Film: The Storm that Swept Mexico.
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
History of Mexico
Guidelines for the Film Review Papers
• Addresses the historical merit of the film and EXPLICITLY links the film to assigned readings for the course.
• A film review consists of two parts. Do not devote the entire paper to describing the film and forget to evaluate it. One third of the paper should be devoted to summary and two thirds to evaluation and analysis.
o Part I – A description of the film’s topic, main arguments and evidence.
Remember: just because it is a film, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an agenda. All films, but in particular documentary films, are representing and interpreting history just like a more traditional historical monograph.
o Part II – Your analysis and evaluation of the film.
You must have an evaluative thesis.
• Your thesis should consist of your evaluation of the film. You must argue something about the book.
• This thesis must appear in the introductory paragraph.
• You need to give your opinion as to whether the film accurately represents the history it covers. This does not mean you have to pick apart the minutiae, although if you see a historical anachronism feel free to point it out.
You must reference the film and our class readings when you write the review. A good review will use scenes from the movie as evidence to support its arguments (just like you would in a book review). The idea is to connect directly to the readings as a way of measuring of the film’s historical accuracy and understanding its interpretation of history.
• All film reviews must include citations. Without citations the highest grade a paper can receive is a C (75). If you consult any outside sources (such as book reviews or the internet), you must include full citations for those sources on a works cited/bibliography page.
Questions to consider (but do not treat this as a list of questions to answer, in order, in the paper):
• What is the film trying to say about the topic covered?
• Compare the events of the film with what you have learned in class and the readings. Are the “facts” about historical events correct?
o Do the filmmakers play with cause and effect?
o Do the filmmakers switch the actual historical order of events?
o Is the film anachronistic? Are there things like costumes and technologies that actually didn’t exist in that era (or place)?
• What did the filmmakers choose to focus on? Events? Historical figures? Is anyone privileged in the narrative? Is anyone left out?
• If it is a documentary film, what techniques to the filmmakers use to convey the history?
o Do they use oral history?
o Expert testimony (i.e. historians or other academics)?
o Reenactors?
o Historical footage?
• What can you find out about the filmmakers? Their background and reasons for making the film? Do they have a particular bias?
• What was the intended audience of the film?
• What is the emotional or psychological impact of the film? How does it make you feel?
Organization
o All papers should have a formal introduction and conclusion.
o You can integrate your description and analysis or you can consider them separately.
• Spelling, grammar and punctuation MATTER. 5 points will be deducted from papers that are not proofread and edited before submission.
• It is essential that you use your own words when you write the reviews. If you use 3 or more words from the original text, the material must be in quotation marks and cited properly. Failure to do so will result in the following action:
o First offense: rewrite or no credit
o Second offense: rewrite or no credit (10 point deduction)
o Third offense: No credit for the assignment (0)
• Fourth offense: F for the course
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