Course Description
Discover and discuss masterpieces of American and British cinema in this class for intermediate and advanced English speakers. You’ll watch a film at home on streaming, or borrow the DVD from your local library, before a lively and engaging discussion in class. You’ll be assigned one scene to watch at least three times! Every month you’ll view a film from an influential director so you’ll come to know the stylistic hallmarks of favorite genres and filmmakers.
If you love the movies, this course is an enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, get comfortable with idiomatic expressions, improve your conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of American culture and cinema.
Winter trimester films:
Out of the Past (in French “La Griffe du Passé”) by Jacques TOURNEUR (1947) with Robert Mitchum (Jeff Bailey, also Jeff Markham), Jane Greer (Kathie Moffat), and Kirk Douglas (Whit Sterling). Out of the Past is an acclaimed American film noir, with a complex, fatalistic storyline, dark cinematography, and a classic femme fatale. In 1991, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” films.
Five Fingers by Joseph L. MANKIECICZ (1952) (in French “l’affaire Cicéron”), with James Mason (Ulysses Diello / Cicero)and Danielle Darrieux (Countess Anna Staviska), is an American spy film noir. The film is based on the true story of a spy with the code name Cicero who spied for the Nazis during World War II while he was employed as a valet to the British ambassador to Turkey.
Fat City by John HUSTON (1972) with Stacy Keach (Billy Tully), Jeff Bridges (Ernie Munger), and Susan Tyrrell (Oma Lee Greer, nominated for an Oscar—Academy Award— for Best Supporting Actress). The film follows a former champion boxer (Keach) who trains Ernie, and begins to develop a rivalry with the young fighter on the rise.
About the instructor
Ellen Feldman grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in cinema studies from New York University and has taught film studies at the State University of New York, Geneseo campus, and Brooklyn College.
