| Kommentar |
This class will explore the tradition of film noir in America. We will be looking at the sources or inspirations of film noir (German expressionist cinema, modernist art, hard-boiled detective fiction and the cultural-historical developments of the 30s, 40s and 50s); at classical film noir movies such as The Maltese Falcon ( 1941), The Big Sleep (1946), Key Largo (1948) as well as certain aspects of this movies: the hard-boiled detective, the femme fatale, the narrative structure, the filmic techniques, the political, ethical and psychological implications. We will also look at the legacy of film noir: the neo- or retro-noir: especially Taxi Driver (1976), Jackie Brown (1997) and Memento (2000). We will discuss whether film noir is a genre, an aesthetic or simply a tradition. Finally, we will reflect the reasons for the persistence of film noir in American cinama. - Reading:·
- Raymond Chandler: The High Window (1942)·
- A reader with texts to be read for class will be available at "Sprintout", Georgenstraße, S-Bahn Bogen 190.
- Requirements:Students will have to organize and lead one meeting together with the instructor. For full credit Magister- and Staatsexamen students will have to write a term paper.
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