FRENCH 314 Cinema

François Truffaut: An in-depth review of Truffaut’s overall contribution to cinema.  Includes readings from this articles as a film critic, a study of influences on his directorial work (Renoir, Hitchcock) and a close analysis of twelve of his films using a variety of critical approaches: biographical, historical, formal, and psychoanalytical.   Prerequisite: Two 200-level units, one of which must be 210 (if taken Fall 2004 or later), or 211 or above.

In 1954, when he was only 22, Truffaut published in Cahiers du Cinéma a famous and influential article in which he violently attacked the most established figures of French cinema.  Through the fifties he wrote several hundred more film reviews setting new standards for film aesthetics and calling public attention to many important American and European directors.  This is her first contribution to cinema and it will be studied in the introductory part of the seminar.

The main purpose of the seminar will be to analyze Truffaut’s’ contribution as a director.  His films encompass a wide variety of genres – thrillers, melodramas, comedies, or what the French call drame psychologique – and samples of each will be reviewed and compared in the course of the semester.  One of the many novels Truffaut adapted for cinema will also be included in the class material in order to study his treatment of literary texts as a scriptwriter.  But whatever genre he selected, the unifying principle of Truffaut’s cinema lies in a distinctive type of storytelling.  His narrative themes and goals will be considered in detail as well as his techniques as a storyteller; this will include a study of his editing style; his use of language in dialogues and voice-over commentaries, his choice of actors, decors, colors, and music.  While reviewing this material, an attempt will be made to define a methodological approach to his films combining different critical perspectives: biographical, historical, formal, and psychoanalytical.

Assignments:

One oral report and one final project

Films:

Les 400 Coups (1959)
Tirez sur le pianiste (1961)
Jules et Jim (1963)
La Peau douce (1964)
La Sirène du Mississippi (1969)
Baisers volés (1968)
Domicile conjugale (1970)
L’enfant sauvage (1970)
Les deux anglaises (1971)
La nuit américaine (1973)
L’histoire d’Adèle H. (1975)
L’argent de poche (1976)
L’homme qui aimait les femmes (1977)
Le dernier metro (1980)
La femme d’à côté (1981)