27 Oct Decolonizing the Screen

MCS/ENG 144K 

Decolonizing the Screen

Critical Response Reflection #1 – battle of Algiers

Thoughtfully compose a long 4-5 document sheet that demonstrates your synthesis of the readings and lectures from week 1 & 2 (Shohat and Stam, Frantz Fanon, Stam’s essay on Fanon and Cinema and the documentaries we viewed in class) in relation to the film Battle of Algiers (hereafter BOA).  Do not exceed the 5th side sheet! 

Unthinking Eurocentrism, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism

file:///C:/Users/josep/Downloads/UnthinkingEurocentrismIntroduction.pdf

Robert Stam, “Fanon, Algeria and the Cinema”

file:///C:/Users/josep/Downloads/Stam-On%20Fanon%20and%20Cinema.pdf

Do not summarize the film or its plot. Do not simply make general statements about how you felt about the film, or what you thought about the quality of the acting. You are not showing a review of the film, but engaging in a study of the film and its effects, particularly in relation to Fanon. 

In the first part of the document sheet, discuss how the film Battle of Algiers produces a Fanonian “truth” regarding colonialism and decolonization. Clearly, you will not be able to answer this question without a close and rigour reading of the chapter by Fanon, “Concerning Violence.” Do no talk about what you though or felt about the film; instead, engage in a critical analysis of how the film express Fanon’s notion of truth and his theory of violence and decolonization.

source link: file:///C:/Users/josep/Downloads/Fanon%20Concerning%20Violence.pdf

Speak to how the formal qualities — such as plot, narrative structure, dialogue, point of view, sound track, camera techniques and so forth — of the film effect the decolonization of the screen. You can, for example, try to think of a close analysis of a particular scene in the film (and the composition of the mise en scène, for example) or sequence of scenes. 

Your second screening of the film is your opportunity to approach the film with an analytical lens, and take note on all the elements and formal qualities of the film that you will use to make your argument. 

Make sure that you demonstrate your thorough engagement with all the relevant readings assigned. Use proper citation. 

In the final segment of the sheet, you may discuss your response to the film, specifically in terms of a structure of identification. How did you respond to the film, the narrative, and the characters? What characters did you find yourself identifying with and why? What were the formal elements that enabled you to do so?  In your analysis of your response to the film, use the concepts that have been discussed in class and in the readings such as positionality and eurocentrism.