131-165 Screen Writing History: History on Film

Formerly available as 131-281/381. Students who have completed 131-281 or 131-381 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

This course considers the ways in which historical events have been written for, and represented on the screen. Through an examination of historical films such as Gallipoli, Life is Beautiful and Schindler's List we examine the ways in which 'history' is constructed on film. Has film seized our historical imagination, or has it stimulated and liberated it? Is it possible to present multiple interpretations of an historical event on film? How is history written for the screen? Our key concerns throughout the course are to explore the ways in which popular cinema represents, reconstructs and interprets perceived realities in and of the past; the tension between social phenomena and their personal representation; the interaction between the personal and the political, with a special emphasis on gender, sexuality, class and race; and the historical contexts which inform the the films viewed.

Written work totalling 4000 words.

A subject reader will be available.