Blockseminar Alternative Lives Dreams and Memories Contemporary Film and the Inner Workings of the Brain

The inner workings of the brain have been a recurring topic in film since the beginnings of the medium. Dream sequences, distorted memory and delusions provide filmmakers with an opportunity to venture beyond the ordinary without completely shattering the illusion of filmic realism. While some films use mental landscapes to reflect on the virtuality of postmodern existence, others employ them to frame the latest battle of CGI special effects. Dreams and memories in film offer projection screens for the repressed, the hysterical and the traumatic but also for the humorous and the romantic. The seminar will engage with film from a cultural studies perspective. We will explore strategies and conceptions of filmic narration in relation to the topic. Furthermore, we will consider questions of genre convention and audience expectation as well as the filmic language of individual filmmakers. The seminar will focus on the following films: • -Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (Michel Gondry, 2004) • -Waltz with Bashir” (Ari Folman, 2008) • -Mr. Nobody” (Jaco Van Dormael, 2009) • -Inception” (Christopher Nolan, 2010) We may furthermore discuss -The Matrix” (Andy & Lana Wachowski, 1999), -Being John Malkovich” (Spike Jones, 1999), -Memento” (Christopher Nolan, 2000), -Donnie Darko” (Richard Kelly, 2001), -Big Fish” (Tim Burton, 2003), -The Fountain” (Darren Aronofsky, 2006) and -Sucker Punch” (Zack Snyder, 2011). You are welcome to suggest additional or alternative filmic material during the introductory session in which we will discuss the course programme and the seminar requirements. Anglistik Universität Duisburg-Essen SS 2011 LHRGe, Lehramt an Grund-, Haupt-, Real- u. Gesamtschule, Sp Haupt-, Real-, Gesamtsch. Anglistik