Compare and contrast the lives of Stan and Antonio Ricci

Instructions:

Read each prompt carefully. You can pick one question from section 1, and 2 from section 2, for a total of 35 points. Write your responses up on an MS Word document and submit it to the appropriate dropbox folder. Email me with questions!

Section 1:

Taking one moment/scene/situation from the films, compare and contrast the lives of Stan and Antonio Ricci. These two are protagonists from two very different film traditions yet betray very similar lifestyles when examined closely. Stan is Charles Burnett’s despondent Killer of Sheep, where is Ricci is a titular Bicycle Thief, however they are located in two different times and in two faraway cities. How do you understand the similarities and differences between these two characters and by extrapolation, do you see Rome of 1948 and LA of 1970s as similar or different? Feel free to pull from the Massood reading. (500 words, 15 points)

OR

Contrast the city and being of Los Angeles in The Big Lebowski and compare and contrast with either Kiss Me Deadly or Killer of Sheep. Use one frame of reference to construct your response: race, ethnicity, class, gender, national/international politics. Based on that one frame of reference, contrast the two films by explaining what the main image of LA each is portraying, what is the movie’s main engagement in terms of politics of representation, and how does genre/style work towards creating this difference. Pick one scene from each film to centre your analysis. (500 words 15 points)

Section 2: Pick any 2 a. Closely analyze this scene from Killer of Sheep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avrd4ArTLAo&list=PLbkREGaOeG4pSI6pACfWJdNWPUjcmkdnV&index=2&t=0s Think about the music, the camera work, the content of the scene itself. Why is this a part of the movie? What is Burnett trying to convey with this scene? (300 words 10 points) b. Let me direct you to Kiss Me Deadly 38:03 to 41:03. What is the point of the Greek mechanic character, Nick? What different roles is he playing to both the narrative within the film, and the commentary the movie is making about let’s say, LA? How is the city as seen through the eyes of an immigrant character different from the other films? (300 words 10 points) c. What are the power networks in The Big Lebowski? Who/what holds the agency to move the narrative along? Is there a centring of money/gender/modes of transport/profession/race by which one group of people/things present a sense of dominance over the others? Pick one scene from the movie to focus on to answer this prompt. (300 words 10 points)