FS 412 A01: Approaches to Action Cinema

T. Romao

This course surveys the main approaches to the study of action cinema. You will have the opportunity to investigate the historical development of action in films from silent cinema to its contemporary forms, its manifestation across film genres, and its modes of expression in a range of national cinemas. You will also examine the cultural and economic factors that have sustained the continued popularity of action in films. In addition, you will engage with the leading critical and theoretical frameworks through which action in films is currently analyzed, including discussions on its principal forms, narrative and spectacle, aesthetics, gender, masculinity, and the functions of digital visual effects.