HY119 HISTORY THROUGH FILM Professor Marian Lyons, Dr David Murphy & Dr David Lederer Semester 2 (2013–14)
5 credits
Mon @ 5pm in Iontas Lecture Theatre Wed @ 4pm in Theatre 1, Arts Building
I. Module description This module introduces students to the study of history through film. It opens with a review of the evolution of film since the late nineteenth century before exploring historians’ varying views of history on film and its value to students of history. Students are encouraged to reflect critically on aspects of the representation of history on film, including the nature, purpose and characteristics of various genres of ‘historical films’ (war, spy, western, etc.), the often complex relationships between film, reality and propaganda, and the various ways in which history on film has been used to affirm identities and value systems, including those of nations. The reception of specific films, the role of professional historians in educating audiences regarding topics addressed in films, and the treatment on film of selected historical figures and phenomena (including Revolutions, the Holocaust, slavery) are all explored. II. Aim The aim of this module is to develop students’ capacity to critically analyse the representation of history through film. III. Objectives The objectives of this module are to enable students to develop their knowledge and understanding of the historical evolution of film acquire basic skills to recognise, ‘read’ and critically interpret various types of historical film, recognising their defining features acquire a basic understanding of how to locate and interpret films and their representations of history within their historical contexts of production and reception. IV. Schedule of sessions There are two classes per week for this module: Mon @ 5pm in the Iontas lecture theatre and Wed. @ 4pm in Theatre 1, Arts Building
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Please consult HY119 Moodle site at least once a week for updates/possible changes Week Week 2 (10 Feb. – 14 Feb.)
Lecture Module introduction; History of film; Historians & film–makers on history through film The nature, types & purpose of historical films; ‘Reading’ films
Week 3 (17 Feb. – 21 Feb.)
Historical films as reality; documentary & propaganda
Week 4 (24 Feb. – 28 Feb.)
Historical films, identity & memory; Historical characters on film (1)
Week 5 (3 Mar. – 7 Mar.) Week 6 (10 Mar. – 14 Mar.)
Historical characters on film (2); Reception of historical films & Case Study – D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a nation (1915) Thematic Case studies: Films on Revolutions (1 & 2)
Week 7 (17 Mar. – 21 Mar.) Week 8 (24 Mar. – 28 Mar.)
Study week Thematic Case studies: Films on Holocaust (1 & 2)
Week 9 (31 Mar. – 4 Apr.)
Thematic Case studies: Films on Slavery & briefing regarding examination; From book to film Case Study – Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code (2006) (Dr David Lederer) Mis–en–scène and representing the past Case Study – Patrice Chéreau’s La Reine Margot (1994): guidance for Examination preparation (1) War in Film 1 – documentaries; War in Film 2 – dramatic portrayals of warfare (Dr David Murphy) Easter vacation Spies and espionage - the Cold War in film; The Western as a depiction of American history (Dr David Murphy) [1 lecture only – Wed. 7 May] Conclusion & Examination preparation (2)
Week 1 (3 Feb. – 7 Feb.)
Week 10 (7 Apr. – 11 Apr.) Week 11 (14 Apr. – 18 Apr.) 21 Apr. – 25 Apr. Week 12 (28 Apr. – 2 May) Week 13 (5 May – 9 May)
V. Readings Important: Specific readings will be recommended for each topic in lectures. These will include readings from the following list and from additional sources. Full details (including web links where relevant) are presented in lecture slides which are posted on the HY119 History through film Moodle page. The textbook for this module is Marnie Hughes–Warrington (ed.), The history on film reader (London & New York, 2009). Paperback copies are available in the University bookshop and in the Maynooth University library. The following are also useful: Jack Ellis, A new history of documentary film (New York, 2005) Richard Francaviglia & Jerry Rodnitzky (eds), Lights, camera, history (Arlington, 2007)* William Guynn, Writing history in film (New York & London, 2006)* Marnie Hughes–Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (Abingdon & New York, 2010)* James Monaco, How to read a film: movies, media and beyond (4th ed., Oxford, 2009) Eric Rhode, A history of the cinema from its origins to 1970 (London, 1976)
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Gillian Rose, Visual methodologies: an introduction to researching with visual materials (London, 2001)* Janet Staiger, Interpreting films: studies in historical reception of American cinema (Princeton, 1992) Kristin Thompson, Film history: an introduction (Boston, 2003) * = available as ebook via University library Lecture 1: Module introduction; History of film Eric Rhode, A history of the cinema from its origins to 1970 (London, 1976) Kristin Thompson, Film history: an introduction (Boston, 2003) André Gaudreault, Nicolas Dulac & Santiago Hidalgo (eds), A companion to early cinema (Malden, Mass., 2012) [electronic resource– NUIM library electronic resource] Lecture 2: Historians & film–makers on history through film Robert A. Rosenstone, History on film: film on history (Harlow, 2006), chaps 1, 2 & 9 [posted on Moodle site] Marnie Hughes–Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (London & New York, 2010), chap. 1 Marnie Hughes–Warrington (ed.), The history on film reader (Abingdon, 2009), part 1 (esp. chapter 2 by Natalie Zemon Davis) Lecture 3: The nature, types & purpose of historical films William Guynn, Writing history in film (New York & London, 2006), introduction Marnie Hughes–Harrington (ed.), The history on film reader (London & New York, 2009), part 1: Introducing historical film. Marnie Hughes–Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (Abingdon & New York, 2010), chap. 2 ‘Genre’. Robert Rosenstone, History on film/film on history (Harlow, 2006), chap 3 ‘Mainstream drama’ (pp 32-49) [posted on Moodle site] Gerda Lerner, ‘Joan of Arc: three films’ in Marc C. Carnes (ed.), Past imperfect: history according to the movies (New York, 1996), pp 54-9 [posted on Moodle site]. Lecture 4: ‘Reading’ films Marnie Hughes–Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (Abingdon & New York, 2010), chap. 3 ‘Pasts, presents, futures’ James Monaco, How to read a film: movies, media and beyond (4th ed., Oxford, 2009), chaps 2 & 3 [posted on Moodle site] Gillian Rose, Visual methodologies, chap. entitled “The good eye” [ebook, University library] Lecture 5: Historical films as reality – documentary Robert Rosenstone, History on film/film on history (Harlow, 2006), chap 3 ‘Mainstream drama’, (pp 32-49) [posted on Moodle site] Marnie Hughes-Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (London & New York, 2007), chap. 6 3
Marnie Hughes-Warrington (ed.), The history on film reader (London & New York, 2009), pt. 4 Lecture 6: Historical films as reality – propaganda Marnie Hughes-Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (London & New York, 2007), ch.7 David Hinton, The films of Leni Riefenstahl (3rd. edn., 2000), esp. chap. 2 [extracts posted on Moodle site] David Bordwell, The cinema of Eisenstein (Harvard, 1993), chaps 2 & 6 [extracts posted on Moodle site] Lecture 7: Historical films, identity & memory Marnie Hughes-Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (London & New York, 2007), chapter 4 (v. theoretical – try to extract general points) Marnie Hughes-Warrington (ed.), The History on film reader (Abingdon, 2009), pt. 3 Lectures 8 & 9: Historical characters on film (1 & 2) Luke Gibbons, ‘Framing History. Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins’ in History Ireland (Spring 1997), pp 47-51 http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/framinghistory-neil-jordans-michael-collins/ [link posted on Moodle site] Raita Merivirta Chakrabarti, ‘Between Irish National Cinema and Hollywood: Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins’ in Estudios Irlandeses, no. 2 (2007), pp 121–27 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/estudiosirlandeses/merivirta07.pdf Carol Levin, ‘Elizabeth: Romantic Film Heroine or Sixteenth-Century Queen?’ in Perspectives on history (April 1999) http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/1999/9904/9904FIL5.CFM [link posted on Moodle site] ‘Representing history’ in Film Education (2003) http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/film/rephist.pdf [link posted on Moodle site] In addition, see lecture slides for a range of relevant readings regarding representations of selected historical figures including the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I, Michael Collins, Che Guevara, Mahatma Gandi Lecture 10: Reception of historical films & Case Study – D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a nation (1915) Michael Rogin, ‘‘The sword became a flashing vision’: D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation’ in Representations, no. 9 (winter 1985), pp 150-95 http://www.jstor.org/stable/view/3043769 [link posted on Moodle site] Janet Staiger, Interpreting films: studies in historical reception of American cinema (Princeton, 1992), chap. 7 [posted on Moodle site] Leon F. Litwack, ‘The Birth of a Nation’ in Mark C. Carnes (ed.), Past imperfect: history according to the movies (New York, 1996), pp 136-42 [posted on Moodle site]
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Eric M. Armstrong, ‘Revered and reviled: D.W. Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation’’ in The Moving Arts Film Journal, 26 Feb. 2010 [link posted on Moodle site] See also additional links posted in lecture slides Lectures 11 & 12: Thematic Case studies: Films on Revolutions (1 & 2) Luke Gibbons, ‘Framing History. Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins’ in History Ireland (Spring 1997), pp 47-51 http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/framinghistory-neil-jordans-michael-collins/ [link posted on Moodle site] William Guynn, Writing history in film (New York & Abingdon, 2006), pp 122-32 (ebrary book, NUIM library) Brian Hanley, review of The wind that shakes the barley’ in History Ireland, 14, no. 5 (Sept.–Oct. 2006) http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/film-eye-thewind-that-shakes-the-barley/ [link posted on Moodle site] Raita Merivirta Chakrabarti, ‘Between Irish National Cinema and Hollywood: Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins’ in Estudios Irlandeses, no. 2 (2007), pp 121–27 [link posted on Moodle site] See also additional links posted in lecture slides Lectures 13 & 14: Thematic Case studies; Films on Holocaust (1 & 2) F. Manchel, ‘A reel witness: Steven Spielberg’s representation of the Holocaust in Schindler’s List’ in Journal of Modern History, 67 (1) (1995), pp 83–100 [available via to the University library website – click on database of electronic resources, click on J, click on JStor and to search for the article, key in author and journal title] Miriam Bratu Hansen, ‘"Schindler's List" Is Not "Shoah": The Second Commandment, Popular Modernism, and Public Memory’, Critical Inquiry, 22, no. 2 (winter 1996), pp 292-312 [available via JStor, University library website] Lawrence Baron, ‘Serious humor: laughter as lamentation’ in Marnie HughesWarrington (ed.), The history on film reader (London & New York, 2009), pp 122-32 http://www.szpilman.net/ [The pianist Roman Polanski (2002)] See also additional links posted in lecture slides Lecture 15: Thematic Case studies: Films on Slavery Natalie Zemon Davis, Slaves on screen: film and historical vision (Harvard, 2002) [extracts posted on Moodle site] Lecture 16: From book to film Case Study – Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code (2006) See lecture slides posted on Moodle for readings relevant to lecture 16 Lectures 17–18: Mis–en–scène and representing the past Case Study – Patrice Chéreau’s La Reine Margot (1994) & Examination preparation Julianne Pidduck, La reine Margot (London & New York, 2005) [extracts posted on Moodle site]
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Moshe Sluhovsky, ‘History as voyeurism: from Marguerite de Valois to La Reine Margot’ in Rethinking history: The Journal of Theory and Practice, 4, 2 (2000), pp 193–210 [posted on Moodle site] Brigitte Humbert, ‘Emotion, modernization, and Female Emancipation’ in Patrice Chéreau’s Queen Margot’ in Quarterly Review of Film & Video, 19 (2002), pp 223-35: available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10509200214840 [search Google Scholar to access article] Marnie Hughes–Warrington, History goes to the movies: studying history on film (Abingdon & New York, 2010), chap. 3 ‘Pasts, presents, futures’ James Monaco, How to read a film: movies, media and beyond (4th ed., Oxford, 2009), chaps 2 & 3 [posted on Moodle site] Gillian Rose, Visual methodologies, chap. entitled “The good eye” [ebook, University library] Lectures 19–22: War in Film 1 – documentaries; War in Film 2 – dramatic portrayals of warfare; Spies and espionage - the Cold War in film; The Western as a depiction of American history J. David Slocum, Hollywood and war: the film reader (2006) Jay Slater, Under fire: a century of war movies (2009) Steven Jay Schneider, 101 war movies you must see before you die (2009) See lecture slides posted on Moodle for sessions 19–22 Lecture 23: Conclusion & examination preparation VI. Assessment This module is assessed on the basis of an end–of–semester two–hour examination in which students are required to attempt two questions.
VII. Moodle A copy of this module outline, select lecture slides, recommended readings relating to individual sessions, links to recommended websites, and other resources will be available for consultation on the HY119 Moodle site which may be accessed from the NUIM’s home page (http://www.nuim.ie) or directly at http://moodle.nuim.ie/. Moodle will be the main medium through which announcements and reminders will be posted by the lecturers delivering this module for the attention of students. It is therefore essential that all students visit this site at least twice weekly. Students who experience problems with their passwords, or indeed other aspects of Moodle, should email
[email protected]
VIII. Contact details Professor Marian Lyons (Head of Department & Module Coordinator) 53A, Rhetoric house, Department of History, NUI Maynooth Email:
[email protected]
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