Film Studies

Here is a thread for folks to post comments about the films we watch as part of this unit.  Elijah Rottenberg `93 had some great comments to get our unit started, and we've uploaded them here if you want to read them. 

Download Film Unit Opening Remarks

Prior to class on Monday, 25 Jan, please read the essay "Bang...Bang..." by Bailey.

Here's some info on Dadaism

Comments

[Ali]

In Elijah's opening remarks, he talks about how "learning is a path which ultimately brings the student towards a cliff’s edge - the edge being the extent of their teachers knowledge. The emptiness which stretches out past the edge in front of the student is daunting, and many would turn back because they see nothing further out there." He then says that only geniuses and crazy people make the jump into the void, and that few are successful.
this really reminded me of Mr. Ramsay in To The Lighthouse. Mr. Ramsay's work is all about going into the void, and paving the way so that in the future more people can reach the point that he has gone to. he is constantly frustrated, though, because he cannot pioneer very far into the emptiness-- he compares his work the the ABCs, and he can only get to "r", no further.

[Todd Sumner]

Ali, I wonder, now that you've seen all four movies in the unit what other connections you and your classmates might make between the films and other things we have studied.

For example, today Elijah was talking about Dada, and I wondered if anyone remembered that Flan calls Ouisa a "Dada manifesto" when she's running around saying "don't think about elephants."

Any other connections folks have made?

[Todd Sumner]

If folks have paragraphs in their response papers to these films that might make a good post, I'd encourage you to put them up here.