Immersed in Strangeness: The Films of Jarmusch and the Coen Brothers

CONTENTS

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Independent filmmakers have acquired an increasingly prominent position in American popular culture since the beginning fo the 1980s.  With their wry wit and their off-kilter take on American society and culture, they have attracted fans searching for alternatives tot he blockbuster action films and the happy endings of Hollywood.  By the beginning of the new millennium, several of these indie filmmakers had acquired enough of a reputation that they could attract big Hollywood stars such as George Clooney and Johnny Depp.  In this course, students will watch the oeuvre of three of America's biggest indie filmmakers: Jim Jarmusch and Joel and Ethan Coen.  These movies will give students an opportunity to study how to read and analyze films, as well as considering the ways that these filmmakers play around with the standard Hollywood genres.  It will also give students a chance to consider some of the deeper criticisms that these filmmakers have of Hollywood and of American society in general.

We will meet for 3-4 hours during the day.  Generally, we will meet from 10-11:30 in the morning to discuss the film that we saw the previous day.  We will then break for lunch and return at roughly 1:00 to watch the film for the day.  During the remainder of the day, students should do the reading for the following day, cogitate over the movie they have seen, and write a short 1-page response to the movie to be turned in the next day.

PROFESSOR INFORMATION

READINGS

• Richard M. Gollin, A Viewer's Guide to Film: Arts, Artifice, and Issues (McGraw-Hill, 1991), ISBN: 007023700X.

• Ludvig Hertzberg, Jim Jarmusch: Interview (Mississippi University Press, 2001), ISBN: 1578063795.

• William Preston Robertson, et. al., The Big Lebowski: The Making of a Coen Brothers Film (W.W. Norton, 1998), ISBN: 0393317501.

• Geoff Andrew, Stranger Than Paradise: Maverick Film-Makers in Recent American Cinema, ISBN: 0879102772.

• Jim Hiller, American Independent Cinema: A Sight and Sound Reader (British Film Institute, 2001), ISBN: 0851707599.

You should complete the assigned readings for the day that they are assigned.  You will be expected to be prepared to discuss the assigned readings in an intelligent manner.

GRADING

You will write a short reaction to the films of approximately one page in length.  These short papers can be informally written: they should be intelligible and readable, but we will not grade off for grammar errors.  The main purpose of this assignment is to help you formulate some ideas about the movies that can then serve as a basis of discussion the next day.

The bulk of the grade for the course will be determined by the 5-7 page final essay.  The topic for this essay should be worked out ahead of time with one of both of the professors.  In general, we hope that you do one of two things: either compare and contrast 2 or more of the films, or compare and contrast one or more of the films that we have watched for this course with another film of your choice.  Here you may want to choose a typical Hollywood film, or perhaps choose a film from yet another independent filmmaker (for example, David Lynch, John Sayles, or Spike Lee).

ATTENDANCE POLICY

You should attend class on a regular basis.  All students will be allowed two absences without an approved written excuse.  Attendance will be taken on a regular basis, both during the discussion hour and during the film viewings.

OTHER REMARKS

All cell phones must be turned off at the beginning of class.  Do not, of course, take phone calls during class.  Please be on time.  If you must arrive late or leave early, do so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.  

Of course, all work must be yours.  Plagiarism and cheating will be punished with an F for the assignment.  Plagiarism, we should note, is defined in the following way according to Wofford College's Faculty Handbook (VII-6):

(1) the verbatim repetition, without acknowledgement, of the writings of another author.

(2) Borrowing without acknowledging the source.

(3) Paraphrasing the thoughts of another writer without acknowledgement.

(4) Allowing any other person or organization to prepare work which one then submits as his or her own.

You should pay close attention to the third definition, especially when referring to ideas borrowing from a website.

CLASS SCHEDULE