Example film figures dissertation topic 2:

Carl Dreyer: Within film, a life of inhumanity to man and a plea for tolerance. Within films such as Gertrud (1962), Blade af Satans Bog (Leaves from Satan’s Book, 1921), La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (Jeanne d’Arc lidelse og død/The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1926), Vredens dag (Day of Wrath, 1943) and Ordet (The Word, 1954), Carl Dreyer was, as a director outside the United States, unseen by a majority of the world. Accordingly, much of his work was virtually ignored by critics. This thesis reviews each of these films in turn and, using context analysis, seeks to further the hypothesis noted in the title. This is a challenging dissertation subject area that employs not only an in-depth knowledge of the work of Dreyer but would also benefit from an ability to contextualise his with the work of others of the same genre and time, such as Jean-Luc Godard and Hjalmar Söderberg. Suggested initial topic reading:

• Bordwell, D. (1992). The films of Carl Dreyer. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Carney, R. (1989). Speaking the language of desire: The films of Carl Dreyer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Weiner, L. and Halle, H. (1994). ‘Carl Th. Dreyer: A fable of women and water’, Grand Street, Vol. 48, pp. 209-225.