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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