This course will survey the major works of French cinema from the outset of filmmaking to contemporary films. The French made the first films and we will examine various different genres and styles of French film in relation to their representations of French culture.

Scholars have long considered fairy tales and folklore to be valuable portals into the values and anxieties of the cultures that created them. In this course we will apply the analytical skills we develop through close readings of French fairy tales—from the original versions of familiar stories like “Cinderella” to lesser-known tales like “The Pig King”—to the castles, cathedrals and other monuments we visit in the Loire Valley (a beautiful region located an hour southwest of Paris). Class excursions to the chateaux, vineyards, and villages of this region will bring to life the grandeur and the contradictions of 16th and 17th-century France: a time of new technologies and amazing artistic innovation, but also of bloody wars of religion and emerging authoritarian régimes. No prerequisites. Note: The course will be conducted entirely in English, but priority will be given to students with experience studying French.