You will write a 3 page long piece of film criticism. Please review two of the three final films we have yet to see: Atonement, Phantom Thread or Hiroshima, Mon Amour. In this film review, you will analyze it as a text — as we have done all semester long. You will braid together two modes of writing: 1) analytical 2) experiential. In the first mode, you will identify key themes/concepts/technical aspects and evaluate them. The topic for this week is intimacy. All three films have a unique take on intimacy (which can be conceived in numerous ways — sexual, experiential, artistic, deriving from trauma). Intimacy might be an interesting in-road for your review, but it is not necessary. Feel free to write about whatever interests you. Find a common theme that unites the two films you select.
For instance, if you were to review a film like Waltz with Bashir, you might focus on its hybridity — the mixing of traditional documentary features with animation. You might also focus on the nightmarish color schemes, as well the overall contemplation of memory. You should focus on specific scenes, lines of dialogue, ambient noises, associations etc.
The second part is the experiential. You should write about what you are bringing to the table while watching the film. Some things you might consider: What are your feelings about the subject? What do you know? Do you have any preexisting aesthetic biases for or against the type/genre of the film? What did you feel while watching it? Were you moved?
Braiding is the weaving of specific rhetorical/narrative threads in a particular piece. Instead of having the piece evenly divided between two analytical and experiential modes (think an A and B section), you should maneuver between the two threads throughout. Find the connective tissue and move from A to B fluidly. Writing is the refinement of the speaking voice. If you were speaking to a friend about a movie, you might interject and change your trajectory within. Let your writing be fluid and un-robotic.
Good film criticism/reviews are not binary pieces of “film good” or “film bad”. It should not rate the film on a scale of 1 to 10 or thumbs up or thumbs down. Instead it should be a piece of writing that hands all the keys to the reader, telling them about the author’s experiences of watching the piece.
