Dario+IS

Back to IB FIlm > Independent Study

** INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENT STUDY PLAN ** **Proposed IS Title:** Flashbacks In Film: How to understand them

**Summary of IS:**

**The 4 Key Films I will focus on are (include film/country/year):** **Summary of how each film will support my thesis:**
 * ** Film ** || ** Director ** || ** Country ** || ** Year ** ||
 * Memento || Nolan || USA || 2000 ||
 * American History X || Kaye || USA || 1998 ||
 * Citizen Kane || Welles || USA || 1941 ||
 * Irréversible || Noé || France || 2002 ||
 * Memento** Color sequences and b&w sequences are shown in reverse order. So first we see the end, then we see the beginning.
 * American History X** Frequent flashbacks, distinguished by b&w, allow the viewer to have a personal opinion on Derek Vinyard's actions and behaviour.
 * Citizen Kane** In a mystery-film sort of way, we hear past interviews and flashbacks on Charles Foster Kane's life to help the viewer investigate on the meaning of 'Rosebud'
 * Irreversible** Similarly to 'Memento', this movie starts at the end and ends at the beginning; this helps the viewer understand the story, where Marcus (V. Cassel) tries to hunt down the man who brutally raped his girlfriend Alex (M. Bellucci).

**Further 8 films for additional study and evidence:**
 * 1) ** Rashomon **
 * 2) **Sunset Boulevard**
 * 3) **City of God**
 * 4) **Oldboy**
 * 5) **The Thin Blue Line**
 * 6) **The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance**
 * 7) **La jetée**
 * 8) **Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind**


 * The 12 Key Sources I will use for research are [academic websites/journals/books]:**


 * Film Art: an Introduction; pages 302-303. The text uses the example of the diaries in //The Prestige// to define it as an effective instrument for flashbacks. Pages 440-441. Example in //Raging Bull//. Pages 427-428. Example in //The Thin Blue Line//.
 * The Power of Film; page 167. Examples of //Casablanca// & others. Explains how flashbacks started to be used in films //(passé device//).
 * //Understanding Movies;// pages 140, 169 (examples from //The Pawnbroker// by Sidney Lumet. Page 260 --> //Double Indemnity//. Page 321 (theoretical explanation), pg. 458 (//Cinema Paradiso//), pg. 558-560 (//Citizen Kane)//.
 * //Film, Form & Culture// pg.82
 * //Film Analysis// pg.340-359 (Monographic article on //Citizen Kane//).
 * //Cinema Studies//; The Key Concepts. Page 92 (Flashback + Continuity Editing), pg. 104-5 (Dissolve+Flashback), pg. 153-60 (A whole, lengthy section on Flashbacks).
 * //Film; A Critical Introduction//. Pages 66 (The Prestige + Citizen Kane) and pg. 206 (Mystic River).
 * //Looking At Movies,// pg. 243, Temporal Relationships between shots (//Double Indemnity, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind//).
 * //The Oxford Guide to Film Studies// pg.26 Citizen Kane.

>
 * [] An article on the "magic of flashbacks" in films from "Sergio Leone to Sam Raimi".
 * [] Narrative innovations in Film Noir (//Double Indemnity, The Asphalt Jungle, Scarlet Street//)
 * [] A wiki on Memento, with reference to its flashbacks/non-linear plot.


 * Include here a selection of the Screen Shots or film images that you will use for your appendix. Your final IS will need a minimum of 20 images:**