Recently in State Theatre Films Category

Christa-Maria tells Wiesler that he is a good man. Jerska gives Dreymann Sonata for a Good Man. Dreymann dedicates Sonata for a Good Man to Wiesler. What is "a good man" in The Lives of Others? Was it possible to be a good man in East Berlin? Do we need a different language/vocabulary to describe these men? Does this film have a hero? Was it possible to be heroic in East Berlin? 

The novelist E.M. Forster wrote "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country." What does The Third Man have to say about betraying one's friend? Is the betrayal of a friend always inexcusable? Are there more important loyalties - to one's country? One's family? One's religion? Etc. 

Citizen Kane is filmed as a series of long takes, composed in-depth to eliminate the necessity for narrative cutting within major dramatic scenes. The film uses very little shot/counter-shot. Why is this so important to the way we experience the film visually? 

What is the "one thing"? 

The Nun's Story is about the possibility of achieving perfection. What would it mean to be a perfect human being? Would your version of a perfect human being resemble the woman Sister Luke attempts to become? 

This week's selection for Ethical Dilemmas on Film is the 1992 Neil Jordan film The Crying Game. Here are some questions to focus your reflection on the various ethically relevant themes this work addresses:

This week's installment in the Ethical Dilemmas on Film series is Europa, Europa, a 1990 film directed byAgnieszka Holland. The film was adapted from the autobiography of Solomon Perel, a Jewish man from Germany who survived World War II as a boy by hiding his identity from the Nazis. The original title of the film, Hitlerjunge Salomon (literally, Hitler Youth Salomon), provides more of a clue to the specific kinds of peril involved in Perel's struggle than does the less descriptive title under which the film was released. Here are some questions to get you started in your reflection on the ethical issues raised in the film.Why does Agnieszka Holland begin Solly's story the way she does? What is the effect of the opening scenes? What do we learn about Solly's family during these scenes? 

This week's installment in the Ethical Dilemmas on Film series is the 1993 film adaptation of the John Guare play Six Degrees of Separation. In addition to spawning the game that would put a certain actor at the hub of all cosmic intersections, the film touches on a number of issues that are worthy of our consideration. Here are some questions and suggestions to get you started in your thinking about the film:Six Degrees of Separation was written and first performed as a play. How can you tell? Why does it matter? 

Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them. 

(Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World)

If Bertrand Russell was right about most voters, is he wrong about Gore Vidal? This movie was made in 1964. Would the evidence Bill Russell has against Joe Cantwell work to Russell's advantage or disadvantage in 2012? Would the evidence Cantwell has against Russell work to Cantwell's advantage or disadvantage?