FAVh008 Spirituality in cinema

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
6/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 21. 2. 14:00–20:40 C34, Wed 28. 2. 14:00–20:40 C34, Wed 6. 3. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 7. 3. 18:00–20:40 C34, Tue 12. 3. 14:00–17:40 C34, Wed 13. 3. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 14. 3. 18:00–20:40 C34, Tue 19. 3. 14:00–17:40 C34, Wed 20. 3. 14:00–20:40 C34, Tue 26. 3. 14:00–17:40 C34, Wed 27. 3. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 28. 3. 18:00–20:40 C34, Tue 2. 4. 14:00–17:40 C34, Wed 3. 4. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 4. 4. 18:00–20:40 C34, Tue 9. 4. 14:00–17:40 C34, Wed 10. 4. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 11. 4. 18:00–20:40 C34, Tue 23. 4. 14:00–17:40 C34, Wed 24. 4. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 25. 4. 18:00–20:40 C34, Wed 15. 5. 14:00–20:40 C34, Thu 16. 5. 18:00–20:40 C34, Wed 22. 5. 16:00–20:40 C34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 97 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 40/97, only registered: 0/97, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/97
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
God exists in some kind of diegetic worlds created by filmmakers. This course offers an introduction to the theory of spirituality in cinema with a special attention to works of Andrey Tarkovsky, Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu, Carl Theodor Dreyer, as well as, for example, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Wim Wendres, Béla Tarr, Lars von Trier, Terence Malick, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Romanian New Wave, and others. We will study images of Jesus in the world film history, too, and Christ figures in some other selected films.
Learning outcomes
After finishing this course, students will have been able to:
get acquainted with the large corpus of spiritual films
decode spiritual messages in selected art and genre movies
analyze and interpret works of the masters of spiritual cinema.
Syllabus
  • 1. Film and religion: an introduction
  • 2. Theories of spirituality in cinema: Amédée Ayfre, Henri Agel, Paul Schrader, Peter Fraser, Vladimír Suchánek
  • 3. Spiritually inspired films, religious films, spiritual films
  • 4. The spiritual mode
  • 5. Carl Th. Dreyer, Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson
  • 6. Andrei Tarkovsky
  • 7. Ermanno Olmi, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Béla Tarr, Lars von Trier, Andrei Zvyagintsev, Terence Malick
  • 8. Blasphemy and atheism, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luis Buñuel, Carlos Reygadas
  • 9. Images of Christ in the cinema
  • 10. Islam and Buddhism in cinema
  • 11. Spiritual elements in Czech and Slovak movies
  • 12. Conclusions
Literature
    required literature
  • BLAŽEJOVSKÝ, Jaromír. Spiritualita ve filmu (Spirituality in cinema). 1st ed. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 2007, 288 pp. mimo edice. ISBN 978-80-7325-132-1. info
  • TARKOVSKIJ, Andrej Arsen‘jevič. Zapečetěný čas. Translated by Michal Petříček. Vydání první. Příbram: Camera obscura, 2009, 355 stran. ISBN 9788090367845. URL info
    recommended literature
  • SUCHÁNEK, Vladimír. Topografie transcendentních souřadnic filmového obrazu : úvod do problematiky uměleckého obrazu jako duchovně-estetické skutečnosti. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 2002, 261 s. ISBN 8024404176. info
  • SUCHÁNEK, Vladimír. A vdechl duši živou -- : -- aneb malé zamyšlení nad duchovními souvislostmi animovaného a trikového filmu jako umělecké tvorby. 1. vyd. Olomouc: 2004, 1979, 384 s. ISBN 8090279864. info
  • SCHRADER, Paul. Transcendental style in film : Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2018, ix, 218. ISBN 9780520296817. info
  • FRASER, Peter. Images of the passion : the sacramental mode in film. 1st pub. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1998, vi, 201. ISBN 0275964655. info
  • TARKOVSKIJ, Andrej and Miloš FRYŠ. Krása je symbolem pravdy. Rozhovory, eseje, přednášky, korespondence, filmové scénáře a jiné texty (Beauty is the Symbol of Truth). Příbram: Miloš Fryš, 2005, 456 pp. Camera obscura 1. ISBN 80-903678-0-1. info
  • BRESSON, Robert. Poznámky o kinematografu. Praha: Dauphin, 1998, 115 s. ISBN 80-86019-68-3. info
  • FILIMONOV, Viktor Petrovič. Andrej Tarkovskij : skutečnost a sny o domově. Translated by Michal Téra. Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart, 2018, 557 stran. ISBN 9788074653612. info
  • REYGADAS, Carlos. Přítomnost. Translated by Alexandra Moralesová. Praha: AMU. 156 stran. ISBN 80-7331-634-1. 2023.
    not specified
  • BIRD, Robert. Andrej Rublev. Translated by David Petrů. Vyd. 1. Praha: Casablanca, 2006, 110 s. ISBN 809037560X. info
  • BIRD, Robert. Andrei Tarkovsky : elements of cinema. 1st pub. London: Reaktion books, 2008, 255 s. ISBN 9781861893420. info
  • JOHNSON, Vida T. and Graham PETRIE. The films of Andrei Tarkovsky : a visual fugue. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994, xvii, 331. ISBN 0253208874. info
  • MARTIN, Sean. Andrei Tarkovsky. Harpenden, Herts: Pocket Essentials, 2005, 255 stran. ISBN 1904048498. info
  • SKAKOV, Nariman. The cinema of Tarkovsky : labyrinths of space and time. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012, viii, 262. ISBN 9781848856295. info
  • BORDWELL, David. Ozu and the poetics of cinema. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988, x, 406. ISBN 0691008221. info
  • CUNNEEN, Joseph. Robert Bresson : a spiritual style in film. New York: Continuum, 2003, 199 s. ISBN 0826416055. info
  • BURNETT, Colin. The invention of Robert Bresson : the auteur and his market. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2017, xiii, 269. ISBN 9780253024695. info
  • DYER, Geoff. Zóna. Praha: Paseka, 2015.
  • MARTIN, Sean. Andrei Tarkovsky. Harpenden, Herts: Pocket Essentials, 2005, 255 stran. ISBN 1904048498. info
  • ŠKABRAHA, Martin. Vyhnáni do ráje. Poslední člověk Terence Malicka. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 2015.
  • ŽIŽEK, Slavoj. Lacrimae rerum : Kieślowski, Hitchcock, Tarkovskij, Lynch. Translated by Radovan Baroš. 1. vydání. Praha: NAMU, 2015, 286 stran. ISBN 9788073313197. info
  • SCHEPELERN, Peter. Lars von Trier a jeho filmy : muka a vykoupení. Translated by Robert Novotný. Vyd. 1. Praha: Orpheus, 2004, 228 s. ISBN 8090331025. info
Teaching methods
Lecture, class discussion, film screenings.
Assessment methods
Essay: analysis or interpretation of a selected movie in the spiritual context (9,000 - 1,300 characters).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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