TH 206 American Cinema & Catholic Imagination
In this course students will study four American filmmakers (Frank Capra, John Ford, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese) and how their films express a Catholic imagination formed in their childhood. Not all of these filmmakers retained an active Catholic faith into adulthood. However, students will explore how Catholicism as a culture continues to resonate in their films through ideas such as sac- ramentality, mediation, and communion. Students will also study how these concepts are shaped by the distinguishing cultural expressions of Catholicism brought to America by the Italian and Irish forebears of these filmmakers. By viewing such classic movies as The Searchers, It?s a Wonderful Life, The Godfather, and Taxi Driver students will study how these directors present a distinctly Catholic vision of America.