Choose one —
1. Compare the sets and themes of Alphaville, a sci-fi allegory-parody set in a futuristic city (present-day Paris), to those in Forbidden Planet and/or La Jete, considering their respective historical and political and film-historical contexts, and especially the stylistic and conventional breaks used in the latter to introduce critique. For example, compare Lemme Caution to Planets researcher- protagonist.
2. Discuss Godard’s critique of consumerism in Weekend analyzing a different scene from the one discussed in class. What formal and conceptual role does color play in this scene?
3. Compare the treatment of themes of capitalist consumption, greed, and B movie violent spectacle in Weekend (67) to another film such as Bonnie and Clyde (also 1967, Trigger Warning about final scene) or the more contemporary Zombieland.
Zombieland (09):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORvl4VI9JbU
Bonnie and Clyde (67):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb1N5TcA5to
4. Explain Bertolt Brecht’s concept of “distanciation” or “alienation effects” using the example of Le Gai Savoir or La Chinoise.
5. Discuss the idea in cinema verit that “the film makes its own truth, referencing the film Chronicle of a Summer and the lecture by Faye Ginsburg.
6. Analyze a scene from Rouch’s Jaguar, referencing the soundtrack, in terms of ethnofiction, identifying a particular scene or scenes and explaining the elements that contribute to this styles reflexivity with respect to documentary film form.
7. Discuss Sembenes use of irony and tragedy in everyday life to stage a political moral story about the psychological and economic impact of colonialism even after independence in Black Girl.
