Cracking the Safe: A History of Heist Cinema

Class Description

It might surprise some to learn that one of the most popular movies of the early cinema era was a proto-heist film: Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 short, The Great Train Robbery. Fast forward to the 1950s and the heist film as a bona fide genre is born, beginning with John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle and Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing, among others. Since then, the heist film has remained one of the most enduring genres of movie-making, including independent titles like Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s Bound, to Hollywood blockbusters such as the Ocean’s franchise. This class will attempt to account for the heist film’s lasting popularity and explore how the genre has changed throughout time and across cultures. We will investigate the blueprint of the heist genre (planning, execution, aftermath), while also giving particular attention to how the heist film functions politically, philosophically, and psychoanalytically.

Harrison Sherrod manages a film production company by day and teaches seminars at the Newberry by night. He has led courses on everything from metaphysical detectives and con games to Star Wars and Marxism.

Materials List

Required

• Instructor-Distributed Materials
• All films will be available to stream via platforms like YouTube, Amazon, or Apple TV.

First Assignment

• Please watch Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery and John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle before the first session.

A Brief Syllabus

1. Origins of the Heist Film: Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery, John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle, and Jules Dassin’s Rififi
2. Planning, Execution, Aftermath: Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 11
3. Subverting the Heist Formula: Michael Mann’s Heat and Spike Lee’s Inside Man
4. The Feminist Heist: F. Gary Gray’s Set It Off and Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s Bound

Cost and Registration

4 Sessions, $200 ($180 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($200), Community Supported ($190), and Sponsor ($210). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

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