Film and Philosophy

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject looks at how a number of influential philosophical concepts have permeated (and been exemplified) in recent cinema. The subject begins by examining the ideas of Plato, and through an examination of mimesis and memory explores how his philosophical legacy endures in the representations of popular and experimental film, and reshaped within the context of postmodern practice.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• identify the aesthetic and philosophical precepts of contemporary cinema;

• demonstrate a developed and analytical understanding of issues relating to the literal and metaphorical representation of philosophical ideas in contemporary cinema;

• express a broadened awareness of modernist and postmodernist aesthetics and artistic practice in respect of contemporary filmmaking; and

• make informed critical judgements about such films.

Formerly available as 760-422 A Focussed Study in the Media. Students who have completed 760-422 are not eligible to enrol in this subject. BA students may credit this subject to a Cinema Studies major.