essay

FILM 2340: Critical Approaches to Cinema Final Paper: Critical Analysis of Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

For your final paper, you are to analyze Children of Men formalistically and thematically. As we have been doing all semester, you will examine the most salient examples of film style and argue how they contribute to specific implicit and symptomatic meanings. Your task will be to analyze the film in its totality, rather than focus on a single scene. You will necessarily discuss scenes and sequences in the film but the isolation of particular scenes, sequences, and moments in the film should be in support of your overarching argument about the film’s implicit and symptomatic meanings.

This is not a research paper. You may reference the press kit, the selections from Science Fiction Cinema (both posted on Blackboard) and the DVD extra feature, “The Possibility of Hope.” These references should be brief and only in support of your original thesis. Do not cite the press kit’s uncritical celebration of the film. It is essentially an advertisement for the movie; its value for us is in providing production information and indications of intent by the filmmakers. No other sources are allowed.

You will be graded on your ability to effectively and accurately identify the salient techniques and how they contribute to the film’s implicit and symptomatic meanings within the totality of the film. Consequently, you need to account for patterns of development narratively and thematically. You will be graded according to your ability to clearly express your ideas. What you argue and how you argue it are equally important.

The process:

. 1)  Watch the film again, in its entirety. This is essential to the success of your paper.

. 2)  Develop an original thesis that your essay will explain and support.

. 3)  Draw up a segmentation of the entire film.

. 4)  Note outstanding instances of film technique.

. 5)  Organize your ideas and write your paper.

Style: Style guidelines for previous papers apply to this assignment, as do the guidelines in the “Editing and Writing Tips” document. Write this paper as if it was a section in the textbook.

First drafts of 1,000-1,250 words are due on Blackboard by 5:00 PM, Tuesday, November 20th.

Final drafts are to be 2,250-2,500 words long. They are due on Blackboard by 5:00 PM, December 3th.

This assignment is worth 200 points (20% of your final course grade).