WHOOOOO! Happy spring break everyone! For our lovely class we had an option to turn in an additional blog either on Pan's Labyrinth or Children of Men. I didn't quite have enough time to go into depth on a blog (the year's almost over, sooooooooooo many things due) so I decided to type up quotes form the reading that I found interesting.INTERESTING "QUOTES" and *SUBJECT MATTER
In the article 'Directors without Borders' Lynn Hirshberg comments on our culture's choice of films to produce and compares it to those of the featured directors within her article.
"Most American films are content to examine simple, narcissistic matters of romance or family, these three directors consistently tacke more existential questions of sin and forgiveness."
*The article describes the strong partnership between Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaro.
*Catholic fairy tale combined with the Spanish Civil War
* The film has a lot of Biblical meaning
"Lately, foreign directors are better making movies about America than Americans,"
-Inarritu
"Hollywood wants to open borders, and the president wants to close them."
-Inarritu
"I try to take all that's beautiful about religion- free will, virtue, nobility- and apply it to life. Ultimately, my films are about characters trying to access some kind of spiritual realm on earth."
-Del Toro
'Two Dystopian Movies... and their Visions of Hope.' Katje Richstatter
"The need to find or create meaning seems to be one commonality of human existence- through storytelling, myth, or religion, we can connect to our core decency, a place untouched by the vagaries of the world."
-Katje R.
Both films
"offer a choice between humanity and civilization."
-Katje R.
"Pan is a fairy tale and a political fable."
-Katje R.
*There are three types of characters: Evil (Captain Vidal), good (Ofelia, mother, allies, rebel army), and innocent (Ofelia's bro).
I took a 'Germanic Mythology and Literature' class where we used the "Collection of Grimms Fairy Tales" translated by Jack Zipes. When scanning the ' Video Review' article I was incredibly excited to see that Zipes had written it. What a fascinating intellectual to analyze a film that tells a tale from such a different culture than that of Grimms.
"Without magic, Ofelia cannot save her mother, and it is questionable to whether she can save herself"-Zipes
"What good is it to read fairy tales or even view fairy-tale films in times of darkness?"
-Zipes
"Del Toro wants to penetrate the spectacle fo society that glorifies and conceals the pathology and corruption of people in power. He wants to see life as it is."
-Zipes
Zipes says that Pan's Labirynth is a
"fairy-tale film that offers a corrective and more 'realistic' vision of thte world, in contrast to the diversionary and myopic manner in chich many people see reality."
*Ofelia's struggle for reconciliation between the horrors. Arduous tasks.
*She resorts to interpreting the and seeing them as part of a real fairy tale.
*Del toro associates Ofelia with Snow White. Only Ofelia "will not find refuge" Instead she is "menaced and killed" by her step father.
"It is she who appropriates the tale and creates it so that she can deal with forces."
-Zipes
*Ofelia's red dress goes with the red shoes of oz
*Her spirit lives on
Del Toro insists
"on the great significance of looking, perceiving, recognizing and realizing.""Open our eyes"
*Neither world is safe
*Not a happy ending, but hope
RAISE USEFUL QUESTIONS
- Is America losing it's ability to tell a good story.
- Does America have an identity issue?
- How often are biblical themes emphasized in films?
- Is the president really trying to close borders? Is it effecting Hollywood?
- Are the messages Hollywood chooses shallow?
- What is the effect of making films from books or vice-versa?
- Do films ruin the imagination that comes from reading?
NEW TERMINOLOGY RESEARCH- Lovely Dictionary.com
Diversionary- Something that distracts from business. The act of diverting from a specified course.
Myopic- Unable or unwilling to act prudently; short sided.
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