Department of English

Since most films "tell a story," we will see how the language of film enables, enhances, and sometimes even constricts the narrative process. This course will investigate how the tools filmmakers use, the themes they explore, their aesthetics, their politics, and their ethics impact on the stories they tell. We will study a wide range of films: mostly fiction, but including some documentary, sound and silent, foreign, Hollywood, and independent. Films likely to be studied include Chaplin's *The Great Dictator*, Welles' *Citizen Kane*, Eisenstein's *Battleship Potemkin*, Flaherty's *Man of Aran*, Lang's *Metropolis*, Godard's *Weekend*, Bergman's *Persona*, and Allen's *Annie Hall *, Students should plan to attend evening film screenings in additon to regular course meetings. Readings will include critical works and novels.