Film Adaptations in Central and Eastern European Cinema

Tutor:

Dan DUTA

Synopsis:

The course consists in comparing a certain numer of novels or short stories with film adaptations based upon them. The students are supposed to individually read the literary sources, whilest the films are going to be screened during the course: each screening is supposed to last around 90 minutes. The films are to be commented not only in the following 90 minutes of lecturing and discussions with the students, but also during the screening itself, as it is important to explain to the students certain symbols or other elements of auctorial poetics even while the running of the respective scene in the film.

Prerequisites:

Study Objectives:

Outline and Syllabus:

The literary sources and the filns made after them are to be compared with the goal of identifying and studying different ways of adapting to the screen a literary source: „true“ adaptations, „free“ adaptations, using some ideas, symbols or metaphoras from a novel or story for making a film etc. This could not only enrich the students´ aknowledge about the Central European Literatures and Cinemas, but also help and inspire them for their future career of filmmakers.

The basic elements are to be studied and developped in the peculiar case of writers and directors in the from the Central and Eastern Europe:

The Idiot (Dostoyevsky - Saša Gedeon) - adaptation starting from an idea of the original novel

Woyzeck (Buchner - Werner Herzog or/and Janos Szasz - the true / the free adaptation

Closely Watched Trains (Bohumil Hrabal - Jiří Menzel) - the „auctorial“ print; the mutual iinfluence between the director and the autor of the literary source

Master Tadeasz (Adam Mickiewicz - Andrzej Wajda) - adaptations and superproductions

Professor Hannibal (Andras Golcze - Zoltan Fabri)

The Shop on the Main Street (Ladislav Grossmann - Jan Kadar, Elmar Klos) - the first Oscar for the Czechoslovak cinema

The Doom (Victor Ion Popa - Sergiu Nicolaescu)

The Stone Wedding (Ion Agarbiceanu - Dan Pita, Mircea Veroiu)

Some Secrets (Alice Nellis) - with stressing the features of the screenplay writing as a literary genre

The Postman Always Rings Twice (James M. Cain - Gyorgy Fehér) - a film adaptation from a different literature

The Sewer (Andrzej Wajda) - war films and literary sources

A Case of Love (Dušan Makavejev)

The Fragrance of Wild Flowers (Srďan Karanović)

Objectives:

- Presenting to the students some of the most important autors and directors from the Central and Eastern europe, making their acquintance with this culture

- Developping the artistic sense and taste of the students and their ability of analysing and understanding the literary and cinematographic language, the relationship between literature and film

- Developping students´ ability in comparing a literary work with a film adaptation made after it

- Stimulating and developping students´ capacity of understanding the idea of relativity in literature and cinema, of understanding and analysing auctorial more or less subjective or objective attitude.

Requirements and Assessment:

An oral exam or a ten-page essay analysing one of the studied literáty and cinematographic works; as item of the essay is recommended the confrontation between one of the screened film and its literary source. Students are supposed to read the studied literary works and to watch the screened films.

Bibliography (including required readers, textbooks, if applies, and list of books students should obtain individually):

The studied novels and short stories and the screened films; eventually some introduction into the literary theory or/and the art of the film adaptation.

Study materials:

Note:

On alternate year for 1. and 2. class (2009/10).

Schedule for winter semester 2009/2010:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue	místnost 241 Učebna 3 (Lažanský palác) DUTA D. 14:00–15:35 (přednášková par. 1)
Fri
Thu
Fri

Schedule for summer semester 2009/2010:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans:

• Cinema and Digital Media - Cinematography (qualification subject)
• Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting (qualification subject)
• Cinema and Digital Media - Directing (qualification subject)