Youth in Revolt: Mai ’68

The late 1960s saw global uprisings against the old power structures inspired by various interpretations of socialism, Marxist-Leninism, and Maoism.  No time and place of this era was more emblematic of the rise and fall of that particular moment of political activism than the French Mai ‘68, a series of events that tenuously brought together students and workers but failed to result in significant structural changes to which they aspired. 

This course will examine the rise and fall of the student movement through four key films made both before and after Mai ‘68: a Godardian avant la lettre exploration of youth in revolt, two films exploring different attitudes towards the student uprisings, and Olivier Assayas’ coming of age film set in the post-’68 hangover. After this course you may find yourself joining the chorus of students shouting Dans la rue! Dans la rue! Dans la rue!

Films:

5/8: LA CHINOISE (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)

5/15: MAY FOOLS (Louis Malle, 1990)

5/22: THE DREAMERS (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003)

5/29: SOMETHING IN THE AIR (Olivier Assayas, 2012)

Jordan Sudermann teaches IB Film and various social science courses at Lincoln High School. His interests in film include post-war European art cinema, East Asian cinemas, and queer cinemas. Previous courses at Movie Madness University include Japanese New Wave, Vertigos, and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Class size will be limited to 18.

Email us at education@moviemadness.org if you have any questions.