Syllabus
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
Week 1 Let’s Start at the Beginning: Or, What IS Central Europe?
Screening: Jiří Menzel, Closely Watched Trains. (CZ)
Keywords: Central Europe, History, Ethnicity
Required Readings:
Milan Kundera, “The Tragedy of Central Europe”
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, “Introduction” p.1-7,
Supplemental Readings:
Tony Judt, Borderlands, “The Coming of the Cold War” pp. 140-149
Week 2 What is ‘National’ Cinema, and How Do We Talk About It?
Screening: Ján Kadár, Elmar Klos – The Little Shop on Main Street (SK)
Keywords: Nationalism, Movie Making
Required Readings:
James Monaco, How to Talk About Film,Chapter 2 “Art and Technology” (selected excerpts)
Ľubica Mystríková, The Cinema of Central Europe, “Obchod na korze, A Shop on the High Street” pp. 97 – 105
Supplemental Reading:
Andrew Higson, Film and Nationalism “The Concept of National Cinemas” Pp. 52-67
Week 3 Politics and Form
Screening : Věra Chytilová, Daises (CZ)
Keywords: Formalism, Subversion, Gender
Readings:
Peter Hames “Věra Chytilová” p.183-201
Zdena Skupinová, „Sedikrásky / Daisies” p. 129-136
David Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction, p.406, 428.
Supplemental Reading:
Egon Bondy, Selected Poems
Vaclav Havel, et al. “Charta 77”
Week 4 Puppets and Nations (Midterm 1 Due on Friday)
Screening: Jiří Trnka, Old Czech Legends (CZ)
Keywords: Mixed Media, Puppetry, Animation
Readings:
Fernand Leger, “The Machine Aesthetic: Geometric Order and Truth”
Pyotr Bogatryev- “Czech Puppet Theatre and Russian Folk Theatre” http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_drama_review/v043/43.3bogatyrev.html
Supplemental Reading: Tony Judt Borderlands, “Into the Whirlwind” [excerpts], pp.187-193
Week 5 Politics and Films
Screening: Jan Nemec, Report on the Party and the Guests (CZ)
Keywords: Allegory, Dissidence, Show Trials
Readings:
Antonín Liehm, Closely Watched Films “Jan Nemec”,
Peter Hames – “Jan Nemec” 167-183
Tony Judt, Borderlands, pp. 199-203, 436-449
Supplemental Readings:
Franz Kafka, “The Trial” ("Before the Law"/"Vor dem Gesetz")
Week 6 Surreal Slovakia: The Slovak Avant-Garde
Screening: Juraj Jakubisko, Birds, Orphans, and Fools (SK)
Keywords: Ethnocentrism, The Slovak Problem
Peter Hames: “The Slovak Wave: Juraj Jakubisko, Elo Havetta, and Dušan Hanák” p.212-223
Martin Votruba, “Historical and National Background of Slovak Filmmaking”, KinoKultura. http://www.kinokultura.com/specials/3/votruba.shtml
Suplemental Reading:
Petra Hanáková, “The Anti-Czech Agenda of Slovak Films 1939-1945” (excerpts)
Stanislaus Kirchbaum, Slovakia : The Struggle for Survival, “The Slovak Problem”
Week 7 The Genre Film(Midterm 2 Due on Friday)
Screening: Oldřích Lipský, Limonádový Joe (or the Horse Opera) (CZ)
Keywords: Genre, Spectacle, Escapism
Readings:
Thomas Schatz, “Film Genre and the Genre Film”
David Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction. “New Twists on Old Genres” p.314-316
Supplemental Reading:
Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle, (excerpts)
Week 8 Folklore and Fantasy: Slovak Surrealism Revisited
Screening: Elo Havetta, Party in the Botanical Garden (SK)
Keywords: Visual Culture, Folklore, Magical Realism
Readings:
Jana Dudková, “Celebration in the Botanical Garden” KinoKultura. http://www.kinokultura.com/specials/3/dudkova.shtml
Václav Macek, “From Czechoslovak to Czech and Slovak Film”, KinoKultura. http://www.kinokultura.com/specials/3/macek.shtml
Antonín Liehm : “Elo Havetta”
Supplemental Reading:
Andrew Sarris, “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”
Week 9 Black Comedy
Screening : Miloš Forman, The Firemen’s Ball (CZ)
Keywords: Black Humor, Farce, Slapstick
Required Readings:
Peter Hames “The Forman School: Milos Forman” pp.106-127
David Bordwell, Film History : An Introduction. Pp.426-427
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Annotation
20.09.2017 NOTE TO ERASMUS STUDENTS AND STUDENTS FROM KATEDRA FILMOVÝCH STUDIÍ:
This course officially begins on September 25th, even though Erasmus and Departmental students start a week later (OCTOBER 2rd)
The course meets every MONDAY (15:50 to 17:20 with screening) and WEDNESDAY (14:10-17:20)
Bounded by the Germanic Empires to the West, the Russian Empire and Soviet Union to the East, Hungary and the former Ottoman holdings to the South, the Czech and Slovak lands have long been a site of conflict and creation. This course will explore the incredibly rich cinematic tradition of thought provoking and entertaining films produced in the areas of the Czech Republic (the primary area of focus), and Slovakia from the years following World War II up until the beginning of the 21st century. In addition to watching films, we will also be discussing cinema theory and approaches to “reading” films, not only as movies, but also as multi-faceted cultural artifacts. To this end, our readings will contain primary source materials on cinema history, historical research, film theory, and literature intended to broaden our understanding of Czech and Slovak culture, cinematic and otherwise.
While this syllabus gives a fairly accurate portrayal of the material we will cover, additional material may be assigned (and assigned material may be dropped or altered) at any time as the semester progresses, in order to better suit the needs and interests of the class.
COURSE GOALS:
Throughout the semester, this course will teach students how to discuss and analyze films, while also applying film and cultural theory to a variety of visual media. Students will also gain a deeper appreciation of Czech and Slovak cultural history through the dissection and analysis of Czech and Slovak films. Students will also learn how to compose complex analyses of films and structure these analyses in a logical, concise manner, using primary and secondary sources to advance their argument in a proper academic fashion.