1939-1952: The Devastation of War…And a New Movie Language
- Rome, Open City (1945) dir. Roberto Rossellini
- “Birth of neo-realism.”
- Stagecoach (1939) dir. John Ford
- Ford hated analysis of his films. “A story of misfits. Back projection. Pastoral wide shots. Helped create a new visual fashion for deep space.”
- Directed by John Ford (1971) dir. Peter Bogdanovich
- Osaka Elegy (1936) (introduced in Episode 3) dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
- Flesh and the Devil (1926) dir. Clarence Brown
- “Flattering effects of long lenses, background out of focus”
- Follow the Boys (1944) dir. A. Edward Sutherland
- Citizen Kane (1941) (introduced in Episode 2) dir. Orson Welles
- “Pushed deep spacing to its limits”. Kane has lots of power but no emotion.
- Me and Orson Welles (2008) dir. Richard Linklater
- Inaccurate portrayal of the relationship between Welles and another director
- Chimes at Midnight (1965) dir. Orson Welles
- Cabiria (1914) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. Giovanni Pastrone
- “Cinematic hubris”
- Intolerance (1916) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. D. W. Griffith
- “Epic scale”
- The General (1926) (introduced in Episode 2) dir. Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton
- The Maltese Falcon (1941) (introduced in Episode 2) dir. John Huston
- Influenced by the depth of past films
- The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) dir. William Wyler
- Features shots that put the critical point in the background, making the audience guess what happens
- Code Unknown (2000) dir. Michael Haneke
- Sátántangó (1994) dir. Béla Tarr
- How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) dir. Jean Negulesco
- Un Homme et une Femme (1966) dir. Claude Lelouch
- Heat (1995) dir. Michael Mann
- Used new long lenses to turn the background lighting into blobs of light
- Raging Bull (1980) dir. Martin Scorsese
- Influenced by Bear light bulbs
- Bicycle Thieves (1948) dir. Vittorio De Sica
- Has scenes that have no “cause and effect”
- Pin Up Girl (1944) dir. H. Bruce Humberstone
- Double Indemnity (1944) dir. Billy Wilder
- one of the most influential noir films. Flawed characters and the shadows of German expressionism are aspects of noir.
- Portrait of a 66% Perfect Man: Billy Wilder (1982) dir. Annie Tresgot
- The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) dir. Fritz Lang
- The Big Sleep (1946) dir. Howard Hawks
- “Snappy dialogue”.
- Rio Bravo (1959) dir. Howard Hawks
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. Irvin Kershner
- Features traditional story telling
- Out of the Past (1947) dir. Jacques Tourneur
- A movie that “takes its time”
- The Hitch-Hiker (1953) dir. Ida Lupino
- Little Caesar (1931) dir. Mervyn LeRoy
- Le Quai des brumes (1938) (introduced in Episode 4) dir. Marcel Carné
- Features the pessimistic side of noir that comes from France
- La Chienne (1931) dir. Jean Renoir
- Scarlet Street (1945) dir. Fritz Lang
- American Cinema: Film Noir (1995) dir. Alain Klarer
- Gun Crazy (1950) dir. Joseph H. Lewis
- “One of the most passionate noirs ever made”. The camera is unconventionally kept behind the characters while they drive. The actors were allowed to improvise
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967) dir. Arthur Penn
- “About the anxiety of a couple that robs banks”
- L.A. Confidential (1997) dir. Curtis Hanson
- Has influence of noir
- Blade Runner (1982) dir. Ridley Scott
- The Dark Knight (2008) dir. Christopher Nolan
- Uses the darkness of the city to show its morals
- Siva (1989) dir. Ram Gopal Varma
- Titanic (1997) dir. James Cameron
- 71st Academy Awards (1999) dir. Louis J. Horvitz
- An American in Paris (1951) dir. Vincente Minnelli
- One of the most films of a dying studio. Tried to show that the studios still had joy
- The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
- Vivid use of red.
- Singin’ in the Rain (1952) (introduced in Episode 2) dir. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
- The director created a film that he though transcended the life.
- Flying Down to Rio (1933) dir. Thornton Freeland
- Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) (introduced in Episode 2) dir. Mervyn LeRoy
- Indiscreet (1958) dir. Stanley Donen
- Uses a technique to challenge censorship by putting a man and a woman in bed together by using a split screen.
- Two for the Road (1967) dir. Stanley Donen
- Use of melancholia. A married couple takes a road trip and another further in the future showing a tough look at marriage and an evolution of eras.
- A Matter of Life and Death (1946) dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
- Shows the complexities of wartime using shallow focus, rich color, and emotional dialogue.
- Post Haste (1933) dir. Humphrey Jennings
- Listen to Britain (1942) dir. Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister
- A film that in “quintessentially British”.
- The Third Man (1949) dir. Carol Reed
- A movie that focuses on a man who sells penicillin that is intended to cure children. The film uses unbalanced shots to show the moral underhandedness of the main character. Great ending that shows the non-seriousness of the time.
- The True Glory (1945) dir. Carol Reed and Garson Kanin
- Taxi Driver (1976) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. Martin Scorsese