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Poets of Cinema

ENGL 292.402
instructor(s):
TR 3-4:30 Screenings T 4:30-6:30

This course will be a study of key filmmakers who made a distinct mark on the cinema of the twentieth century. The course will explore how in the face of massive commercial success of Hollywood cinema, directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Andrei Tarkovsky, Theo Angelopoulos, Miklos Jansco, Krzysztof Kieslowski, and Ildiko Enyedi created a new form of cinema that challenges our dominant conceptions and understanding of film styles, and opens up new frontiers of creativity and filmic expression. Together, these filmmakers were so influential that they not only shaped their specific national cinemas, but they had a profound influence on filmmakers around the world. They are unique in that their work fits neither the narrative mode nor the experimental or avant-garde one. They defy dominant theories of films and open up discussions of poetics and philosophy. Through their work, this course will also explore important connections between cinema, the study of language and narrative, visual arts, literature and philosophy.

fulfills requirements