FAVMPa090 Film criticism

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Ondřej Pavlík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Ondřej Pavlík, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Fri 8:00–9:40 C34, except Mon 17. 11. to Sun 23. 11., except Fri 28. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 43 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 15/43, only registered: 0/43
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Abstract
This course seeks to approach film criticism from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, and to consider its role and function in the digital era. Can we still use 'film criticism' as an overarching category when the whole media ecosystem in which film criticism is practiced includes internet databases, fan magazines, social media, video reviews, podcasts, newsletters and printed magazines? How can we grasp the varied forms of critical discourse? What critieria can we use to recognize them as more or less coherent tendencies? What is the historical background of these tendencies and what role do media, platforms and sociopolitical influences play in tbeir proliferation? The course will not limit itself to the debates in the area of film criticism and will also branch out to other areas, namely literary criticism or sociology of science. The course will therefore also approach criticism as a way of thinking and intervening in the world. The course will be organized as a seminar with lectures consisting of discussions about assigned texts and film reviews.
Learning outcomes
After finishing this course, students will have been able to:
- be knowledgeable in various traditions of film criticism and their proponents
- think about film criticism in the context of digital era
- crtically look at the role od media and platforms
- consider the ideological dimension of film criticism
- be knowledgeable not only in theoretical debates on film criticsm, but also in some of the key debates in literary criticism or sociology of science
Key topics
  • Introduction to film criticism
  • Interpretation, making meaning, emotional/affective dimension of interpretation
  • Description, impressionistic criticism, film critic as mediator
  • Criteria of evaluation
  • Critical style, disposition, criticism as emotional labor
  • Videoreviews, online platforms, YouTube and other media, vidcast/podcast culture
  • Critical persona, social media, online databases and communities, mischievous rhetoric
  • Criticism and culture wars, conservative and progressivist criticism, utopic rhetoric, criticism and ideology
  • Videographic criticism, audiovisual essays
Study resources and literature
    required literature
  • KOTIŠOVÁ, Johana. An elixir of life? Emotional labour in cultural journalism. Journalism. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Journals, 2022, vol. 23, No 4, p. 789-805. ISSN 1464-8849. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884920917289. URL info
  • LATOUR, Bruno. Stopovat a skládat světy s Brunem Latourem : výbor z textů 1988-2013. Edited by Tereza Stöckelová, Translated by Čestmír Pelikán. Vydání první. Praha: tranzit.cz, 2016, 250 stran. ISBN 9788087259375. info
  • Film criticism in the digital age. Edited by Mattias Frey - Cecilia Sayad. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2015, vi, 273. ISBN 9780813570730. info
  • BORDWELL, David. Making meaning : inference and rhetoric in the interpretation of cinema. 1st Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991, xvi, 334. ISBN 067454336X. info
    recommended literature
  • CIESLAR, Jiří. Kočky na Atalantě. 1. vyd. V Praze: Akademie múzických umění, 2003, 572 s. ISBN 80-85883-89-9. info
  • ZAHRÁDKA, Pavel and Johana KOTIŠOVÁ. Když je kritikem každý : Výzkum sémantiky estetického hodnocení. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, 2020, 146 pp. ISBN 978-80-244-5781-9. info
  • BLAŽEJOVSKÝ, Jaromír. Oko. srdce, mozek, pero a pěst. Emiprické poznámky před deštivou komnatou (Eye, Heart, Brain, Pen and Fist. Empirical Notes before the Rainy Room). Cinepur. Sdružení přátel Cinepuru, 2015, vol. 21, No 100, p. 62-64. ISSN 1213-516X. info
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
class discussion, homework, reading
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
reading, week-to-week assignments, final essay
Language of instruction
Czech
Study support
https://is.muni.cz/el/phil/podzim2023/FAVMPa090/index.qwarp
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2025/FAVMPa090