Mondays at 6 p.m.Introduced by Professor Linda WilliamsMovies move us. Melodramatic movies move us the most, whether to weep in sympathy for suffering heroes or to be gripped by the suspense of their heroic actions. What is the place of these fundamental emotions of sympathy and suspense in cinema? What is the place of, indeed what is, melodrama? Is it a genre or a mode, an embarrassing excess or the norm of many popular cinemas? While other genres and forms-from film noir to horror-have gained quasi-respectability as academic topics of study, melodrama has only been deemed worthy of study when it is thought to be ironic and thus "subversive." This series will reexamine the place of ordinary, popular melodrama in film. Starting with the premise that melodrama constructs virtue (and a kind of moral legitimacy) through pathos and action, we will survey classics of American melodrama, then a number of films from Japan and China that offer interesting parallels and contrasts to the American films. How does the melodramatic construction of virtue function in these very different cultures? In surveying quintessential examples of melodrama in both its western and eastern manifestations, we will attempt to understand national and cultural differences in this most popular form.Linda WilliamsMelodrama, West and East continues through April 17. This public series is presented in association with the Film Studies Program and the course taught by Linda Williams, who will also introduce the programs at PFA. Monday January 24, 2000