perhaps it's just the impending new academic year, but i find
that, even more than usual, i'm thinking about lots of screen-l messages in
the context of my teaching,  specifically wondering whether and how many of
them might be introduced into an intro
to cinema studies course for non-majors . . .
 
as an old narratologist i'm endlessly fascinated by questions of narration
in fiction and film, and of the variable kinds of unreliability in the two
. . . and i'm thus tempted, especially in light of ed oneill's interesting
comments on MORTAL THOUGHTS and
USUAL SUSPECTS, to introduce one [or both] films into the syllabus i'm
finalizing this week-end . . .  but i find myself wondering whether this is
not a kind of byway in film study, very interesting to those who have
already know the mainstream, a kind of odd dialect rewarding to those
who've mastered the lingua franca of film . . . more simply, is this
something that beggining students ought to know, and is it something theyre
likely to find interesting as opposed to merely a wierd curiosity  . . .
and i think it also worth keeping in mind that introducing this thread into
a course means that something else  [neo-realism?; the "gaze"? ;
documentary styles?] will have to go to make room . . .
 
so, in short, how important do screen-L'ers think the issue of reliable
narration is in introducing students to the world of cinema?
 
all thoughts eagerly welcomed
 
mike frank
 
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