21L.011 The Film Experience (Fall 2013, MIT OCW). Instructor: Prof. David Thorburn. This course concentrates on close analysis and criticism of a wide range of films, from the early silent period,
classic Hollywood genres including musicals, thrillers and westerns, and European and Japanese art cinema. It explores the work of Griffith, Chaplin, Keaton, Capra, Hawks, Hitchcock, Altman, Renoir, DeSica,
and Kurosawa. Through comparative reading of films from different eras and countries, students develop the skills to turn their in-depth analyses into interpretations and explore theoretical issues related to spectatorship.
(from ocw.mit.edu)
Lecture 02 - Keaton (2007)
Continues the discussion of the evolution of early film, centering on D.W. Griffith and Buster Keaton, whose 1927 masterpiece The General is seen as a culmination of the Silent Era.