RUSSiAN FiLM
| RUSS 282 MW 3:30-4:50 Meneely Hall 302 Francoise Rosset |
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Russian 282 is an English-language course on Russian film. No knowledge of the Russian language is assumed, nor is it needed. One of the mantras of artistic policy in the former Soviet
Union was a quote, attributed to its first leader Lenin, that
cinema is "the most important art of all." Our course
on Russian Film will focus on modern and recent films from Russia
and the former Soviet Union. We begin with a historical overview
of the early Soviet cinema, and quickly proceed through representative
films to the movies of the last decade. |
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2. E-RESERVE. You will occasionally be assigned an article or chapter of background information, on e-reserve. 3. LIBRARY RESERVE (BOOKS) |
FILM SCHEDULE and SCREENINGS, aka. Wheaton Russian Film Series ASSIGNED FILMS will be screened for your convenience, Time and place TBA. Those who cannot make that screening, be sure to watch the movie in the Library before class discussion. All films will be placed on reserve. |
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TEXTS and class materials 2. E-RESERVE. You will occasionally be assigned an article or chapter of background information, on e-reserve. |
| 3. LIBRARY RESERVE (BOOKS) You will occasionally be assigned a specific section or chapter . The BOOKs ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY include: Film Theory and Criticism, 5ed., eds. Braudy and Cohen, has various useful articles on the cinema. How to Read a Film, by James Monaco, will be used as a general reference. Short Guide to Writing About Film.Timothy Corrigan. -- Early Soviet Cinema. David Gillespie. Kino, A History of Russian Cinema, Jan Leyda Imaging Russia 2000: Film and Facts. Anna Lawton. Real Images. Josephine Woll Russian Cinema. Inside Film. David Gillespie Russian Popular Culture, Richard Stites. |
CLASSES are conducted in English and center on assigned, screened films. Classes discuss and review the assigned movie(s), and might include more general discussion and some lecturing. Students are expected to attend class: you may have up to three absences, excused or otherwise. You are also encouraged to contribute actively: plan to post on the Blackboard Discussion Board. |
WRITTEN REVIEWS: SEVEN, including one on your individually chosen film. PAPERS. You will compose several written reviews of our films over the semester. SEVEN are required, including one on your individually chosen film. Reviews will be turned in on Wednesday at the beginning of class. They should be 1.5-2 pages long; you must do eight, and you choose which of our films to review. ONE of the eight reviews should be on an "individual" film not from our collective film list. Reviews are papers; they should be written in careful English, and will be judged accordingly. They must address issues of style and content both. EXAMS: There will be a mid-term exam (partly take-home) as well as a scheduled final examination. |
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ALTERNATE FILMS for individual review- choose one of the following (on reserve): These are strictly extra alternate films for individual viewing, NOT our core films. Man With a Movie Camera. DzigaVertov, 1928 Alexander Nevsky. Sergei Eisenstein, 1938 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Sergei Paradjanov, 1964 Rasputin (Agoniya). Elem Klimov. 1975 Elegy of the Land. Alexander Sokurov. 1977 The Wishing Tree. Tengiz Abuladze. 1977 Solaris -- the original!!. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979 Jazzman. Karen Chakhnazarov, 1983 Come and See. Elem Klimov, 1985 Burnt by the Sun. Nikita Mikhalkov, 1994 Spiritual Voices. Aleksandr Sokurov. 1995 The Stroll. Aleksei Uchitel. 2003. Remote Access. Svetlana Proskurina. 2004 Alive. Aleksandr Veledinskii. 2006 anything by Kira Muratova, 1980's and 1990's. |
GENDER BALANCE and INFUSION As indicated earlier, we have clusters of films addressing particular issues. We will discuss the content, stories and messages of these films, though we will always consider questions of style and technique as well. One cluster focuses on Other cultures and issues of class and race. These films deal with racial and ethnic indentity and inter-ethnic tensions in the Russian world: Repentance, The Prisoner of the Mountains, The Color of Pomegranates, and Dersu Uzala. The other special cluster focuses primarily on women and works by women: Commissar, Little Vera, Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears, Wings, Adam's Rib and You I Love. These clusters not are meant to be separate, discrete entities: issues such as class, race, gender, are woven into the fabric of the entire course. |
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THE INSTRUCTOR: Françoise Rosset, Department of Russian Office and phone: Knapton 002, x3696 Office hours: TBA |
Local Home
Created: 9/98
Modified:
9/03
Maintained by: FR,
frosset@wheatonma.edu