341

Open City and Docudrama

1. How (and where) is the film documentary in style?

2. How does the film build its documentary material into a narrative structure?

3. With reference to the reading assigned with Open City, what are the defining characteristics of docudrama and how does the film exemplify them?

--why do discussions of the historical film and documentary tend to bypass what characterizes docudrama?

--what are the key functions of documentary and narrative that docudrama puts to work? How?

--what are indexes? Icons? What on earth, then, are “indexical icons”?

--what are warrants? Why is “warranting” important to how docudramas make arguments about their subjects?

--what elements of melodrama does docudrama incorporate?

4. How are these elements of melodrama evident in Open City?

5. Why did Hollywood favor the production of docudramas at the end of World War II?