Days of Heaven -- or Hell?

Days of Heaven explores the making of America with an almost mythical depiction of the settlement and industrialization of the American West.  Much like other films of the New Hollywood which emerged in the era of the Vietnam War and Watergate, it questions some of the sacrosanct myths of American history and revisions traditional Hollywood genres such as the Western.  What is the film saying about progress and prosperity in the founding of the West?  What is it saying about the American Dream and the pursuit of happiness?  Is America a land of liberty and justice for all -- or just an intricate confidence game?

The Voiceover

In both Black Girl and Days of Heaven a character narrates the story using the non-diegetic sound of a voice-over.  Diouanna, the Black girl of the titles, tells her story in the present as she toils in the kitchen of her French employer and in flashback.  Linda, the sister of one of the main character, often comments on the action of the film.  Some people criticize this technique as uncinematic or inefficient storytelling.  What do you think?  How or why are the used?  Do they give an unique element to the storytelling -- or are they distracting?

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity?

Black Girl is a pioneering work of African Cinema, produced just at the moment when African countries like Senegal were asserting their political and cultural independence from their colonial occupiers such as France.  Despite the fact that Senegal is an independent nation in this film, old colonial mindsets, both of the colonizer and colonized, persist.  How does the film show these stereotypes, biases, and hypocrisies in the film?  What is the film saying about the relationship between traditional African culture and Western modernity?

Female Director, Female Protagonist, Feminist Film?

Cleo from 5 to 7 is our first film directed by a woman. In addition it has a female protagonist. But does that mean this film has a feminist perspective? Are there any feminist ideas in this movie and if so what are they? Are there any elements in this film that might preclude or at least challenge a feminist interpretation?

Cleo's Odyssey

The motif of a journey is one of the oldest in literature. Much like Odysseus' travels, Cleo in Cleo from 5 to 7 is also engaged in a life-changing journey. What are some of the obstacles she must overcome? What are some of the things she learns? How does her outward journey mirror her inner one? What, if anything, is her goal?

I've Got You Under My Thumb?

Early Summer is the story of a society in which women are expected to marry before the age of 29, often in arranged marriages negotiated by their family, especially fathers and brothers.  Yet at the same time, Noriko rejects the candidate chosen for her by her boss and family and  -- on the spur of the moment -- agrees to marry a family friend.   What is this movie saying about patriarchal structure, marriage, and women's liberation in the modern Japan of the 1950's?

Mono No Aware

Mono no aware is the Japanese idea of the awareness of the transience of beauty and the ultimate sadness of life. After watching Early Summer can you better understand this concept? Where there scenes that evoked both feelings of joy and sadness, moments of beauty and tears?  What were your emotions at the end of the film?  What did you think about some of the images we discussed in class: the waves, the photograph, the child's balloon?  Are there moments when you felt the sadness and the beauty of life?