This course investigates the recent trend of “extreme” cinema coming out of France. Revolving around the tangled themes of transgression and taboo, the class will explore the representation of sexuality, violence, and the body in cinema. Along with ethical debates surrounding artistic representation and censorship, students will examine issues of authorship, spectatorship, stardom, national vs. transnational cinema, as well as the division between the art film and commercial filmmaking through the analysis of these provocative and controversial films. ‘The New French Cinema of Cruelty’ will focus on the history and practice of transgressive art and cinema through the lens of Contemporary French Cinema. This course contains graphic and explicit images of sexuality and violence.
The class will feature works by directors such as Catherine Breillat, Olivier Assayas, Michael Haneke, Bruno Dumont, Claire Denis, François Ozon, and Gaspar Noé.
