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Humanities 351

Film and Film Theory

Spring 1998

Mr. David A. Salomon

Shorter Essay

Choose ONE and only one of the following questions. Answer it in a complete and thoughtful essay. Your essay should be a well-developed, clear, logical and complete idea developed from a definite thesis statement. Use the language of film in your essays (you have that glossary). Do not summarize the plot of the film; use the text where appropriate to support your answer. You need not consult secondary sources for this paper, but if you do, give credit for the information you use. Do not forget to cite any Internet information you use as well.

Essays should be typed (double-spaced) and approximately 5-7 pages in length. This paper is due on Wednesday, March 25. Papers must be handed in on time. Papers handed in late will receive a one grade deduction for each class late. I will be happy to look at drafts ahead of time; in fact, I encourage it! Read the questions carefully. Proofread your work.

1) Over the course of the past several weeks we have screened films from various genres from directors with often very different styles. Take one set of the films paired below, and compare or contrast them based on several criteria: directorial style, narrative, light/dark, timing, framing, camera style/angles, music, sound/silence.

Based on the above criteria, can you make some general as well as some rather specific remarks on pair of films you have chosen.

Chaplin's "City Lights" and Wenders' "Wings of Desire"

Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"

Welles' "Citizen Kane" and Attenborough's "Chaplin"

2) We have read Shakespeare's Tempest and watched Mazursky's adaptation of the play for his film "The Tempest." Clearly, Mazursky's is an "adaptation" and not an attempt to film Shakespeare's play. In what ways is the film different from the play, and in what ways is it the same? Without lapsing into "I hated it/I loved it," can you make a judgment about Mazursky's film? Does it do the play justice? Remember, he is not trying to film Shakespeare, so we cannot judge his film a failure in that respect.

3) Wim Wenders said he was trained as a painter when he was younger. He says, "The first films I made were like paintings sustained over a certain length of time. I had more painter models than directors." Given what you know so far about film making, and what you do know about painting, how are the two arts similar? Use specific examples from at least two of the films we've screened, but do not use any examples from painters or refer to painters or particular paintings. This is not an easy essay to write given those restrictions.