COURSE DESCRIPTION
An examination of the relationship between gender roles and identities in contemporary French cinema from several perspectives: stardom, film and ideology, gender and genre, film and sexuality. All films have English subtitles. Reading of French helpful but not necessary.  Discussions and required reaction papers in English.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this course is to give students a better understanding of how French cinema has reflected and contributed to changes in definitions of gender and sexuality.  Other questions will be explored:  How central is the love-story as a film-narrative?  Can the love-story genre accommodate homo- as well as heterosexuality?  Does women's cinema differ from men's cinema?

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION:
List of films to be screened:
1. Tuesday, July 11:  1. Three Men and a Cradle (Coline Serreau, 1986)
2. Thursday 13: 2. Too Beautiful for You (Bertrand Blier, 1988)
3. Tuesday 18 : 3. French Twist  (Josiane Balasko, 1995)
4. Thursday 20:  4. Betty Blue  (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1986)
5. Tuesday 25:   5. The Closet  (Francis Veber, 2000) + 6. The Bridge (I) (Depardieu & Auburtin)
6. Thursday 27  The Bridge (II)  - 7. The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
7. Friday 28: (class replaced by questions on "Sex in the West")
8. Tuesday, August 1:  8. My Life in Pink (Alain Berliner, 1997)
9. Thursday 3: 9. Jeanne and the Perfect Guy (Ducastel & Martineau, 1998) + 10. Fat Girl (I) (Catherine Breillat, 2001) )
10. Tuesday 8: 10. Fat Girl (II) ) + 11. Brief Crossing  (Catherine Breillat, 2002) + interview with C. Breillat
11. Thursday 10: 12. Thomas in Love (Pierre-Paul Renders, 2001) + Interview with Belgian filmmaker
12. Friday 11 (no class)
13. Tuesday 15: 13. Secret Things (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 2002)
14. Thursday 17: Take-Home Final (Due Friday, August 18)

N.B.: Students must be aware that moral and artistic criteria differ profoundly between France and the U.S.  Some films have explicit sexual content. They are shown with this warning and for educational purposes only.

TEXTS:
Course packet with relevant film reviews and various articles, notably:
• "Sex in the West", by Lawrence Stone, The New Republic, July 8, 1985, 25-37
• "Gérard Depardieu: The Axiom of Contemporary French Cinema", by Ginette Vincendeau, Screen 34/4 (1993), 343-361
• "Gender trouble in Ma vie en rose" by Lucille Cairns
•  Alan A. Stone's on Chéreau's controversial Intimacy: "Desperately Seeking Sex"
• "Gender and Sexuality in Les Nuits fauves,” by Tarrie Carr in French Cinema in the 1990s (1999), 117-126.
Additional material will also be posted on the course website at <http://faculty.uml.edu/jgarreau/50.375/material.htm>
Supplementary Readings: French Cinema since 1945: a bibliography
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/mladww/fren233/233_bibliography.htm

GRADING POLICY:
 A = 94-100; A- = 90-93; B+ = 87-89; B = 83-86; B- = 80-82; C+ = 77-79; C = 73-76; C- = 70-72; D+ = 67-69; D = 63-66; D- = 60-62; F <60

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION:
• a personal and substantial reaction paper or, when required, the answering of specific questions, to be handed in after the screening of each film. There will be a total of 11 written assignments (See handout).   Graded as follows: 7 points for content, 1 for timeliness, 1 for accuracy of spelling  (80%);
• a comprehensive take-home final exam handed in or emailed on the scheduled day of final exams (20%).

CONTACTING THE INSTRUCTOR
Joseph Garreau, Ph.D.
Professor of French  Studies & BLA Advisor and Language Coordinator
Office Location: Coburn 113D
Hours: (During academic year: By appointment:  Monday: 1:00 - 3:30 ; Tuesday and Thursday: 2:00 - 3:30
Voice mail: 978-934-4297 - Email: joseph_garreau@uml.edu