 6
Answer the following question or make up your own that engages with the film / readings for the week:
- Make an argument about how Le Monde du Silence might be enacting its own version of French universalism (you should definitely think about the film in relation to the texts for the week).
Response 7
Make an argument in response to one of the following questions:
- Using evidence from the readings and this week's film, explain why and how Brigitte Bardot captivated the French in the 1950s.
- We might read Et Dieu créa la femme as a story of sexual liberation. But at times it also seems to uphold deeply conservative ideals of sex and gender. Pick one of these two interpretations and defend it in your response.
Response 8
Answer one of the following questions:
- You've read this week about authorship - i.e. "la caméra-stylo." In what ways does À bout de souffle demonstrate the ideas of authorship expressed by Astruc and the Cahiers du cinéma critics? Or, in other words, in what ways does the film reveal its author's hand?
- Write a response that uses À bout de souffle to challenge this idea of authorship. You might make an argument about the film being about France in the 1950s or its stars, etc....
Response 9
Answer one of the following questions (or write your own):
- Analyze your own reaction to Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob. Did you find it funny? Did you laugh out loud? Mimic Mulvey's argument to describe why or why not you - as a construction of your own time and place - might have found this film funny.
- We've been talking about how French society has changed over the course of the twentieth century, as seen through film. Make an argument that reads this film and its characters as part of some of the greater societal changes (fashion, sexual liberation, gender relations...) that we've been discussing.
Response 10
Answer One of the following questions:
- Guy Austin names four elements that characterize "le cinéma du look"–"an interest in fantasy rather than realism, a technical mastery of the medium, an intertextual tendency to cite from other films, and a spectacular visual style (le look)" (pp. 144–45). Write a response that analyzes how Nikita employs this last element, the spectacular visual style.
- Does Nikita embody a new type of woman for French society? Construct an argument that analyzes this new type. You might want to compare her to Juliette in Et Dieu créa la femme or Patricia in À bout de souffle.
Response 11
Answer one of the following questions:
- There are many reasons why we might consider La haine a classic, but one of them is surely its resonance with contemporary social issues in France but also in the U.S. Make an argument for the film's relevance vis-à-vis police violence, racism, and prejudice in the U.S. today.
- Analyze the aesthetic choices of this film (think about what we talked about with Breathless (À bout de souffle) here): Why is it in black and white? why are some scenes in slow motion? frozen? think about framing, focus, cutting and make an argument about how these elements enhance or detract from the film's message.