Celine Sciamma’s 2019 film Portrait of a lady on fire (france) and Greta Gerwig’s 2019 little women (US) are both period drama films that centre their focus around women. Both film have the characters being predominantly women and they have been chosen because they were made in different countries, with a different budget and with one being a hollywood film.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire shows a painter (Marriane) attempting to draw a portrait of a young woman (Heloise) for a suitor however Heloise refuses to be painted, therefore Marriane has to attempt to paint her in secret. At the end of the film the portrait has been finished and Heloise leaves to get married and it shows years have passed and Marriane sees Heloise from across the room at a concert.

Little Women is a coming of age period drama set in the 19th century where four sisters, growing up without a father, face the struggles of the patriarchal society that they live in.

Q: How have representations of LBGTQ characters on screen changed over time in coming of age films, shown with Call me by your Name [dir. Guadagnino, 2018], Rebel Without a Cause [dir. Ray,1955]

The film ‘Call me by your name’ directed by Luca Guadagnino along with the film ‘Rebel without a cause’ directed by Nicholas Ray are both known to be American coming of age films with references to the LGBTQ+ community. I’ve chosen these films as they’re both from different times in history where laws and societal ideals were significantly different, Call me by your name being filmed in 2018 where Queer people are more accepted and less demonized than in 1955, when Rebel without a cause was filmed. Guadagnino’s film is set in 1980’s Italy and follows a boy, Elio, and how he slowly falls in love with his father’s assistant Oliver throughout the summer and how he comes to terms with his sexuality despite how they’re relationship is unlikely to last. Ray’s film, however, follows a boy named Jim, a new kid in town who tries to avoid trouble to no avail after being challenged to a drag race by the local tough, Buzz, leading Jim to befriend Judy and the questionable Plato, two other troubled teens, which causes things to escalate, eventually leading to Plato’s death.

Q. How do the films Guns of Navarone (1961, J. Lee Thompson) and Dunkirk (2017, Christopher Nolen) demonstrate how the war genre has changed over time? 

Introduction- 

J. Lee Thompson’s 1961 film “Guns of Navarone” and Christopher Nolen’s 2017 “Dunkirk” are both films which are clearly identified to be in the War film genre. They are both well-known due to the dangerous mission carried out in “Guns of Navarone” to the famous actors and singers which appear in “Dunkirk.” These films were chosen as they are both war films from different eras and clearly show a change in the was genre in 5 and a bit decade. “Guns of Navarone” is about a group of Greek soldiers who have been sent to take down one of the Germans most powerful cannons in Aegean Island while “Dunkirk” is a tense film showing the escape of the British soldiers off the shore of Dunkirk after being pushed back by the German soldiers, it shows the rescue and sacrifices people made to save the British soldiers.  

Introduction: Robin Hardy’s 1973 film The Wickerman and Ari Aster’s 2019 Midsommar are both distinctive folk horror films. They are incredibly recognisable, from the weird, unsettling atmosphere in The Wickerman, to the well-known actors that appear in Midsommar. These films have been chosen as they were made in contrasting eras of the folk horror genre, so the development of the genre can be clearly seen. It can be argued that Midsommar is inspired by The Wickerman, as many similar aspects can be seen in the two. Hardy’s film follows Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) who arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents’ frivolous sexual displays and strange pagan rituals, particularly the temptations of Willow (Britt Ekland), daughter of the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). The more Sergeant Howie learns about the islanders’ strange practices, the closer he gets to tracking down the missing child. Midsommar also features a similar scenario just with a different narrative, as a dysfunctional couple Dani and Christian, played by Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor, travel to Sweden with a group of friends for a midsummer festival, only to find themselves in the clutches of a sinister Scandinavian pagan cult.