Western Washington University

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Winter 2021 Course Descriptions

ENG 365 Film Hist: 5 cr.

Notes & Prerequisites: ENG 364 or ENG 202.

11658 TR 1000-1150; Film viewings: T 1600-1850 Eren Odabasi

This course offers a survey of key films, filmmakers, and

cinematic trends that have shaped film history outside North
America until 1960. The period between 1920-1960, marked
by two major World Wars, saw the emergence of influential
cinematic movements such as German Expressionism,
French Poetic Realism, and Italian Neo-Realism. We will
unpack the social, historical, and political factors that
informed these waves in European filmmaking. Additionally,
we will expand the framework beyond Western Europe by
studying important directors from Southeast Asia, the Far
East and Latin America, rejecting the Euro-centric
approaches that have traditionally dominated the field.

In our analyses of canonical classics from several different

regions and time periods, we will discuss many different
aspects of film culture ranging from various distribution and
exhibition models to the invention of sound and other
technological advances, or evolving spectatorship practices.
Through a series of (re)discoveries from global film history,
we will observe how well-known filmmakers of today are
deeply indebted to the pioneers of the past.
TEXTBOOK: The Oxford History of World Cinema, edited by
Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. Oxford, New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996.

This is a very large reader covering the entire film history, I

highly recommend using the e-book version instead of
purchasing an expensive copy. The e-book is available
through Western Libraries.

FILMS (Tentative List):

• Limite, dir. Mario Peixoto, 1931

• Rules of the Game, dir. Jean Renoir, 1939
• Marius, dir. Alexander Korda, 1931
• I Was Born, But…, dir. Yasujiro Ozu, 1932
• Rome, Open City, dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1945
• Nosferatu, dir. F.W. Murnau, 1922
• Passion of Joan of Arc, dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928
• Ugetsu, dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953
• The Music Room, dir. Satyajit Ray, 1958

All the films will be available online for streaming.