Description:
Film is used as a means to introduce issues of contemporary Canadian society as they relate to the concerns of North America at large.  Open to all students.  Required of Canadian Studies minors.

Objectives:

1. To encourage students to further their understanding of Canadian culture and society by way of analyzing the history of its film industry.
2. To expand student understanding of issues of Canadian society particularly as they relate to the United States.
3. To increase student skills in the areas of public speaking, writing, research and critical analysis.

Required textbook:
Manjunath Pendakur.  Canadian dreams and American control.  Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990.

Grading and course requirements:

1. Written assignments: Grading will be based on the criteria of creativity and originality, degree of insight, clarity of expression, appropriate logic and evidence, proper use of academic writing formats (especially citations) and use of research and other sources.  Correct spelling, grammar and syntax are givens.  Students should make use of the Writing Center. Upon timely completion of assignments, students will be allowed to rewrite papers.
2. Positive class participation including individual presentations and general discussions.  Students are expected to keep informed about Canada using newspapers, magazines, websites, BSU campus activities, etc.

1. What were the major elements of the film, i.e., plot, characters, setting, genre?
2. How does this film help characterize the historic period under discussion by the textbook?
3. How would you compare this film with any Hollywood production with a similar plot, characters or setting?
4. Evaluate the film in terms of  meeting its purpose, i.e., entertainment, social commentary, education, artistic expression, etc.  What could the director have done differently to make the movie better?

Include a cover sheet stapled to the front of each assignment and use a font large enough and dark enough for easy reading.  Avoid decorative fonts.  All pages requiring double spacing and numbering with margins all around.  Students are free to use Chicago, MLA or APA for their referencing, as long as they maintain consistency with whatever style they adopt.

Group presentations (Pass/Fail):
Students will select a Canadian film to review as a group.  Students will show the movie and provide commentary based upon the questions for written assignments. (Choose a film that will not offend other members of the class.)

Course outline (tentative):
 

Date	Description	Film
January 15	Foreword to Pendakur
January 22	Introduction	Nanook of the North (1922)
January 29	Roots of dependency	The 49th Parallel (1941)
February 5	Dependency deepened	Strange Brew (1983)
February 12	In the shadow	Bethune: the making of a hero (1990)
February 19	State intervention	The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
February 26	Tax-shelter policy	Agnes of God (1985)
March 5	Work on group presentations  (No formal class)
March 12	Coproductions / The combines law revisited	I've heard the mermaids singing (1987)
March 19	Free trade anxieties /  Current trends	Canadian Bacon
March 26	Spring vacation (no class)
April 2	Group presentations - movie and dessert	A Christmas Story - Heidi, Jenna, Tracey, Erin
April 9	Group presentations - movie and dessert	Lori, Jayna, Jeri, Crystal, Stacy, Reggie
April 16	Group presentations - movie and dessert	James, Lisa, Jeff, Nick, Tim
April 23	Group presentations - movie and dessert	Miko, Brooke, Dawn, Courtney
April 30	Group presentations - movie and dessert	Ray, Sasha, Imran, Brooke
May 7	Group presentations - movie and dessert	Jenny, Jennifer, Kate, Justin, Sam

These films are available for loan:
Canada's Darling Sweetheart (1985)
Decline of the American Empire (1986)
Duddy Kravitz (1974)
Going Home (1986)
Jesus of Montreal (1989)
Masculine Mystique (1984)
Mermaids Singing (1978)
Nanook of the North (1922)
90 Days (1986)
Videodrome (1982)
Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
Fiend without a Face (1958)
Mon Oncle Antoine (1971)

Canadian films available for rent at Flicks, 646 Fulton, Boise <www.theflicksboise.com>:
The Adjuster
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Bye Bye Blues
Double Happiness
Exotica
Fire
Five Senses
Grey Fox
Hanging Garden
Highway 61
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Last Night
The Last Winter
The Lotus Eaters
Map of the Human Heart
Margaret's Museum
Masala
Red Violin
Stardom
Strangers in Good Company
Subway
Suture
The Sweet Hereafter
The Tall Guy
32 Short Films about Glenn Gould
Wise Cracks

French Canadian films available from the Flicks:
Being at Home with Claude
Decline of the American Empire
Jesus of Montreal
Leolo
Paper Wedding
 
 

Writing movie reviews
http://www.businessknowhow.com/Writers/AQuillInHand/qhmoviereviews.htm
http://www.epinions.com/user-review-1BD0-6E04B35-397909B4-prod1
http://www.epinions.com/user-review-7DB1-84924DF-38F13F21-prod6
http://www.cuw.edu/WritePlace/writeplace_pdf/reviews.pdf
http://www.storyispromise.com/wmovies.htm
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/bookrevpre.html
http://www.aynrand.org/ROC/review.shtml
 

Reviews (please email your suggestions to add to this list):

The Great Canadian Guide to Movies and TV
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Crater/1908/movies/filmtv.html
Canadian Movie Guide http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesCanadian/
Northern Stars http://www.northernstars.net/

Nanook of the North
http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/seek/nanook/nanostry.htm
http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/bookshelf/23_rf1_2.htm
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie-1014669/
http://film.guardian.co.uk/Century_Of_Films/Story/0,4135,160535,00.html
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/HotTips/hottip76.htm
http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Nanook_of_the_North
Biography http://nimbus.ocis.temple.edu/~jruby/wava/Flaherty/title.html
http://www.gen.umn.edu/faculty_staff/yahnke/filmteach/x-nanook.htm

Mon Oncle Antoine (1971)
Canadian Movie Guide Review of Mon Oncle Antoine
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesCanadianM/mononcle.html
National Film Board Review of Mon Oncle Antoine
http://cmm.nfb.ca/E/titleinfo/index.epl?id=11743&sid=&recherche=simple&coll=onf
Digitally obsessed review of Mon Oncle Antoine
http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=1237
Review by David Dalgleish (posted on February 26th, 1998)
http://www.subjective.freeservers.com/oncle.html
Six reviews (sort of)
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie-1028946/

90 Days (1985)
Canadian Movie Guide Review
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesCanadianN/ninety_days.html
Giles Walker biography
http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/en/prod/film/film96/17.htm
Be the first person to write a review
http://www.buyindies.com/listings/3/7/FCTS-3749.html
The Last Straw ends trilogy
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesCanadianL/laststraw.html
Credits Giles Walker
http://movies.eonline.com/Facts/People/0,12,42222,00.html
Chicago Reader Review
National Film Board Review
Order from VideoFlicks

The 49th Parallel (1941)
IFilm Rating
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,2309131,00.html
England's top grossing film of 1941
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/m_powell/filmography/004.html
British Film Institute
http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/pilgrims/classics/49thparallel.html
List of actors http://filmsociety.wellington.net.nz/49Parall.htm
IMDB Review http://us.imdb.com/Title?0033627

Bethune: the making of a hero (1990)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0099127
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Crater/1908/movies/b_b.html
Donald Sutherland http://us.imdb.com/Name?Sutherland,+Donald
Norman Bethune http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume4/58-63.htm
In memory of Norman Bethune http://www.maoism.org/msw/vol2/mswv2_25.htm
Well  known Canadians http://schwinger.harvard.edu/~terning/bios/Bethune.html
Bethune College http://www.yorku.ca/bethune/about/bethune.html

Strange Brew (1983)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Crater/1908/movies/s5_b.html
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0086373

Agnes of God (1985)
http://fmg-www.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/reiher/reviews/agnes.html
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,2309488,00.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie-1000499/reviews.php

I've heard the mermaids singing (1987)
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1988/03/282296.html
http://www.patriciarozema.com/ive_heard_the_mermaids_singing.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/iveheardthemermaidssingingnrkempley_a0ca47.htm
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/hurt/104/Class%20Materials/Lecture%20Notes/mermaids.htm
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesCanadianI/iveheardmermaids.html
 

Canadian Actors, Directors, Producers, Authors
Mary Pickford
Mack Sennet
Marie Dressler
Jack Warner
Margaret Atwood

Film studies
http://www.film.queensu.ca/212/212Home.html

Canadian References

Copyrights--Canada Source: CIPO (Canadian Intellectual Property Office)
New: Canadian Copyrights Database
http://strategis.gc.ca/cipo/copyrights/jsp/search.jsp
Canadian history and genealogy http://www.kithandkin.net/
Canadian timeline Canadian Timeline http://www.micromedia.on.ca/Timeline/TIMELINE.htm
Canadian encylopedia on-line http://www.histori.ca
The Underground Railway: Niagara's Freedom Trail http://collections.ic.gc.ca/underground/
Rallye patrimonial de Lanaudière [Flash] http://collections.ic.gc.ca/rallye/ralley.htm
Canadian Illustrated News http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/2/1/index-e.html
Book expo www.bookexpo.ca
Canadian Agriculture Library http://www.agr.gc.ca/cal/calweb1.html
Canadian Heritage Information Network http://www.chin.gc.ca/

Please suggest links to add to the web page:
mailto:jfisher@boisestate.edu