AL 34107 - The Quiet Englishman: Acting the Hero in British Cinema

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Arts and Letters (Non-dept.)

Description:

This course will explore the idea of the 'hero' in British cinema over the past half a century and examine how three different generations of British actors have attempted to create and act a 'hero' that reflects the values of their own particular age. Lectures and class discussions will focus in on how 'masculinity' is constructed in British cinema at a particular time and how that effects the representation of women. There is a world of difference between the Bond Girls in Goldfinger and Andie MacDowell's sexually independent Carrie in Four Weddings and a Funeral. And Alec the middle class doctor played by Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter is a far cry from Arthur Seaton, the working class rebel played by Albert Finney in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. The idea of the 'hero', and indeed the 'heroine' cannot exist in a cultural vacuum so we shall also be exploring the wider background to the four films that form the core of this course. Those four films will be: Brief Encounter (1945), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), Goldfinger (1964 )and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). The course is offered as one of the London Summer Programme's special one-credit hour courses or it may be taken as one module in the three-credit course entitled 'An Introduction to Film, Television, and Theatre in Britain'.

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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