Going on advice from Professor Glenn I have decided, for the moment, to base my paper off comparisons between “Masculine, Fèminin” and the play “Dutchmen.” Doing so using formalist film criticism. I will argue that (1) “Masculine, Fèminin is much better understood through the formalist approach for the reason that from picking a part only one a couple scenes we receive a broad understanding of this film.
(2) The clues that Godard gives the audience to better help understand this film only appear in one particular scene, the formalist approach will dive into this and come out of with a strong understanding of the rest of the film. Trying to get the same meaning out of “Masculine, Fèminin” while using the ideological approach, through my basic understanding, would leave me to believe one would end up with a very convoluted, cloudy understanding of the same film. However looking into this one chosen scene I believe the film becomes rather clear.
(3) Godard presents us with a crude recap of “Dutchman.” How does it at all tie into the film? I will argue that this summary of “Dutchman” will give us a stronger understanding of the film. It will tie together the plot of the film along with the abrupt ending.
(4) Mise en scene, I believe there are many things that can be said are placed on stage purposely and with every intention of providing the viewer with a symbolic meaning of the film.
(5) When we later see Catherine eating an apple many conclusions can be made as to why this is significant, or not significant. I believe this apple however ties in the “Dutchman” scene to the film and in turn helps us better understand the ending. It now proves the reason the “Dutchman” appears in “Masculine, Fèminin” and how we can use one to help understand the other.
(6) There are many patterns in the film that are also better understood from the “Dutchman” scene, patterns that present us with many of the relations between men and women we are presented with in this film.
(7) Comparisons between “Clay” and Lula” from “Dutchman” and the male and female characters in “Masculine, Fèminin” can be made especially with both ending in the murder of the protagonist male character.
Looks great! I especially like your argument that "diving into" one scene in depth will yield a better understanding of the whole film. Now, just work on establishing supports for each of your claims. You will need to reference other publications other than your primary sources (the film and The Dutchman) to give yourself academic credibility.
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