Film as History (1 Viewer)

[xeuyrawp]

Ooh, awesome. I did a unit at uni which was all about history on film.

Definitely get your hands on Marnie Hughes-Warrington's History Goes to the Movies. Well worth the money.

I wrote an essay about Black Hawk Down, actually. If you want to read it, I'll send it to you.

A line of questioning is: Why is film not considered history? Why do people judge film as less important, historically, than text? Are we in fact judging historical films using the same criteria as texts? Is this wrong?

My major assignment's question was: Is Holocaust comedy a bad joke? Discuss this with reference to the specific comedies The Great Dictator [1940] and La Vita è bella [1997], and analyse the importance and broader role of film in the relationships between the Holocaust, memory, and deontological ethics.

For another unit (world history unit), I actually wrote one titled: ‘Film insists on history as the story of individuals’. Does this mean that world history cannot be filmed? Discuss with reference to the three films Cleopatra [1963], History of the World, Part I [1981], and Alexander [2004].

Hope that helps. I want to hear what you think about it.

edit: Having problems with the forums, it seems. My post should come after yours.

 

[la.la]

Hey,


Is anyone in a similar situation where they are doing film as history but dont know what question to ask besides "Evaluate the historical accuracy...etc"


Does anyone have any other ideas about other inquiry questions? Or any major work examples they would like to share


Also, can you only focus on one movie? Its pretty hard to find other films on relatively recent events...


So what I'm basically asking is: besides the historical accuracy aspect (inc. the film's perspective), do we just talk about the film's purpose etc. What should we incorporate? And is there any question that doesn’t sound too overdone? i.e. What is the question we should pose when doing film as history?


sorry, if I'm a pain, but really this is for the common good


Btw, I'm doing Black Hawk Down...so if anyone has any ideas?


If anyone can help, thanks!