Film of the book

Course

In London

£ 159 VAT inc.

Description

  • Type

    Course

  • Location

    London

  • Start date

    Different dates available

We will read works of fiction and view their cinematic transformations, developing an understanding of plot,
characterisation and narrative in a film making context. Each session includes analysis and discussion of the literary text and an opportunity to view and consider extracts from the films.

Biographical information:
Patricia Sweeney is Programme Coordinator for Literature and Film at City Lit, with specialist teaching interests in modern and contemporary literature, drama and film adaptation. In addition to her work at City Lit, Patricia has taught literature courses for the Open University and Literature, Drama and Film courses for Birkbeck, University of London.

Facilities

Location

Start date

London
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Keeley Street, Covent Garden, WC2B 4BA

Start date

Different dates availableEnrolment now open

About this course

-Identify key aspects in the work of selected writers.
-Identify social contexts of the books and films
-Appreciate the process of rendering the novel into film.
-Consider the relationship between verbal and visual language.

You will need to obtain two texts:
Mildred Pierce by James M Cain
The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
Bring a pen and paper or a tablet to take notes.

A variety of teaching methods will be used: tutor exposition, large and small group discussion, readings and viewings of DVD extracts. You will be expected to undertake preparatory reading before the class.

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Reviews

Subjects

  • University
  • Drama

Course programme

James M Cain: Mildred Pierce
We will read Cain’s 1941 novel of post Depression California, considering the protagonist’s function as femme fatale or victim. Credited with contributing to the start of the ‘Los Angeles novel’, Cain’s characters pursue the ‘frontier myth’ of California as the fabled land of opportunity, yet the reality is that it is often a place of disappointment and failure.

Film: Michael Curtiz’s 1945 film challenges some of the accepted noir conventions, but is firmly placed in the canon. The film’s narrative is recounted in three flashbacks, two in the discourse of a ‘woman’s film’ or ‘melodrama’.
Joan Crawford stars as Mildred, a housewife with ambitions to succeed in a man's world.

"For her (Mildred) Los Angeles is neither the Emerald City nor the Great Wrong place, but a house and a job and even sometimes a husband - in Glendale." - David Wyatt in The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of Los Angeles, 2010

The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
We shall be examining Mortimer’s 1962 novel, which deals with themes of identity, sexuality, marriage and motherhood.

"She captured the times every bit as deftly as any angry young man." Rachel Cooke, NYRB, 2015

"A subtle, fascinating, unhackneyed novel…in touch with human realities and frailties, unsentimental and amused…so moving, so funny, so desperate, so alive…a fine book, and one to be greatly enjoyed."
Elizabeth Janeway, The New York Times

Film: The Pumpkin Eater, directed by Jack Clayton in 1964, with a screenplay by Harold Pinter.
Actors: Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch & James Mason.

Additional information

Look for other courses in Literature and Film Studies under History, Culture and Writing on the website at or in the prospectus under Humanities. General information and advice on courses at City Lit is available from the Student Centre and Library on Monday to Friday from 12:00 – 19:00. See the course guide for term dates and further details

Film of the book

£ 159 VAT inc.