Media and film studies

European Cinema

Module code: P3028
Level 4
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar, Film
Assessment modes: Coursework

This module explores key critical inquiries which have become central to Film Studies as a discipline (realism, national cinema, popular genres, authorship, and ‘alternative’ or experimental film styles), through an engagement with examples of European cinema from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Using a series of case studies, you will learn to situate film texts according to their historical, cultural, and social contexts, in addition to relevant theoretical debates. Topics may include: German expressionism, surrealism, Soviet montage, the ‘enhanced’ realisms of Italian and British film movements in the post-war years, the French New Wave, and popular genres in European cinema.

Module learning outcomes

• Show some understanding of different approaches and critical debates in the field, at an introductory level
• Trace some connections between film texts and their wider (historical, industrial, cultural, or social) contexts
• Summarise and explain the aesthetic and historical significance of one or more film modes or movements studied on the course
• Demonstrate appropriate textual analysis skills