Critical Theory 2 Assessment

Please select one of the following titles:

1. ‘Fantasy is, as Lacan once said, the support that gives consistency to what we call “reality”’ (Slavoj Zizek). Discuss Zizek’s understanding of the operation of fantasy through detailed reference to a film of your choice.

2. How can Deleuze’s category of the time-image assist us in understanding Journey to Italy (Rossellini 1953)? You may also make reference in your essay to other post-war modernist cinema.

3. ‘A quotation from Barthes does not always carry the day’ (Bordwell). Evaluate Bordwell’s call for a retreat from Grand Theory in favor of mid-level theorizing.

4. Desire lies at the heart of the cinema. Discuss with reference to one or more of the theoretical approaches explored in the module.

5. ‘Is space just the latest fashionable frame of reference in the academic world … or is it what founds the film’s identity?’(Myrto Konstantarakos, Spaces in European Cinema). Discuss, with detailed reference to a film of your choice.