Date: March 29th and March 30th, 2012 Location: The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Ave., New York, NY
Keynote Speaker: David Greetham, Distinguished Professor, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Does a story ever truly finish, or does it carry on when translated into another medium? When a work of art is reinscribed into a cinematic or televisual text, does it in some ways get a new lease on life? For instance, does David Cronenberg’s M. Butterfly (1993), based on the play by David Henry Hwang which itself uses Puccini’s Madama Butterfly as a source, rely on audiences to know and recognize its previous source texts to make a larger point? Is this a case of artistic vampirism or taking advantage of the originary text to gain traction and promotion?
Do some stories conclude in the textual arena until cinema or television decides on a re-encounter with them, therefore rendering the same stories, once again, unfinished? What about when borrowing happens across genres, such as when James M. Cain’s noir thriller was remade by the Neorealist Luchino Visconti? How does the change in context change the contours of the story? In what ways do such moves from literature to film influence our understanding of both texts?
When can we call a film “finished”? Is it once the script is written, when production is wrapped up, in post-production, or once it has been rated and is ready to be screened? Does the Director’s Cut finish the job left undone by the Theatrical Cut, such as in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, which exists in upto seven versions?
Do actors and actresses finish once they are done with individual movies? What happens when a newer actor “acts like Bogey” or “does a Liz” in their own work? In what ways do actors and directors mould their own, or others’, past history to help their own work? Do the aura of certain gestures or modes, behaviors, live on beyond the individual?
The <b>Cinema Studies Group (CSG)</b> is a discussion group at CUNY Graduate Center for students from all departments interested in film and media. Our primary purpose is to foster an intellectual and social community that encourages interaction across disciplines between scholars. In addition, we aim to promote professional development for students.
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