Film and Media Studies 320: The Magnificent Andersons: The Cinema of Wes and P.T. Anderson

Writer/directors Wes and P.T. Anderson both released their first feature films in 1996.  Since that time, they’ve continued to make deeply personal, highly influential films.  They are both meticulous craftspeople, instantly stylistically recognizable, not particularly prolific, and in many ways working increasingly on the margins of mainstream cinema.  How, or is, their work reflective of its time?  What does it have to tell us about the contemporary moments in which it has been made?  How has it evolved over time to reflect broader cultural changes?  Or has it?  Why does one Anderson’s work appeal to an international audience while comparatively the other’s does not?  Why has their work, which itself has been heavily influenced by earlier filmmakers, been so influential on their contemporaries (Greta Gerwig, Sofia Coppola, Noah Baumbach, etc.)?  In this class we will grapple with these questions and others through various lenses including: aesthetics, industrial concerns, auteurism, politics, gender, class, representation, and genre.  The class combines lectures, discussion, presentations, and writing assignments.  Required weekly screenings.