First Summer Session
M-Thursday 1:30-3:10 (100 minutes)
How can Movies be Political?

You probably consider movies principally as entertainment. I agree. But they are a great deal more. They are an art form; they can influence peoples' beliefs and experience, they can be propaganda. They are the most powerful political element in the lives of citizens. Political campaigns for president may last a year every four years and most people learn about them on television news in short several second sound bites. Films are captivating for almost two hours. They reveal the character of a nation and its culture. They serve as the principal means for socialization in society outside family and school.
The films that I am selecting are able to depict a multi-dimensional orientation to politics from the personal, through social, ethnic, national and international levels. They demonstrate how the individual plays a political role by working out his or her personal needs and responds to identity within the social

For example, the film City Hall (directed by Harold Becker with Al Pacino demonstrates the kinds of political deals and tradeoffs that politicians engage in to enhance their power for implementing public policy, but it also calls up the dilemmas in making such compromises that are ethically questionable, immoral or illegal. There are a number of books and writings that students can read that can lead to further understanding. Books on Tammany Hall and local political organizations, historical accounts of political leaders such as James Daley and Fiorello La Guardia. Another film dealing with the election process is Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate with Robert Redford that is a very contemporary account of the organizational process in political campaigns and the myth creating necessity of winning. There are many books and articles that provide valuable background for the student to realize that even though this is a fictional account it draws on actual political events.

The integrating value of a film course is its strongest contribution to understanding politics. It demonstrates that political phenomena cut across disciplines. Single discipline approaches to understanding politics cannot be seen in isolation as valuable was of analyzing the various facets of human political and social existence. In our analysis of course it is important to address the director and writers motivations and message in making the film. Discussions can center on the elements of bias and political orientation of the director and to what extent is the film an accurate account of political reality.

Probably the most valuable contribution films can make to the study of politics is its heuristic value. Films unlike studying politics in newspapers or journals are narrative and have a story line in which the observer can see how events are related and understand the cause-effect relationships. Of course films only show one or a few aspects of politics, but they do so with "real" people responding to problems or pursuing a course of action. Political books do this as well, of course. The promise of such a film course goes beyond even understanding politics. It could lead to enabling the students to develop their own narrative about political events either from news stories or from their own imagination. The students can be encouraged to write a short story at first based on a political event or a series of events. The possibilities are endless.

On Developing a Theme

To avoid vagueness and lack of continuity I have select the following themes as common to these films: Personality, Ideology. Organization, and Power in the political films. The films below will focus on the nature of the political personality and how he or she perceives and pursues power as a means of symbolically satisfying individual needs and goals. Accordingly the power strategies are justified or rationalized by commitment to a particular ideology or set of beliefs. Some of them pit real politik against individual ethics, and in others the hero or heroine is pursuing idealistic values. Secondary purposes include the structure of organization, non-political values such as personal revenge, romance, social acceptance, and duty)

I have selected the films under Catergory B (below) and have identified the principal aspects of the film for which I chose them:.
Readings and Assignments
The following are my proposed assignments and the grading procedure. I say "proposed" because I want each of you to have a voice on how you are going to be graded and the work you will be doing. This is what I propose:
Category A: Readings:
I have placed the following articles on interpreting political films on reserve in the library. I will ask each of you to volunteer to lead the discussion on a particular chapter from these readings. I list them below.
The readings will constitute material that I have collected from several sources
 

Articles	Discussion Leader
1.Politics and the Cinema: An Introduction to Political Films by Michael Genovese
Introduction
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Visions of Empire: Political Imagery in Contemporary American Film by Stephen Prince. Chapter One: Hollywood. Politics and Medial Study
3.From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. by Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, and Laura Sells, eds. Chapter Three: Pinocchio
4.Reel Politics:American Political Movies from Birth of a Nation to Platoon by Terry Christensen. A.Foreword: Messages are Not Only for Western Union
B."The Country Needs a Man": Political Movies in the Early Thirties
C. "We're the People": Reel Politics in the Late Thirties
D.There are no Leaders but Yourselves: Post-War Optimism, Liberalism, and Corruption
E."How doYou Know They'll Print it?": Cynicism and Paranoia in the Seventie\
F."It Don't Worry Me": The Revenge of the Blacklist and the Emergence of
G.Disillusionment
H.God Bless America": Hollywood Confronts Vietnam
I."Do We Get to Win This Time?": The New Patriotism
J.Afterword: Reel Politics
5. Hollywood's America: United States History Through Its Films by Steven Mintz and Randy Roberts
A.Reaffirming Traditional Values. Pp. 275-283
6.Movies and Politics: The Dynamic Relationship by James Combs
A.Introduction: Understanding the Politics of Movies
B.Leatherstockingf in 'Nam: Rambo, Platoon, and the American Frontier Myth (Harold Schecter and Jonna G. Semeiks)

Category B: Viewing the Films
We will review approximately 12 films this summer. After each viewing we will discuss the political implications of each film; the discussions will be held on the following day.

• Mon Oncle d’Amerique (Alain Resnais, 1980, 123 min)

This film provides a psychological explanation to how people respond to stress and anxiety how this has implications for personal power.
• The Candidate (Michael Ritchie, 1972, 114 min.)

 

 

A semi-fictional account of electing an attractive young man to the U.S. Senate from California based on the techniques of modern campaign strategies/

• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939, 125 min.)

Consistent with Kapra's other works this is an idealized story of an innocent and naïve man who fills in for a deceased Senator and falls unknowingly into a covered up legislative deal. It is a romantic and nationalistic approach to politics that has little relationship to the political world of Washington, but it reflects popular democratic idealism.
• . City Hall (Harold Becker, 1995, 112 min.)

In contrast with Mr. Smith this film shows the seedy side of New York politics and the deal making and coalition formulation that is necessary for political change and power and for future political ambitions.
• The Seduction of Mimi (Lina Wertmüller, 1972, 89 min.)

An Italian film that shows how a completely apolitical person can be pulled into the political world of Mussolini's fascism
• Love and Anarchy (Lina Wertmüller, 1973, )

An oppressed peasant seeks to assassinate Mussolini in revenge for the death of his friend.
• Bandit Queen (Indian) (Shekhar Kapur, 1994)

The story of Phoolan Devi, a Modern day Robin Hood, organizes revolts against the establishment in Retribution for her abuse as a lower-caste woman.
• The Little Drummer Girl (George Roy Hill, 1964, 130 min.)

This provides some introspection into the life of a woman whose idealism brings her into operating in a terrorist organization but not on the side she thinks.
• Michael Collins (Neil Jordan, 1996, 132 min.)This film has historic value for understanding the problems of Northern Ireland. It demonstrates the problems for an individual to make the transition from terrorist to politician and the very different requirements in each.
• A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966, 120 min.)The payoff of pursuing moral courage in Medieval England.
• Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrik, 1957, 87 min.)Like All Quiet on the Western Front this film shows the extent that nationalism during time of war can take and the personal political and military ambitions of the men in it.
• Viva Zapata (Elia Kazan, 1952, 113 min.)The story of Emiliano Zapata a Mexican revolutionary who led a peasant revolt in early 1900s ultimately corrupted by power and greed.
•  A Place in the World (Adolpho Aristarain, 1995 120 min.)A couple returns to Argentina from exile to help the less advantaged. Political, social and interpersonal themes.
• State of Seize. (Costa Gavras, 1973 115 minutes)In Uruguay in the early 1970s, an official of the US Agency for International Development (a group used as a front for training foreign police in counterinsurgency methods) is kidnapped by a group of urban guerillas. Using his interrogation as a backdrop, the film explores the often brutal consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerillas.
• Fahrenheit 451 (Francis Truffaut, 1996 112 minutes)When fireman of the future Montag comes home from a hardday of book burning, his wife is totally engrossed in a screen that fills a wall of the living room. Here she gets her entertainment and all the information the people in charge want anyone to know. A few days later Montag is intrigued by a woman he sees on the monorail who looks very much like his wife. But this woman's eyes suggest that she has an active mind. She is a subversive, hoarding books. And he learns from her why books are so dangerous they have to be burned. People will want to think for themselves.
• Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1995, 101 min.)It is 1948 in LA and Ezikeal "Easy" Rawlins, an African-American World War II veteran, is looking for work.At his friend's bar, he is introduced to a white man, DeWitt Albright, who is looking for someone to help him find a missing white woman assumed to be hiding somewhere in LA's black community. This woman, Daphane Monet, happens to be the fiancée of a wealthy :blue blood", Todd Carter, who is currently LA's favorite in the city's mayoralty race. Daphane Monet is know to frequent the black Jazz clubs in LA. Easy, innocently, accepts Albright's offer; however, he quickly finds himself amidst murder, crooked cops, ruthless politicians, and brutalizing hoodlums. This is a Chandler-esque "who-done-it" with an African-American theme

Mr.Smith Goes to Washington
1. How does Frank Kapra see politics in Washington?
2. What does he see as the solution to political malaise there?
3. How well does Kapra’s orientation to political life fit the realities of politics in the United States?
4. How would you describe Jefferson Smith as a political leader?
5. Is the Jefferson smith story likely to happen in Washington today?
Why or why not?
6. What does this film tell us about politics?

City Hall
1. What is the cause of the political entanglements that the mayor has found himself in?
2. Why did the mayor construct the deals?
3. What mistakes did the mayor make in his approach to politics in New York?
How would you depict the mayor?
4. Was he only out for power and control over others?
5. Was he a victim of a corrupt political system?
6. Was his choice of an assistant mayor a wise one? Why?
7. Was it possible that the mayor could have rejected the pressure to force the judge to give the son of the Mafia leader only probation?
8. Could the political mess have been foreseen?
9. What would you have done in the mayor’s position?

Category D: Writing on Films

I suggest you choose 10 of the 12 films and write a brief summary of the film, its political implications, and the statement the film makes about American political culture.
Students will read a review of the films when possible to help them. This can be taken from the web and newspapers and magazines. I suggest the following web sites:

http://us.imdb.com/a2z,
http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Plots,
http://www.desert.net/filmvault/index.html,

Category E: Voluntary Film
Students can if they wish introduce a political film of their choosing and introduce it to the class.

Grading
I suggest that the grades be based on a combination of three factors: papers on each film, class discussion, and the individual choice of film.
Papers on films: 70% based on class discussions and readings
Class discussions and presentation of a film 30%
These percentages of course are open for discussion.