Short course
The Criminal Code: International Crime Cinema
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
13/04/2027 - 15/06/202719:00 - 21:00
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£315.00
Crime cinema exerts a popular fascination that is unlikely to diminish given its persitent renewal via the accounts of criminality in the media; True Crime fiction podcasts are just the latest source of fascination in its basic subject matter. While the American and British crime genres have long been a staple of audience interest, it is really only in the digital era that our access to a wide range of other cinemas has opened up the fascinating range of non-English language crime cinema beyond well-known individual examples referenced in the past (one thinks of certain films by Jean Renoir or Akira Kurosawa for instance).
After setting out some of the familiar and enduring tendencies of crime cinema in US Gangster and Film Noir classics we will examine, through short lectures, seminar discussions and screenings of extracts and films, how these generic traditions emerged and developed as part of what were always Transnational as well as National forms of production. It is of course notable that film artists and caftsmen from Europe exterted a huge influence on American cinema in the 20s and 30s.
Our attention will focus on crucial themes that dominate the portrayal of Law and Order both in the shifting and increasingly ambivalent ethical core of the genre; it is a classic trope that the distinctions between Cop and Criminal are figures whose similarities as much as differences have dominated our interests in many of the greatest films. While largely avoiding the serial killer sub-genre, we will see how this plays out in many films in which codes of loyalty and especially masculinity play out against the melodramatic fatalism that characterises so many films. As well as discussing such themes we will also discuss the stylistic continuities and innovations that have accompanied them.
In recent years New Cinemas have created popular, imaginative and complex new contributions to the crime genre. We shall follow a range of developments in international cinema from the brutal underclass of Italy's Gomorra, or the Hong Kong gangsters of Johnny To, to the challenges to the social democracy of Scandinavian Nordic Noir and the overwhelming scale of drug-generated crime in Cartel films.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Contact the team
Phone: +44 (0)1865 280900
Course starts Tuesday 13 April 2027
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Tuesdays, 7.00-9.00pm.
Week 1: The Gangster film in America
Week 2: American Film Noir and its International Precursors
Week 3: The French Policier
Week 4: Screening and Discussion – Gang Story (Les Lyonnais, Marchal, 2011)
Week 5: Post-War British Crime cinema
Week 6: Italy – The Mafia film
Week 7: Japan – The Yakuza film
Week 8: Hong Kong Crime Cinema
Week 9: Scandinavian Crime Films
Week 10: Narco Movies – both sides of the border
Course aims
This course aims to enable participants to develop a critical understanding of crime cinema from an international perspective and to explore the thematic, cultural and stylistic developments that have shaped the genre.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, participants will have been given the opportunity to:
- explore a range of crime films from different national and cultural contexts and develop an understanding of the historical influences that have shaped the genre
- examine key themes and debates within crime cinema, including representations of law and order, criminality, morality, loyalty and masculinity
- develop skills in the critical analysis of crime films through consideration of their narrative, thematic and stylistic features
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
- Have a familiarity with a range of key crime genre films and their central issues.
- Be able to discuss international crime cinema in relation to critical issues in genre studies.
- Be able to discuss and write about international crime cinema by applying critical genre and film studies terminology and citing research by applying academic conventions
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
This course assumes some familiarity with the crime genre, but key readings will be provided and extracts/screenings will be used in the weekly lectures/discussions.
Teaching methods
Short Lectures and seminar discussions of key films as well as extended consideration based on extended extracts screenings.
Some use of group work to inform discussion.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first 500 words are due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Dr Pete Boss
Pete is Senior Lecturer in Film at Oxford Brookes University and has taught in adult education for many years on Hollywood and International Cinema. He is also a Blues Guitarist.
Academic credit
Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)
Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.
Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.
Digital certificate of completion
Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All short course students (online and in-person) may register to borrow from the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library, for the duration of their course.
Further information about the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library can be found on the library website.
Preparatory reading
- Swedish Crime Fiction: The Making of Nordic Noir / Bergman, K
- British Crime Cinema / Chibnall, S and Murphy, R
- East Asian film noir: transnational encounters and intercultural dialogue / Gallagher, M., & Shin, C.-Y.
- Dying to Belong: Gangster Movies in Hollywood and Hong Kong / Nochimson, M
- European Film Noir / Spicer, A
Module code: O26P427FIW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.
