Film 161 Fall 06 Documentary History and Theory

FILM 161 FALL 06 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY AND THEORY

ASSIGNMENT #2

DUE WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 29th, BEGINNING OF CLASS

• Must be typed, double-spaced, 1” or less margins

• Must be proofread for grammatical, typographic and spelling errors with a properly formatted Works Cited page

Over the course of the quarter we’ve watched numerous documentaries and have been exposed to a variety of different non-fiction forms and approaches [romantic ethnography, expository, “the drama at your doorstep”, observational, performative, reflexive, essayistic…]. Perhaps the most obvious omission from our syllabus has been ‘reality tv’ and its related forms—‘extreme’ game shows [Fear Factor, The Amazing Race], ‘celebrity verite’ [Breaking Bonaduce, Simmons Family Jewels], reality comedy [Candid Camera, Punk’d, The Ali G show], and more recently a self consciously hybrid form that merges reality tv with more cinematic approaches [Jackass the movie, The Thin Blue Line, Borat]. Even though these non-fiction texts are distinct from the ones that we’ve been studying its also quite clear that they cite and utilize older forms even as they chart new territories.

For this assignment you will be writing about Borat : Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan [UK/USA, 2006, Larry Charles, 82 min.]. The purpose of this assignment is twofold:

1. to apply the critical skills and theoretical concepts that you’ve learned to a film text that we don't watch in class [and a form that we haven't studied directly]

2. to explore an essayistic approach to non-fiction scholarship. In other words, your writing should ‘confound the perception of untroubled authority or comprehensive knowledge that a singular mode of address projects onto a topic’ [pg. 59, Paul Arthur]. You will answer three questions, producing your answers within three separate modes: research, personal experience, critical/theoretical analysis. Remember—an essay is an ‘unconventional’ piece of writing [in the sense of being multi or interdisciplinary] but is not mere opinion or conjecture. Rather, it attempts to get at the ‘truth’ of some phenomena or object through a flexible and inquisitive approach one that reflects back on its own processes of discovery. So, try to be mindful how each approach both differs and produces continuity

QUESTION 1: Is Borat a non-fiction film? How do you know? If so, what other non-fiction forms does it resemble or cite? [RESEARCH: production history, critical reception, etc.]

QUESTION 2: How does the film address its viewer? In other words, how does it engage you? With humor? Through ‘shock’? Explore and analyze your own spectatorship. Whe do you laugh and why? [PERSONAL EXPERIENCE]

QUESTION 3: Does the film reveal or produce any kind of ‘truth?’ If so, what kind and how? a political truth? a poetic truth? a personal truth? If not, why not? You will need to define how you are using the concept of ‘truth’ in your response. Bill Nichols will be a helpful resource here. [CRITICAL ANALYSIS, TEXTUAL ANALYSIS]