This assignment asks you to write a 6-‐8 double-‐spaced page paper analyzing a film in terms of its style, historical context, or national context. You should consider the film’s relevance in terms of the major themes of the class.
You should analyze the film and construct an original argument through one of the following methods:
1. Historical analysis: How does this film exemplify, challenge, or complicate a particular historical trend? This can be related to the ideological, cultural, or even technological.
2. National context: How does this film represent various cultural or ideological elements of its chosen nation? OR: how has the film been
constructed or produced with the goal of appearing to represent its nation? What elements may be missing or hidden, and why so?
3. Theoretical analysis: How is this film the product of a theoretical discourse of its moment, or challenge a previous discourse? Has
the director herself written about her approach to the work, and how does she manifest it? What does the film pose cinema’s purpose or ultimate aesthetic ideal as? Each essay should also integrate elements of formal analysis. How does this film create the various meanings posed by your inquiry? What sort of stylistic traits and narrative strategies are implemented and how do those support your argument?
Research: You will need to perform historical research through secondary sources for this paper. You are required to utilize and cite at least three (3) textual sources. Popular web-‐based resources, such as IMDB and Wikipedia, do not count toward your three outside required sources.