Philosophy 326: Philosophy and Film     Summer 2011 (Ezio Vailati)
Where to reach me: PB 2212; phone: x3376; home page: http://www.siue.edu/~evailat (click on "Courses" and then on "Philosophy and Film"); e-mail:evailat@siue.edu.
Office Hours: MW 10:00 – 11:00, and by appointment if needed.

Course Description
This course analyzes a group of movies in the light of the philosophical themes they embody. Most of the movies shown in this class have not being selected only because they illustrate a philosophical position or problem: many mediocre films do that. Rather, they have been chosen because they are great works with a significant philosophical component.
The philosophical investigation of a movie requires, of course, some knowledge of philosophical issues.  Consequently, we shall acquire some familiarity with a few traditional philosophical topics such as: the problem of evil; the nature of faith; the role of miracles in religious belief; autonomy; the relation between individual and society; false consciousness; the meaning of life; aestheticism and moral solipsism; moral and political responsibility.

Texts
1) Denise-Peterfreund-White, Great Traditions in Ethics.  Twelfth Edition (Rental text) [G].
2) handouts
3) material to be downloaded from my home page. If you have no internet access at home, get a free account on campus.

Course Outline

May 23: Intro to course.

Handout on movies. Film analysis guide.

Earliest movies: the Lumiere Brothers’ Exiting the Factory; The Arrival of the Train (1895); Melies’ Voyage to the Moon (1902); E. S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903), with cross cutting and pan shots; notice also the (unintentional) breach of the 180 degrees rule.

The earliest dolly shot from a major movie: Pastrone's Cabiria (1914). Famous crane shot in Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) at 1:50:30. For famous camera movement, watch Murnau’s The last man (1924).

Standard editing: continuity editing. Breaking continuity editing: montage with ideological juxtaposition of shots in Eisenstein's October (1927). More breach of continuity editing by avoiding eyeline match shots and breaking the 180 degrees rule to convey isolation and confusion: Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960).

The long take: the opening of Welles' A Touch of Evil (1958).

Two great examples of montage: the second diving scene from Riefenstahl Olympia (1938) and the bridge scene from Eisenstein’s October.

Movies and ideology: the prologue to the first part of Olympia: Olympia-1; Olympia-2; Olympia-3 (Doric Greece, Aryanism, the cult of the body, and the Olympic torch).

Religion

May 25: The traditional theological view of God.  Lecture on Kierkegaard, the Problem of Evil, Locke on religion and faith; the meaning of life

May 27: Babette's Feast (Denmark). Readings: Kierkegaard, G, 172-86; download: Abraham arguing with God about morality; Abraham on Mount Moriah;  handout: The knight of faith, section from Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling
May 30: No class

June 1: The Seventh Seal ; (Sweden). Readings: handout: Nagel on the meaning of life; download material from Revelation.

A detailed analysis of the church scene.

June 3: Shadowlands (Great Britain) Reading: handout from A Grief Observed
June 6: Devi (India). Readings: handouts on Hindu women and marriage; autonomy; download-1; download-2.

The individual and society
June 8: Lecture on Fascism, Mill's On Liberty, Hobbes' State of Nature, false consciousness.
June 10: A Special Day (Italy). Readings: Kant's "What is Enlightenment"; download-1; download-2; download-3.
June 13: Amarcord (Italy). Handout: Fellini's interview on the movie.

June 15: Rashomon (Japan) Readings: section from Kurosawa's autobiography. G 88-96. First paper due (download paper topics)

Values to live by

June 17: Lecture on Aestheticism and Existentialism.  Readings: handout from Schmitt's Political Romanticism; Sartre, G, 305-315. Time permitting showing of Murnau’s The Last Laugh (Germany, silent)
June 20: Crimes and Misdemeanors. (US) download; Sartre, G, 277-287; Plato, G 7-20. Companion movie: Match Point (US) by Allen.
June 22: High Noon (US). Readings: download article on integrity and on pacifism.

June 24: Final discussion. Time permitting, showing of Pabst’s Pandora’s Box (Germany, silent). Second paper due (download paper topics).

Course Requirements
In addition to watching the movies, doing the readings, and thinking about the material, the course has the following formal requirements:

1. Class attendance: I shall call roll. Watching the movies and participating in class discussion are essential components of the course. Participation to discussion: 20% of the course grade. Missing more than 3 classes without a proper justification amounts to losing one full grade in the course.
2. Several multiple choice quizzes or one-page summaries on an announced philosophical topic, cumulatively worth 20% of the course grade.  Dates and topics will be announced in class. No late summary will be accepted.
3. Two papers, 5 double-spaced pages long, each worth 30% of the course grade. Do not e-mail your paper to me unless in extreme circumstances. A successful paper must:
• provide a reasoned, one to two pages (maximum) long summary of the movie.
• analyze the movie in the light of the readings. This requires making reference to specific episodes in the movie and to specific ideas in the readings by way of page references.
• refer, when appropriate, to other movies in the course.

A detailed analysis of a scene especially relevant to your interpretation is welcome but not required. For an example of a detailed analysis, you may look at the one provided above for The Seventh Seal.

Suggestions:

• In general, a good paper cannot be written without watching the movie more than once.  Most of the movies are available in the library; unfortunately, they must be viewed in the library (no borrowing).  The US movies are often rather widely available and it may be a good idea to rent, download, or buy the movies you are writing your papers on.
• My on-line analyses of the movies should give you some sense of what I'm looking for. Of course, your papers should be more detailed than my on-line accounts.
• You are encouraged to give me rough drafts of your paper. Keep in mind that I can return them with significant comments only if: i) it is given to me at least one week before the papers are due; ii) it is written reasonably clearly. Rough drafts consisting only of disjointed paragraphs or, worse, mere paragraph headings cannot be properly evaluated. You may turn in your rough draft as many times as you like, compatibly with the above requirements. My reading a student's rough draft of a paper does not entail that the paper, even if my comments are considered, will get a "B" or an "A." Often a paper must be revised more than once to become good.

Academic policies
1) Cheating of any kind will be dealt with according to the draconian CAS rules.
2) Students are responsible for knowing what has been said in class, especially announcements concerning reading assignments. If for any reason you miss some classes, make sure to find out what went on.

3) Even when animated, class discussion is to be conducted with civility.