outline and aims of intermediate module on Europe meets Hollywood

1. LECTURE ONE: INTRODUCTION

5.  What kind of film narrative is associated with Europe
and which with Hollywood?
 Drawing on your knowledge, list features for each, e.g.
EUROPE HOLLYWOOD
subtitles English language
documentary forms fiction/animation

6.  EUROPE  HOLLYWOOD
 Art cinema  Popular/genre cinema
 Diverse  Monolithic
 Auteurs  Stars
 Independent producers  Studio system
 Intellectual  Popular
 Ambiguous narrative  Clear narrative
 Open  Closed
 Local (or national)  Global
 Alternative  The ‘norm’
 Difficult  Straightforward
 Art  Commerce
 Niche  Mainstream
 Margins  Centre

7.  Aim of this module
 Transnational approach
 Crossing boundaries
 Undermining traditional binary concepts
 Looking at geographical movement between Europe
and Hollywood
 Points of intersection and cross-cultural collaboration

9.  Europe and Hollywood are large concepts
 Therefore need to break down
 Our focus is therefore
 Weimar cinema (Germany) 1920s
 Émigré directors/stars in Hollywood
 Art cinema in Hollywood

10.  See Reading Week 8 for this reference
 Highlights the focus of this module:
 ‘A cinema of in-between’
 ‘A form of cinematic expression which highlights the
dialectics of outsider and insider, of the liminal, fluid
and temporary, of upward and downward mobility, of
high brow and low brow.’
 Wilder represents the problematic of the
Europe/Hollywood axis
 Hollywood is not extrinsic to Europe
 Europe is not extrinsic to Hollywood

11.  ‘liminal’, meaning on the threshold between two states
 Definition:
 ‘situations and conditions that are characterized by the
dislocation of established structures, the reversal of
hierarchies, and uncertainty regarding the continuity
of tradition and future outcomes’
 Something that happens when Europe meets
Hollywood!

12.  To explore the history of the relationship between filmmaking in
Hollywood and Europe from the early 20th Century through to
the present day
 To critically analyse received notions of Hollywood hegemony
and examine the hidden histories of international collaboration
and engagement by professionals as well as audiences across the
two continents
 To investigate specific case studies of film professionals who
practised their art in both Europe and Hollywood.and critically
interpret different theoretical and critical academic perspectives
on Weimar cinema in particular, and on the writing of a film
history in general
 To study the textual features of films from a transnational
perspective as well as the historical and institutional contexts
which shaped them

13.  Traditional dichotomy has been undermined in recent
scholarship which centres on the ‘transnational’
 E.g. Tim Bergfelder:
 ‘Transnationalism always needs to encompass a
dialogue between transitoriness and location, and
between émigrés and hosts, and involves a process that
blurs and ultimately dissolves the boundaries between
these oppositions.’

14.  Module booklet on WebLearn
 Approaches on the module
 Screenings on the module
 Additional Screenings
 Assessments
 Seminars

20. Nosferatu
Available in full on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzubFvBsA