This course will analyze contemporary Spanish cinema particularly in terms of the representation of women, with a special emphasis on Pedro Almodóvar’s most significant films as well as some work directed by women. The theoretical presentations during the first sessions will guide the study and analysis of formal and thematic elements in the films. In addition, the course will cover the cultural and ideological background of Almodóvar and the other directors under review.
Prerequisites:
Previous coursework in film analysis and gender studies
Method of presentation:
Lecture, discussion, film viewing.
Required work and form of assessment:
Class participation and attendance; oral and written analysis of films; knowledge of themes introduced in class; critical use of assigned readings; general synthesis of Almodóvar films and other films analyzed for the representation of women in culture and world cinema.
Course work: essay of 8-10 pages about a relevant cinematographic theme (20%); attendance and class participation (20%); midterm exam (30%); final exam (30%)
content:
1. Introduction to the course: objectives, methodology, evaluation. Artistic, social, industrial and cultural dimensions of cinema. The language of film and cinematographic genres.
2. Cinema, women and feminism: the representations of women in the history of film, films created by women and feminist film. Psychoanalytic and feminist theories of film. The annulment of desire in traditional film. Analysis and commentary of relevant texts.
3. The works of Pedro Almodóvar. Stages of his learning, cultural traditions, style, themes and evolution. Viewing of fragments of his movies and documentaries about the director.
4. Existential vertigo of women in the ‘80s. Hybrid genres and postmodern cinema in Almodóvar. Themes of drug addiction and religion. Viewing and analysis Entre tinieblas (1983).
5. The tradition of tragic realism and Spanish costumbrismo in Almodóvar. Family and generational breakdowns. Rural representations. Viewing and analysis of ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984).
6. Synthesis and review of previous sessions. Midterm exam.
7. Loneliness, lack of communication in women and adaptations of “The human voice” in La ley del deseo y Mujeres…. The renewal of the classic comedy in Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988).
8. Sexual identity, sex changes, passions and a close look at the effects of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies in the ‘90s. Masculine stereotypes. Viewing and analysis of Todo sobre mi madre (1999).
9. Masculine views of women and critics of machismo in the Spanish Cinema of the democracy through the works of Bigas Luna, Manuel Gómez Pereira and other directors. The films of women directors Pilar Miró and Josefina Molina. Viewing and analysis of El pájaro de la felicidad (1993).
10. Current principal female directors: feminine characters and themes about women in the movies by Isabel Coixet, Chus Gutiérrez and Gracia Querejeta. Other significant titles of movies by women. Viewing and analysis of Cuando vuelvas a mi lado (1999).
11. Stereotypes of women in current Spanish cinema: lovers, victims, fugitives, mothers, etc. The tradition of the emancipated women and the myth in Carmen (2003), of Vicente Aranda.
12. Women in Icíar Bollaín’s cinema: vagabonds, emigrants and maltreated women. The sociological and cultural context of his her movies. Viewing and analysis of Te doy mis ojos (2003).
13. Review of course. Final Exam.
Required readings:
Aguilar Carrasco, Pilar. Mujer, amor y sexo en el cine español de los 90. Fundamentos, Madrid, 1998.
Recommended readings:
Ballesteros, Isolina. Cine (ins)urgente. Textos fílmicos y contextos culturales de la España postfranquista. Madrid, Fundamentos, 2001.
Balonga Fuguerola, Mª Asunción. El mito de la supermujer. Desde el cine con amor..., Madrid, Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias, 2003.
Benavent, Francisco. Cine español de los noventa. Bilbao, Mensajero, 2000.
Camívela, María. Mujeres detrás de la cámara. Entrevistas con cineastas españolas de la década de los 90. Madrid, Semana de Cine Experimental de Madrid y Ocho y medio, 2001.
Colmenero Salgado, Silvia. Todo sobre mi madre. Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona, Paidós, 2001.
García de León, M. Antonia. Pedro Almodóvar: la otra España cañí. Ciudad Real, Diputación Provincial, 1989. Heredero, Carlos F. La mitad del cielo. Directoras españolas de los años noventa. Málaga, Festival de Cine Español, 1998.
Holguín, Antonio. Pedro Almodóvar. Madrid, Cátedra, 1994.
Kaplan, E. Ann. Las mujeres y el cine. A ambos lados de la cámara. Madrid, Cátedra, 1998. Kuhn, Annette. Cine de mujeres: feminismo y cine. Madrid, Cátedra, 1991.
Markus, Sasa. La poética de Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona, Littera Books, 2001.
Selva, Marta y Solá, Anna (comp.). Diez años de la Muestra Internacional de Filmes de Mujeres de Barcelona. La empresa de sus talentos. Barcelona, Paidós, 2002.
Strauss, Frédéric. Conversaciones con Pedro Almodovar. Madrid, Akal, 2001. Vidal, Nuria. El cine de Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona, Destino, 1989.
Yarza, Alejandro. Un caníbal en Madrid. La sensibilidad camp y el reciclaje de la historia en el cine de PedroAlmodovar. Madrid, 1999.
Other Resources:
REQUIRED VIEWING:
Amoldóvar, Pedro. Entre tinieblas (1983).
----. ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984).
-----. La ley del deseo y Mujeres (1987).
-----. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988).
-----. Todo sobre mi madre (1999). Aranda, Vicente. Carmen (2003).
Bollaín, Icíar, Te doy mis ojos (2003).
Miró, Pilar. El pájaro de la felicidad (1993). Querejeta, Gracia. Cuando vuelvas a mi lado (1999).
AlmodóVar And His Contemporaries: The Image Of Women In Spanish Film
This course will analyze contemporary Spanish cinema particularly in terms of the representation of women, with a special emphasis on Pedro Almodóvar’s most significant films as well as some work directed by women. The theoretical presentations during the first sessions will guide the study and analysis of formal and thematic elements in the films. In addition, the course will cover the cultural and ideological background of Almodóvar and the other directors under review.
Previous coursework in film analysis and gender studies
Lecture, discussion, film viewing.
Class participation and attendance; oral and written analysis of films; knowledge of themes introduced in class; critical use of assigned readings; general synthesis of Almodóvar films and other films analyzed for the representation of women in culture and world cinema.
Course work: essay of 8-10 pages about a relevant cinematographic theme (20%); attendance and class participation (20%); midterm exam (30%); final exam (30%)
1. Introduction to the course: objectives, methodology, evaluation. Artistic, social, industrial and cultural dimensions of cinema. The language of film and cinematographic genres.
2. Cinema, women and feminism: the representations of women in the history of film, films created by women and feminist film. Psychoanalytic and feminist theories of film. The annulment of desire in traditional film. Analysis and commentary of relevant texts.
3. The works of Pedro Almodóvar. Stages of his learning, cultural traditions, style, themes and evolution. Viewing of fragments of his movies and documentaries about the director.
4. Existential vertigo of women in the ‘80s. Hybrid genres and postmodern cinema in Almodóvar. Themes of drug addiction and religion. Viewing and analysis Entre tinieblas (1983).
5. The tradition of tragic realism and Spanish costumbrismo in Almodóvar. Family and generational breakdowns. Rural representations. Viewing and analysis of ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984).
6. Synthesis and review of previous sessions. Midterm exam.
7. Loneliness, lack of communication in women and adaptations of “The human voice” in La ley del deseo y Mujeres…. The renewal of the classic comedy in Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988).
8. Sexual identity, sex changes, passions and a close look at the effects of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies in the ‘90s. Masculine stereotypes. Viewing and analysis of Todo sobre mi madre (1999).
9. Masculine views of women and critics of machismo in the Spanish Cinema of the democracy through the works of Bigas Luna, Manuel Gómez Pereira and other directors. The films of women directors Pilar Miró and Josefina Molina. Viewing and analysis of El pájaro de la felicidad (1993).
10. Current principal female directors: feminine characters and themes about women in the movies by Isabel Coixet, Chus Gutiérrez and Gracia Querejeta. Other significant titles of movies by women. Viewing and analysis of Cuando vuelvas a mi lado (1999).
11. Stereotypes of women in current Spanish cinema: lovers, victims, fugitives, mothers, etc. The tradition of the emancipated women and the myth in Carmen (2003), of Vicente Aranda.
12. Women in Icíar Bollaín’s cinema: vagabonds, emigrants and maltreated women. The sociological and cultural context of his her movies. Viewing and analysis of Te doy mis ojos (2003).
13. Review of course. Final Exam.
Aguilar Carrasco, Pilar. Mujer, amor y sexo en el cine español de los 90. Fundamentos, Madrid, 1998.
Ballesteros, Isolina. Cine (ins)urgente. Textos fílmicos y contextos culturales de la España postfranquista. Madrid, Fundamentos, 2001.
Balonga Fuguerola, Mª Asunción. El mito de la supermujer. Desde el cine con amor..., Madrid, Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias, 2003.
Benavent, Francisco. Cine español de los noventa. Bilbao, Mensajero, 2000.
Camívela, María. Mujeres detrás de la cámara. Entrevistas con cineastas españolas de la década de los 90. Madrid, Semana de Cine Experimental de Madrid y Ocho y medio, 2001.
Colmenero Salgado, Silvia. Todo sobre mi madre. Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona, Paidós, 2001.
García de León, M. Antonia. Pedro Almodóvar: la otra España cañí. Ciudad Real, Diputación Provincial, 1989. Heredero, Carlos F. La mitad del cielo. Directoras españolas de los años noventa. Málaga, Festival de Cine Español, 1998.
Holguín, Antonio. Pedro Almodóvar. Madrid, Cátedra, 1994.
Kaplan, E. Ann. Las mujeres y el cine. A ambos lados de la cámara. Madrid, Cátedra, 1998. Kuhn, Annette. Cine de mujeres: feminismo y cine. Madrid, Cátedra, 1991.
Markus, Sasa. La poética de Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona, Littera Books, 2001.
Selva, Marta y Solá, Anna (comp.). Diez años de la Muestra Internacional de Filmes de Mujeres de Barcelona. La empresa de sus talentos. Barcelona, Paidós, 2002.
Strauss, Frédéric. Conversaciones con Pedro Almodovar. Madrid, Akal, 2001. Vidal, Nuria. El cine de Pedro Almodóvar. Barcelona, Destino, 1989.
Yarza, Alejandro. Un caníbal en Madrid. La sensibilidad camp y el reciclaje de la historia en el cine de PedroAlmodovar. Madrid, 1999.
REQUIRED VIEWING:
Amoldóvar, Pedro. Entre tinieblas (1983).
----. ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984).
-----. La ley del deseo y Mujeres (1987).
-----. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988).
-----. Todo sobre mi madre (1999). Aranda, Vicente. Carmen (2003).
Bollaín, Icíar, Te doy mis ojos (2003).
Miró, Pilar. El pájaro de la felicidad (1993). Querejeta, Gracia. Cuando vuelvas a mi lado (1999).