Fides

When Antonio's bicycle is stolen, he loses more than a bike. The brand name of the bicycle "Fides" (Faith in Latin) suggest it has symbolic value. What is the significance of that symbol? What does Antonio lose? Are there other symbols in this film?

Rosebud

Rosebud is perhaps the most famous symbol in movie history. What is the significance of the name "rosebud?" What is the significance of the sled? Is it the key to understanding Kane's life or just one missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle that does not explain much at all? A meaningful symbol or a MacGuffin? Are there other symbols in the film that are more meaningful or complement you reading of the sled (such as statues, jigsaw puzzles, Xanadu, etc)?

Jay Gatsby v. Charles Foster Kane

Most of us read The Great Gatsby in our junior English class. Both Gatsby and Citizen Kane, produced about twenty years apart, focus on a man who some might say is the epitome of success. What similarities and differences do you see? Are these works celebrations or critiques of these men, or somewhere in between? Or something else?

Celluloid Newspapers

We have seen two films, His Girl Friday and Citizen Kane, in which the protagonists work in the newspapers business (Walter Burns is an editor, Hildy Johnson a reporter, Charles Foster Kane a publisher). What do these films tell us about the job of a reporter or publisher in the 1940's? What is the role or status of the newspaper at that time? How have things changed since that time?

Is Friday Feminist or Feeble-Minded?

Hildy Johnson is a confident career woman who can compete with men (and defeat them) in the dog-eat-dog world of journalism. She is even willing to divorce her man if he doesn't treat her right. Yet, at the same time, she seeks the domestic joys of children and caring for her man -- and in the end returns to the rascal whom she left in the first place. What is the role of women in this film? Does it tell us anything about "modern" women in 1940's America?

Marriage -- and Divorce -- His Girl Friday Style

His Girl Friday charts the marriage and divorce and remarriage of Walter and Hildy and the engagement -- and near marriage -- of Hildy and Bruce. What is this film saying about that state of marriage in the modern world?  Is marriage a match between equals?  A meaningless ritual?  Is divorce a form of liberation -- or just another legal obstacle to happiness?  Is remarriage an example of reconciling of difference, accepting one's fate -- or making the same mistake again?  Remember the words of Walter Burns,"You've got an old fashioned idea divorce is something that lasts forever, 'til death do us part." Why divorce doesn't mean anything mowadays, Hildy, just a few words mumbled over you by a judge."

On Track

The Last Laugh and The Rules of the Game come from different traditions and styles. One is a classic of German Expressionism, the other of Poetic Realism. The first is silent (with only ONE intertitle!), the other makes use of sound. Yet both utilize virtuoso camera movement. The Last Laugh, for example, follows the doorman on his walk of shame as he passes the laughing faces of his neighbors. The Rules of the Game uses a tracking shot in which the camera moves across the back of a room as we see various characters flirt, escape and wallow in despair and eventually search for a private room. Is there any common theme or purpose to the use of tracking shots in these films? Or is there meaning in part defined by the movie and style? What can we learn about the use and function of camera movement from these films?