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.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Happy Times and the Fifth Generation
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Word Study: Kuomintang
Monday, November 16, 2009
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.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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
Saturday, November 14, 2009
‘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.