If I were to teach a film and literature course, I would teach the majority of the books we used this semester. However, I would add a few modern books and films. For example, I would add A Walk to Remember, directed in 2002 by Adam Shankman.
My focus of the course would be on comparing relationships. Each and every story we examined this semester deals with some type of love relationship. Most of the stories finish with a happy ending. I would incorporate books and movies that have a different approach at the end. I think A Walk to Remember would be good because the ending is not so happy. Actually, the ending is very sad.
I think each and every movie we viewed teaches some type of lesson that is necessary for a good relationship. Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play A Doll's House, filmed twice in 1973 by Joseph Losey and Patrick Garland, respectively, teaches honesty. Washington Square, written in 1880 by Henry James and filmed in 1949 as The Heiress by William Wyler, teaches that love knows no economic bounds. Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë in 1847 in filmed in 1939 by William Wyler, teaches that sometimes people pick their partner out of ease, not love. A Walk to Remember indicates that there are hardships in every relationship, though some are bigger than others.
My course would be based on the lessons to be learned from each book and movie. I would not focus so much on the historical aspect of the story as I would the real-life issues. Every book and film has a lesson to be taught and, most of all, a lesson to be learned.