What kinds of knowledge can we obtain from films? What can we learn from them?•What can we learn from books
HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND WORLD Cinema Week 1 –Week 2Film and History Types of Historical Films: The Epic Film Instructor: Dr. Irene Rosa
Week 1 Discussion Topics•What kinds of knowledge can we obtain from films? What can we learn from them?•What can we learn from books?•Is the knowledge that we acquire from movies different from what we learn from books?•Can we learn from every type of movie?•Are some films more likely to be intentionally “historical”?
Skeptical Historians argue that films:•distort historical chronology in the interest of dramatic structure•simplify complex events•falsify the historical figure to comply with the demands of the star system•emphasize the spectacular rather than the analytic•reduce historical observation to the evocation of the picturesque
Week 2 In–class ActivityFinding Examples of Historical Films•Copy this link:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1foqUx24bt–AoDG3jhuLuUROkgw_rOHdL?usp=sharing•Break into six groups•Follow the instructions on the activity sheet (3 activities)
Film as Historical Discourse Robert Rosenstone“History on Film” (2013)Written history and history on the screen:“they refer to actual events, moments, and movements from the past, and at the same time they partake of the unreal and the fictional, since both are made out of sets of conventions we have developed for talking about where we human beings have come from” (Rosenstone, p.2)
Identifying Historical Films•Films that tell a story set at a specific time in history, where the main characters correspond to real historical figures who participated in significant events of the past•The information conveyed must have been studied as universally accepted historical facts•The more reliable/interesting historical films “consciously try to re–create the past”•These films often trace a parallel or make a comment about the contemporary moment
Classifying FilmsDifferent methods for classifying films:•By genre (film marketing strategy)•By a specific analytic typology, i.e. types of historical films[MORE ON THIS IN UPCOMING WEEKS]• By mode of reception: fiction/narrative vs. non–fiction/documentary[MORE ON THIS IN UPCOMING WEEKS]
Film GenresGenre is a category or classification of movies that share similar narrative and stylistic patterns in the presentation of their subject matter. Grounded in audience expectations about characters, narrative, and visual style, a film genre is a set of formulas and conventions repeated and developed throughout film history.Examples of film genre: drama, comedy, thriller, horror, science fiction, action, musical)–May include subgenres (romantic comedies, alien invasion movies, etc.)–May have colloquial names (i.e. epic films, also known as “sword and sandals” movies)
Spartacus(Stanley Kubrik, 1960)Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
•Usually deals with the remote past (Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece)•Emphasis on spectacle (monumental sets, crowd scenes, special effects)•Traditional epic themes: “the founding of a people or nation, the advent of freedom, the fulfillment of a heroic destiny”•Hollywood depictions of Ancient Rome often linked to ideals of democracy, liberty and nobility The Epic Film