Sumários

Jean Renoir, La Règle du jeu

20 Fevereiro 2025, 14:00 • Chiara Nifosi

Second class on Jean Renoir's movie La Règle du jeu. Focus on the second half of the movie and some filming strategies aimed at increasing the impression of realism and/or add further complexity by layering to the narrative (long shots and shots in depth: ex. guests' arrival at La Colinière, scene in the kitchen, Christine's "confession" about André). We also discussed André's development and parable, from glorification to death, the primacy of the law of the dominant social group over the Law (i.e., justice), and how Bakhtin's definition of the carnivalesque as literary mode may be applied to the second part of the movie (party scene).

Jean Renoir, La règle du jeu

18 Fevereiro 2025, 14:00 • Chiara Nifosi

Introduction to Jean Renoir's movie La Règle du jeu. Historical context: France in the 1930s, the experience of the Front populaire, French foreign policy (neutrality / non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War, the strategy of appeasement with Germany). Analysis of the first half of the movie with a particular focus on the first scenes (André's arrival at Le Bourget and the transition to Christine's room), the exchange between Robert and Octave, the hunting scene and its possible interpretations.  

Introduction to the history of cinema in France

13 Fevereiro 2025, 14:00 • Chiara Nifosi

Introduction to the history of cinema in France (1900-1930): the Lumières brothers, Georges Méliès, Charles Pathé.

Cinema as an industry: the hegemony of France; documentary cinema, the "film d'art", the role of literature. Avant-Garde cinema in the 1920s. The end of silent cinema (1927, The Jazz Singer). The age of realism (1930s).

Reading: Ricciotto Canudo, "Reflections on the Seventh Art". The expressive potential of cinema / cinema as a form of art: the idea of the total work of art (Richard Wagner); the setting and nature as character; vision and style in cinema; écraniste vs. cinéaste / réalisateur. 

Course introduction

11 Fevereiro 2025, 14:00 • Chiara Nifosi

Introductory class: course description, objectives, assessment, and practical questions (Moodle platform).

France in the 1950s and 1960s: decolonization, de Gaulle's presidency, social demands leading to the protests of May 68; a new generation of young people appears (the so-called nouvelle vague, a sociological concept introduced by Françoise Giroud); see interview with Giroud and quote by Annie Ernaux (The Years).