Rashomon and The Rashomon Effect

Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1951) tells the story of a husband and wife’s encounter with a bandit. The result of the encounter ends with the death of the husband. The story is told through from the bandit’s, the wife’s, a woodcutter’s and even the dead husband’s perspective (through a psychic.) Each story conflicts with the other, making it impossible to determine which version of the story is the truth.
From this film, the term “The Rashomon Effect” was coined. The term means:
the effect of subjectivity or perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it. (wikipedia)
Kurosawa examines how humans remember certain events and how from each memory there are different specifics that stand out. The truth becomes skewed as it is seen differently through different people’s eyes. It also becomes nearly impossible to decipher what is truth and what is a misperception, who is the real bad guy?
One other aspect of the film worth mentioning is in the end when the three men hiding from the rain discover an abandoned baby. The common man realize that the woodcutter stole the dagger that was used in the murder that is found with the baby, leaving him to say, “all men are selfish”. The woodcutter convinces the men that he will be responsible for the baby as he already has several children. This act of remorse convinces the priest to restore his faith in humanity.
I think Kurosawa wanted to make several observations about the human condition. In truth, in greed and in redeeming qualities. This film stands out because of these reasons and many more.

Interview with a Brazilian filmmaker

I'll be making an introduction to this video and a conclusion, but the interview itself has been reenacted by legos and voice overs. This is a cut of the project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1NaYOoP1Ws

Interview with Finnish Filmmaker Jarkko Virtanen

Over the course of a month, I interviewed Finnish filmmaker Jarkko Virtanen online via Facebook messages. At 26 years old, Virtanen has already traveled the globe as the cinematographer for a 50-minute documentary about illegal immigration in the European Union, as well as attended the screening of this film, Paradise, Three Journeys in This World (2007), at festivals in Asia, Europe, and America. Virtanen earned his Bachelors degree at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, and is currently finishing his Masters in Cinematography while shooting various short films, advertisements, music videos, and full-length documentaries. What follows is an edited version of our Facebook interview.

Anderson: Could you tell me about your background? Where were you raised?

Virtanen: I grew up in a small village called Mäntyluoto. It is on the west coast of Finland. There are about 1000 people living in the village. I did my secondary school and college in a nearby town called Pori. Both schools were specialized in arts.

A: How did you develop an interest in film?

V: When I was a kid I use to draw and paint a lot, but soon noticed that my skills were not enough [to advance] and moved on to still photography. When I was a teenager we used to make our own short films, and I got my first Hi8 camera when I was around 15 years old. I started to write scripts and plan bigger and bigger films . . . We never actually filmed the "big one," but it kept me thinking about filmmaking. I applied for photography school, but didn't make it. The next year, I applied for cinematography school and they took me in.

A: What cultivated your interest in cinematography, specifically?

V: It was logical to continue my interest in drawing and painting, expressing my feelings through pictures. [At first] I wanted to do everything myself, but again [realized] that my skills were not enough for writing or directing, and I had an eye for visual aspects of film.

A: Is there a film or film job that you have accomplished that you are particularly proud of?

V: In 2007, I shot a 50-minute documentary, Paradise, Three Journeys In This World, with very low-fi equipment, but made it look pretty good, after all. It's about important issues (illegal immigration in EU), too, so the story is also strong.

A: You studied at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, correct? What influenced your choice in attending TaiK? Did you earn a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Motion Picture, Television, and Production Design?

V: Yes, I did my BA in the same school and now I'm still doing my Masters. TaiK is the best school in Finland where you can study film. That was the biggest reason [I chose it].

A: Could you tell me about how you launched your career in Finland? Would you take the opportunity to work abroad, if it were presented to you?

V: In Finland (and why not elsewhere, too) it's all about connections. If you manage to get to know people who are working in the industry, it’s easier for you to get a job. Nobody asks your CV. They hear that you have been doing this and that, and maybe someone puts in a good word for you. I'm applying to a film school in London, and would love to work abroad.

A: According to the Finnish Film Foundation’s website (http://www.ses.fi/en/), their goal is to “support and develop Finnish film production, distribution and exhibition.” Have you as a filmmaker, or someone with whom you have worked in the industry, ever taken advantage of their support, either for a short film or a feature? What are the benefits, or the disadvantages, of using their services?

V: Almost all the films made in Finland need the support of SES because it's almost impossible to make a film with private money . . . There are no big studios who produce [these] films, so almost all [feature films] receive their funding straight from SES. It's always [beneficial]. Usually funding comes from SES and some TV channels. In Finland, there are five channels.

A: Could you give me a brief synopsis of the film Paradise: Three Journeys in this World, and tell me about your involvement in the filmmaking process? What did you learn?

V: Paradise: Three Journeys In This World is a poetic documentary. In the first journey, we travel along the route of tomato trucks to Almeria, Spain, where illegal immigrants from Africa work in greenhouses. The second journey takes us to Morocco, where numerous immigrants are willing to do anything to get to Europe.

We meet Adam, who has escaped war in the Ivory Coast. Now he is living in hiding along with numerous other refugees and immigrants, constantly fearing violence from local authorities. The third journey takes us through the desert to Bakary Fofana’s home village on the border of Mali and Mauritania, where the desert [will, it is believed, ruin] human life in the village within the next few decades.

I was [involved in] preparing the film from the beginning, but wasn’t involved much on the story. I decided the [shooting] format, and planned and gathered the equipment kit used. I learned about video shooting, and about different cameras during the pre-production. I tested a few similar-sized and priced cameras, and made conclusions about what makes a good video camera. I figured out the visual style of the film and the ways to get there. There was a lot of talking and making notes about how we should shoot the film, what to avoid and what to reach [for]. Patience is a virtue in doc shooting, at least if you are dealing with some hot issues and people who are afraid.

A: Finnish cinema has been around since the 1890s – as long as motion picture technology has existed, but is there one particular aspect of your country’s film heritage that inspires you, or discourages you, in your work?

V: There are many problems in Finnish feature films, such as very bad and simple scripts. There’s also not enough money to do any other genre than drama (no Finnish action films, etc.).

A lot of good, world-class documentarians work in Finland, and they deal with important issues. The good thing about Finnish doc [filmmaking] is that people are not afraid of taking risks. You can find a lot of artistic stuff made on the Finnish doc scene.

A: How important is it to you to have one of your films screened internationally? If it’s important, is it financially feasible? And what would be the main reason(s) you want your film screened outside of Finland?

V: If you can get your film shown outside of Finland, you can hear comments from people who come from totally different cultural backgrounds. It might be very useful and interesting to know if your film can reach peoples’ hearts and minds in other countries, too. You cannot get rich making films in Finland . . . And traveling to festivals is just about seeing new people, possibly making contacts and hearing different viewpoints on your film.

A: What good advice have you received that you would be willing to share with other young, amateur filmmakers?

V: The best way to learn filmmaking is not by reading books. You have to go out there and do it.

Happy Times for the People of China?

Although a Chinese film, Happy Times (to me) illustrates an odd, very westernized story line with perhaps a twist of Chinese culture by not embracing the unrealistic ideals of the body as America practices. The characters provided bits of comic relief to a traumatic theme, and the ending is not truly prepared for considering the amount of time spent creating a heart-warming relationship between Zhao and Wu Ying. But I cannot help to think of this young blind girl being exploited by giving massages to older retired men… it was incredibly hard for the director to persuade me to believe Wu Ying gave messages merely on the idea of self accomplishment and making new friends.

As far as the film’s relation to the Chinese government/affairs, it could be a blind twist on how the government overseas and treats the people of China, as Wu Ying was abused and ordered around by her evil stepmother. It may be a stretch, but I could somehow see the relation.

Word Study: Palme d’Or (pg 704)

The Palme d'Or (English: Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film. From 1964 to 1974 it was replaced again by the Grand Prix du Festival.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palme_d'Or

It's Complicated: The Story of Chinese Cinema

Chinese cinema has had a long and complicated struggle with finding a distinct national voice that exists in spite of foreign influence and strict censorship, yet somehow it has managed to develop a unique method of story telling that draws upon tradition and embraces it’s creative restraints.

In the beginning of Chinese cinema, audiences were exposed to “melodramatic and sentimental tales [that] dramatized the disjuncture and contradictions of life in the modern, western city. If they were tragedies, decline and misfortune were inexorable, but if they were comedies, the wondrous device of coincidence would intervene” (Barry 409). This makes since for the time, because cinema was still in its silent era, when melodrama flourished, and the west possessed the major influence over cinema. The Chinese, like everyone else, were exploring the abilities of the medium, and they were learning from the work of other countries so that they could begin to build their own conventions without having to start at the very beginning.

In this early cinema, there were often times where male cons gained obvious laughs from the audience (Barry 409), which again is expected in silent cinema. Audiences at the time were willing to laugh at the bad guy because he was not human, and they were rooting for the good guy. These cons had the perfect opportunities for slap stick comedy, and were often the source of laughs in Western silent films, like those of Charlie Chaplin, who in spite of turning the lovable tramp into a comedic entity, also made the villains the brute of many slap-stick jokes.

A theme that has been common throughout Chinese cinema seems to be that of financial strain providing motivation for the plot. Early on filmmakers put their own financial frustration on the screen through diluted story lines, and over time the financial problems created by the government has begun to provide an easy criticism for politically motivated filmmakers.

After the revolution, China began to re-direct its cinema. “From 1949 to 1966, a national film base financed by the state produced social realist ‘worker-peasant-soldier’ films, in an attempt to build an indigenous ‘revolutionary cinema’” (Yau 693). It was around this time the government realized the motivating and unifying power of film, and they therefore sought to use it to its full potential. They began to manipulate the subject matter to speak to a specific audience, a method often known and referred to as propaganda, which has become the source of government scrutiny and censorship ever since.

In the time from 1949 to 1950, the Northeastern Studio films “told moving stories of women as fighters, victims, and martyrs. In these films, elements as diverse as documentary footage, folklore, traditional music, and hagiography enhanced the popular appeal of female figures of liberation and struggle” (Yau 694). From this time on, women began playing vital, inspirational roles in Chinese cinema that can be followed right up to their present day films.

As China developed its voice, some filmmakers managed to incorporate an interesting dichotomy into their films. The films made between 1958 and 1959, “while focusing China’s modern history, all shared an appealing human focus” (Yau 696). This human focus has also become a stable part of China’s cinematic voice, because cinema has become so centered on the people. Government censorship has been wary of the humanity shown in films and censored them accordingly, while brave filmmakers in all generations have embraced the topic of humanity as a vehicle to express their frustration with the status quo.

The fifth Generation played a very influential part in the development of the modern Chinese cinema. In their films, “tragedy, absurdity, and ambiguity made their return” (Yau 700), and Zhang Yimou began to rise as a maverick of the extremist generation. Their era of filmmaking was influenced by the passing of the second “hundred flowers”, and the publication of director Zhang Nuanxin’s “The Modernization of Film Language,” which encouraged them to embrace technical aspects of storytelling as a method to improve the overall effect (Yau 699). It was this generation that brought China into its spot as an international contender in the film scene, with their limited yet still expanded freedom to express themselves, as well as their attention to technical detail. The fifth generation in China is a lot like the film school generation of the United States, except in China the generation was persecuted and in the United States they were embraced.

Zhang Yimou’s Happy Times, which was made in 2000, bears a striking number of similarities to a lot of previous generations of Chinese cinema from what I can tell. It’s story largely employs the obstacle of financial trouble, with the main character wanting desperately to help the young girl thrown into his care, and his obese lover always seeking more money from a partner instead of true love. It often times employs simple jokes to gain laughs, like when the first “client” for the young girl lays on the crudely constructed massage table and almost falls through the hole at the top, or when the main character ends up sleeping on the balcony after being trapped in the room with the young girl who does not know he is there.

Happy Times simultaneously inverts the traditional view of women and upholds it with the two main female characters. The main character’s lover in the film becomes the con, as opposed to early Chinese cinema when cons were men. On the other hand, her stepdaughter portrays a journey from victim to fighter, roles that were given to women by the Northeastern studio fifty years before. Yimou, whether he meant to or not, seems to make the statement here that women are neither pure nor evil, but like men must be regarded with caution.

With the characters of Happy Times being so interdependent, the film eventually embraces the human focus developed in the late 1950s. The main character, despite being a bum and a con artist maintains a complicated moral code and unexpectedly deep compassion. When he refuses to allow a couple to have sex in the bus that he painted, we see for the first time that this man is not strictly a con, but a man of morals. In his desperate attempts to keep his lovers ‘stepdaughter believing that she is working and making money, he makes self-sacrifices thinking of her, and again shows the audience that he may not be societies most valued member, but he is far from their most despicable. The young blind girl who holds out an unbelievable amount of hope under crushing circumstances is also a key focus of the film. The audience is never quiet sure what she knows and what she does not, and they are therefore trying to read her throughout the entire film, which raises the level of interest dramatically. As she grows throughout the film, she becomes less of a helpless child and more of an woman empowered by her past moving forward.

Yimou’s fifth generation influence is also clear in this film with its absurdity and ambiguity, which were markers of films from the generation. The entire plot is absurd in its circumstances, yet the audience forgives this shortcoming because of the lovable characters. The films end embraces ambiguity to the point of sacrificing a conclusion. In the end, the audience does not know what happens to the main character, and they are left to create a future for the young heroin as she walks a lone down a crowded seat.

One last, small thing that I noticed about the film was it's reference to America. In the cafe, when the girl begin to dream about getting her eyes fixed, she talks about how her father will take her to America is they cannot fix them in China, and as her dream gets bigger and glorifies America, her surrogate father's friend cuts her off saying something along the lines of "You don't need America, we can do it in China". This conversation, to me, referrenced a distinct Chinese voice in cinema, claiming their superiority to America, the West, and Capitalism. It also reminded me that in China there is censorship, and filmmakers must be cautious of what they put on screen to make sure China is glorified and not put down.

Word Study:

On page 700, Yau brings up the term “the fifth generation” and points out the word generation “acknowledges previous generations contributions”. I decided to look up the word generation. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition, it means:

1. All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor: Mother and daughters represent two generations.

2. Biology A form or stage in the life cycle of an organism: asexual generation of a fern.

3. The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring.

4.

a. A group of individuals born and living about the same time.

b. A group of generally contemporaneous individuals regarded as having common cultural or social characteristics and attitudes: "They're the television generation" (Roger Enrico).

c. A stage or period of sequential technological development and innovation.

d. A class of objects derived from a preceding class: a new generation of computers.

5. The formation of a line or geometric figure by the movement of a point or line.

6. The act or process of generating; origination, production, or procreation.

Of these, the definitions 4b, 4c and 4d, as well as 5 all seem to fit. The fifth generation was characterized by their style of film, which was standardized in many ways due to higher education and a common disgust for the current government. The “generation” also fit into a sequence of development, with each generation encouraging the next to be more radical in their story telling while embracing the technology used to create film. Under this same idea, the generation fits definition 4d if the word objects is substituted with people. It did draw many things from the previous generation, but also made those concepts more radical in their own work.

Finally, the generation has become a point on the timeline of Chinese Cinema, and therefore fits into the idea of being a “point on a line” in definition 5.

Works Cited:

Barry, Chris. “China Before 1949”. The Oxford History of world Cinema: The Definitive History of Cinema Worldwide. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 267-275. Print.

Yau, Esther. “China After the Revolution”. The Oxford History of World Cinema: The Definitive History of Cinema Worldwide. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 267-275. Print.

Happy Times and the Fifth Generation

Zhang Yimou’s Happy Times is the story of an older man who is looking to get married, but cannot afford to provide his future wife with the finances she requires, and through several lies on his part, he ends up growing closer to her stepdaughter. The girlfriend character is like the evil stepmother from Cinderella, and her stepdaughter is very much like Cinderella except that she does not end up with a prince at the end. The relationship that develops between the girl and the main character is very cute. He becomes a father figure to her, when her own father is missing in another part of the country, and virtually forgotten about her. I love how these two interact with one another, and how he tries to protect her from his own girlfriend. I thought early on that this was going to be a comedy, about him trying to deceive his girlfriend with the hotel, and it would somehow all work out in the end, but then I realized that that is what would happen in an American movie, and a Chinese movie is very different from this. There are certainly comedy bits sprinkled throughout the film, but it is on whole a drama, about their relationship, and their relationships with the rest of the world. The girl has somewhat of a happy ending, going out into the world on her own, but as she is blind, this is also a very scary thing, and she is going into the unknown in more ways than one. The man ends up in the hospital, and doesn’t even get to say goodbye. One of the most moving parts of the film was when the girl left a tape recording of her goodbye message, and the friend reads the letter to her recorded message. I was pretty much crying at this point, it was very sad and beautiful. One of the interesting things about this film is that it is somewhat about the old traditional ways clashing with the new ways that are beginning to emerge in China. The man is very traditional, even when it comes to his fake business, he won’t let the young people go into the bus with the door closed. This is representative of the way he was raised, and how much of China was for many years. It is just in recent times that things have begun to loosen up. Zhang Yimou was part of the ‘Fifth Generation’ of Chinese filmmakers, and as they were the first to begin to part with the old ways, this may have something to do with that. In this film we see the differences between them, and it may be because of this unique vision that the characters are designed thus. One somewhat literal idea might be with the removal of the very red painted bus, it is a symbolic yet literal removal of the ‘red’ communism of Mao Zedong. China is still a communist government, but through time and through more liberal filmmakers like those of the ‘Fifth Generation’ and Zhang Yimou, the government grows more relaxed and lenient than in past times.

Word Study: Kuomintang

Kuomintang |ˈkwōˈminˈta ng; -ˈtä ng; ˈgwô-| (alsoGuomindang |ˈgwōˈminˈdä ng |)a nationalist party founded in China under Sun Yat-sen in 1912, and led by Chiang Kai-shek from 1925. It held power from 1928 until theCommunist Party took power in October 1949, and it subsequently formed the central administration of Taiwan.ORIGIN from Chinese, ‘national people's party.’

Middle Eastern Cinema

In general the Middle Eastern cinema’s history was rather interesting to me. I thought it interesting when the book mentioned that the first films they saw were imported films from other nationalities. The problems they had with sound was interesting as well because the book mentioned that many different dialects are spoken in the Arabian world and it was hard to show the films to a wide audience.

Musicals were some of the first films with sound that Arabians created whereas it took other cultures a while to create musicals. Small things like that seem to show us clues about their culture. For instance, perhaps musicals were some of the first things they did because they do sing or chant a lot and maybe music is a prominent way for them to communicate, I really don’t know if this is true but I’m guessing and making assumptions from things in their history that I’ve read about.

Turkish cinema started off relatively early, the same time as Europe according to the book and they did very well until civil war broke out in the 70s. it looked like they wouldn’t be able to get their feet back under them but a wave of new, innovative Turkish filmmakers arose and saved the industry.

Iranian cinema started very late the 30s and they had many problems. Restrictions due to their religious and political beliefs caused Iranian filmmakers to be more creative and sometimes these films had difficulties being distributed because of the authorities in Iran at the time. Now more women are showing up in films but the authorities are being difficult. Some like the films, some don’t and that’s what determines if a film is distributed or not.

A Close Up on Iran

There seemed to be three very important trends in our reading about the Arab cinema. First of all, many of the nations used documentary film in the beginning, even after narrative had become prevalent in other parts of the world. Second, many filmmakers were forced into making films while in exile, which has lead to a very unique genre. Finally, The fight against Western Ideals and imported morals has been a very controversial issue within the Arab world.

In the reading “The Arab World” and “Turkish Cinema” documentaries play a key role in the beginning of the national cinema, but it was also very important in Iranian cinema, which is where I would like to focus.

Until 1930, Iranian cinema was comprised of documentaries that were screened privately by royalty (Naficy 672). This trend continued with the development of sound, with documentary footage coming not only Iranian sources, but also foreign as well (Naficy 673). Eventually, however, the Iranian government began to give in to Western ideals, and seeing the fiscal opportunities of the countries, the American cinema entered into Iran.

Despite the fact that “ethnic and religious minorities were instrumental in developing the nascent Iranian cinema” (Naficy 673), American encouraged sponsorship wreaked havoc on the Iranian cinema. In the 1960s, as Iran’s government embraced western ideals and help from the American government, censorship grew out of control and has remained that way since, even though the reasons have changed. In the beginning it was easier for American and European films to enter Iran when indigenous films were under heavy government scrutiny, and therefore the control was encouraged by foreign influences. As time went on, however, moral objections by Iranians themselves began to encourage the censorship, so even after the American influence was gone, the censorship stayed.

During the New Wave that occurred in Iran, foreign trained filmmakers teamed with anti-government writers to produce films that “moved away from traditional genres in favour of increased realism, individual character psychology, and higher technical quality” (Naficy 674-675). Eventually, however, these films fell subject to government censorship and therefore were shown in diluted forms that only discouraged Iranian audiences from seeing domestic films, instead of questioning the boundaries being placed on expression.

After many New Wave “there has consistently been a large contingent of Iranian filmmakers in exile” (Naficy 675). As a result, the “’exhile genre’ of cinema – one concerned with the trauma and tragedy of displacement and the problematic of identity formation” (Naficy 675) has become a growing genre of Iranian film.

Abbas Kiarostami’s Close Up made in 1990 shows reflections of all of these influences. It’s documentary style can be traced back to the heavy influence of documentary on the nation’s film culture in the beginning, as well as the films that came from the collaboration of foreign trained filmmakers and anti-government writers. It’s subject matter, however, is a direct violation of the intent of the first documentaries. It is based on a real person who breaks the law and essentially gets away with it, a plot that would not have spoken well to the dignified royalty who viewed Iranian cinema in the beginning. Kiarosami’s film also ignores western influence in the way it is filmed and presented. It does not maintain a polished feel, and deals with strictly Iranian issues, avoiding all American and European conventions.

The most significant part of Close Up, however, seems to be the way it mimics the ‘exile genre’ by reflecting trauma and a confused self identity. The trauma in Kiarostami’s film is a domestic trauma, but still one that rings true. It reflects the poverty stricken in the country, a group that has developed a taste for film in Iran only recently. Close Up also brings to light the fact that some people are living such terrible lives that they day dream through the lives of others. It comments on the poor conditions of Iranians, and employs psychological points to illustrate a universal pain that has developed throughout Iran.

One last note before my word study: In “Turkish Industry” Yusuf Kaplan wrote “A nation has to develop its own cinematography, its own film language, by relying on its visual culture, narrative traditions, and capacity for artistic experiments” (661). This really struck me and made me think. American cinema is so diverse because or narrative traditions are a combination from so many different cultures, and it is polished because it is has grown from a young nation spoiled by modern luxuries with the knowledge to use them. It’s like a teen given a computer verses an adult given a computer, the teen can navigate it more naturally because it has always known the technology, whereas an adult must find way to relate the computer to other things they know, and therefore it takes longer is not as natural to them. Foreign cinema is often boring or unique because it spring from a more crude version of narrative storytelling that is completely inspired by an ancient tradition.

Word Study – Natural

At one point in the reading, Roy Armes writes that “Egyptian films came to dominate the Arab film market and impose the Egyptian dialect as the ‘natural’ language for Arab films” (663). I wanted to look at the word “natural” and see how it worked within this sentence. Selected definitions from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition:

1. Conforming to the usual or ordinary course of nature: a natural death.

2.

a. Not acquired; inherent: Love of power is natural to some people.

b. Having a particular character by nature: a natural leader.

c. Biology Not produced or changed artificially; not conditioned: natural immunity; a natural reflex.

d. Related by blood: the natural parents of the child.

e. Born of unwed parents: a natural child.

3. Characterized by spontaneity and freedom from artificiality, affectation, or inhibitions. See Synonyms at naive.

4. Not altered, treated, or disguised: natural coloring; natural produce.

5. Faithfully representing nature or life.

6. Expected and accepted: "In Willie's mind marriage remained the natural and logical sequence to love" (Duff Cooper).

7. Established by moral certainty or conviction: natural rights.

8. Being in a state regarded as primitive, uncivilized, or unregenerate.

Of these definitions there are a few that stand out significantly to me. The first being “conforming to the usual or ordinary course of nature”. When discussing the process of something becoming natural, in the beginning there is nothing to conform to. Egyptian cinema set the stand for Arab films and therefore became the type of film that others conformed to.

The next subset of definitions all discuss the idea that something natural is not changed or altered and is inherent. In this situation, again, the Egyptian cinema was not inherent, it placed itself in the center of Arab cinema and set the standard.

The idea that Egyptian film was free of artificiality and inhibitions also seems out of place, because film is by its very nature a contrived story. As Kiarostami put it “film is a series of lies we string together for a greater truth” (Quotes from an interview).

The accusation that Egyptian cinema faithfully represents life in the Arab world also seems wrongful to me, because it is a cinema from one culture and cannot reflect the cultures of all countries in the Arab world.

Definition six, which suggest Egyptian cinema is natural to the Arab world in the sense that it is “expected and accepted” seems to be the one that fits the best. The Arab world evolved to expect and accept Egyptian cinema to represent it’s culture, and it has become their normal attitude.

The idea that Egyptian cinema would be primitive or uncivilized, is again an untrue accusation. Since it rose above all others to represent the cinema of the Arab world, it must depict current life in the most beautiful way, which is rarely primitive or uncivilized.

Overall, I think the world “natural” in this situation can only mean that Egyptian cinema has come to be “expected and accepted” in the Arab world as the most dominate form of cinema.

Armes, Roy. “The Arab World”. The Oxford History of world Cinema: The Definitive History of Cinema Worldwide. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 267-275. Print.

Kaplan, Yusuf. “Turkish Industry”. The Oxford History of World Cinema: The Definitive History of Cinema Worldwide. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 267-275. Print.

Naficy, Hamid. “Iranian Cinema”. The Oxford History of World Cinema: The Definitive History of Cinema Worldwide. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 267-275. Print.

Word Study: Imperialism

imperialism |imˈpi(ə)rēəˌlizəm|nouna policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force : the struggle against imperialism figurative :French ministers protested at U.S. cultural imperialism.• chiefly historical rule by an emperor.DERIVATIVESimperialistic |-ˌpi(ə)rēəˈlistik| adjectiveimperialistically adverb

‘Close-Up’ of Documentary (Illusion vs. Reality)

A nitty-gritty style documentary using narrative re-enactments poses a unique twist to the genre. The film starts out in a very documentary-like feel with interviews (Kiarostami in the prison, his back faces the camera), taking is through the steps of arranging a proper and convenient court date for the Makhmalbaf imposter. Around the time of the actual court screening is when the viewer is left with the question of illusion. I personally felt as though I was watching the long, drawn-out proceedings of the trial as they happen- and not an actual movie. Just as certain shots and footage becomes questionable, the imposter becomes just as mysterious as we are forced to attempt and justify the character’s actions. Why did he pose as an infamous film director to a wealthy family? Is it merely for the love of the cinema or fame and fortune? Should we sympathize or empathize with this character? Then we are served documentary once more on a silver platter as we see the actual crew deal with a sound dilemma. Back and forth, back and forth the film and character overwhelmingly tease us like a cat frantically chasing the holographic dot of a laser. It is fascinating how reality and fiction can overlap consistently within a factual-based film. As far as an underlying theme to tie the events in Iran to the movie, it was not quite as clear to me. If criticizing religion was the goal as suggested in an article about the film The New Yorker, then I did not catch on immediately. The significant religious figure (judge) within the film plays an important role in the discovery of a rationalized resolution for the imposter, eventually convincing the plaintiffs to accept the apology.

The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/close-up_kiarostami

Word Study: Vociferous (pg 674)

vo⋅cif⋅er⋅ous  [voh-sif-er-uhs]
–adjective
1. crying out noisily; clamorous.
2. characterized by or uttered with vociferation: a vociferous manner of expression.

Origin:
1605–15; vocifer(ant) + -ous

Synonyms:
1. loud, noisy, vocal, uproarious, boisterous.

Word Study: Ottoman

Briefly, "Ottoman" is defined as "a Turk, especially a member of the family or tribe of Osman I; of or relating to the Ottoman Empire or its people, language or culture; Turkish." But if we were to explore that a little bit . . .

The Ottoman Empire began its powerful legacy in 1299 and was finally dissolved in 1922, when its remaining state, Turkey, declared a Republic. It once spanned three continents, and for six hundred years, it was where "east met west" in all manner of public relations. It was the "Islamic successor" to the Byzantine Empire, and I would highly recommend reading a book about its long and illustrious history! 

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Ottoman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

Shooting for Justice: The Courage of Yilmaz Guney

Praised as one of the most important and influential directors of Turkish cinema, Yilmaz (Putun) Guney and his films have been a source of hope for his fellow countrymen for over forty years (Nowell-Smith 659). Until his escape from imprisonment under a restrictive government regime, however, hardly anyone outside of Turkey had seen or heard of his work as an actor, writer, and director (Imdb.com). According to The Oxford History of World Cinema, Guney began his film career as an actor, and even wrote several of his action films, before becoming a director in the mid-1960s.

In 1970, Guney’s acclaimed film Umut, or Hope, raised controversy with its exploration of rural poverty and oppression. In the movie, Guney himself plays a horse cab driver whose horse is killed, and who sinks into a deep depression because of the injustice that befell his family (Imdb.com). Guney’s quest for justice did not end there. The following year, he directed The Elegy and The Sorrow, which also explored the topic of rural poverty, and The Desperate Ones and The Father, which “were centered on urban capitalism” (Nowell-Smith 659).

Although his country was at the height of civil war, Guney ushered in a cinematic New Wave with his epic, poetic realist taste in films (Nowell-Smith 660). He led the way for other young directors despite his imprisonment in 1971 by the Turkish military (Nowell-Smith 659). He was released, only to courageously produce more films, and then was once again imprisoned in 1974, during which time he continued to write and direct “by proxy” (Nowell-Smith 659).

In 1981, Guney escaped his country and fled to France (Imdb.com). He subsequently edited his directed-by-proxy film Yol, which won at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival (Nowell-Smith 659). Never one to back down, Guney’s last film before his death in 1984, Duvar, or The Wall, touches on themes of political repression, abuse, independence, nationalism, police corruption, and so on (Imdb.com). Guney’s films were focused on the brutal consequences of injustice, and he set a model of courage that should make any filmmaker think twice about what we capture with a camera, and why we capture it. What are we willing to lose?

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0351566/ (Yilmaz Guney)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066500/plotsummary (Umut summary)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090982/keywords (Duvar)

Kiarostami's Close-Up Line Blur

Kiarostami’s Nema-ye Nazdik, or Close-Up, is a 1990 film that bends the traditional documentary line. It tells the story of a man who impersonated a famous Iranian director for a few weeks, and the trial thereafter. Kiarostami uses flashbacks enacted by the people who lived them to help enrich the story told throughout the courtroom. The use of flashbacks in a documentary, especially re-enacted by the subjects, blurs the line between fact and fiction. It becomes hard to tell what happened when or if it was merely the direction of Kiarostami. There are similarities not in style but in impact to Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line. The Thin Blue Line was one of the first to pioneer the use of re-enactments, and it also helped change the life of its main subject. Through Morris’s film, a man was set free from prison, and through the help of Kiarostami, another man is saved from prison. Kiarostami even helps the man meet his idol, and essentially stages the last scene of his film. I think he uses this method effectively, we even see him in part of the film, but he keeps it very bare bones which I think made it seem a bit more boring than it should have. It is an interesting story with a main character who you really start to feel for, but the filmmaking style and the lack of music make it dryer than it should be, and I found it hard to focus. There is one shot toward the end when Sabzian and Makhmalbaf are riding on the motorcycle together and the sun is facing them that I thought was just beautiful and said so much without saying anything. That was probably the best part for me, just because it was so lovely.

Questions for a filmmaker

Questions for Rich Minnich

What kind of emotional difficulties did you have making this film?

Was there a point when you didn’t want to go through with this project? Why?

What do you feel you accomplished from making this film?

How has this film been received by the subjects involved?

What made you decide to make this film? Did you wait until a certain age to go after this project and why?

Interview with Kiarostami

About Close-Up specifically:

Mohsen Makhmalbaf speaks about the protests in Iran

And with Marjam Satrapi



Reporting on the election protests:

On Iranian Cinema...

Interview with Negar Mottahedeh, author of Displaced Allegories: Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema (Duke University Press, 2008)

Breaking news from Iran...

A propos to our class discussion this week, I just read about another filmmaker facing censorship and government control. Here is the news from the CPH:DOX website:

IRANIAN FILMMAKERS DENIED LEAVING IRAN TO PARTICIPATE IN CPH:DOX
Iranian documentary filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb has been denied leaving Iran to participate in CPH:DOX - Scandinavia's largest documentary film festival, which takes place November, 6-15, 2009, in Copenhagen.

It is with great regret and disbelief that CPH:DOX has learned that one of Iran's foremost documentary filmmakers has had his passport revoked, and has been denied the right to leave Iran to participate in the international documentary film festival held this week in Copenhagen.

Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is the head of the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association (IRDFA), which in an official appeal sent out this summer has declared that "... the Iranian society has the right to demand documentary filmmakers to do their duty in capturing the social events taking place, and portraying the real pictures in their films ... Therefore, documentary filmmakers, due to their obligation and responsibility, have the right to be present in these social events, and to be able to capture the truth. This is the recognized right of documentary filmmakers across the world ..."

This appeal was published on the basis of the restrictions towards filmmakers and other media workers in Iran after the presidential elections on June 12, following the prohibitions against documenting the events after the elections, and the arrest of members of the association.

CPH:DOX in its seventh edition presents a broad spectrum of international documentary film art. Iranian documentary has in recent years claimed great international interest, and has been widely praised for its poetical and artistically strong voice.

One of the highlights in the programme of CPH:DOX 2009 is therefore a special series focusing on documentary filmmaking and other social media activities in Iran.

CPH:DOX had with great expectations been looking forward to have Mojtaba Mirtahmasb present for the festival along with several other talented, Iranian filmmakers. Mirtahmasb was supposed to have participated in a seminar on film and the Iranian reality, focusing on the artistic and cultural state of Iranian documentary.

Iranian cinema is of international format. It is therefore no less alarming and unacceptable that Iranian filmmakers are being prevented from documenting the situation in their own country, and from participating in and cooperating with the international community of documentarians. We appeal to the Iranian authorities to let the documentarians of Iran pursue their activities and present their works at film festival and other international events.

Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is not the only Iranian cineaste who has been held back by the Iranian authorities. Along with world famous filmmakers Jafar Panahi and actor Fatemeh Moatamed-Arya who are in the same situation, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb has recently published an open letter to Iranian media stating: "We have always been proud of our country's culture, and have shown it to the world. But now we have not been allowed to travel abroad. We aren't complaining, even if we don't know the nature of the accusation against us. We won't complain again, as we want to always remain independent Iranian cineastes."

CPH:DOX encourage all parts of the international community of documentary filmmakers and festivals to support this appeal to recognition of what our Iranian collegues themselves speak of as: "The recognized right of documentary filmmakers across the world ... to be able to capture the truth."

A Moment of Questions for Rick Minnich

You're film has taken you all over the world, and has shown to audiences in many different cultures. Does the response to the film change based on the geographic location?

Did you ever find yourself protecting a family member in the editing process, or possibly exposing one, not purposefully but subconsciously?

While editing the film, did you find yourself re-evaluating not only your father, but also yourself and the interactions that you had with him?

What inspired you to pick up a camera and film this experience?

Was it harder to ask the questions or hear the answers?

Since you have spent so much time with the footage, editing it and molding it into a story, do you find yourself emotionally detached, or just as stricken by your family members every time you watch it?

Emotional points in Battle of Algiers

One of the most interesting things I thought about the film Battle of Algiers was partially based on something Spike Lee said during the commentary. The most emotional moment for me was the scene where the three women go to separate parts of the city and place bombs in completely ordinary settings where people would never expect to get attacked. You can see the way the women are thinking about the people who will die, and yet are still totally committed to the cause, one woman even bringing her son to town with her so that she might get by the police easier. Potentially putting him in harms way so that she can complete her task. I think this was a very moving part of the film, but also something that Spike Lee picked up on was the music from this scene after the bomb went off, how it was the same music as when the bomb went off on the other side. It shows that all people are the same and death is bad for anyone, it doesn’t matter what side you are on. Death is the great equalizer. In a film dealing so much with death and losses from war, this particular scene really has an emotional toll because of the music and also because of the women, women are not usually part of war, of course they can be and are, but are not usually associated with it as much, especially women like this who just appear to be housewives. It is truly revolutionary for Pontecorvo to treat the subject in this way, especiallay due to his close involvement and its proximity to the time period. He showed both sides of the war and truly tried to keep it unbiased and equal in the losses of each. The main point of the film is that war is bad for everyone, and I think he accomplishes this well.

Animation Nation

Usually in America when we think of animation we think of Saturday morning cartoons or Disney flicks, but when it comes to international animation, the target is much different. Pretty much every where else in the world it is its own artform, that is perhaps even more so for an adult audience than a child audience. One of the earlier animated films of this type, Joie de vivre, depicts two girls flowing through different industrial scenery being chased by a guard. The contrast between the beauty of the dancing women and the harsh technology of the power plant gives the film a double meaning. On the surface it is a simple story about the dancing girls, but it is also really about the power of man and industry encroaching upon what is natural and good. The piece is influential and subversive and is a perfect example of how international animation tends to be more sophisticated than juvenile.

Cyclical Nature of The Bicycle Thief

Vittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief is the quintessential neo-realist film. It is probably the most referenced work in the genre, and is grounded in politics and rebellion against fascist theatre, yet is told through such a simple story. A man needs his bicycle so that he may have a job and provide for his family. His bicycle gets stolen, thus devastating that chance, and sends him in search of it, but does not find it. The man, in his desperation, attempts to steal a bike as well, thus adding to the cyclical nature of the tale, and the point of the film. The point is to show the needs of the people, and that crime leads into each other, yet every man is only trying to provide a living. Someone steals his bike, so he tries to steal one, and if he had succeeded, that man may have tried to steal someone else’s bike later on. Their basic needs as a people are not being met, and so it just leads into further desperation. The main purpose of this is originally a rebellion of the repressive cinematic rules in italy, but also to show the needs of the people, and what needs to change. The choice to make this tale so simple was brilliant because it keeps the characters in the hearts of the everyman, making them relatable to everyone, yet telling everything that needs to be done in society.

Maria Braun Kickass Female

One of the most interesting things about this film is the treatment of the main character, Maria Braun. She is such a fascinating female role model, and is strong during a time when most are weak. She says everything she does is for her love, so they can be together comfortably, but she is really more of an example of strong female independence. I thought Maria Braun was a fantastic character, she is funny and irreverent, and completely uncompromising in her desires. Rainer Werner Fassbinder was the director and the main writer of the 1979 film, which makes me curious why he chose to center the film on such a character. It is implicitly political, making a statement about the post war culture and the fact that only the women seem to be able to pull through it, probably because they were not directly corrupted by warfare. Yet we see how it affects them right from the beginning when they are getting bombed out of the church as Maria is marrying Hermann, and all while he is gone, everywhere she goes we see devastation. It is about the futility of war, and even though she advances her place in life, and they are just on the verge of happiness, it catches up with them in the end, and her thoughtlessness explodes the house. Fassbinder uses women in this way through most of his films, they are a means to a political end. I have not seen any of his other work, but I still believe Maria, though a bit crazy, is a fantastic example of a strong female in a male dominated world. She uses her feminine charms when necessary, almost like a femme fatale, but to her own ends.

Jules and Jim, New Wave Heroes

So my posts for these have been not going up and I just realized this, but luckily I saved them and am posting them now, more to follow from past blogs.

Francois Truffaut’s 1961 film Jules et Jim is a fascinating portrait of three people who couldn’t fully live without the others. They were fine on their own, and Catherine even tried to leave several times, but they belonged together. The relationship changed as they grew older and Catherine became more infatuated with Jim, and he with her. Though they both still loved Jules, their personal love grew more and culminated at the end. I think Catherine was the most interesting character in the film, she was a strong woman who even impersonates a man at one point, and she dominates the movie. She is an unusual character though, especially for the time, because she is such a strong female. However, the French New Wave was all about stretching limits and occurred fairly close to the women’s liberation wave in America and most likely France as well, so perhaps it was a calculated choice on this part. Truffaut was afterall one of the main proprietors of the new wave. Although Jules et Jim falls into the New Wave category, it follows a more conventional structure than most new wave examples. It is innovative and unruled more through its story than its filmmaking and editing styles, unlike most new wave films. I think this may be because it came after some of his earlier boundary pushing pieces like The 400 Blows, and because of the nature of the story being so different to begin with.

Questions for Rick Minnich

1. How do you choose your topics for your films?
2. Why did you wait 16 years before talking about your father?
3. Do you plan on doing more films based in Missouri or the Midwest?