DFV363/Winter 2011

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

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.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

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

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.

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.