ENGL 270 S - American Film Genres

Campus: Urbana-Champaign

Description:

Introduction to the study of the dominant genres or types U.S. cinema. Examines the elements that constitute genres (such as visual and narrative patterns), the formation and reshaping of genres by filmmakers and the entertainment industry, the social and cultural factors that influence the genre cycles and subgenres, and the landmark works of each genre. The course treats several genres in historical perspective or focus on a single genre. Course Information: May be repeated in separate terms up to 6 hours if topics vary.

Special Instructions:

Hitchcock: Alfred Hitchcock and the Perverse Ethics of the Suspense Film Why do we like to be frightened by film- Why do we enjoy the feeling of anxiety produced by suspenseful movies- By focusing on the films that Alfred Hitchcock directed between 1940 and 1960, this course will explore the psychoanalytic and ideological fears that animate some of the most talked about texts in cinema history. Framed by the historical horrors of World War II and the subsequent expansion of American economic and military power, the films of Hitchcock-s most fertile period helped to develop-and simultaneously to conceal-psychological concerns about modern masculinity, sadism, masochism, consumer culture, and, most of all, the cold war. By interrogating films ranging from -Rebecca- to -Vertigo- and -Psycho,- we will attempt to engage not only with the manifest messages of Hitchcock-s cinema, but also with the latent and troubling fears about our society and ourselves that his cinema

Option 1

Course Level: Undergraduate

Credit: 3

Term(s): Spring