Film Session

From Hell

Tasks: you will be assigned ONE task to carry out while watching the film and to share to your partners the following class.

1.      Define what eurocentrism is and mention all its characteristics in form of binary oppositions. How is it made manifest through: (Select a scene and analyse it)

1- mise-en-scene

2- editing

2.      How is ethnicity presented in the movie? Select a scene where the topic of conversation is ethnic differences. Analyse the dialogue from the following perspectives:

          1- editing

          2- power relations

As far as point 2 is concerned, you are expected to apply the Foucault’s approach taking into consideration the definitions of power, discourse and the gaze.

3.      How is femininity presented in this text? Using gender studies as the field of study which supports the present analysis select a scene where the life of the prostitutes is depicted in relation to patriarchal ideology.

4.      Analyse the context of culture presented in the movie. In order to do so you need to work on the following concept: imperialism. Provide a brief history of the British Empire. This should be expressed in your own words. Include a map where the colonies are clearly shown during the rule of Queen Victoria.

5.      From Hell may be considered a hybrid from the perspective of genre classification. On the one hand, this text may be considered as a horror film. On the other hand, it may be considered as crime fiction/detective fiction. Taking genre theory into consideration elaborate two lists of what you consider are the textual characteristics of both genres.

6.      Using narratology as the starting point of the analysis of the narrative structure of the film, select two flashbacks and analyse the following elements:

·         The use of colours

·         The soundtrack

·         The contributions made by the flashbacks to the understanding of the character of inspector Abberline

7.      Prepare a brief report on the case of Jack The Ripper. Try to find information about:

·         Who the victims where.

·         The nature of the killings. 

·         The repercussions the murders had on Victorian society.

8.       There are many theories which have tried to account for the Whitechapel murders in 1888. One such theory is the conspiracy theory upon which the film is based. Explain what this theory is about and select one scene from the movie, which illustrates this theory.

9. How is the medical profession presented in this film? What kind of power do doctors exert on the female body? Use gender studies and Foucaut’s approach to analyse one scene where the manipulation of the female body at the hands of science is shown through editing and mise-en-scene.

10. Who was the Elephant Man? Why does he appear in this film? What were the Victorians afraid of? In what ways can you say that From Hell provides the spectator with a sociological analysis on Victorian society from the perspective of the 21^st century?

Composed upon Westminster Bridge

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;


And all that mighty heart is lying still!

The Chimney Sweeper

BY WILLIAM BLAKE

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, & that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins & set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

A lego stop-motion animation of William Blake's poem, "The Chimney Sweeper".

Final Exam

Some instructions...

* Choose one or several texts

 - audiovisual: one film, one or more episode from a TV series; s

 - one or more short storie(s) form same author or from different ones

* Use at least 2 critical theories to analyse the texts. 

* Include a biography of author (if applicable or crucial for the analysis)

 * Mention Context of Culture & Production (somewhere within XVIII, XIX c.)

* The presentation should not be longer than 15 minutes. 

* Prepare some visual aid: powerpoint, prezi, poster.

Some options: (This list is not exhaustive)

 * Films: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Frankeweenie, Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes, The War of the Worlds.
* TV Series: Poldark, Victoria, War & Peace, Lost in Austen, Sherlock Holmes.
* Short Stories (Authors): Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Grimm Brothers, Thomas Hardy, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde.

Victorian Age