FTVMS 729

Film Evil

Please note: this is archived course information from 2017 for FTVMS 729.

Description

This course looks at theme of evil in the cinema. Why is it that conceptions of evil and its nature and source, distinctions between natural and moral evil, and what belongs to God versus to the human race have formed so much of the subject matter and undergone so many transformations in film? What can films teach us about evil? And what about the proposition that some films may themselves be evil? Through a number of theoretical readings that draw on a philosophical and psychoanalytical understanding of evil — including texts by Immanuel Kant on "radical evil", Hannah Arendt’s interpretation of Auschwitz, Alain Badiou on the self-evidence and necessity of evil, Alenka Zupancic on rethinking the concept of evil, Terry Eagleton on the rarity of pure evil, Jacques Lacan on how the pure ethical attitude is inextricably linked to the pleasure of violence, Slavoj Žižek on "loving thy neighbour" and violence, George Bush and "the axis of evil" and current reflections on looming climatic and nuclear disasters — we will address the working structures of the evil event in the cinema.

Films to be studied range from Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936) where an innocent man is lynched by a righteous mob; Ingmar Bergman’s Prison (1949) which proposes that life on earth is governed by the Devil; Rolf de Heer’s Bad Boy Bubby (1994) about a 35-year-old psychopath who has never set foot outside his mother’s apartment; Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960) which revolves around a serial killer who records the deaths of his victims with his camera and by using a mirror and showing each of his victims their last moments, provokes their own fear even as he kills them; Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò (1975) often cited as the most disturbing film ever made; Lars von Trier’s shocking Antichrist (2009); and Gus van Sant’s exploration of high school shootings Elephant (2003).

The course is designed for anyone with an interest in film studies and ideas, regardless of whether you have prior cinema studies experience. As well as providing a grounding in the key concepts and ideas around the nature of evil, the course will introduce the practice of close reading of feature films: it aims to change the way you think about evil and the role it plays in our lives.

Assessment

Position Paper Presentation

Length: 1500 words

Proposal and Bibliography

Length: 2000 words

Research Essay

Length: 6500 words

Availability 2017

Semester 1

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Professor Laurence Simmons

Reading/Texts

Points

FTVMS 729: 30 points