Module Identifier TF31720  
Module Title REPRESENTATIONS OF THE HOLOCAUST IN FILM  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Mikel Koven  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite TF10210 , TF31920  
Course delivery Lecture   10 x 2 hours  
Assessment Essay   3 x 2,500 word essays, Essay 1 - 33%, Essay 2 - 33%, Essay 3 - 34%   100%  
  Resit assessment   as above    

Aims


The subject matter of this module is the variety of films that discuss the Holocaust. Students will be introduced to the idea of `cinematic historiography,? wherein the film text is seen as a discourse about history. This module shall identify specific issues being dealt with and articulated by means of the presentation of specific historic event ? the Holocaust ? through specific medium ? cinema.


Learning Outcomes:


Typically, on completion of this module, students will be able to:
- critically assess a history film as a product of a specific socio-political and cultural context;
- challenge the `authority? of `the filmed document? as it pertains to the Holocaust;
- critically assess how Hollywood films about the Holocaust address themselves to a mainstream American audience;
- critically assess how European films about the Holocaust address themselves to their domestic audiences, and how those audiences are assumed to be different from those of a Hollywood film.


Basis of student knowledge:


This module assumes that students already
- Have an understanding of the major critical discourses of film studies (i.e. the auteur theory, classical Hollywood cinema, genre study);
- Know the basic terminology that film studies utilise (mise-en-scene, montage, frame, diegetic/non-diegetic sources, etc.);
- Are familiar with certain key textbooks; specifically Pam Cook?s The Cinema Book and Bordwell and Thompson?s Film Art ? an introduction.


Readings:


Each week there are 2-4 assigned essays contained within a specially prepared `reader? for students. These readings come from a variety of sources, including journals, critical anthologies, and chapters in longer monographs.   

Reading Lists

Books
** Essential Reading
Insdorg, Annette. (1989) Indelible Shadows: Film and Holocaust. CUP
** Recommended Background
Bresheeth, Hood and Jansz. (1994) Holocaust for Beginners. Icon Books
Szlakmann, Charles. (1991) Judaism for Beginners. Icon Books
Loshitzky, Yosefa (ed.). (1997) Spielberg's Holocaust: Critical Perspectives on Schindler's List. IUP
Plus package of photocopied readings from other sources..
Viewings: Schindler's List (USA, 1993, Steven Spielberg), Shoah (France, 1985, Claude Lanzmann), Holocaust (USA 1978, Marvin Chomsky), The Quarrel (Canada, 1992, Eli Cohen), The Night Porter (Italy, 1974, Liliana Cavani), Salon Kitty (Italy, 1976, Tinto Brass),.
Europa Europa (Germany, 1990, Agnieszka Holland), Life is Beautiful (Italy, 1998, Roberto Benigni), The Tin Drum (Germany, 1979, Volker Schlondorff), Au Revoir les enfants (France, 1987, Louis Malle), Escape from Sobibor (USA, 1987, Jack Gold), To Be or Not To Be (USA, 1941, Ernst Lubitsch),.
The Great Dictator (USA, 1940, Charles Chaplin), Judgment at Nuremberg (USA, 1961, Stanley Kramer), The Diary of Anne Frank (USA, 1959, George Stevens) and Night and Fog (France, 1955, Alain Resnais).