Peter Gessner, Sandra Sutherland The Political Thriller from World War II to Iraq

The class will examine a sampling of 55 years of superior genre films while exploring the nature of what we've come to call political thriller. The course begins with a screening of a rare film General della Rovere by Roberto Rossellini and our discussion will include other early anti-Nazi spy films like Hitchcock's 39 Steps where heroes and villians were clearly etched. We will show film excerpts from Cold War films such as The Manchurian Candidate, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,and Three Days of the Condor. We will conclude with a critical look at how the War on Terror appears in two very different television series: the BBC production, "MI-5" (originally entitled Spooks) and Fox Television's "24". Throughout, we will examine the cinematic technqiues and decisions used by the filmmakers to convey their message. The goal of the course is to increase the understanding of how this popular genre reflects and shapes public consciousness of world events.

The first class meeting (on April 2) will meet for three hours to accommodate the viewing of General della Rovere. Class members are encouraged to watch the other selected films outside of class.

Sandra Sutherland has had a long career as a private investigator working around the world. Her political cases have included local and state-wide political issues, cases such as the Geronimo Pratt, SLA, and Black Panther cases of the seventies, and the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. She has also co-written and co-produced television genre dramas for American and Australian Television.

Peter Gessner was an independent filmmaker for twenty years. He has made films about the Vietnam War ("Time of the Locust") and the activities of anti-war activists on the lower East Side of New York ("Last Summer Won't Happen"). In addition to his own films, he worked as an editor and cameraman on numerous films, including "Nothing But a Man" (1964), feature Abbie Lincoln and Ivan Dixon. Since 1989, he has been a private investigator in San Francisco. He published his first novel, a detective story, in 2007.

Thursdays, April 2- May 7
3 - 5 p.m.
Location: University Hall, 2199 Addison Street, Room 150

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Peter Gessner
• Sandra Sutherland The Political Thriller from World War II to Iraq