ENGL 273 F - American Cinema, 1950-2000

Campus: Urbana-Champaign

Description:

Explores key issues in America cinema during the second half of the twentieth century, connecting central problems of film studies (e.g., authorship, genre, narratology, style, gender analysis, and the spectacle of violence) to moments of major transition in the American film industry (e.g., the Red Scare and the end of the Production Code in the 1950s; the emergence of the New Hollywood and the breakdown of the studio system in the 1960s; and the rise of the mega-blockbuster in the 1970s). Course Information: Same as MACS 273. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.

Special Instructions:

This course addresses a range of cinematic developments in the context of major transitions in the American film industry and in society from 1950 to the present. We will examine the dominant styles and ideologies of 1950s Hollywood; the shift away from those during the emergence of the New Hollywood in the late 1960s and mid-1970s with its generic revisions, stylistic eclecticism, and emphasis on formulaic blockbusters; and, finally, the typical Hollywood ways of representing serious social issues such as race and gender. We will discuss the choices that filmmakers have made and how those choices reflect three primary influences: industrial goals, political aims, and conceptions of the relationship between a film and its spectators. With that last element in mind, a second important goal of this course is to help you to be more aware of ways in which filmmakers invite us to participate in the experience that they have created for us and of what happens to us when we accept that invit

Option 1

Course Level: Undergraduate

Credit: 3

Term(s): Spring