European Film Noir (MLC2203)
| Lecturer(s) | Dr Fiona Handyside (convenor) |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 30 |
| ECTS Value | 15 |
| Pre-requisites | na |
| Co-requisites | na |
| Duration of Module | 11 weeks |
| Total Student Study Time | 300 hours (including 1x 1 hour lecture, 1x2 hour seminar per week) |
Module aims
This module aims to offer students a rich insight into the development of European film noir. This
module examines the historical development and national specificity of noir in three national
cinemas, those of Germany, France and Britain. It also analyses the ways in which European film
noirs have been profoundly affected, in various ways, by American film noir in a complex twoway
process that ranges from imitation, to dazzling originality, to complex hybridity. The module
will also re-examine classical Hollywood film noir taking into account its own European
genealogy, asking to what extent American film noir can itself be seen as part of a European
tradition and inheritance.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Module Specific Skills:
a) Demonstrate an informed appreciation of the complex critical reception and aesthetic history
of noir in Europe
b) Demonstrate an awareness of issues of exilic and diasporic cinemas in relation to film noir's
European heritage
c) Demonstrate knowledge of the relation between film noir and other genres and styles such as
German Expressionism and the British Crime movie
d) Demonstrate an understanding of European films noirs as sites for articulation and
contestation of gendered and raced identities
2. Discipline Specific Skills:
a) Demonstrate skills in the close formal, thematic, generic and authorial analysis of different
kinds of films
b) Demonstrate skills in the research and evaluation of relevant critical and historical materials
for the study of film
c) Demonstrate an ability to analyse films of different periods and to relate their concerns and
modes of expression to their historical contexts
d) Demonstrate an ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply
these to films
3. Personal and Key Skills:
a) Through seminar work and presentations, demonstrate communication skills, and an ability
to work individually and in groups
b) Through essay-writing, demonstrate research and bibliographic skills, an ability to construct
a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to write clear and correct prose
c) Through research for seminars, essays, film-making and presentations, demonstrate ability in
information retrieval and analysis.
Learning and teaching methods
Teaching is by one lecture, one screening with introduction, and one two-hour seminar per week.
Students are expected to participate in class discussion, and to hold independent small group
meetings in preparation for the seminars. Presentations are compulsory.
Assignments and assessment
Formative or %
Contribution:
Form of Assessment: Size of the
assessment
e.g.
duration/length
ILO's assessed
by this
assessment:
Feedback method:
35% Sequence analysis
1500 words 1a, b
2a
Feedback sheet
with opportunity
for office hours
follow-up.
Formative Presentation 20-25 minutes
1c, d
2b, c, d
3a
Oral feedback.
Feedback sheet
with opportunity
for office hours
follow-up.
65% Essay 3,000 words
1a, b, c, d
2b, c, d
3b, c
Feedback sheet
with opportunity
for office hours
follow-up.
Syllabus plan
1. 'The Americans made it, but the French invented it': the European critical reception of noir
2. Noir before noir 1: German Expressionism
3. Noir before noir 2: French Poetic Realism
4. European
Indicative basic reading list
Indicative basic reading list:
Primary Text:
Andrew Spicer, ed European Film Noir (Manchester University Press: Manchester, 2007)
Secondary Texts:
Alain Silver and James Ursini, The Film Noir Reader (Limelight: New Jersey, 1996)
Tom Gunning, The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity (London: BFI, 2006)
James Naremore, More Than Night: Film Noir In Its Contexts (Berkerley: University of California,
1998)
Jill Forbes, The Cinema in France After the NewWave (London: BFI, 1992)
Steve Chibnall and Rob Murphy, eds, British Crime Cinema (London: Routledge, 1999)
Indicative Films:
M (Lang, 1931)
Le jour se l
