Film Club

With a Chinese colleague I am putting together a film series for students on campus. The films will include a little talk by me before and then a discussion afterwards. The idea is to show films that say something about American culture. I wanted to choose films off the American Film Institute' s 100 greatest films list. I ended up choosing the films listed below because I think each of them has a distinctive central character that represents a different aspect of the American pscyche. So here is the list and the description I sent (the number in parentheses at the end of each description is the number of the film in the ranking)

Citizen Kane (1941): Although it is more than 60 years old, it is universally agreed to be the greatest American film, and is on everyone’s list of greatest world films. So I think any film series about American films that did not include this film would be remiss. (#1)
Casablanca (1942). Again, an older film, but an important American film. The main character, played by Humphrey Bogart, certainly represents an American ideal that continues in film to this day, and the story of the struggle against the Nazis that is at the heart of this story is a classic tale of good versus evil. A classic love story and a cast of colorful characters makes this film is imminently entertaining and enjoyable.(#2)
The Godfather (1972). Once you get over the violence this story is really an allegory of American, about the American dream, about justice gained and lost, and about the immigrant experience.(#3)
The Graduate (1967). A tale of disaffected youth struggling to find identity after college graduation, this film introduced Dustin Hoffman and continues to speak to today’s youth. (#7)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): Perhaps the most beloved American film, one still shown every Christmas to enormous ratings, the film tells the story of a good man driven by circumstances to consider suicide, and his being shown what the world would be like if he had never existed. An ultimately life-affirming film.(#11)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975): The tale of inmates at an insane asylum, the film features another of America’s great actors, Jack Nicholson, and portrays a perennial American cinematic figure, the rebel.(#20)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940): The classic tale of Dust bowl America during the Depression and a man who tries to raise the social consciousness of disaffected farmers, based on the novel by Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck. (#21)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) : The tale of a black man unjustly accused of raping a white woman in the American South, the film still today speaks to the issue of race relations in America. (#34)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951): Quite literally one of the most famous acting performances in American film history. The film that introduced Marlon Brando, based on the classic play by Tennessee Williams.(#45)
Taxi Driver (1976):The tale of a disturbed Vietnam War Veteren who sees his society as decaying and decides to take steps to remedy the situation. An astounding performance by Robert DeNiro in portraying an uncoventional and disturbing figure who nonetheless certainly forms part of the contemporary American landscape. (#47)
Network (1976): A dark comedy about a national news anchor who decides to start telling the "truth" on the air, and the consequences that follow. A vicious look at the fine line between American information and entertainment in America that is more relevant today than when it was written.(#66)
Forrest Gump (1994): The fictional tale of an the amazing life of a mentally challenged optimist. Perhaps the finest single film for covering thirty plus years of American social history.(#71)
Rocky (1976): The classic American tale of the underdog, as a club fighter is given a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world. (#78)
Patton: Tale of a classic American warrior, the brilliant but idiosyncratic General George S. Patton (#89)
The Searchers: Generally agreed to be the greatest Western, with the greatest director of Westerns (John Ford) and the greatest Western actor (John Wanye). (#96)
Unforgiven: A modern look at the genre of the Western, directed by Clint Eastwood. The West probably as it was, and not as Americans tend to idealize it as, with all the moral ambiguity and violence that entails. (#97)