This course reviews the influential major films of Stanley Kubrick—Paths of Glory (1957), Lolita (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), among other earlier films and his unfinished project A.I. Artificial Intelligence (dir. Spielberg 2001). The films will be considered in their historical, cultural, and film studies contexts. Topics include Cold War politics, literary adaptation, the depiction of violence on screen, and the relationship between popular culture and scholarship. We will pay special attention to Kubrick’s interest in war, science fiction, and technology, including artificial intelligence.
35mm screenings of the films will be held at the Harvard Film Archive as part of this course.
No prerequisites.
Founded as a graduate program in 1904 and joining with the undergraduate Literature Concentration in 2007, Harvard’s Department of Comparative Literature operates at the crossroads of multilingualism, literary study, and media history.
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