Enhance your ability to assess and enjoy films by sharpening your skills in analyzing characters, plot, and acting.
9 hours total | 6 sessions, beginning February 29, 2024Soul-fueling films have been produced in all genres and eras of movie-making, but many of the best are not widely known or recognized for their excellence or philosophic depth.In this course, Dr. Andrew Bernstein will discuss six superlative, yet very different, films:
- Spotlight (2015): the gripping true story of investigative reporters exposing a massive pedophilia scandal within the Catholic Church;
- Bridge of Spies (2015): a Cold War espionage thriller, which illustrates the difference between life under freedom and “life” under totalitarianism;
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962): a classic World War I film that explores free will versus determinism;
- All About Eve (1950): a glamorous story about an unprincipled attempt to gain Broadway success and its debilitating consequences;
- Gaslight (1944): a psychological thriller about a woman’s attempt to overcome her abusive husband’s scheme to convince her she is going insane. The contemporary political term “gaslighting” comes directly and explicitly from this film;
- Fort Apache (1948): a Western classic that integrates a cavalry-versus-Indians conflict with a love story and insights into race, class differences, and the often misbegotten origins of military glory.
