Japn 310: Japanese Cinema
Course Description:
An introductory scrutiny of major Japanese directors and genres with attention to film composition, choices of subject and character, ideas of the cinematic, and the relationship of cinema to Japanese culture and society. Students will analyze and critique films. Discussion of films will deal with the production of their historical, social, and cultural context, as well as issues dealing with gender, inequality, and social change. Taught in English.
MLO's:
This course meets MLO 2 as well as MLO 4.
Course Narrative:
This course allowed for me to learn about a new aspect of Japanese culture that I had not previously been exposed to. Film is often not discussed when people learn about culture but through this course I was able to learn that film was an essential way of examining Japanese culture. Through following Japanese film history from the first film up to the modern era, I was able to see that cultural values in different time periods were readily expressed through the medium in film. I was especially interested in the ways that gender is expressed in film as well as the ways that gender and familia bonds can be shown through the medium of film. I wrote my final paper on examining gender and its role in familia bonds that were expressed in two different films. I chose two films that focused on salary men but I chose two different eras and examined how their gender and families differed due to this era difference. This course ultimately allowed me to examine Japanese culture and history through a medium that I had not previously considered.
An introductory scrutiny of major Japanese directors and genres with attention to film composition, choices of subject and character, ideas of the cinematic, and the relationship of cinema to Japanese culture and society. Students will analyze and critique films. Discussion of films will deal with the production of their historical, social, and cultural context, as well as issues dealing with gender, inequality, and social change. Taught in English.
MLO's:
This course meets MLO 2 as well as MLO 4.
Course Narrative:
This course allowed for me to learn about a new aspect of Japanese culture that I had not previously been exposed to. Film is often not discussed when people learn about culture but through this course I was able to learn that film was an essential way of examining Japanese culture. Through following Japanese film history from the first film up to the modern era, I was able to see that cultural values in different time periods were readily expressed through the medium in film. I was especially interested in the ways that gender is expressed in film as well as the ways that gender and familia bonds can be shown through the medium of film. I wrote my final paper on examining gender and its role in familia bonds that were expressed in two different films. I chose two films that focused on salary men but I chose two different eras and examined how their gender and families differed due to this era difference. This course ultimately allowed me to examine Japanese culture and history through a medium that I had not previously considered.