Kursinformasjon

From the corrupt detectives and crime-ridden inner cities of the 1970s to serving as the backdrop of romantic comedies in the 1990s, the urban space has been immortalized on screen in a multitude of different ways. The city has been depicted as a place for immigrant communities to form their (American) identity (Gangs of New York, West Side Story), as a crime-infested hellscape—both in action films (Dirty Harry, The French Connection) and in dystopian science-fiction (Blade Runner, Escape from New York, Robocop)—as a place for love and connection (When Harry Met Sally, Carol) and for alienation (Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, Her), as a powder keg of racial conflict and violence (Do the Right Thing), as the playground for monsters, aliens, and natural disasters (King Kong, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) as well as of post-human imaginations (I Am Legend, The Last of Us).
In this seminar, we will explore cinematic depictions of American cities through (post-1960) film history by watching and analyzing a variety of films. We will contextualize the relation between social and cultural changes around the films' release, how they were reflected on screen, and how the films themselves contributed to the shaping of the contemporary urban imagination. We will engage with a range of cultural and film theories which will allow us to explore issues such as alienation, globalization, environmentalism, commodification, gender and racial politics.