The Best Native Films (by or about Indigenous Peoples) After my Dances with Wolves post, I held an informal poll over on the Native Appropriations Facebook page (are you a fan?
You should be!) Of the best Native films. I think the resulting list is a nice mix of documentary, comedy, and drama, and brings in some international perspectives as well. Let me know what you think. Here, in no particular order, are the films recommended by Facebook readers, with links, director, and year! I realize that some of these are made for TV movies, some are film festival picks, and some are just plain hard to track down.
DISCLAIMER: I haven’t seen all of these films, so I can’t vouch for the whole list, but I trust my readers! Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) What is it like to be John Malkovich? Ever wanted to be someone else?
What would it be like to be someone else? In Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich (1999), Craig (John Cusack), a struggling puppeteer, stumbles upon a portal that allows those who enter it the experience of ‘being John Malkovich’ – or does it? Being John Malkovich raises a host of philosophical questions concerning the relationship between mind and body, consciousness, and personal identity. Let’s start to unpack these a little.
The mind/ body problem is as old as philosophy itself. René Descartes was one of the leading proponents of dualism. Materialism, on the other hand, fits neatly with our modern science. For one, if we are just complex material machines (physical objects in a physical universe) then the laws of physics – including the law of causality – apply to us as much as anything else. This idea is captured brilliantly by Frank Jackson’s ‘Mary’s Room’ thought experiment: So, what is it like to be John Malkovich? Like this: Like Loading... Film and philosophy. Theory of Knowledge Filmography. 'The Oxford Murders' and Knowledge A perfect movie for lovers of Mathematics (the book of the same title is good too).
The opening scene is a fascinating anecdote about how Wittgenstein wrote ideas for the Tractatus in a notebook while being fired upon from all directions during the First World War. This is, however, just a prelude to the knowledge question which the philosopher addressed: how can we know the truth? Imagine the irony of the moment as he sat there in the horror of battle.
As the opening speech explains, Wittgenstein framed his approach to this KQ through the language and logic of mathematics, hoping to find an answer that would yield the same certainty and absolute rigorous knowledge of mathematical reason. "Wherof one cannot speak; thereof one must remain silent. " This has a range of implications: is truth, ultimately, unknowable? After the war, Wittgenstein gave away his fortune and became an elementary school teacher... You'll connect with your readers. Essential Movies for a Student of Philosophy - Movie List on mubi. I’m not talking about movies that make you think deep crazy stuff.
I’m not talking about some new “existential twist” on common topics. I’m talking about movies that (seem to be) incarnations of classic philosophical thought experiments or movies that have a major philosophical problem as a main theme. I’m talking about movies that include topics that a serious student of philosophy needs to understand. There are also some great films based on the lives of famous philosophers. from Zizek! From I ♥ Huckabees from Thank You For Smoking Movies featuring a philosopher: Zizek! I’m not talking about movies that make you think deep crazy stuff. From Zizek! The Best Movies For IB Theory Of Knowledge Classes – What Are Your Suggestions?
Generally, the only times students in my classes watch full movies are the few times I’m absent (though we’ll often watch short clips), and when I’m not there it usually relates to a school-related meeting.
All of the English teachers at our school spend four days each year — two near the beginning and two near the end — to review writing assessments all students in our school do twice a year (you can read all about that process at a previous post). Two of those days are coming-up and, since substitute teachers aren’t allowed to supervise computer use, I’m going to have my IB Theory of Knowledge class students watch a movie.
They’ll be watching “Inception” (you can download the hand-out they need to complete while watching it). It also got me wondering about other movies that might be useful for TOK classes, too. I have my students watch The Matrix as part of a lesson on Plato’s Allegory of The Cave, and you can see that lesson here. 12 Angry Men (1957) The Truman Show (1998) Inception (2010) The Matrix (1999) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Memento (2000)
The Book of Eli (2010) The Oxford Murders (2008) A Beautiful Mind (2001) Big Fish (2003)