Film and Literature

The most common approach to the study of film and literature focuses on cinematic adaptations of literary works, but in this course we will broaden that tack, expanding to more of a comparative approach and considering topics relevant to both forms. We will explore how the cinema developed a formal language equivalent to the novel, as well as how fiction writing has been influenced by film. We will also consider how cinema's position as the equivalent of the novel has been usurped by television. Films screened will include A Day in the Country; Le Plaisir; The Killers; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; and others.