Module description
French cinema has since its very origins been concerned with representing alternative visions of what it means to be 'French', both challenging and facilitating the transmission of national stereotypes and identities. This module approaches 20th- and 21st-century French cinema through the figure of the outsider, looking at some iconic French films alongside lesser-known works. Many of these films serve to redefine France's cultural contexts, for example through dealing with stigmatisation of figures such as the postcolonial other, the gendered other, the sans domicile fixe or the criminal. Some of the films we will explore challenge the privileged spaces of the French city, for example through critical representations of public space, or through representing sites that are culturally constructed as other, such as in banlieue and 'beur' filmmaking (films set in France's outer-city housing estates and films by directors of Magrhebi descent, respectively). The protagonists of the films on this module all either fail to fit in or deliberately refuse to do so. We will consider how to approach these representations of otherness in French film, with an explicit focus on class, race, gender and sexuality in narrative films that trouble conventional or traditional notions of family, home and identity.
Assessment details
Assessed coursework of 1500-2000 words worth 25% submitted during the semester and a 2 hour exam (75%) at the end of the module.
Educational aims & objectives
- To familiarise students with a diverse body of French narrative films, from the 1930s to the present day
- To develop a broad understanding of French cinema history
- To examine critically and explore notions of difference and otherness in the French context
- To ensure students are familiar with conceptual tools necessary for writing critically about film
- To enhance written and oral skills through written assessment and class presentations
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 5 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:
- A detailed knowledge of the films studied
- A broad grasp of several key aspects of French film theory
- An ability to analyse film and an understanding of appropriate language use when writing about or presenting on film
- A nuanced understanding of otherness and its representation on screen
Teaching pattern
Two classes per week (a lecture and a seminar), plus weekly film screenings.
Suggested reading list
Core films
Subject to availability and other factors, these may change. Not all of the below will be studied:
- Boudu sauvé des eaux (Boudu saved from drowning, Jean Renoir, 1932)
- Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows, François Truffaut, 1959)
- Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond Agnès Varda, 1985)
- Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, 2011)
- De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone, 2012, Jacques Audiard)
- Bande de filles (Girlhood, Céline Sciamma, 2014)
- Divines (Houda Benyamina, 2016)
- Drôle de Félix (The Adventures of Felix, Olivier Ducastel et Jacques Martineau, 2000)
- Entre les murs (The Class, Laurent Cantet, 2008)
- Monsieur Lazhar (Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau, 2011)
- Caché (Hidden, Michel Haneke, 2005)
- La Graine et le mulet (Couscous, aka The Secret of the Grain, Abdellatif Kechiche, 2007)
- Saint Omer (Alice Diop, 2022)
Core texts
As well as a set film, there is set reading every week. Where possible this is provided electronically through KEATS.