Rashomon
Movie: 1950, black and white, 88 minutes
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyo
Summary: A bandit commits a horrible crime in the forest and all of the people involved narrate different versions of what went on in the forest. The film explores human weakness and the faith in mankind.
What does the shot of the sun symbolize?
One prominent symbol in the film is the sun. One of the more famous shots in the film is a shot of the sun through the branches in the forest. Due to the uncertainty of facts about the Japanese defeat at the end of World War II some say that this shot is an allegory to the Japanese defeat. Because Japan is the land of the rising sun, the sun represents Japan and the light represents the truth. The branches represent the factual inaccuracies about the defeat of Japan because the branches block some of this light.
How does Kurosawa use angles and camera movements effectively?
One of the great camera movement techniques that I noticed was a 360 degree movement of the camera to show the emotions on the actor’s faces. This slow 360 degree rotation created suspense because most of the emotion is portrayed through the actor’s emotional expressions and not through dialogue. Additionally, in the different stories, Kurosawa uses different angles to show whom the characters believe are important. For instance, the commoner is a man with six children and adopts the abandoned baby. He is obviously a family man and respects his family. Therefore, he must respect his wife. When filming his portrayal of the story, Kurosawa shoots the woman at eye level with the bandit rather than shooting the bandit looking down at the woman. The commoner respects women and Kurosawa shows this through angles.
City of God
Movie 2002, color, 130 minutes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Actors: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leonardo Firmino
Summary: City of God is the story of two boys who grow up in the projects of Rio de Janeiro and take different paths. One becomes a drug lord and the other becomes a photographer. The film follows the paths of the two boys and, Rocket, the photographer, photographs the other boys path as a drug lord and makes his story famous.
What time period of Brazilian history is the film modeled after? What was the political effect of the film, intended or not intended?
The City of God originated during the beginning of 21-year military dictatorship in Brazil. As Civil War loomed in Brazil in the early 1960’s, a new and explosive industrial working class was arising out of the population and was concentrated in urban areas. The people from the countryside flocked the cities to fill the need for cheap labor. This made tensions worse in an already separated society. The gap between the rich and poor started to widen and citizens of urban areas began to revolt against the government. Following these revolts, a blood-thirsty military coup took over and began to kill any political protestors. Meirelles said that he did not intend to make any sort of political or historical statement in the making of City of God. However, how can one make a historical and political film about the conditions of the favelas without intentionally or unintentionally making a statement? Did none of this corrupt history have an impact on the conditions of the youth portrayed in City of God?
How does Meirelles portray a fly on the wall style in the film? What is the effect of this fly on the wall view?
When Lil Ze holds up one of the drug lords’ businesses, Meirelles shows the hold up from three different perspectives to allow the viewer to grasp a further understanding of how things work in the favelas. This technique creates a fly on the wall style to the film. It is a brilliant editing technique that allows the viewer to fully understand business in the hood from a standpoint where the viewer can take in the three different experiences and decide what they think business is like. The story is narrated by Rocket, the protagonist. There is a documentary style the film with a removed view of the events of the film. This removed view creates an atmosphere where the characters are never judged. The audience is only presented with the character’s actions and not the characters’ psychological responses to their actions. The audience must decide for themselves whether a character is good or bad.
Breathless
Movie 1960, black and white, 90 minutes
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Actors: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg,
Summary: Breathless is the love story between Michel Poiccard, a French hoodlum wanted for killing a cop, and American Patricia Franchini who sells the International Herlad Tribune. Their relationship develops as Michel hides from the authorities and persuades Patricia to hide in Italy with him.
What is the affect of the music in the film?
The music is very casual. It does not create any sort of suspense. It is relaxing music, that creates a sense of calmness. Every time Michel commits a crime, he has a very calm nature about him. He is never nervous about the crime that he is committing and takes dangerous risks in which he could be easily caught red handed. For instance, when he sees Patricia in her room, he steals money from her purse when she is putting a shirt on. She could easily have turned around and caught him stealing money from her purse. However, Michel does not sweat a drop in the action. Another calm, cool, and collected crime that Michel commits is when he is in a public restroom and assaults a man washing his hands. Michel calmly and precisely hits the man on the neck and the man falls over instantly. Michel then steals the man’s money and doesn’t worry about the possible consequences. The style of music in the film is a calm, cool, jazzy music, which adds to Michel’s calm nature.
Why are there jumpy cuts in the film?
When I was watching the movie, I was confused why Godard would use such unusual cuts that do not seem to go along with the film. After doing some research, I learned that Godard used a technique called jump cuts. A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. One of the most blatant examples of jump cuts in the film is when Patricia is riding in the passenger seat of the car. Godard show the back of Patricia’s neck from one angle and then cuts to another angle that varies only slightly. After some research on jump cuts I have come to learn that jump cuts are used to draw attention to the editing in the film. One may ask why Godard would use these jump cuts. The answer to that question is that he wanted to shorten the length of the film and he accidentally invented this editing technique. It then became a fashionable film technique.
Cinema Paradiso
Movie:1988, color, 155 minutes
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Actors: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili
Summary: Cinema Paradiso is the story of a young boy’s (Toto) development of love. First he falls in love with Cinema and the projection room in the Cinema Paradiso. He develops a relationship with the current projectionist who is a middle aged, illiterate man who teaches Toto all the tricks of the trade. The Cinema Paradiso is the only entertainment in town. All of the citizens of Gianluca use the cinema to escape the realities of post WWII Italy. As Toto grows older he falls is love with a girl named Elena. Toto then is forced to go serve the army in Rome. He must leave his love for Elena and his job at the Cinema. Toto comes back to a changed Gianluca where his love Elena is no where to be found. Now Toto realizes his love for his childhood mentor, the projectionist Alfredo. Alfredo tells Toto to leave Gianluca and live life to its fullest. So, Toto leaves for 30 years and only comes back for Alfredo’s funeral.
How does Tornatore show the similarities between the two times Toto returns to Gianluca?
Tornatore uses the same aerial shot when Toto comes back from the military and when he comes back after 30 years of absence from Gianluca. When Toto comes back from the military, he steps off the bus and Tornatore uses a high aerial shot to show Toto stepping off the bus. When Toto comes back after his 30 years of absence, Tornatore uses the same high aerial shot of him hugging his mother. However, the shot that Tornatore uses is not the only thing that the times Toto returns to Gianluca have in common. The changes in Gianluca are also quite similar. When Toto returns the first time, his lover Elena is no-where to be found and he never sees her again. When Toto returns the second time, his childhood mentor Alfredo had passed away. On both occasions Toto returns to a Gianluca where a loved one is gone. Those two aerial shots represent the change overtime of Gianluca and how life changes overtime.
How does Tornatore show that Gianluca is a small town?
One of the editing techniques in the film is the use of one action to cut right to another as if the are the same action. An example of this is when the priest is censoring the film with Alfredo. Every time the priest sees something he doesn’t like, he rings a bell. One of the times he rings a bell, there is a close up of the bell. And while the bell is ringing, the camera cuts right to another shot of a much larger bell that tells the city of Gianluca what time it is. This editing technique represents the overall sense of small town community in Gianluca in which everything is intertwined. The small town community is ultimately what Toto wants to escape from.
8 1/2
Movie:1963, black and white, 138 minutes
Director: Federico Felinni
Actors: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale
Summary: This film is about a filmmaker who is overwhelmed by the large scale production he has undertaken. He also struggles to find inspiration for his film. This stress plunges the protagonist into the world of fantasy and memory and he struggles to separate reality from dream.
What are some of the themes in 8 ½?
The film explores the creative process while delivering pieces of artwork to the public. Their personal works are subject to public scrutiny. However, the artists have to deal with this along with maintaining personal relationships. The film also explores writer’s block and is autobiographical to Felinni himself. However, the difference between Guido and Fellini is that Fellini actually ends up making his film when Guido fails to do so. I think one of the other main messages in the film is finding happiness in fragmented life.
How is the film autobiographical toward Felinni?
The film weaves in and out of reality and fantasy. It is interesting to see that Felinni blurs what is real and what is not real just after the end of the Italian Neo Realist era. However these dreams and fantasies represent Felinni’s confusion in his career. He did not know what to do next in his career. The film is considered one of the most respected films about filmmaking. It answers the question of what a world renowned film maker does when he runs out of ideas. However, 8 ½ is Felinni’s masterpiece. The screenplay was tight and very well done and it is arguably his best film.
