IN-PERSON ONLY: What Are You Laughing At? Russian Comedy Films
About
Thursday, October 29, November 5, 12, 19, December 3, and 10 (No class on November 26) 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.THIS COURSE WILL BE RECORDED.Register Here In this course, we will explore the brighter side of Soviet cinema by discussing several comedy films by the greatest directors from the last three decades of the Soviet era. We will try to envision what Russian viewers found funny and laughed at (and what might not seem so funny from our modern American perspective). However, we will also decode the serious messages hiding behind the hilarious facades of these films. We will see that because comedy films were subject to less strict censorship in the USSR, they could address serious topics that would be taboo in more serious genres. Among the films we will watch are: "Diamond Arm" by Leonid Gaidai, "The Irony of Fate" by Eldar Ryazanov, and several others. The classes will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Students are strongly encouraged to watch each week's film before each class session. All films are available online at no charge, WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES. The instructor will also provide plot recaps for those who might not have watched the movie.Asya Pereltsvaig received a degree in English and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from McGill University. She taught at Yale, Cornell, and Stanford universities, and has been teaching in lifelong education programs since 2010. Her expertise is in language, culture, and history, and the relationship among them. Asya has published six scholarly books with Cambridge University Press. Asya is a popular instructor for several Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes around the country and was the faculty host for the OLLI trip to the Baltic countries and St. Petersburg in July 2017.
