Monday, April 1, 2013

Proustian Olfactory Recollection and Its Influence on a Legendary American Filmmaker

In the past, college film courses have had to get by without referring students to this blog. This resulted in film school graduates who were book-smart yet vaguely aware that their expensive education was still lacking in some essential, unifying component. Now that should be a thing of the past.

Today, blog titles utilizing impressive academic jargon will make it preposterously obvious to even the most entrenched professors that they can save themselves hours of course preparation time by referring motivated students here. For example, the above title is designed to foster meaningful academic discussion regarding Marcel Proust and his narrative use of olfactory sensations which apparently had a profound influence on American filmmaker Mel Brooks.

Madeleine, anyone?

From "Blazing Saddles" (1974)
Mel Brooks, Director


For those tenure track film professors who may not yet be sufficiently familiar with Proust's literary masterpiece to incorporate it into the coursework, here's a quick reference, cleverly disguised as a competition to summarize all seven novels. Any questions?
Monty Python's Flying Circus
"The All-England Summarize
Proust Competition"
(1972, Episode 31)

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