Contemporary French Film: Issues and Debates
| Module title | Contemporary French Film: Issues and Debates |
|---|---|
| Module code | MLF2065 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Fiona Handyside (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
Module description
Contemporary French Cinema: Issues and Debates starts from the premise that contemporary French cinema is one of the most diverse, exciting, and challenging cinemas in the world. It concentrates on a small corpus of films that crystallise the major issues impacting on the contemporary French ecosystem, examining the enduring role of the auteur; the question of popular cinema; the importance of setting; representations of heritage and history; and themes of dispossession and exclusion. No prior experience of film study is needed, but you will need to read and understand French. Seminars focus on close sequence analysis, group debate and discussion.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module aims to give you an informed appreciation of the rich and complex nature of Contemporary French Cinema. As well as studying individual films in depth, we will investigate links between various films, and between films and their social and cultural contexts. The module will introduce you to films that vary in tone, genre, and popular appeal, addressing questions of authorship, setting, technology, and the politics of aesthetics. The module aims to give you the opportunity and research skills required to trace aesthetic, cultural and critical connections between the films produced within a strong, defiant national cinema culture. Lectures and seminar tasks will model research and interpretation that brings together stylistic, political, and socio-cultural analysis. You will be trained to perform close readings of sequences in films. Seminars will give you the opportunity to develop your own approaches to the syllabus texts and other materials.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate a sound general understanding of the chosen texts, including reference to their place in the historical / cinematic / cultural context of their time
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 2. With some guidance from the course tutor, evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to the material covered
- 3. Mount a detailed argument in the appropriate register of English, mustering a range of textual or other evidence in its support
- 4. Access and use critically printed and, where appropriate, electronic learning resources identified as useful by the course tutor, and, to a limited extent, discover other useful materials independently
- 5. Analyse selected TL texts, relating them to significant elements in their cultural / historical / generic context
- 6. Following broad guidelines, locate and identify library and electronic resources on a given topic
- 7. Use recommended reference works to compile a bibliography on a specified topic
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 8. Undertake defined learning activities with a measure of autonomy, asking for guidance where necessary
- 9. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of material in order to produce, to a deadline, a written or oral argument
- 10. Present information and arguments on a defined topic to a group of listeners
- 11. Present a cogent and sustained argument orally and in writing, in English, on a topic chosen from a range of options provided, following broad guidelines but selecting and adapting them as required
- 12. Using course material provided, research, plan and write an essay on a chosen aspect of the subject, to a specified length and deadline
- 13. Demonstrate general competence in word-processing and in use of the Internet
Syllabus plan
There are 4 topics each divided into 3 week units. There are lectures for two weeks and a 2 hour seminar one week; lectures for two weeks and a 2 hour seminar one week; lectures for two weeks and a 2 hr seminar one week; a lecture one week and a 2 hour seminar one week.
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Topic 1: The Enduring Auteur
- Topic 2: Popular Cinema
- Topic 3: Space and Place
- Topic 4: Heritage Cinema
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | 135 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 10 | Lectures |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 5 | Seminars |
| Screenings | 22 | Screenings |
| Guided independent study | 1 | Tutorial |
| Guided independent study | 134 | Private study |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay plan | 500 words | 1-4, 6 | Email and office hours |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 100 | 2500 words | All | Written feedback on standardised feedback form. Individual consultation |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay | 1-6 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
The text book is:
- Tim Palmer, Brutal Intimacy: Analysing Contemporary French Cinema
Basic reading:
- Cach (Haneke, 2005)
- Le fabuleux destin d’Amlie Poulain (Jeunet, 2001)
- Regarde la mer (Ozon, 1997)
- Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (Claudel, 2008)
- L'Anglaise et le duc (Rohmer, 2001)
- La Vie rve des anges (Zonka, 1998)
- Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (Varda, 2001)
The course text book will be:
- David Vasse, Le nouvel ge du cinma dauteur franais (Klincksieck: 2008)
Selected secondary reading:
- Guy Austin, Contemporary French Cinema (MUP: 2009, 2nd Edition)
- Kate Ince, Five Directors: Authorship from Asseyas to Ozon (MUP: 2008)
- T. Jefferson Kline, Unravelling French Cinema (Wiley Blackwell: 2010)
- RenPredal, Le Cinma franais depuis 2000: un renouvellement incessant (Colin: 2008)
- Cahiers du cinma and Positif
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | MLF1001 or MLF1052 or equivalent |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 5 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 2011 |
| Last revision date | 13/03/2019 |