• Screening: Week Five

• Reading: Bazin, Koszarski, Jackson

• Discussion questions:

A. "It is she [Peggy] who understands that the conflict in Fred Derry is the conflict between an old way of life in America, and a newer, healthier way of life born out of the experience and sacrifice of the people who fought in the war." What does this mean in practical terms? Is there evidence of this in the film?

A. How would you summarize the negative reaction to the film?

A. What does Bazin think is realistic in Wyler's film? Do these conventions ever change? Can the conventions of the representation of realism ever be aestheticized? E.G. "reality is not art, but a truly "realistic" art can create an aesthetic that is incorporated in reality."

B. Why does Bazin use the word "democratic" in relation to Wyler's style or what does he mean by the term?

C. Bazin pays special attention to two scenes; what are they and what does he say about them?