Module Identifier TF20320  
Module Title A CENTURY OF CINEMA 1: FILM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Dr Ernest Mathijs  
Semester Semester 1  
Pre-Requisite TF10610  
Course delivery Lecture   20 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   5 Hours  
  Other   COMPULSORY WEEKLY VIEWINGS OF AROUND 2-3 HOURS EACH  
Assessment Semester Exam   2 Hours   40%  
  Semester Assessment   Essay: ESSAY (3500)   60%  

Learning outcomes

Typically, upon completion of this module student will be able to
-identify representations of cultural identity in films,
-analyse specific instances of the portrayal of cultural identity in films
-relate these instances to other elements of the films
-work with the concept of cultural identity in studying film
-have an understanding of how issues of cultural identity are dealt with by audiences

Content

Lecture topics:

Introductory lecture: what is cultural identity and how is it relevant for film studies?
Classical French Cinema and the portrayal of French cultural identity in the 1930s and 1940s.
Auteurism/French New Wave and the Godard-Truffaut paradigm of modern cultural identity in French and Francophone cinema (50s-60s-70s).
Postmodern French Cinema and the portrayal of cultural identity in the “Cinema du Look” (80s-90s)
Issues of Cultural Identity in Contemporary French Cinema: postcolonialism, banlieue cinema, beur cinema, explorations of sexual identity (90s)
World Wide Francophone Film and the legacy of French cultural identity
Cinema in the Low Countries and the lack of a template for the representation of cultural identity
Hong Kong Cinema and the portrayal of cultural identity in Martial Arts films
Hong Kong Cinema and issues of cultural identity in “heroic bloodshed” films and Category III films
The influence of Hong Kong Cinema on contemporary Korean and Japanese films

Seminar topics:

How to watch/study films as representations of cultural identity
Identifying themes, motives, discourses, and structures of cultural identity in French cinema:
Dealing with challenges to accepted representations of cultural identity: Belgian cinema, “New Sexuality” in French cinema.
Looking for European Cultural Identity: Roman Holiday (Wyler, 1953)
Representing and creating cultural identity in The Killer (Woo, 1988)

Aims

This module introduces students to the different aspects of studying film in relation to cultural identity. First, it introduces the concept of cultural identity (and its portrayal) as a key item in contemporary film studies. Next, it aims at pointing out how issues of cultural identity are generally dealt with in studying film. In doing so, the module focuses on three particular examples: French/Francophone/European film, Cinema in the Low Countries, and Hong Kong Cinema. In each of the cases emphasis will be put on how specific films make use of conventions of representation to portray images of cultural identity, through content, form, and style. Throughout the module there will be specific attention to the way audiences (spectators, commentators, cultures, ...) deal with and anticipate conventions of representing images of cultural identity, and how these expectations and reactions have shaped the knowledge of cultural identities through film. In addition, seminars will analyse particular case studies

Reading Lists

Books
PLEASE REFER TO MODULE HANDBOOK.