Spring 2008

AMS 315 • Movies go to War, WWI-Vietnam

Course Description

This course will introduce some of the most famous war films, and some less familiar ones, from the US and Europe-- from Grand Illusion through Saving Private Ryan. Each war has developed its own kinds of war movies, from World Wars I and II, through the Korean police action, and the Vietnam conflict. These films will be used to introduce how to "read" films as part of cultural history and think critically about their content. Scenes from each war will be compared to the "real history" behind the film, to pose questions about how history can be written and rewritten in films. Take a trip through cinematic battlefields, to see how films have helped their audiences think about the roles of the world's superpowers in world contexts!

Topics to be addressed include: -cultural stereotypes of heroes, villains, and victims -different countries' takes on the same war experience (Stalingrad, Enemy at the Gate) -adaptations (book to film= King Rat, play to film = Hart's War) -the politics of war films -rewriting history through war movies -anti-war films -documentary, docu-drama -how to read point of view and cultural perspectives out of movies. Points of view and cultural perspectives in movies including documentary, docu-drama, and mockumentary.

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