Extra Credit

If anyone wants extra credit in International Cinema class, you can watch any film made in another country and comment on this post with a response of 4 or more paragraphs. In your response, talk about what you liked and didn't like about the film, how the film made you more other-culture-minded, etc.

You can also get extra credit by doing 45-60 minutes of research into another culture and then reporting on what you learned in a comment on this post.

First Interview

As part of the International Cinema Class's term-long project to connect with another culture and its cinema, we will each be interviewing a person who is native to (or at least has lived in) the culture in question. The interview should last about 60 minutes. You need to have completed the interview by April 10 and then report on it by writing what you learned from the interview in a response to this post. You need to write me enough to show me that your interview lasted the full 60 minutes or more (so, a lot more than two or three paragraphs). Here are some questions to help you get your response started:

- Which questions did you ask that yielded the most intriguing responses? Explain.

- How did what you learned help you see the movie you watched in a new way?

- In what ways do you feel you understand the culture better? In what ways do you feel you still have a long way to go?

- How do you feel the interview prepared you to watch the next film from the country in question?

- In what other ways did doing this interview enrich your life?

Besouro (2009)

This film (called The Assailant in the U.S.) might be a good movie but the dubbing on the netflix version we watched was so bad that I didn't make you all finish it if you didn't want to. But I'd still like you to write a response to whatever portion of the movie you did see. Here are some questions to get you started:

- Which do you prefer to watch: a dubbed film or a subtitled film? Does it depend on the situation? Why?

- What do you pick up about African-Brazilians' culture or values by watching what you did of the film?

- Did you enjoy the film or not? Do you feel you'd enjoy it more if it were subtitled instead of dubbed? Why?

The Middle of the World (2003)

The Middle of the World (called O Caminho das Nuvens in Brazil) is Vicente Amorim's film about a proud, superstitious father who leads his family of five on a 2000 mile bike ride across Brazil in search of a better job. Based on a true story, this film highlights Brazilian cultural issues such as machísmo, Catholicism (with all its patron saints), and intense poverty. The movie also is a great example of how many films being made in other countries do not use Hollywood three act story structure but instead are much more character driven, beginning at or even after the inciting incident and ending abruptly at a thematic high but without any epilogue.

Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

• What did you learn about Brazilian culture by watching the film? How does that help you understand your own culture better?
• In the film, Ramão says, "Children should respect their parents but do not own them." Do you agree with this statement? Why? Do you have any personal experience with this idea?
• As mentioned above, the film begins after the inciting incident (they're already on the road) and ends in a way that feels very abrupt compared to Hollywood. Do you like or dislike this story structure? Why?

Or, you can do some research and report on the following cultural questions that relate to the film:

• What is a patron saint?
• How much money is 1,000 reales? Is it more or less than you need to feed a family of five for a month?

OK, now dazzle and amaze me with your responses (no pressure but they better be so good they make the tops of my socks move up and down my legs when I read them):

First Movie at Home

The dead line for the second step of the International Cinema term-long project is coming up soon. By Tuesday, March 27, your need to watch a film from your chosen country and write about the experience in at least three paragraphs by commenting on this post. In your response, tell us your name, which country you're focusing on, and which film you watched. Also, answer at least two of the following questions:

- What specific moments of the film do you feel you would understand better if you knew more about the country's culture and history?

- After watching the film, what questions do you plan on asking when you interview someone from the country?

- What did you like and not like about the movie? Why?

- If the film had been made in the United States, what do you feel would have been done differently?

After Life (1998)

Well, I hope that you all enjoyed After Life. It can be a little slow at times (with lots of music-less scenes of people talking about the meaning of life and what not) but I personally found it to be a real gem of a movie. Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

- How did what we saw in the film relate to what we learned about some of the traditional Japanese views of the afterlife?

- What memory would you choose?

- Also, the film mentioned the "Great Earthquake" a lot so you could do some research and what exactly that is and report on it in your response.

Alright ... COMMENT!

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Here's a movie that really knows how to draw out the emotions. We laughed, we cried ... and we cried, and cried, and cried, and fell into a deep depressive abyss of sad sadness (in the best sort of way). And the whole experience was enhanced by the fire drill alarm that went off during the first bombing scene -- really helped us feel like we were there!

So, here are some topic questions to respond to to get the conversation started:

- What was it like for you to be the Them that was causing so much fear and destruction (the bombings were caused by the American military)?

- Did you notice all the focus on little, everyday routines and actions that were animated with such detail (e.g. Setsuko getting undressed to swim, the candy sticking when Setsuko tries to get it out of the tin, Seita rolling in bed, etc.)? As we learned in class, this is characteristic of Isao Takahata's work. How do you feel these moments contribute to the overall film?

- Also, there were some cultural references in the film that would be fun to know more about. For your response, you could do a little research and report on one of the following: what is the symbolism of cherry blossoms in Japan? What is the symbolism of the fireflies and the movie's title? What is the significance of the uniform that Seita wears? What is the "Divine Wind" the characters talk about at the end of the film (after they've lost the war)?

So, after checking out one more interesting little thing I found, write your 2-3 paragraph response to the film below, jumping off one of the discussion points above or something else someone has said.

Great Kurosawa Films

Putting "great" with "Kurosawa films" might be a bit redundant but here is the list you all requested in class of my favorite Kurosawa films. You can find a lot of these on Netflix instant play. Once you've watched any of these, please comment on this post with a 3+ paragraph response to the film and I will give you some extra credit. We may watch Dersu Uzala in class when we do Russian cinema:

- Sanshira Sugata (1944).
- Drunken Angel (1948).
- Stray Dog (1949).
- Rashomon (1950).
- Ikiru (1952).
- Throne of Blood (1957).
- The Lower Depths (1957).
- The Hideen Fortress (1958).
- Yojimbo (1961).
- Sanjuro (1961).
- High and Low (1963).
- Red Beard (1965).
- Dersu Uzala (1975).
- Ran (1985).
- Dreams (1990).

Seven Samurai (1954)

Probably the most well known film of one of my favorite directors, Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai follows the story of a bunch of peasants who hire samurai (you guessed it, seven of them) to defend them from some villainous bandits. We watched Seven Samurai in our International Cinema class as we were studying Japanese film.

The questions we're discussing this film are:

- How did the film help you connect with Japanese culture or more generally help you be more other-culture-minded?

- What did you like and not like about the movie and why? Be VERY specific.

- How did learning beforehand about Japanese culture and about the director help you appreciate the film? Again, be specific.

Students: remember that your response should be at least three paragraphs long. Be sure to prominently include your name in your post or I can't give you credit for your response. OK ... ready ... set ... COMMENT!