DUKE UNIVERSITY COURSE SYNOPSIS – Spring 2008
DEPARTMENT Romance Studies PROGRAM/STUDY: FRENCH
COURSE NUMBER: FR 165S COURSE TITLE: FRENCH FILMS/ AMERICAN MASKS
PROFESSOR Jean-Jacques Thomas
If this course is cross-listed with another department or program, please list the
DEPARTMENT AND COURSE NUMBER: Film & Video program
CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION, if any:
Prerequisistes: none
SYNOPSIS OF COURSE CONTENT:
What do True Lies, Point of no Return, The Toy, The Birdcage, Father’s Day, Down and Out in Beverly Hill, Breathless, Sommersby, etc. have in common? They all are American adaptations of earlier French films. Why do Hollywood have to rewrite European films to market a perfectly good story to adapt it to American taste? The purpose of this course is to analyze contemporary French films and their American adaptation in English for an American (International) audience. The purpose of the analysis is to study the differences in representations and in mentalities. Beyond intranationalistic references that would not be understood in another foreign culture, we will study how different cultures (French and American) select to represent their own attitudes, language and cultural dispositions in given situations. We will also study the general framework of the film representation and what distinguishes a "French" and an "American" film. The course will lead to a better understanding of specifically predetermined cultural patterns. The course will include in-depth studies of the following films: La Totale / True Lies; Nikita / Point of no Return; The Man with a Red Sox / Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire; A bout de souffle / Breathless; La Chèvre / Pure Luck; La Cage aux folles / The Birdcage and La Jetée / 12 Monkeys.
READING ASSIGMENTS:
Mandatory:
Carroll, Raymonde, Évidences Invisibles, Paris: Seuil, 1987.
Carroll, Raymonde, Cultural Misunderstandings, Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 1990
Recommended
One of the following:
Steele, Ross, The French Way, Chicago: NTC Books, 1995.
Althen, Gary American Ways, Yarmouth: Intercultural Press, 1988.
Hall, Edward T. and Mildred R. Hall, Understanding Cultural Differences,
Yarmouth: Intercultural Press, 1990.
Taylor, Sally Adamson, Culture Shock! France, Portland: Graphic Arts
Center Publishing Company, 1996.
One of the following:
Mauchamp, Nelly, Les Français, mentalités et comportements, Paris: CLE international, 1996.
Stanger, Ted, Sacrés Français! Un Américain nous regarde, Paris : Michalon, 2003.
EXAMINATIONS:
See below
TERM PAPERS:
Two research papers (7- 10 pages) or multimedia presentations (10 minutes video each) in French.
GRADE TO BE BASED ON:
Special research papers/ Exposé multimedia presentation (45 % each ); Final research paper/multimedia presentation (45%); active class participation (10%)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/COMMENTS: Suggested course for students coming back from a study abroad stay in France or students interested in going abroad in a francophone country and interested in CCI and Film issues.
