Apply

Los Angeles in Film With Michael Walsh

January 30, 2023
Submitted By: Max Strubel
Sunset Boulevard

Cinema began in the 1890s in the big cities of the developed world (New York, London, Paris, Berlin), and films that actively take the city as their theme have been important ever since. Los Angeles films have a special status in this tradition for the simple reason that the city is the capital of the spectacle, that is, the place where the most widely-seen films continue to be produced. City films tend to be either utopian or dystopian, but Mike Davis argues that “the ultimate significance—and oddity—of Los Angeles is that it has come to play the double role of utopia and dystopia for advanced capitalism.” Watch these four films in advance (Sunset Boulevard, Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, Los Angeles Plays Itself), make up your own minds, and join us for hearty discussion for four Mondays this winter!

Mondays: Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20 | 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Hillyer Hall 303 | $80

Brought to you by the Presidents' College, where we connect the curious through lifelong learning.