TFM 363 – International Cinema
Instructor: Bob Jordan
e-mail: sdsufilmguy@yahoo.com
Telephone: Please do not use – the message will not reach me for a long period
Office Hrs: After class in class – there’s no room for large numbers in my office
Viewing and analysis of major films, movements and artists in international cinema (primarily focusing on non-American films).
REQUIRED TEXTS:
International Cinema: A Users Manual by Robert Jordan (yes, me)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: 1000 points possible.
• Three short quizzes covering films, reading assignments and lectures. Each quiz is worth 250 points. Make-up tests only
given for academically excused absences. Assume you will take the make-up the next class session.
• Remaining 25% participation and worksheets – details to come.
• There will be more than one extra credit assignment – TBA
Grading Scale: Someone will always ask, so for the record – I do not grade on a curve. (I know with some professors, a curve
is the only way anyone passes the class. I am not that way!) On Blackboard, I have no way to alter the “Total” column, so do not
use it to keep track of your performance.
Grades are determined by the professor, not some university standard scale. For me, this means, a 92 is an A-, 88 is a B+, etc.
Note: Many of the films screened in class have running times almost as long as the class session itself. You MUST plan to arrive
on time and in most cases expect the class to run the full length of the session. (It is late at night and I know you want to catch the
trolley, but there are nights I just can’t let class out early!)
Technology in Class: Due to the subject matter of this course, it is absolutely essential that no cell phones be turned on at any
time during the class, especially during the films. Laptops cannot be turned on during films, either. Do not text. Do not check
your email. I reserve the right to remove you from the class if this rule is not followed.
Improper Behavior: Cheating on exams, plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are completely unacceptable.
The first incident will lower your semester grade one full letter. A second incident will cause the student to receive a failing
grade for the course. Cheating will be referred to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Disruptive behavior or
violence will be referred to the dean or campus security.
Learning Challenges: If you are dyslexic or have another type of learning challenge, see instructor immediately to discuss
how we can work together. If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is
your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt of your
accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not
retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with
an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Course Goal: Cinema-literacy
My first day in film school, the professor kept talking on and on about an “Ernst Lubitsch.” I had no idea what he meant. By the
end of the night, I had deduced Ernst Lubitsch was a WHO not a WHAT. An important film director.
You are attending San Diego State University, which no matter how much I hate to admit it, has one of the better film programs in
the nation. Not the best. USC is the best. Never argue about this and expect to pass the class. When you leave this campus
having attended a film class or two, it will be expected that you know your films – in short, that you are cinema-literate.
Everyone you ever meet will assume you’ve seen Seven Samurai and Citizen Kane. To be blunt – you would be lacking if you
had never seen those films – just like an illiterate. There are a huge number of films out there. Many of them unknown to the
public or even to most film fans. But there are quite a few others that are so well-known and oft-mentioned, which any film fan,
any studio staffer, any film professor or student will assume you have seen. It’s impossible to know all of them and none of these
people will expect you to, but the world will expect a certain level of film familiarity, which I have dubbed Cinema-literacy. In
TFM 160, 363 and other classes, you are exposed to some films you are expected to know.
International cinema is particularly difficult – it is so vast, there is no way you will be able to see all the “important” films, even if
that became your life’s mission. I have worked very hard to create a filmography of as many of these films as I can pack into the
class. It is your job to continue to be a film viewer for life, but this class will be a good dose. I think you’ll find it fun too.
On a Personal Note:
Several semesters ago, I had surgery to remove a brain tumor. Some of you who have had me for classes before may even
remember this. The recovery has been much longer than expected. Fortunately, the surgery went well, functions such as speech
and reasoning continue to work well, but other functions/skills never returned to normal. I have continual dizziness and I get weak
standing for long periods – so it is possible I may need to sit during our lectures.
I still intend for this class to be a good learning experience, however I want it to be fun for all of us. Please be patient with me. Feel
free to use the e-mail address listed above to contact me, but it may be a day or two before I can reply. Additionally, please
cooperate with my GAs, they will be playing a key role during this difficult time. Thank you again for your help.
“It Should Be Common Sense”
These items will seem like common sense that any college student will know already, but there are more and more students in
my classes who are not familiar with these basics. The university strongly encourages me to include discussion of these items
so everyone knows what is expected of them. So I am not trying to patronize you – here goes:
Do not answer any scantron card quiz with a pen. The computer will mark every answer wrong. I will not give you a zero for the
quiz, but you will receive a 50% automatically.
If you do not put your name on a worksheet or quiz – a worksheet will receive NO credit and a quiz will depend upon whether
we can determine who wrote it. If not, NO credit will be given for the quiz. If we can determine who wrote this particular exam,
your score will receive a TWO LETTER grade reduction.
If a quiz asks you for an identification number or letter and you do not include that identification, the quiz cannot be graded. I
work hard to make this sort of thing obvious – reminding students multiple times not to forget, but someone always does. Any
test that fails to include that identification will receive a 50%.
If you are listed by all school records as Reginald Dwight, but you are in the process of changing your name to Elton John – do
not put the name Elton John on your assignments and expect me to know who it is. Even more – do not simply write “Elton” and
expect me to know who it is. If your writing is so bad that my TA and I simply cannot even read your name, a worksheet will
receive a zero. A test will be treated as if it had no name. We will attempt to determine who wrote it, but even if we can, it will
receive a two letter reduction.
Turning in a worksheet copies another student or any published work (even online) either in part or in whole is not “team work”
it is plagiarism and will be turned over to the school authorities. For our purposes, limit direct quotes to once sentence and site
it correctly. Every semester, a pair of students (sometimes even as many as four students) turn in the exact same writing
assignment. And they are then shocked when they are asked to an interview with the Student Rights and Responsibilities Office.
If the teaching assistant (TA) or I see that you are using a cell phone or ipad during a film, you will be required to go home for
the night. You are distracting the people around you from seeing the film (and hurting their grade). No second chances.
This is always controversial. When you arrive in class, the worksheet due that night should be done. When I ask for it to be
turned in, it should be turned in. If a student arrives to class ten minutes late and the work has already been collected, you are
simply too late. No you cannot turn it in. If you are sick or have a completely legitimate academic excuse for not attending
class, no you cannot turn it in late. If you left your worksheet at home, no you may not email it to me. Consider this to be like
being employed. If the boss asks you to give a presentation at a meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., showing up at 8:20
and asking to give it then will likely get you fired. I hate to put it this way, but it isn’t fair and your boss isn’t being
understanding. But that’s the nature of the real world. Writing five words on the worksheet as everyone hands them in will
probably get you less than an A for the assignment. Having a really good reason why you could not turn it in when told to do so
doesn’t matter. Putting it on my lectern in the dark when the film is playing will not do you any good. Don’t ask me to
reconsider. Don’t ask the TA to take it.
TFM 363
SPRING 2016
DATE
TOPIC
READING
FILM
20-Jan
The American Standard
Origins of Cinema
Safety Last
27-Jan
German Expressionism
German Expressionism / Nosferatu / Caligari
Nosferatu / The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
3-Feb
Silent Soviet Montage
Soviet Montage / Battleship Potemkin
Man with the Movie Camera / Battleship Potemkin
10-Feb
Exam One
17-Feb
Poetic Realism
24-Feb
Goodbye Lenin
Poetic Realism
Port of Shadows
The Grand Illusion
The Grand Illusion
2-Mar
Italian Neo-Realism
Italian Neo-Realism / Bycycle Thieves
Bicycle Thieves (Bicycle Thief)
9-Mar
Japanese Cinema
Japanese Cinema / Rashomon
Rashomon
16-Mar
French New Wave
New Wave / 400 Blows / Breathless
Breathless / The 400 Blows
23-Mar
Exam Two
First/Second/Third Cinema / Fellini's 8 1/2
8 1/2
30-Mar
spring 2016
6-Apr
Second Cinema
Bergman's The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal
13-Apr
Third Cinema
The Official Story
The Official Story
Moolaade
Moolaade
3 Idiots
3 Idiots
20-Apr
27-Apr
Bollywood
4-May
last class - final exam