230215 British Film (S) (SoSe 2022)

The concept of ‘national cinema’ has been much debated in film, media and cultural studies. Indeed, British film styles and themes have never been homogeneous but have contributed in different ways to what scholarship classifies as ‘British cinema’. Celebrating on-screen diversity, with special focus on social class and region, the seminar explores a range of realist films. Short films such as Peter Mullan’s “Fridge” (1995), Stephen Daldry’s “Eight” (1998) and Andrea Arnold’s Oscar-winning “Wasp” (2003) shall be subject to our discussion before we move on to feature films like Gosford Park (dir. Robert Altman, 2001), a whodunit that takes issue with the British class system in the 1930s, and the social realist drama Sorry We Missed You (dir. Ken Loach, 2019). The seminar is also designed to further students’ skills of film analysis, which is why we will engage in close readings and pay close attention to mise-en-scène, shot, editing, sound, etc.

Please note:

Some films discussed in this course might be distressing for some viewers. Individual ‘content warnings’ will not be issued. Instead, it is the participants’ responsibility to inform themselves about the films prior to the respective sessions and to take care of their own emotional wellbeing.

This course is linked to Prof. Dr. Anne Schröder’s class on “Language Diversity in British Film” (Thurs: 10-12, 230087). These two courses are designed to complement each other which is why we strongly recommend participation in both classes.