Puppetry has a long history in the Czech cinema which became one of the most popular self-expression art form. Many of the filmmakers used it for reflect on political and social issues such as Jiri Trnka, whose work was significant during “The Thaw”. This blog post will examine one of the big representative of the surrealist Czech filmmakers, Jan Svankmajer, using a crucial feature film of his career, Little Otik (2000), argue on whether it is responding to politics or the traditional puppetry.
In Eastern European countries “The Thaw” (1956-1968) was an important time period from political aspects, because after Stalin’s death, Khrushchev came to power who supported and enjoyed cinema. This suggest that there was no political influence on filmmaking, the relative freedom and liberty has changed the filmmakers’ attitude. “Czech artists presented their perception of reality: a devastating attack on the Stalinist system.” (Rupnik D., 1975) Filmmakers had the chance to make political comments and criticise the past and contemporary government without censorship. The Hand is a relevant short film by Jiri Trnka, which has a huge political propaganda hidden behind a story about a potter who is under control of an enormous ‘hand’ what persuades him to create what it has been told. The Hand is a surrealist constitution, using puppetry techniques and reflecting on the Stalinism.
Jiří Trnka and The Hand, 1965
“Surrealism is a way of perceiving life and the world. I would describe it as a magical outlook on life and the world.” Said Svankmajer in an interview who was a surrealist Czech filmmaker. He also used puppetry to express himself which was not surprising because “Švankmajer had previously worked in a puppet theatre as an artist and writer.” (Vasseleu, 2007, p.91). Hames addresses “his films as ‘politically engaged’” (2008, p.85). The key material Little Otik (Svankmajer, 2000) can be seen as a critical viewpoint of the 21th century’s society and as a traditional Czech fairy-tale. “It could be said that even when Svankmajer was drawing on influences other than Surrealism, he was utilizing the Surrealist impulses that had long been present in Czech culture.” (Owen, 2011, p.190) It clarifies that Little Otik was a translation of a traditional Czech fairy-tale just as Jabberwocky (1971) was a poem by Lewis Carroll what Svankmajer took to the screen.
Jan Svankmajer on the set of Little Otik
“Besides its resemblances to the horror film, Little Otík is also an extremely witty take on family life, with a fine eye and ear for the banalities of domestic situation and conversation. (Hames, 2008, p.97) However, the film’s deeper message is coming from the capitalist, greedy and gluttonous society which can be seen in a clip where people are selling babies just as a consumer product.
In addition to this, even though “His films explore the world of the imagination and assert its force against the pre-digested categories of the commercial world.” (Hames, 2001), we can rate this film as an interpretation of the consequences caused by the Stalin era.
In conclusion, Svankmajer’s work politically responding to the Thaw’s ideas and Trnka’s work but the Little Otik can be seen as a representation of the post-Stalinism. Therefore, it is more like a survey of the contemporary capitalist society. He turned the Czech traditions, fairy-tale and puppetry with its “political allegorical system” (O’Pray, 2000, p.52) into the perfect celebration of the survival of Stalinism.
~ Hames P. (2008) “The Core of Reality? Puppets in the Feature Films of Jan Svankmajer” in Hames P. (Ed) the cinema of Jan Svankmajer: dark alchemy, (second edition, pp. 83-103). London: Wallflower Press.
~ O’Pray, M. (2000) “The Animated Film” in Hill J. & Church Gibson P. (Eds) World Cinema: Critical Approaches. (pp. 50-55)New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
~ Owen, J (2011) “Chapter 7” In Avant-Garde to New Wave: Czechoslovak Cinema, Surrealism and the Sixties. Oxford: Berghahn
~ Rupnik D., J. (1975) The Politics of Culture in Czechoslovakia. The Harvard Crimson.
~ Svankmajer, J. (Director) (2000). Little Otik/Otesánek [Motion Picture]. Czech Republic: Zeitgeist Films.
~ Trnka, J. (Director) (1965). The Hand [Motion Picture]. Czechoslovakia: Krátký Film Praha.
~ Svankmajer, J. (Director) (1968). The Garden/ Jabberwocky [Motion Picture]. Czechoslovakia: Krátky Film Praha.
~ Vasseleu, C. (2007) “The Svankmajer Touch” in Dobson N. (Ed.) Animation Studies: Animated Dialogues. (pp. 91-101) California: Society for Animation Studies.
The systemic changes around the 1990s was owing to the New Labour party lead by Anthony ‘Tony’ Charles Lynton Blair, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who was elected in 1997. The Conservative party was in power for several years with a laissez-faire attitude towards to film-making which means they haven’t given any funding to the Film Industry. In those times America gave economic help to the British Film Industry. The conservative agenda is what Tony Blair has changed with the aspect of “The Third Way”, which meant to reach wider audiences, especially abroad. It had a huge impact on the British Film Industry mainly, because of the evolved ‘special relationship’ between Britain and America. “Britain offered America creative and technical talents, not to mention excellent studio facilities, while the Americans offered finance and back-up promotional support.” (Dyja, 2010, p.262)
Love Actually, Curtis, 2003
In respect of marketing and delivering the texts to the consumer society, the Working Title company helped with “various representations of Britain and ‘Britishness’.” (Townsend, 2018, abstract) Even though, it was owned by Universal Pictures which is common known as one of the most famous American studio. “The company is perhaps best known for its Hugh Grant-led vehicles and Richard Curtis-scripted comedies.” (Dyja, 2010, p.126) Such as, Four weddings and the funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually. America actively participate in all of his movies in different sense and formats. In Love Actually, there is Colin (played by Kris Marshall) the lonely bachelor, who has no luck with British girls, moves to America and falls in love with it straight away. On the contrary there is the Prime Minister, David, (played by Hugh Grant) “who doggedly stands up to the personal and political bullying of a boorish US President.” (Legott, 2012, p.187) Although, in the biggest Richard Curtis movies the protagonists fall in love with American girls or with America itself, in Love Actually he represents America as an enemy or a world-power that controls England’s independence. It’s a reflection of “the Bush-Blair era, in the context of unpopular military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan” (Legott, 2012, p.187).
Love Actually, Curtis, 2003
Richard Curtis has supported another ambition of The Third way by representing England as an appealing touristic destination. “Most of the filming took part around the Home Counties or in London” (Dyja, 2010, p.131) implying the typical British lifestyle. It was important in the sense of consolidating the national identity as well. “The question of defining a British film was a thorny one even before the recent influx of American capital” (Durgnat, 1970, p.5) He wittingly tried to separate the British Film Industry from the American style. His movies and the pop culture references, helped a lot defining Britain in the home country just as outside of the UK.
(From left to right) Richard Curtis(director), Martine McCutcheon (Natalie), Hugh Grant (David) on the set of Red Nose Day Actually
To answer the main question, I think the New Labour’s main aspiration was to appeal to a wider audience and sell its identity to abroad through Richard Curtis’s patriotism.
Bibliography:
~ Curtis, R., (Director), (2003), Love Actually, [Motion Picture], United Kingdom: DNA Films
~ Durgnat, R. (1970). A Mirror for England: British movies from austerity to affluence. London: Faber & Faber.
~ Dyja, E. (2010). Studying British Cinema: The 1990s. Leighton Buzzard: Auteur.
~ Leggott, J. (2012) “Travels in Curtisland: Richard Curtis and British Comedy Cinema” in Hunter, I. Q and Porter, L. (Eds.) British Comedy Cinema. London: Routledge pp184-195
~ Townsend, N. (2018) “Working Title Films and Universal: The Integration of a British Production Company into a Hollywood Studio”. Journal of British Cinema and Television 15.2 (2018): 179–203
Imagine a typical French caffé where young friend groups are listening Francoise Hardy, chatting about contemporary movies indistinctly and there are some Cahiers du cinemas on the table. This is how we can imagine the French New wave’s vibe around the late 1950s.
The New wave made it possible to think about films without limits, it went against the mainstream French cinema, being more specific against the ’cinéma du papa’ ( daddy’s cinema) as Truffaut called it. ’Cinéma du papa’ was a closed club where you had to work your way through the system otherwise you are not accepted, it was not challenging and really out of tune. The main characters of this movement such as Bazin, Godard, Truffaut are always tried to get inspired by American creators and impacts. “It was a time of reconstruction and consolidation for the industry, which for most of the period succeeded in attracting more spectators to French than to American films” (Powrie, P. & Reader, K. ,2002.) One of the New wave’s key point was to change the method where the producers and the scriptwriters were controlling the whole process without giving any central roles to the directors.These changes were based on America, following Hitchock’s footprints.The movement was all about innovation in an experimental way. Therefore they started to use unique styles, individual methods and different views leading to realism. “I prefer to work from real life.I like the material to be true to life.” (Truffaut, Cinema! Cinema! The French New Wave, 1992.)
I cannot go further in this topic without introducing the movie Á bout de souffle (Breathless) from 1960 which may presents the artistic New wave the finest.
It was a black and white shot film from very low budget set within 4 weeks emphasized the distance between the New wave and big company supported movies set in theatrical,sterile studios.The film was set in various locations mainly in Paris. As Coutard said “On the Champs Elysées we had to hide so we used a Post Office delivery van I sat in it.There was a spy-hole for the lens and that meant we could track without people seeing us.” in the documentary Cinema! Cinema! The French New Wave in 1992.
Raoul Coutard with a handheld camera in a wheelchair.
As we can see on the picture above, Coutard
was filming in a wheelchair, it was enabling him to do a continous shot without
cutting the energy of the scene and making it more intense. They used handheld
cameras on their shoulder, it was easy to load but sometimes the sound had to
be dubbed on later. Godard’s idea was using jumpcuts in continous shots. He had
two intentions with that:
1, It gives the whole scene a good rhythm and
makes it more interesting.
2, It allows longer distance travelled without
taking forever.
In my opinion even though the New wave cinema took a lot from American film-makers, it wasn’t their purpose to entirely copy them. They just wanted to create an atmosphere where they can express themselves and being separated from the old traditions, they did not mean to be revolutionary it just simply happened and we as the future generation are very grateful for that.
Reference list:
~ Godard, J. (Director). (1960). À Bout The Souffle [Motion Picture]. France.
~ Powrie, P and Reader, K (2002) French Cinema: A Students Guide. London: Arnold
~Spencer, C (Director) (1992) Cinema! Cinema! The French New Wave [Television Documentary] Britain: Wall to Wall Television Ltd. for Channel 4
In this blog post, I am going to examine one particular aspect of Sofia Coppola’s unique voice, which is anachronism. Her use of anachronism makes her film, Marie Antoinette(Coppola, 2006), stand out from the long line of traditional period pieces. Marie Antoinette is a film about the famous and at once infamous Austrian archduchess who marries into the French royal family. The film is a very unconventional coming of age story about a teenage girl who finds herself in a world she never intended to be part of. Sofia Coppola often tells stories about women who are stuck in their lives and face loneliness and solitude. She was also born into a famous Hollywood dynasty which might have predestinated her career in the film industry which is an important aspect of her life that connects her as a filmmaker to her heroines. Anachronism is a chronological inconsistency that juxtaposes objects, people, events etc., into periods or eras they do not belong to. Although in films, this technique is being used to reflect on current events or contemporary situations by using modern, out of place elements within a certain period, according to Vorona Cote “In Coppola’s case, anachronism isn’t just a mode of storytelling, it’s aesthetic—and a uniquely feminine one at that.”
The trailer of Marie Antoinette (Coppola, 2006)
During the film, anachronism appears most noticeably in the soundtrack which reflects closely to Sofia Coppola’s first cinematic experience which was directing music videos. In Marie Antoinette instead of using the more traditional choice of classical music, Coppola chose contemporary punk bands such as The Cure, The Strokes and The Gang of Four. It implies decadence and rebellion from Marie Antoinette towards the royal court and the rules they apply. In the shopping scene, the song, I want Candy from the Bow Wow Wow accompanies a huge pile of cupcakes and food which strongly resonates with the historically famous saying of Marie Antoinette, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” which translates to “Let them eat cake”. At the same time, this song “heightens attention to fashionable details themselves, wedded to pans across objects, accompanying movements of fabrics or clothed bodies, or comingled with period photography to recreate an era’s cultural style.” (Ferriss, 2021, p.59).
Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman on the set of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette’s bow on the neck in Marie Antoinette
The famous lavender Converse shoes in Marie Antoinette
Perhaps, the most famously known anachronism in Marie Antoinette is the lavender Chuck Taylor Converse shoes in the above-mentioned shopping scene. Those appear in the most naturalistic way in the background if there was nothing out of place in that. In my opinion, Sofia Coppola operates with anachronism to acknowledge the non-authentic parts of the story. Anachronism “generates a self-reflexive mode; making the construction of the movie visible, displaying the fact that this is fiction.” This way, Marie Antoinette as the Queen of France can be distinguished from the fictional character on screen. Coppola intended to depict a normal teenage girl in an unusual situation and create a coming of age story with great aesthetics. Anachronism also “encourages us to think of ourselves as enmeshed with the past, rather than elevated from it.”. This method helps the audience understand the parallels and draw the inference between the past and the present.
Kirsten Dunst and Sofia Coppola on the set of Marie Antoinette
Just as Rogers states, Sofia Coppola is “extremely image-literate”, her world-building techniques such as fashion, atmosphere and material contexts are richly textured. Her recognizable unique voice is seen through her ‘visual-focused’ storytelling style. Therefore, Coppola’s aesthetic is her main channel to the audiences. By unfolding her use of anachronism in Marie Antoinette, I intended to show a wider understanding and a deeper meaning of Sofia Coppola’s work as a filmmaker behind all the frills and laces most people see.
In this blog post, I will be discussing the textual and visual analysis of Frankenstein (2011) directed by Danny Boyle, in correlation with the generic tropes of the Gothic. This essay will therefore be approaching the role of the Grotesque in this context as well. The Gothic as a generic category emerged during the Enlightenment in the 1690’s. “It has been described as a historical phenomenon, or a style of writing popular on both side of the Atlantic between the 1790s and 1820s.” (Elbert & Marshall, 2012, p.21). Gothic is a form of horror genre that has very iconic symbols and conventions, interpreted in a very particular visual way. Gothic theatre is a very unpredictable art form and therefore difficult to apply stock conventions on its themes. However, generic tropes such as character types, settings and scenarios are recurring elements. The play that this essay is going to be examining, is a stage adaptation based on Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818) which is one of the most important novels written during the 19th century and became the foundation of the Gothic style. The theatre play has a very different approach, but a fairly similar understanding to the topic. Mary Shelley’s original novel was more famous for its innovative ideas than for its exciting plot, while Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein is highlighting vulnerability and capturing a man’s mortality which is more focused on the Creature’s perspective rather than Victor’s. There have been two different versions of the theatre play, with Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch, the two lead actors were shifting roles between Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. The risk, of creating a theatre play that heavily relies on Gothic conventions, was high as the twenty-first-century Gothic most likely appeared as a collection of sub-genres such as video games, comic books, television, film; but it is leaving the traditional platforms behind like books and theatre.
Although, there is no agreement about what defines a gothic novel, it is accepted that The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole is introduced as the most significant gothic novel which sets out the main characteristics of the genre. So many of the gothic devices were adapted from that novel and developed over the following centuries. According to Botting “Tortuous, fragmented narratives relating mysterious incidents, horrible images and life-threatening pursuits predominate in the eighteenth century.” (1995, p.2). Later on, “in the nineteenth century, with the addition of scientists, fathers, husbands, madmen, criminals and the monstrous double signifying duplicity and evil nature.” (Botting, 1995, p.2). In Frankenstein (Boyle, 2011) many of the above mentioned emerges through the Creature’s character who embodies revenge itself. The Creature is a lonely soul who was fatally hurt by the fact that his creator abandoned him; his reply is terror, murder, and revenge. Although his evil nature and his actions are explained, they are not justified. The killings are happening really fast as if they would not matter; life and mortality is portrayed as a sacrifice on the altar of science. The natural order versus science question is a frequently appearing motif during the play.
“’Gothic’ refers to a body of works, a historical period, a formal aesthetic, a discursive field, and an epistemological theory.” (Elbert & Marshall, 2012, p.21). As Elbert & Marshall explain, the Gothic is not only a genre, therefore it unites many other forms of art and creates a concept. The Gothic always reaches back to its roots and is inspired by its other art forms. Furthermore, “Gothic is always reinventing, challenging, or protecting a norm, whether individual, familial, or national.” (Elbert & Marshall, 2012, p.31). Behind the aesthetically coherent period pieces, the first thing to establish is what the Gothic has to say. In this matter, Frankenstein (Boyle, 2011) is focusing on elimination, discrimination through the Creature, who is a well educated being but his appearance scares people away. The villagers’ reaction is fear and disgust, the lack of empathy indicates the Creature’s horrible actions. Ignorance is also a contemporary problem which is interpreted through the Creature’s desire for the acceptance of society.
Reyes in relation to Gothic cinema explains that, “Gothic aesthetics are invested in darkness and in negative affect.” (2020, p.7) and also “Gore (especially of the gratuitous type) and violence are its tools (…) and even dangerous or morally bankrupt, potentially of interest only to sadists or those with a strong stomach.” (Reyes, 2020, p.8). In Reyes’ interpretation alongside the social and psychological fears, the Gothic also copes with visible terrors. The nightmarish spectacles are working their way through menacing sounds and dramatic tensions. In Frankenstein (Boyle, 2011), the unhomelike feeling shows in the dark, dingy set design, the realistic makeup such as blood and naturalistic wounds and also the mysterious sound effects from the famous musical group called Underworld.
Trailer of Frankenstein
Place, Settings and Costume
The original Frankenstein (Whale, 1931) film stylistically is coping with black-and-white imagery and contrast in the lighting. The stormy weather with thunder and lightning enhance fear, mystery, and paranoid intuitions. The Gothic horror “heightens the sense of unease lurking behind every corner, (…) first glimpsed as a silhouette that could only belong to a frightening form – that proves most unnerving.” (Ward, 2015, p.75). The lack of scary creatures in the dark just makes the audience more nervous and fear from the unknown. “Gothic landscapes are desolate, alienating and full of menace.” (Botting, 1995, p.2). The dark, dingy, nightmarish places were influenced by German Expressionist films, they intend to alienate. “What makes a film Gothic is not its restraint, but its mise-en-scéne and period setting, the use of chiaroscuro lighting and its resorting to certain tropes associated with the Gothic.” (Reyes, 2020, p.10). Frankenstein (Boyle, 2011) chiaroscuro and contrasting lighting appear most of the time when the Creature is in the scene, the only bright scenes are in domestic environments such as the village and Victor’s house. The living spaces of the Creature and Victor are highly contrasted with lighting and set design; therefore, light and darkness are a significant part of the interpretation of the conventional good and evil. There are many period pieces involved in the set design that refers to the inventions during the 1800s. The plenty of lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling above the stage are the symbol of the discoveries and science of the 17th century. The steam train at the beginning functions as a period piece too, but also establishes the rough life of the working-class. The stage often changes between wild mysterious landscapes and enclosed claustrophobic spaces.
Another important factor that makes a particular media text Gothic is the way characters are presented. In the play the makeup and the steampunk-like costumes are greatly realistic, and they perfectly fit into the era. Victor wears very distinguished, high class clothes most of the time, but his outfits are rather dark, whilst Elizabeth’s innocence is interpreted through bright, nude, and white coloured dresses. The makeup of the Creature shows wounds and stitches in a gory kind of way that he does not intend to hide. Danny Boyle also aimed to show raw, realistic features through nudity as both the actors who played the Creature were completely naked through the first scene when the Creature is born. They later on added some textile when the National Theatre decided to film it and screen it in cinemas.
The two protagonists both have very different psychological problems and very different reflections to those problems. “Frankenstein is a clear reflection of tough times and an every-man-for-himself mentality” (Ward, 2015, p. 74). It can be examined through Victor’s rejection of the Creature. Victor is the man who looks at everything with the eye of a scientist. His obsessive and egocentric personality results, that mortality does not matter to him; therefore, he neglects everything and everyone around him, including his wife. His inherited status is very obvious from the beginning whilst The Creature in fact is not even given the dignity to have a name. “The monster doesn ’t deserve his usual description, whatever his appearance – he is depicted as flesh and blood, his origins irrelevant.” (Ward, 2015, p.77). The Creature’s character is much more complicated than just a monster that scares people away, the audience tends to sympathize with him. He has very childlike desires such as belonging somewhere, and his creator’s attention and love. Even though his actions are vial, it is all just a mirror for society that reflects what he receives. Like in Gothic novels, for example, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Stevenson, 1886), the line between human and monster is very thin as most of the time the Creature’s nuanced character is more human than any other character. “Frankenstein’s unnatural creature has ‘natural’ human feelings and affections, it seems, and ironically even appears more human than the human who created him.” (Mousley, 2016, p.160). The word ‘human’ does not define the appropriate morals anymore.
However, the most popular form of Grotesque is in the architecture, Grotesque can be found in literature and mainly in tragedies. It refers to pain and danger through monstrous characters which makes it an important part of the Gothic genre. “The dynamics between human and monstrous, disability and ablebodiedness are part and parcel of many Gothic works” (Williams, 2019, p.462). As the Grotesque is focusing on the deformation of the human body, it is crucial to mention in relation to Frankenstein where the Creature is constantly fighting with the people’s prejudgment towards his body. Although his mind works efficiently, his physical deficiencies obstruct him to belong to the place he would like to. According to Williams “as disability is linked to “grotesque” and “monstrous” images so often found in the Gothic genre” (Williams, 2019, p.464). Grotesque is frequently provoking the audience with empathy and disgust, either way, it causes reaction to contemporary anxieties. By “Humanizing the monstrous” (Williams, 2019, p.462) the audience gets a glimpse into the rotting society and their ways of alienation based on the Creature’s appearance. Therefore, the Creature becomes the victim of the society and indicates sympathetic pity amongst the audience.
Lastly but not least, Frankenstein (Boyle, 2011) was a very innovative adaptation of the original novel. It hides many contemporary problems the society is facing and also educates the audience in a way it introduces attributes from the original novel and intends to teach the viewer to accept the outsiders too. The Gothic and Grotesque elements, such as the plot and set design, manifests that this piece belongs to the Gothic horror genre.
Total Word Count: 1419
Bibliography:
Botting, F. (1995). Gothic. Taylor & Francis Group.
Boyle, D. (Director). (2011, March 17). Frankenstein by N., Dear [play]. National Theatre.
Elbert, M. & Marshall, M. B. (2012). Transnational Gothic: Literary and Social Exchanges in the Long Nineteenth Century. Routledge.
Mousley, A. (2016). The Posthuman. In Smith, A. (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Frankenstein (pp. 158-172). Cambridge University Press.
Reyes, X. A. (2020). Gothic Cinema. Routledge.
Shelley, M. (1818). Frankenstein. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones.
Stevenson, R. L. (1886). Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Longmans, Green & Co.
Walpole, H. (1764). The Castle of Otranto. Author.
Ward, S. (2015). Re-creating the Creature: Vision of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Screen Education, 78, 72-77.
Whale, J. (Director) (1931). Frankenstein [Motion Picture]. Universal Pictures.
Williams, S. A. (2019). The Gothic Grotesque: Disability, Deformity, and Monstrosity in Faulkner’s Sanctuary. Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 13(4), 461-476.
Expressionism was a significant artistic movement that was present in cinema influenced by other artistic forms. “Expressionism as a legitimate and valuable aesthetic manifestation of German culture.” (Fulda & Soika, 2012, p.XI) have crucial characteristics which can be best described in the film, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) by Robert Wiene, a German expressionist cinematographer.
This essay will first establish the definition of Expressionism where, “It doesn’t matter to it whether or not a prison cell looks how one normally looks. It utilizes lines, abbreviations, and escalations in order to work out the sinister, agonizing feeling of a prison compositionally.”(Kurtz, 2016, p.56) This evidence suggests that the essence is to express an inner emotion rather than illustrate reality.
The stage, “which could identify any play or production that departed from realism and showed life in a highly personal, idiosyncratic manner, the form of the play ‘expressing’ its content, and it was particularly applicable to the perfervid movement which gripped the German theatre in the 1910s and early 1920s.” (Styan, 1981, p.2) There are many similarities between Dr Caligari (1920) and theatre productions just like the set design, lighting techniques and structure.
First of all, the set design is “dreamlike and nightmarish” (1981, p.4), where the unusual shapes and lines makes the film abstract. The reason why they used painted backgrounds is because the “film was also inspired by a painter.” (2016, p.54) They used Chiaroscuro lighting to contrast the harsh shadows and the big light areas to capture the “rigorous anti-realism”. (1981, p.1) Spot light lighting technique has been invented, this highlights the actors face to make the audience focus on their mimicry. Although, the audience tends to see everything on set, there is an anticipation that something uncanny encircles the place.
Second of all, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) was one of the first ever movies that introduced a ‘Plot Twist’ which means a radical change in direction was taken away from the expected ending. In this case, that’s a crucial strategy that well supports Expressionism and its anti-realism. The last 20 minutes of the film, the asylum appears which shows ambivalence in the story and in the main character, Dr Caligari as well. “The irony extends to the figure of Caligari himself, both persecuted outsider and figure of control.” (Coates, 1991, p.36) At this point, the audience can’t decide whether it was real or it all happened in his head.
To conclude, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari “had instigated a migration of personnel, horrific ideas and aesthetics across the Atlantic from the 1920s onwards.” (Dyson, 2011, p.109) There are many attributes in the film that are coming from other artistic forms and influencing contemporary genres. The German expressionist cinema was an experimental style that revolutionized the history of filmmaking by exploring theatrical aspects.
Bibliography:
~ Coates, Paul, (1991) Thegorgon’s gaze : German cinema, expressionism, and the image of horror. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
~ Dyson, E. (2011). Horror. In L. Geraghty (Ed.), Directory of World Cinema: American Hollywood (pp. 108-110). Bristol: Intellect.
~ Fulda, B. & Soika, A. (2012). Preface. Max Pechstein: The Rise and Fall of Expressionism, 11, VIII-XVI.
~ Kurtz, R. (2016). Expressionism and Film. United Kingdom: John Libbey Publishing Ltd.
~ Wiene, R. (1920). Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari [Film]. Germany: Decla-Bioscop
My favourite student blog:
Out of all the student blogs, 924994 (https://up924994.weebly.com/) has the most engaging design and coherent arguments. The idea of using the flags to highlight each nation’s section is clearly shows that the blog is well focused on visuals. There are a good range of clips and pictures supporting the topics. The overall arguments are clear and flow together with the key points. After each and every section there are correct bibliographies in APA 6 format. It demonstrates the deep research that considers every aspects of each topic. The knowledge of the films have been impressively placed into historical context with excellent academic tone and grammar. All together this blog has been shown a mature understanding of European Cinema in an aesthetically pleasing setting.
In this essay, I am going to talk about Pedro Almodóvar, a Spanish filmmaker who was significantly affected by the Post-Franco Spain where “Spanish cinematography were severely prejudiced by the political tribulations which afflicted post-war Europe.”(Keown, 2005, p.67) “His films show a propensity toward representations of gendered violence, including sexual abuse, paedophilia, domestic abuse, and rape.” (Saenz, 2013, p.244) All these characteristic can be found in Bad Education (Almodóvar, 2004) which is focusing on a story arc about a young boy and a priest who is presented in a sympathetically controversial way.
The scene where Enrique and Juan are at the pool Almodóvar emphasises the pure lust between man and man, highlighting their masculinity which “insistently linked to illness, pathology, and death in the director’s films”. (Allbritton, 2013, p.226) In spite of the relationship between Enrique and Juan, there is a huge contrast in the connection between Ignacio and the priest. Therefore, the desire that is seen in the scene where Ignacio sings for him in front of his fellow priests operates with plenty of feelings and emotions which makes the priest vulnerable. The child abuse unfold in the part where they are singing the Spanish edition of Moon River, “the film’s graphic design of splitting the image in half, this moment also evokes the experience of disassociation which is known to be a common symptom of childhood sexual abuse.” (Saenz, 2013, p.252) Although, Almodóvar has been anticlerical about this topic’s earnestness until then, “Certainly in 2004 Almodóvar no longer dares to present the childhood flashback as a parody anymore.” (Kercher, 2015, p.66)
Bad Education (2004) ‘Moon River Scene’ “While the narrative never punishes Father Manolo for his misdeed, his actions do have serious psychological consequences for the real-life Ignacio in the flashback sequence that reveals Ignacio’s sexual abuse.” (Saenz,2013, p.251)
Alongside lust and passionate love there is a third kind of relationship which is found between Senor Berenguer and Juan shadowed by Juan’s ulterior motives. Almodóvar tends to reveal it by using the scene at the cinema and the posters behind the characters when they walk by. Double Indemnity (1944), La bête humaine (1938 ) and Thérèse Raquin (1953) have a lot to say about their darkened link and action. When Senor Berenguer cries in the rain, Almodóvar let us feel empathy for him and forces the audience to consider forgiving him as he is only just a vulnerable, pathetic human being who has done terrible things for his love. Why did the director frame him in a controversially sympathetic way?
Bad Education (2004)
Almodóvar admitted in an interview how fascinating the priest’s character: “Sadly, I am not a believer in Catholicism, but the priest is probably my favorite character in Bad Education. I love characters who are crazy in love and will give their life to passion, even if they burn in hell.” (Motskin, 2004) He tries to highlight the fact that we tend to underestimate the power of someone who sacrifices its own emotions on the altar of love. Even though, it never had a literally explanation or interpretation in the film the last word we see on the screen is ‘passion’. “Bad Education is a film that wants to tell but doesn’t quite want us to know, wants to show but wants us to work at that seeing, it doesn’t want us to easily come to a fuller understanding.” (Arroyo, 2013)
‘Passion’
Bibliography:
~ Allbritton, D. (2013). Paternity and Pathogens: Mourning Men and the Crises of Masculinity in Todo Sobre Mi Madre and Hable Con Ella. In M. Vernon, K. & D’Lugo, M. (Eds.), A Companion to Pedro Almodóvar (pp.225-243) Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
~ Almodóvar, P. (Dir.) (2004). La Mala Educacion {Motion Picture}. Spain: El Deseo
~ Keown, D. (2005). The critique of reification: a subversive current within the cinema of contemporary Spain. In Everett, W. (Ed), European Identity in Cinema. (pp.66-78). Bristol: Intellect Books Ltd.
~ Kercher, M. D. (2015). Latin Hitchcock: How Almodóvar, Amenábar, De la Iglesia, Del Toro and Campanella Became Notorious. London & New York: Wallflower Press.
~ Saenz, N. (2013). Domesticating Violence in the Films of Pedro Almodóvar. In M. Vernon, K. & D’Lugo, M. (Eds.), A Companion to Pedro Almodóvar (pp.244-261) Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
This blog post will examine how East Germany which has been split apart since the Second World War, processed the reunification after the Berlin Wall collapsed on the 9th of November in 1989. The Soviet Union controlled “East Germany was a regime built on lies, but it literally couldn’t afford to cover up its past.”(Funder, 2007) The film in which this essay will focus on is Wolfgang Beckers’s Good Bye Lenin! (2003) and how it emphasises the nostalgia of the past GDR (German Democratic Republic) and the optimism for the future.
Good Bye Lenin! (Becker, 2003)
Having established that after the Berlin Wall fell the Western Capitalist society changed every aspects of life. New consumer product commercials, advertising slogans substitutes the socialist propaganda as Anderson explained in 2010 “The red banner promoting Coca-Cola evokes memories of red banners in praise of Lenin.”(p.220-221). In the pre-1989 the western products were not reachable for the mass, this state made the unification undesirable. In the film that Alex’s sister gets a job in Burger King which ends her studies and Alex’s first time in the Western part of Berlin led him to a bizarre sex shop demonstrates, the cultural changes after the reunification.
Good Bye Lenin! (Becker, 2003)
Another crucial point I need to mention is the nostalgia. “The term nostalgia, as has often been observed, is a compound of two Greek words, nostos (the return home) and algos (grief, pain, or sorrow).” (Boyer, 2006, p.362) of the Eastern Germany, called “‘Ostalgie’ serves the desires of western Germans to claim a future ‘free from the burden of history’ because nostalgia for certain aspects of the GDR makes it appear as if eastern Germans are still mired in an authoritarian past.” (Anderson, 2010, p.208). However, Boyer argues of the Ostalgie’s existence he says “Ostalgie is not what it seems to be—it is a symptom less of East German nostalgia than of West German utopia.” (2006, p.363). The evidence suggest that Ostalgie is just a romanticised idea indicating the fact that in real life we have never seen anyone who genuinely missed the GDR after the Western cultural shock. As Alex is creating an authentic atmosphere to his mum, he pushes the concept of Ostalgie and overcome by the memories of his childhood. Even though “Alex at first desires to kill the authoritarian father, the father who has castrated his own biological father.” (Boyer, 2006, p.376) at the end we get the feeling that he forces things for the reason to recreate the feeling of his own real home where once he felt light-hearted as a child.
In conclusion, the film’s ironic tone criticizes the nostalgia of the romanticised socialist community that never existed. As Ginsberg and Thompson examines, although “…many texts of German cinema studies have mobilized updated and revised understandings of subjectivity, reformulating old notions of guilt, memory, dreamwork, and imagination” (1996, p.8) Good Bye Lenin! tends to show us how Ostalgie glosses over a strict, restrained regime with ashamed nostalgia for the socialist era.
Bibliography:
~Anderson, S. (2010) Unification and Difference in German Post-Wall Cinema. In C. Anton & F. Pilipp (Eds.) Beyond Political Correctness: Remapping German Sensibilities in the 21st Century. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi
~Becker, W. (Director). (2003). Good Bye, Lenin!. [Motion Picture]. Germany: X-Filme Creative Pool
~Boyer,D (2006) ‘Ostalgie and the Politics of the Future in Eastern Germany’, Public Culture, 18:2, pp 361-81
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