Course Description

Instructor: Robin Bernat

In this eight-week class, we'll look at the debut works of film giants like David Lynch, The Cohn Brothers, John Ford, and several independent filmmakers. We'll be talking about great cinema from newcomers like Kelly Reichardt and David Gordon Green to film giants like John Ford, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Werner Fassbender. Besides looking at the formal elements of film from cinematography to casting, more importantly perhaps, we'll be considering what it means to have "authorship" and how successful these filmmakers are at character development and eliciting great performances. The last or eighth week of documentary films will be self-guided.

1.

Kim Ki-duk: Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring (2003)

Michelangelo Antonioni: L’Avventura (1960)

2.

Kelly Reichardt: Old Joy (2006) Criterion

First Cow (2019) Criterion

Claire Denis: White Material (2010)

3. 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)

Max Farberbock: A Woman in Berlin (2008)

or

Roman Polanski: Venus in Fur (2014)

Truffaut: Mississippi Mermaid (1970)

4.

Alain Resnais: Last Year at Marienbad (1961) Kanopy, Amazon

David Lynch: Mulholland Drive (2001) Amazon

5.

John Ford: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Coen Brothers: No Country for Old Men (2007)

6.

David Gordon Green: George Washington (2001)

Ben Zeitlin: Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

7.

Alexander Payne: The Descendants (2011)

Olivier Assayas: A Christmas Tale (2008)

8.

Bonus: Documentaries

Jody Lee Lipes: Ballet 422 (2014)

Trumbo: Red White and Blacklisted (2008)

Most of the films are available to rent on Amazon and several are available for FREE on Kanopy.com, you just need to have an up-to-date local library card to access the site.