Masters of cinema: Christopher Nolan
- Course Code: HF239
- Dates: 01/04/25 - 01/04/25
- Time: 10:30 - 16:30
- Taught: Tue, Daytime
- Duration: 1 session
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Paul Sutton
Course Code: HF239
Duration: 1 session
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What is the course about?
This course will explore the work of a filmmaker who has produced some of the most expensive, but also popular and successful films of the past decade or so. There are some who regard Christopher Nolan as a cinematic innovator, a filmmaker who tries to explore complex ideas in his films; there are others who disagree entirely with this view and see his films as intellectually shallow and his innovations as feeble. This course will provide us with the opportunity to explore these conflicting positions while examining Nolan’s body of work in some depth.
What will we cover?
We will chart Nolan’s filmmaking career from its earliest period up to the present day and we will subject a number of his most significant films to detailed critical analysis. We will consider whether he might be thought of as a cinematic auteur and we will seek to discover the extent to which he might be seen as a cinematic innovator.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Have an understanding of the importance of Christopher Nolan’s as an internationally significant filmmaker
• Have a sense of his filmmaking output and the various forms that this takes
• Have reached a critical appreciation of Nolan’s work
• Further develop skills of analysis and interpretation in your own wider film knowledge.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is an introductory course and as such does not presuppose any prior expertise in film history or film analysis. The skills required to explore the topics and the films will be discussed in class.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The course will be delivered by the tutor with small and large group discussions. Short film extracts will be screened throughout. Reading relevant to the course will be made available in Google Classroom.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
There no other costs. Bring a pen and paper or other suitable note taking device. Clips will be shown extensively throughout the course. Where possible links to online sources will be made available.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other Film Studies courses on our website at www.citylit.ac.uk under History, Culture and Writing/film studies.
Dr. Paul Sutton is an independent film scholar who has taught Film Studies in UK higher education for over 25 years. His research covers psychoanalytic and film theory as well as Italian and French cinema and critical theory. He has published articles in journals such as Screen, French Studies and the Journal for Cultural Research. He is currently writing a psychoanalytic book on film spectatorship, Afterwardsness in Film, and has recently published work on television as a form of palliative care, and an assessment of the films of the Italian experimental filmmaker Ugo Nespolo.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.