Description
How does film shape the way we understand the past? How do stories from the past and set in the past help us make sense of history today? If history is made up of multiple and competing narratives, what kinds of storytelling does historical film engage in? This course explores these questions through the genre of the historical film, broadly conceived. We will explore both 1) films made during a previous time-period, and 2) films that offer an interpretation of a historical time-period. First, can films made in a specific time-period be read as pieces of historical evidence shedding light on that era? How can we critically read films as historical ?time-capsules?, offering us glimpses of the hopes, dreams, fears, anxieties, social issues, cultural debates, political contestations, etc. of those times? Second, what can films consciously set in the past (the more traditional ?historical film?) tell us about history? How do we judge the ?authenticity? of these films - or do issues of hist