I've Got You Under My thumb?

  Early Summer is the story of a society in which women are expected to marry before the age of 29, often in arranged marriages negotiated by their family, especially fathers and brothers.  Yet at the same time, Noriko rejects the candidate chosen for her by her boss and family and  -- on the spur of the moment -- agrees to marry a family friend.   What is this movie saying about patriarchal structure, marriage, and women's liberation in the modern Japan of the 1950's?

Sushi and Baseball

 Early Summer depicts a Japan in transition.  Defeated and occupied by the Americans, the Japanese both cling to their traditional ways and embrace new ideas from their occupiers.  How does the movie show this transition?  Does this movie make a judgment about the new American influence?  Is there a political slant, however subtle, in this film?  What does this movie think about baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie?

Mono No Aware

 Mono no aware is the Japanese idea of the awareness of the transience of beauty and the ultimate sadness of life. After watching Early Summer can you better understand this concept? Where there scenes that evoked both feelings of joy and sadness, moments of beauty and tears?  What were your emotions at the end of the film?  What did you think about some of the images we discussed in class: the waves, the photograph, the child's balloon?  Are there moments when you felt the sadness and the beauty of life?

Bicycles Or Uniforms: Who Has the Last Laugh?

  On the surface Bicycle Thieves and The Last Laugh have the same plot.  In both films the protagonist either loses his job or will likely lose a job and in a desperate bid to restore that job they need to reacquire or even steal a precious object that symbolizes their position, a bicycle or a uniform, respectively. Furthermore, if we ignore the "happy ending" imposed by the studio on The Last Laugh, both protagonists end the movie defeated and depressed with seemingly little hope for a better future.  Nonetheless, despite these similarities, these are different movies.  In what way are they different?  What is the social or moral message of each?  What are each say about the society of their times (Germany in the 20's and Italy in the 40's)?  How do they differ on questions of social mobility, morality or the family?  Is one more hopeful or cynical?

Like Father, Like Son

  Many of you commented in class about the relationship between Antonio and Bruno.  Bruno admires his father at the beginning of the film, imitates his gestures and actions, looks at him with admiration.  Yet the search for Antonio's bicycle puts a strain on that relationship.  Antonio often fails to notice that Bruno is in harm's way and even strikes him.  Furthermore, Bruno watches as Antonio himself becomes a bicycle thief and is humiliated by a crowd.  What do you make of this relationship  How does it evolve (or devolve) over the course of the film?  What does the film tells us about fathers and sons?  About family?

Fides

 When Antonio's bicycle is stolen, he loses more than a bike. The brand name of the bicycle "Fides" (Faith in Latin) suggest it has symbolic value. What is the significance of that symbol? What does Antonio lose? Are there other symbols in this film?

Jay Gatsby v. Charles Foster Kane

Most of us read The Great Gatsby in our sophomore Humanities class. Both Gatsby and Citizen Kane, produced about twenty years apart, focus on a man who some might say is the epitome of success. What similarities and differences do you see? Are these works celebrations or critiques of these men, or somewhere in between?  Or something else?  Do they tell us anything about the American Dream?