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Academic Year 2004/2005

Melodrama and the Woman's Picture
FILM 347 SP

Within film criticism, the usage of the term "melodrama" has changed over time, as has the presumed audience for the genre. This course will investigate the various ways in which Hollywood melodrama and its audience have been understood, beginning in the silent period, ranging through the woman's picture of the thirties and forties to domestic melodramas of the fifties, and culminating in contemporary cinema. We will pay particular attention to the problems of narrative construction and visual style as they relate to different definitions of melodramas. Screenings include films directed by D. W. Griffith, Evgenii Bauer, John Stahl, Frank Borzage, King Vidor, Douglas Sirk, Vincente Minnelli, Max Ophuis, Nicholas Ray, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lars von Trier, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Todd Haynes.

MAJOR READINGS

Christine Gledhill, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Lucy Fischer, IMITATION OF LIFE
Ben Brewster and Lea Jacobs, THEATRE TO CINEMA
Reading packet

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

A take home exam, a presentation, a research project, and a final paper.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

$45.00 Course fee. Course is only open to junior and senior Film majors.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: NONE    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: FILM304 AND FILM310 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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