Politics, Gear Change and Comedy
Week Nine: Women Make Film Episode 9
Tuesday, October 27
Night Nine: Politics, Gear Change and Comedy
Two Airings on TCM: 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema Episode 9 begins with chapter 23 on politics – as idealism, symbolism, propaganda and even comedy. In political films, content is king and the truth – the reveal – emerges by any means necessary. Chapter 24 on gear change is a gear change itself, moving the Women Make Film content away from “the big things in life” toward movie genres. The first movie genre to be explored is the subject of chapter 25 – comedy. Absurdity, innocence, mistaken identity, sex, satire, confusion and madcap antics are explored as comedic film techniques.
Complementary Film Schedule
Airing on TCM, times given in Eastern Time
9:15 PM – Fools in the Mountains (1957) directed by Edith Carlmar
12:15 PM – Girlfriends (1978) directed by Claudia Weill
2:00 AM – Party Girl (1995) directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer
4:00 AM – The Connection (1961) directed by Shirley Clarke
6:00 AM – Lost in Yonkers (1993) directed by Martha Coolidge
7:45 AM – Mabel’s Strange Predicament (1914) directed by Mabel Normand
8:15 AM – Foreign Letters (2012) directed by Ela Thier
Academy Assignment
For individual pondering and sharing via the site comments. Watch one of this week’s films taking into consideration the Women Make Film chapter content on politics, gear change and comedy. Questions to consider, based on the film you watched:
- How did politics drive the film’s story?
- Did the film contain a significant gear change?
- What comedic techniques were used in the film to clearly distinguish it as a comedy?
- Bonus: How did the Women Make Film politics, gear change and comedy chapter material influence how you watched this film?