Hal Hartley

Hal Hartley            

         Hal Hartley is an American director born in 1959 who was really made popular during the Independent Film movement during the 1980’s and 1990’s.  Born and raised in New York, Hartley aspired to become a painter but grew fond of making films.  His first feature film was made in the late 80’s and was called The Unbelievable Truth.  From the beginning Hartley’s style was evident.  The humor in the film was often very dry to go along with the pause-filled dialogue.  The meaning of life is a theme through a lot of Hartley’s films (as we’ll see in the Girl from Monday).  As far as camera movement goes, Hartley is fond of Dutch angle and seems to do a lot of awkward camera movements, notably by using shutter speed.

         One film I watched and thoroughly enjoyed was called The Girl From Monday.  I just happened to pick it because it was the first film of Hartley’s I could find on Netflix, I won’t lie.  The title made me curious and then I started to watch it.  The entire film is narrated by one of the characters, Jack, and is done so in a very monotonous voice.  He explains right off the bat that the film is based in the future and that he is involved with a corporation that belittles humans to nothing more than consumers. 

         Most of the film deals with one woman, Cecile, who works with Jack in the company.  The main plot of the film centers around one policy the company has, that states sex is to be used as a way to gain credit for buying things; not for pleasure.  Cecile is taken to a party where she sees a group of teenagers having sex for fun and she is intrigued.  She then becomes part of a resistance trying to stop the corporation from using people in such a way.  The film goes on to show what Cecile does as a way to try and bring the corporation down.  As for the title character, the Girl from Monday; it turns out Monday is the name of the planet and the girl really has nothing to do with the movie.  Sorry to spoil it for anyone.  (27:13)

         As you can see from the clip, Hartley uses the Dutch angle through the entire scene just as he does throughout the whole movie.  A slow shutter speed is also being used, going from very slow to an almost normal feel but you still are being jarred while watching.

         The next film I watched was called Fay Grim.  This one is the sequel to one of Hartley’s earlier films Henry Fool.  The story is about the main character from the previous film’s wife.  Fay Grim is a single parent raising her teenaged son, trying to keep him from the life his father lived.  Henry, her husband, was a criminal who fled the country when he got into some trouble.  The central plot in this film is about Fay working with the CIA trying to find her husband who actually didn’t board the plane.

         The film is written in typical Hal Hartley style though unlike the Girl from Monday, this one has quicker dialogue.  He still uses Dutch angles but he only brings in the slow shutter speed for more dramatic scenes instead of the entire film.  The scene I’m showing is the beginning credits.  We see Fay in a panic trying to get her life together.  She’s short of breath, talking to a pastor and worried for her son who has just gotten in trouble at school.  (00:00) The chemistry between the actors seems very natural to me even though they act distant.  You can tell Fay isn’t the typical mother type, seeming almost like a teenager herself in the way she punishes and treats her son using the word ‘like’ in her vocabulary a lot. 

         Hal Hartley contributes greatly to auteur theory.  He has a very unique artistic style.  Watching the first ten minutes of any film would more than likely reveal if it’s a Hartley film or not; just see if you find yourself tilting your head to the side a lot.

George Ilutsik_Final essay

George Ilutsik

World Cinema

Final

03/20/12

Terry Gilliam

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:

            Grabbing your attention is an element that Gilliam seems to do effortlessly.  In the first minuet of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I was instantly intrigued in why the main character was trying to catch imaginary bats.  My hopes where now a bar higher.  His style, art, and philosophy shine through out the film. 

            As I have only seen “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” it was nice to see similar aspects in Fear and Loathing.  There is only one word to describe his style, and it would be underlying.  Another would be contradictory.  And another would be convoluted incessant impressionism.  Therefore, his style is contradictory & convoluted.  If you followed that then you would enjoy the ride Gilliam takes you with Depp in Vegas.

            You see many instances where characters contradict themselves.  When Depp states that there is no way to tell the fear he is feeling while on drugs, and he continues to express how everything around him is terrifying.   Or the fact that they are at an anti drug seminar and they themselves are drug users. 

            I think he wants us to wonder if what he is showing is fantasy or reality.  He will commonly show something that is outrageous and fiction, and then give a small hint that maybe what we are seeing is real.  Again with the bat scene.  We figure that everything Depp is seeing is in his head, but then Gilliam gives a singshot of a dead bat on the side of the road.  I would say this is where is personality comes out. 

            Where I perceive to be the second act, is Depp waking up to his hotel room in a huge mess.  Everything is out of place and dirty.  He eventually listens to a tape recorder that is hanging around his neck.  From the sounds he starts to remember fragments of the night before.  And this is Gilliam’s impression of the whole film.  Everything is just one long memory of Depp’s character in Las Vegas.  I see the tape recorder as a symbol of this. 

            Overall this I would say is his best piece of art.  It looks great and it is full of his style and personality.  But there is no underlying meaning.  If there was I didn’t find it. 

Twelve Monkeys:

            Another aspect is the surrealism that he brings to his films.  The constant thought of wondering if what we are seeing is reality or fiction keeps our attention.  In the beginning of Twelve Monkeys we understand that Bruce is in a futuristic world.  But what we did not expect is to see a bear, or a lion roaming around a once populated city.  Yet it could be believable. 

            At first we think that Bruce’s character is half crazy.  Elements that support this is the scene where he is washed both in the future, and in the mental hospital.  Both shots are similar and hint that maybe everything is just in his head.  It is not until we see physical proof of him in different time eras that we are totally sure that he is time traveling.             

            The fact that the twelve monkey sign is covered with music posters might be referring to the fact that we ignore certain issues.  Brad’s character states that we are all monkeys.  His hidden agenda was only to free the animals.  His monkey chanting in the end doesn’t help either. 

            In the end I believe what is trying to be said is that we will destroy ourselves in the end.  It is human nature that will undo us all. 

Work cited

Copyright © 1990-2012 IMDb.com, Inc., http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114746/

© 2012 A&E Television Networks, http://www.biography.com/people/terry-gilliam-9311519

© 2012 Contactmusic.com Ltd, http://www.contactmusic.com/info/terry_gilliam

Directors Worksheet by Erik Wallin

Name: Werner Herzog

Year Born: September 5, 1942

Country of Origin: Germany

Background: He grew up in Munich, Germany. He studied history, literature and theatre but he never finished.

First Feature: Lebenszeichen

Most notable Films: Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Grizzly Man, Stroszek, Nosferatu the Vampyre

Genres Explored: Drama, Documentary

Stylistic Tendencies: Long shots, focus on character

Typical Content: Documentaries with interesting characters that do out of the ordinary things.

Awards and Accolades: Won best director at Cannes for "Fitzcarraldo".

Long Term Collaborators: His most notable collaborations were with an actor named Klaus Kinski whom he developed a life long friendship with.

Interesting Facts/etc: Claims to have walked by foot from Munich, Germany to Paris, France in 1974 to prevent the very sick film historian and good friend Lotte Eisner from dying. His logic was that she wouldn't dare die until he visited her on her deathbed. Eisner went on to live for 8 more years. Herzog also came across a vehicle that had rolled over and knocked on the window and it was Joaquin Pheonix. He asked him if he was alright, helped him out of the car, called an ambulance and then left.

Terry Gilliam_George Ilutsik

Director Worksheet: George Ilutsik

Name: Terry Gilliam

Year Born: 1940

Country of Origin: United States

Background (education/upbringing): He studied physics at Occidental College.  A member of the Monty Python comedy group.

First Feature: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Most notable Films: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Genre’s Explored: Comedy, Drama, Sci-fi, Fantasy

Stylistic Tendencies: Surreal, Contradiction,

Typical Content: Saying one thing, then doing contrary to said comment

Awards & accolades: Oscar for best screenplay, Brazil

Long-term collaborators: Johnny Depp,

Interesting facts/ etc: He doesn’t like Steven Spielberg.  He worked on Monty Pythons Flying Circus for five years. 

© 2012 Contactmusic.com Ltd, http://www.contactmusic.com/info/terry_gilliam

Bernardo Bertolucci by Zach Mason

Bernardo Bertolucci was born March 16 , 1940 in Parma, Italy. His father was Attilio Bertolucci, a famous poet and film critic. So as you can imagine Bernardo was surrounded with an atmosphere of creative and raised with an open mind for the arts. Its not surprising that He started to make short films on 16mm stock when he was just a teenager, roughly 15. Bernardo was also a young writer and it's this creative outlet that first got him some recognition. He won the Premio Viareeggo award which is one of Italy’s top literary awards for his first book, In Search of Mystery. While studying at the University of Rome, Bernardo worked as an assistant director to Pier Paolo Pasolini on the film, Accatone. This opportunity gave him the covedencice and experience to embark out on his own independent film career. Bernardo Bertolucci's first two films where not received with much praise and caused a five-year drought in funding for features. During this time he made a number of documentaries and assisted Julian beck on various productions. It wasn't until 1970 that Bertolucci received international acclaim for, The Conformist, a  non-linear exploration of Mussolini's Fascist Italy and a character study of an individual who conforms to the era's conventions. In that same year, 1970, Bertolucci came out with his controversial feature that would instill his auteur status, Last Tango in Paris.

             Last Tango in Paris is about a young French girl and a middle age American man having an affair in an apartment that they get together just for the sole purpose of their “meet-ups”. The American man, Paul, is just recently widowed after his wife commits suicide and the young French girl has a fiancé that she is not too sure about. The main rule is no information about each other must be mentioned.

Show clip: Last Tango in Paris 23min.28sec. - 27min.23sec.

As I was watching this film I got a sense of just a free-flowing style. The camera was like a person on a construction site that didn't know what there were doing; just roaming around and taking everything in that was going on around them. I can see that Bertolucci's past experience with documentaries play a part in his philosophy in filmmaking. He lets the viewer in on everything and it seems very honest. It's at these parts in the film that I think we get a glimpse of Bertolucci himself. Now I wanted to see if, as an auteur, if he keep that honesty throughout his career. So the next film I chose was the one he directed most resent. The Dreamers. It's about an American college student who visits France and meets a brother and sister who take him on a journey of crazy indulgences, both mentally and physical. While watching this film, I saw some major changes in his Bertolucci's style, but that was to be expected, it's a 33 year gap between Last Tango in Paris and The Dreamers. Evolution in necessary for an evolving medium. However, the film may not have been as free-flowing as his earlier work, but there are still glimpse of that honesty that we connect to so much.

Show clip: The Dreamers 1:08:31 – 1:11:16

Bertolucci likes to push the boundary on the viewer’s comfort level. That, in itself, is like his style. Honesty can often be uncomfortable. Now with that said, for me, the boundary's were push a little too far with The Dreamers. The film was just a little too honest for me. The pace is much faster which seems to shove the material right into your face, but at times the pace slows and everything seems to be shown perfectly to you. To me, Bertolucci is like the butcher, the cook, and the waiter of filmmaking. He takes you in and shows you how the meat is cut from the bone. Then takes the meat to the stove and shows you how to cook it. And Finally sits you down and display the outcome of the whole process. It's your opinion if it tastes good or not.  

Director Sheet:

Name: Lars Von Trier

Year Born: 1956, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

Background: Lars started making films with a super 8 camera at the age of eleven and continued making them throughout high school. He then attended the National Film School of Denmark, while enrolled he made a number of films, two of which won best film awards in the Munich International festival of film schools. His next project was his first feature called The Element of Crime, which ended up winning the technical award at Cannes in France. This set up a relationship with Cannes in which he has gone on too win many more of their awards. Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg created a manifesto of genre film making called Dogme 95 in 1995. This Manifesto laid out the rules for what could be considered a Dogme 95 film. The basic premise of the genre is to set the stage for theme, acting and story and ignore all of the "Hollywood" style that has become expected of film makers now days. Although he has only done one true Dogme 95 film, The Idiots, he still lays pieces of his rules in his current work today. 

First Feature: The Element of Crime (1984)

Most Notable: Antichrist (2009)

Genres Explored: Depression, Sex, Sexual Identity, Taboo, Death, Nature, Humanity, Good and Evil, Women, Punishment.

Stylistic Tendencies: Documentary style camera for conversations, Cinematic landscapes and defining moments. Natural lighting. Handheld camera with intentional breathing focus. Vast wide arial shots, ignoring the 180 rule.

Typical content: Usually there is a female lead who in some way or another has a darkness inside of her. Most of the women seek out pain and suffering and cope with it sexually in sometimes brutal, rape like scenarios. There is usually a struggle between body and mind, sex and compassion, lust and emotion. 

Awards: Nominated for an Oscar with Best Music, Original song in Dancer in the Dark (2000)

At Cannes he has been nominated for the Palme d'Or award 9 times and has won once along with winning the jury prize, technical grande prize and best artistic contribution for Europa (1991). Over his career he has won over 75 awards  and another 57 nominations with most of those wins and nominations coming from Cannes, the highest regarded film festival in the world. 

Long-Term Collaborators: Charlotte Gainsbourg who starred in Antichrist  was also the supporting role in Melancholia and is in talks for his next film Nymphomaniac. 

Interesting Facts: He is the first film maker to ever be kicked out of Cannes Film Festival in history. This came the night before his premier of Melancholia when he joked about some antis-Semitic remarks. 

Antichrist

Lars Von Trier once again takes us on a downward spiral of depression and sexual tension in this tale of isolation. After losing their son a psychiatrist and his dark, depressed wife seek isolation in a cabin in the woods. The sweeping introduction shows us a prologue to the story, the death of boy and the birth of story. We are shown this through beautiful black and white slow motion footage until we are thrust back into reality after a chapter break to a world much more real to us. His handheld documentary style camera takes us through the dialogue as if it were real time. This real time is then split with moments of jump cuts and confusion only deepening the emotion and tension between the lens and the talent. His style is a mixture of realism with surrealism which harmonize into this dark, beautiful depressing picture that is hard to take your eyes off of. Much like Melancholia, there is a poetic balance between the raw emotions of the anxious camera and actors mixed with the tranquility of the steady camera and frame. This goes hand in hand with the story, chaotic throughout but sometimes controlled much like the emotions of Charlotte Gainsbourg. 

Melancholia

When the world comes to and end sometimes the most you can do is just build a fort made of sticks. Melancholia is the newest film from Von Trier starring Kristen Dunst. She plays a newlywed depressed and emotionally deprived woman awaiting the end of the world on her wedding weekend. Von Trier kept to the style of Antichrist with this one as we open with a prologue to the story all shot in slow motion and very cinematic. He keeps moments of pure aesthetic glory throughout the film mixed with raw, handheld emotion similar to Antichrist. Showing a more toned down approach to complicated characters rather than brutal ones in Antichrist we spend most of our time watching Dunst in thought or lack there of. This whole movie gives you everything you need to know about Von Trier's style, ignorance to the 180 rule, focus on story and emotion, a camera that travels and dances with the subject and landscapes that remind you of detailed Van Gogh's. He opens the doors to the possibility of art in hollywood, that film can be just as much about the form as it can be about the story and structure. 

Francois Truffaut - By Anthoney Baker

Truffaut was a film critic turned film maker and of the founders of the French New Wave.

For years Truffaut stressed the importance of the director as the most influential element of a film. Truffaut believed that the expression of the directors personal vision should be apparent in both the films style and the script.

Truffaut first feature film, The 400 Blows, shows this very presence of vision by the director. The film is largely autobiographical and follows a young man who is unwanted by his parents and has difficultly in school. These elements were lifted directly from Truffaut’s life as he was an illegitimate child unwanted by his mother and her husband and who dropped out of school at 14 to become self-taught.

The film the 400 Blows started the French New Wave movement in 1959. The film being so autobiographical helped to show that the vision of the director is one of the most important aspects in Auteur Theory. It was this very authoritative element that lead the way for other French New Wave cinema directors to truly be the Author of their work.

Being a self taught “Cinephile” and renowned film critic Truffaut truly understood film. He knew the importance of vision and ownership that was required to explore personal complex themes. The main character of the 400 Bows goes thorough such dramatic trials that the only way for a director to fully be able to portray this is to have lived it.

Nearly 20 years later when Truffaut made ‘Day for Night’ in 1973 the same theme of ‘self refection’ and semi-autobiographical themes are present. The film ‘Day for Night’ is a film that portrays the act of making film itself. It Chronicles the production of a film called ‘Meet Pamela’. The production is riddled with drama and set-backs as actors have nervous breakdowns, affairs and one night stands.

Much like the 400 blows about a young boy portraying Truffaut, Day for Night actually has Truffaut playing the film’s director. This plays on a very popular Truffaut theme of whether or not films are more important than life for those who make them. Truffaut believed that cinema was an art form and that directors should hold their work to such high regards.

In 1954 Truffaut wrote an article called “A certain Trend of French Cinema” in which he attacked the current state of French films. This article would later lead to the Auteur Theory, which stated that the director was the ‘Author’ of his work and that great directors, such as Renoir or Hitchcock, have distinct styles that are present in their work. Truffaut is credited with being an early innovator of The French New Wave as well as Auteur Theory.

Director Worksheet

Name: François Truffaut

Year Born: 1932, France

Background (education/upbringing):

Truffaut was an illegitimate child although accepted by his mothers husband. He was expelled from several schools while being passed around by his family. He spent the early part of his life largely unwanted. At the age of fourteen he decided to become self-taught. His academic goals where to watch at least 3 films a day and read three books a week. Truffaut exposed himself to countless foreign films becoming familiar with American cinema directors such as John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Nicholas Ray. Truffaut’s first feature film, The 400 Blows, is a autobiographical story lifted largely from his own life experience.

First Feature: The 400 Blows (1959) was met with critical and commercial success.

Most notable Films: Day For Night (1973)

Genre’s Explored: Romantic Drama (Jules and Jim, 1962) Personal reflection (Day for Night, 1973) Private-guilt vs. Public innocence (Confidentially Yours, 1983)

Stylistic Tendencies: Black and White, Portrayal of Realism

Typical Content: Truffaut explored a wide range of subject matter, from Gangsters (Shoot the Piano Player) to the Female Detective (Confidentially Yours)

Awards & accolades: Truffaut received the Best Director award for the 400 Blows from the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Writing. Day for Night won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1973.

Long-term collaborators: Truffaut met Andre Bazin in 1948 at Truffaut’s film club. The two would become life long friends and collaborators.

Interesting facts/ etc: In 1954 Truffaut wrote an article called “A certain Trend of French Cinema” in which he attacked the the current state of French films. This article would later lead to the Auteur Theory, which stated that the director was the ‘Author’ of his work and that great directors, such as Renoir or Hitchcock, have distinct styles that are present in their work. Truffaut is credited with being an early innovator of The French New Wave as well as Auteur Theory.

The Last Temptation of Christ – By Anthoney Baker

Title/Year The Last Temptation of Christ - 1988
Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Martin Scoresese, American, 1942
Budget: $7 Million
Gross $8.3 Million
Synopsis: A retelling of the life and death of Jesus Christ.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: Religious commentary, Assigned Human condition to sacred beliefs.
Characterization/Dialogue: Strong epic dialogue, changed at times to avoid cliché, biblical.
Camera/lighting/editing technique: Very strange visuals of the trials and tribulations of Jesus Christ.
Political/Social Commentary: The untold story of Jesus Christ as if he was an ordinary man who was faced with impossible temptation and asked to lead the people as a messiah.
Historical Relevance/ Recognition: Heavily banned. Heavily criticized and outwardly hated by the religions community.
Random fact, Etc. This was Scorsese’s first film shot on “location” that is to say Morocco, not Jerusalem.

I feel this movie was deemed controversial right from the start because of the subject matter. A retelling and alternative version of the life of Jesus Christ carries with it a wave of controversy no matter how well it is executed. Because many of the elements in the film are not found in the gospels, this film was subject to many experts that bashed it for being insensitive and untrue to popular beliefs. This film was banned in Turkey, Mexico, Chile and Argentina, and continues to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore. This film also caused many protest and during a screening in a Paris movie theater a Christian fundamentalist group attacked the theater with Molotov cocktails severely burning those inside and damaging the church. A spokesperson for United International Pictures released a statement saying “The opponents of the film have largely won. They have massacred the film's success, and they have scared the public." (Wiki)

Again because this movie is about Jesus Christ is already carries with it the sense the controversy. Even if the film played it safe and just told a story of known, or popularly believed truths, it would be the subject of many non-believers who think this kind of story has no place in the mainstream. However, this story being a fictional retelling of Jesus Christ as a ordinary man who is faced with impossible choices as the messiah brings with it a largely uncomfortable message for all who are easily offended whenever Jesus Christ is mentioned in Cinema.

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” showed that there is a place in the mainstream for a dialogue about Jesus Christ. Although largely a violent film about the crucifixion or Christ (Hence the name
“The Passion”) these two films are largely divided because The Last Temptation shows Jesus is a much more abstract and uncomfortable light. I think if this story was rereleased today it would still carry with it the same baggage as the last time. However, I do wholeheartedly believe that world events in the last decade have changed the American perspective to be a little more open-minded about the artistic and good-natured way of showcasing something as controversial as the story of Jesus. It is important to remember that this story doesn’t outcry the Christian faith. It merely asks the question “What if Jesus was a real man, and ordinary man, who was told by God that he was the one to lead to salvation of the Human race? What would that be like for the man we know today as Jesus Christ?” Moreover, I think if the film was released today it would more than likely go largely unnoticed in the mainstream. I don’t think there’s a dialogue for this kind of story yet, nor will there ever be.

I can’t help but feel that this story felt a little “campy” in places. Yes, the subject matter is deep. Yes, I went into this movie knowing it was banned. I still can’t escape the feeling that the movie left me with a “so what” feeling. I know that underneath its heavily criticized and lambasted exterior there is a deeper story that asks “who was Jesus, really?” I just wasn’t able to extrapolate the deeper meaning as well as I wanted to because the movie was so thick with arrogance. I think those who hate The last temptation of Christ hate it for the wrong reasons. I think those who are disappointed in it are so for the right reasons.

This film is a prime example of a movie that should be viewed no matter what. No matter where you stand in the beliefs of Jesus Christ or Christianity this movie should be viewed at least once. Especially by aspiring film makers as it touches on a very difficult aspect of filmmaking that is hard to articulate. The aspect of “why we make film?”

THE ARTIST – By Anthoney Baker

Going into the Artist I knew I was in for a good piece of Cinema. As I already knew the movie had won the Academy Award for best picture, and that the Academy doesn’t just give out best picture to movies that aren’t good, except for that one time, I’m looking at you James Cameron. The Artist was classically good. Told through visuals and very minimal dialogue the story flawlessly tells the story of a silent film actor who fails the embrace change with the development of the talking motion picture. Perhaps history will show us that this failure to adapt in a highly technical field such as film making can either make or break you as a film maker. I can’t help but think that maybe in 50-60 years there may be a film about a filmmaker who fails to adapt the newest technology and insists on filming in his own stubborn way, hopefully not in 3-D. The moral of the Artist is clear as ever, fail to adapt and you may be left behind.

On the surface of The Artist there was a love story that I truly enjoyed. When the main character placed the beauty mark on the young actress’ cheek and told her that if she “wanted to make it she needed something to make her stand out” I knew that I was watching him create his own personal savior. After getting a little long toothed in the second plot point the Artist wraps up nicely and, just as expected, I left the theater feeling good, aloft with the buzz that only and good movie can provide. You know, the opposite of how you felt after watching Avatar.

SANTA SANGRE – By Anthoney Baker

Title/Year: Santa Sangre, 1989

Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Alejandro Jodorowsky / Mexican-Italian, 1929

Synopsis: Told through Flashbacks this story is about a young man named Fenix, who as a child while working as a child magician for a carnival watched his mother be brutally attacked by the carnivals strong man and winds up in a mental institution.

Narrative and Visual Keywords: Dreamscape, surreal, mental breakdown, alter-egos, murder, revenge, mystery, visually striking.

Characterization/ Dialogue: Minimal dialogue, English, Very dark characters who do not speak often.
Camera/lighting/editing technique: Scenes lifted directly from dreams or fables, haunting imagery of death and guilt, strong use of symbols.

Political / Social Commentary: Speaks out against organized religion, infidelity, murder and the macabre

Historical Relevance / Recognition: Originally NC-17 for Bizarre and explicit violence. Edited and re-released rated R version.

Notable Collaboration: Alejandro used his own sons for the main character. They played Fenix at different stages in his life.

Random fact, Etc.: This finl is often associated with a Horror film because of it’s bizarre violence, however, Roger Ebert as stated that “categorizing Santa Sangre is the Horror genre does this great piece of work a great disservice.

Santa Sangre is at times a hauntingly beautiful piece of cinema. Visually sticking scenes speak directly to the viewer as if you were participating in a dreamscape of the director. On scene is particular gave me chills as I watched it unfold. A circus elephant, loved by all in the circus, is dying. The main character, Fenix, cradles up to it and asks it not to die. After the elephant dies a funeral precession takes to elephant, in a gigantic casket to a deep valley at the edge of town. This valley is without a doubt symbolic to the valley as just on the other side or savage cannibals, no doubt representative to the village of the damned. As the casket is dropped into the valley the savages swarm the casket to savage it. This scene is just an example of how most scenes in Santa Sangre speak to a larger meaning.

The sound certainly helps to create atmosphere in Santa Sangre. Unfortunately, this move is about a Mexican Circus so the entire score if filled with high pitched, Flat, Brass, circus music. Imagine a mariachi band performing the bozo the clown theme. Now image it lasted two hours.

This film had amazing beautiful imagery, at times. More often than not is felt flat between major plot twists. However, for all of its shortcomings on story development I have to applaud the massively bizarre set-pieces. The Mother turned Martyr, who has no arms. The son, who goes on a killing spree because the mother controls his arms, is exceptionally strange. This film certainly got me thinking about what it possible in film making and the use of symbols and metaphors.

Jane Campion: Director and Visionary

Mychael Foster

Film Studies

Julie Verdini

Final

Jane Campion: Director and Visionary

Jane Campion was born April 30^th, 1954 in Wellington New Zealand. As a young adult she graduated with a BA in Anthropology, and in the early 80’s she started filmmaking. With a few shorts under her belt, “Peel”, “Passionless Moments”, and “A Girls Own Story”, she finally got to co-write and direct her first feature film titled “Sweetie” in 1989 which won the Georges Sadoul prize for Best Foreign Film, in addition to a numerous amount of other awards for this film.

Her background in anthropology shows immensely through her films by showing a lot of “primitive” cultures and spirituality, two things in common with the study of anthropology. In all three films I watched, there was at least one character attached strongly to faith or spirituality. Furthermore, this woman (Jane Campion) has an obsession with…well obsession. In “The Piano”, we have a mute woman whom becomes involved with an overly pushy neighbor whom trades sex favors for pieces of her beloved piano. In “Holy Smoke”, a man trying to “save” this woman from a cult gets sucked into a cult of his own…the woman he is trying to save. She uses Harvey Keitel again as one of the men obsessed with our leading lady Holly Hunter, which was a perfect choice since his character/performance in “Holy Smoke” was similar. She directs as if these movies are documentaries, not letting the camera leave the unwanted showcase, immersing the audience into these estranged lives of the unusual yet usual world that she is showing us. In the 3 films I watched, there is always a presence of local culture. For example, in “The Piano” Sam Neil’s character is neighbors with the local New Zealand natives called Maori, in “Holy Smoke” there is a heavy Eastern religious influence with the main character, and in “Sweetie” you can argue the local outlander cowboys living in Australia could be considered local culture.    

In “Sweetie” most of the shots are composed in such a way that encloses the characters in their surroundings making them feel small in a world with so much going on around them, or for a better word trapped. She tends to put the characters in small confined settings in which they evolve emotionally, for better or worse. She does a good job at mimicking real life problems and relationships with people. I like her because in these portrayals of intimacy, she tends to show the darker more complicated relations between troubled characters. How many directors can accomplish this successfully? I can’t think of many.

With the way all 3 movies end, I would say that something Jane Campion believes is “nothing can really be fixed unless something gets broken”, in conjunction with “sometimes the savior becomes the one that needs to be saved”. Her style is a melting pot of, sensuality, emotional darkness, and psychological torment with a dash of humor.  Time seems to stop when she isolates her characters, as if everything important is happening then. She loves using her main female leads as the narrator, bringing us into an even more intimate relationship with the characters.

It wasn’t until “The Piano” that she got Oscar recognition in being the 2^nd Female Director to be nominated for Best Director of a film. Even though “The Piano” was very beautiful, it stood out to me as unusual because the look of the movie did not embody what I would call Jane Campions style. “Sweetie” and “Holy Smoke” have a lighter feel to them even though tragic chaos is happening all around, whereas “The Piano” is very dark. Not only in the lighting, but more so the colors used and the lack of humor. In the other 2, humor is always there, but in “The Piano” she seems to try (and succeed) in making a full-blown drama. I enjoyed “Sweetie” and “Holy Smoke” for the dark humor factor and color that filled the screen.

It appears as if Jane Campion herself has had a few relationships like the ones I saw in her movies. At least it can be inferred since there is a reoccurring theme in the way she portrays these main characters. She generally uses a female as her main character even, which is a breathe of fresh air since you rarely see a female lead being the “hero” who saves the man. Jane once said, “I think that the romantic impulse is in all of us and that sometimes we live it for a short time, but it's not part of a sensible way of living. It's a heroic path and it generally ends dangerously. I treasure it in the sense that I believe it's a path of great courage. It can also be the path of the foolhardy and the compulsive.”

Director Sheet:

Name: Jane Campion

Year Born: April 30^th, 1954

Background (education):

Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand. She graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in Anthropology in 1975, she later got a BA in painting at Sydney College of arts in 1979. She didn’t start making movies until the early 1980s when she released a few short films and worked at the Australian Film and Radio School.

First Feature: Sweetie (1989), which won her recognition and awards.

Most Notable Film: “The Piano” (1993)

Genre’s Explored: Drama, Romance, Psychology, Obsession, Dark Humor

Stylistic Tendencies: Opinionated, love-obsessed, landscape, earth-tones/muted colors, portrayal of realism.

Typical Content: Generally we have a female lead who seems to distraught and someone always tries to save her, and in turn the man is the one needing to be saved.  Intimate secluded settings between characters (Holy Smoke) (The Piano) (Sweetie) which allow for emotional growth and obsession to become more apparent.

Awards: For Sweetie, which won the Georges Sadoul prize in 1989 for Best Foreign Film, as well as the LA Film Critics' New Generation Award in 1990, the American Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Feature, and the Australian Critics' Award for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress. For The Piano she won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, making her the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. She also captured an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1993 Oscars, while also being nominated for Best Director.

Long-term collaborators: She worked with Harvey Keitel in making Holy Smoke and The Piano.

Interesting Facts/etc.: She became the second female to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Director category for her film “The Piano”. She has directed 3 actresses in Oscar nominated performances; Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin, and Barbara Hershey. Hunter and Paquin won Oscars for their performances in “The Piano”.

Pedro Almodóvar by Michael Tunes

Pedro Almodóvar                                             

Year Born: 1949

Country of Origin: Spain

Background (education/upbringing):

Almodóvar couldn't study filmmaking because he didn't have the money to afford it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were closed in early 70s by Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera. From 1972 to 1978, he devoted himself to make short films with the help of of his friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In few years, Almodóvar became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of late 70s Madrid.

First Feature

Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980)

Most notable Films:

All About My Mother, Volver, Talk to Her

Major Influences: Inspired Spanish filmmakers and students of film.

Genre’s Explored: Comedy, Drama, Documentary, Family, Romance, Mystery, News, Thriller, Short, Music, Talk-show, Crime, Biography, horror, musical, sci-fi

Stylistic Tendencies:

Complex narratives, melodrama, strong elements of pop culture and songs, humor, strong colors, passion and desire. Family and identity are among Almodovar’s most prevalent themes.

Typical Content: Assassins, rapists, drama, humanity, humor, desire, lust, melodrama

Awards & accolades:

2003 Oscar for best writing, original Screenplay for Talk to Her

2007 Silver Condor for best foreign film, Volver

2003 Silver Condor for best foreign film, Talk to Her

Nominated for many Oscars, Silver Condor, Silver Ariel and BAFTA film awards.

Long-term collaborators: Alberto Iglesias

Interesting facts/ etc:

            Personal Quote: The characters in my films are assassins, rapists and so on, but I don't treat them as criminals, I talk about their humanity

Talk to Her

            Pedro Almodóvar likes to use complex narratives, melodrama, strong elements of pop culture and songs. He uses light and crude humor, loves to show strong colors in many of his scenes. Lust and desire are impacting elements in each of his films. Almodovar enjoys the complexity of family relationships to be torn and brought down through disaster, to show the humanity and emotions that captivate audiences; this aspect is among Almodovar’s most prevalent themes.

Almodovar style, vision and overall philosophy of his films show people who most would consider villains at a glance,  in respect are treated as people and dwell into their humanity and emotional torment they go through. Trying to pull the viewer in the hearts and minds of the characters.

In “Talk to Her” Benigno and Marco begin a relationship through common relations to those they care about that have the misfortune to fall into a coma. Lydia and Alicia. Almodovar wants the viewers to understand through his characters the warping of one mind and brutal events that affect the surrounding lives of those attached. One man being more joyful the other more darkened by the events that brought his girlfriend into the coma.

Almodóvar keeps bringing up his philosophy through the characters, in Talk to Her, one characters lifestyle is thrown apart, dealing with his deep relationship with the one he loves, and his new attachments to his new friend both bonding in their shared devotion to women who cannot return their affection. Almodóvar shows two paths through this hardship both men go through that become intertwined and turns out to be an interesting melodrama.

 

Volver

            Pedro Almodóvar is one of the only directors who, a quarter-century into his career, remains an international brand name, his every new film anticipated and talked about the way Bergman's or Godard's or Antonioni's used to be. Volver ("To Return") is his latest in a long run of wonderful pictures. In it, his once-kitschy obsession with color and surface continues to deepen into a big, bold, almost painterly style.

An act of violence early on lends the film some thriller elements, and there's no shortage of goofy quick-hide-in-the-closet farce, but at heart Volver is a straight-up domestic drama, almost a telenovela, with revelations, reversals, and tearful reunions.

Watching Almodóvar work, you have to have a high tolerance for melodrama to see past the apparent corniness of his plot twists. But even if you're allergic to cliché, don't roll your eyes too soon. This is lush, fertile, emotionally rich filmmaking that pulls you into the characters. The ideas tend to sneak up on you slowly, but the feelings jump towards you fast and strong. No matter how jaded a viewer you are, the idea of a dead mother—or any lost object of love—reappearing out of the past to make peace with the living has an archetypal force that's hard to get around.

Volver is a celebration of a way of life that's particularly Spanish. As much as it's a tribute to maternity and the feminine life force. It has a strong emotional bond to any female viewer of the harsh and sensitive ideas towards rape. Having close relationships to all parties, the characters are heavily intertwined and leading to a strong compelling story that Almodóvar wants to express.