Movie: 1931, Drama, 117 Minutes
Director: Fritz Lang
Actors: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustaf Grundgens, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Theodor Loos, Friedrich Gnass
1. How does Lang’s use of a variety of angles help create a general feeling of anxiety within the viewer?
Throughout the movie, I could not help but notice Lang’s distinct use of different camera angles. The first was when Elles mother becomes nervous when Elle doesn’t come home, and peers over a spiral staircase in desperate hope that she will see her daughter. Lang further illustrates this anxiety by incorporating a direct aerial shot of the staircase, which stresses the fact that Elles mother feels uneasy about her daughter’s whereabouts. I further researched this shot, and found out that Lang was the first director to put a shot like this in his movie – no wonder I felt so terrified! The second shot is towards the middle of the movie, when the murderer sees that there is a giant letter “M” in chalk on his back and realizes he is being followed. We first see his reaction through his reflection in a window, clever, on Lang’s part. In this way, we are able to see the letter as well as his stunned reaction. Then, we see an even more unique shot – at least for the time period. It is a close up of the murderer’s eyes, but only his eyes, as he frantically tries to figure out what to do. In this shot, we are able to see exactly what the murderer is feeling: pure fear.
2. What is the underlying irony in the movie?
Lang does an excellent job of capturing a seemingly hysterical reality as the town desperately searches to find the murderer. Mothers begin to accompany their children everywhere, people walk through the streets in fear, and, sadly, a simple act of kindness is suddenly interpreted as a suspicious ploy to kill. As news about the murderer becomes more prominent, hysteria overwhelms everyone in the town, including the police officers and the an underground group of criminals who are also seeking to find the murderer. It is this hysteria that causes the irony within the movie. In the beginning, our main concern is to bring justice to the little girls who were murdered. However, as the movie develops, our focus is taken away from the justice of the little girls because the people in the town are too busy blaming everyone else.
Movie: 2002, Crime Film, 124 Minutes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Actors: Alexandre Rodrigues, Alice Braga, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Douglas Silva, Seu Jorge
1. How is the gun used as a symbol in the film?
To me, the most important symbol in the film is the gun. We see the gun in the hands of gangsters - which is expected - but to see a gun in the hands of children makes us realize the role it plays in the society in the City of God. Children are forced to shoot their peers, and adults are left victims to shootings and gang violence. Thus, the gun serves as an obvious symbol for violence. However, we must ask ourselves: why do people kill in the City of God – and we will realize that it is not for the sake of violence as much as it is for the desire for both power and respect. When a younger Lil Ze gets his first gun and kills a handful of innocent people, we see that yes, he is killing for the sake of killing, but he also enjoys killing because it gives him power. As he grows up, Lil Ze uses violence to become one of the most powerful gang leaders in the City of God. We never see him without a gun. Thus, the gun symbolizes how violence, respect, and power are all connected in the film.
2. How well does the film embody the way-of-living in Latin American society during the 1970s?
The film takes place during a time where Latin America was going through something called the Latin American Debt Crisis, where Latin American countries became so poor that they could not pay off the debt they were in. Because of their debt, people in poorer areas turned to illegal ways of getting money, such as drug dealing. We can see in the film that drug dealing plays a huge role not only in gang life, but also in ways where people were able to make a living for themselves in an otherwise dying economy. Because of this business, people who bought drugs from drug dealers became drug addicts, which can be seen in Taigo’s character. Also, people turned to drugs to escape the hardships of gang life and the reality of being poor. The adobe houses, unsanitary supermarkets, and unclean streets are all parts of the mise en scene that show the quality of life people were forced to live by in the City of God. The film also places an emphasis on violence, and how people used it to gain power in the town. After scenes of intense fighting, Meircelles slowly glazes the camera over the aftermath of the previous scene. This is his way of emphasizing the important role it played in the City of God.
Movie: 1988, Italian Drama Film, 124 Minutes
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Actors: Philipe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin
1. How does the final scene reflect certain aspects in the history of Italian cinema?
In the final scene of Cinema Paradiso, Toto sits in a theater and watches a little film Alfredo put together for him before he died. As he watches the film, he realizes that it is all of the kissing scenes the church forced Alfredo to take out of the movies shown at the cinema. When Toto was a little boy, he used to watch Alfredo remove those kissing scenes because they were forbidden by the church. Even as a little boy, Toto found this upsetting because he feel that it took away from the film, which he looked at as a finished piece of art. Alfredo’s film reflects the fact that, as time went on, the church relinquished it’s hold on Italian cinema and allowed these scenes to be shown in theaters. Toto is truly touched by the little film because he appreciates them, and because they remind him of his love for cinema as an art form.
2. How does the soundtrack emphasize the theme of love?
The score in Cinema Paradiso is absolutely beautiful. It not only captivates the theme of nostalgia, but also emphasizes the theme of love in the film. The infamous track “Love Theme” is often played in scenes when Toto is with Elena, or when he is in the Cinema. However, the track is most beautifully composed in the final scene, when a watery-eyed Toto watches Alfredo’s film, which highlights his love for both his past and the cinema. We hear the track escalate as the film continues, and we see Toto get more emotional and the music gets more intense.
Wild Strawberries
Movie: 1957, Drama, 91 Minutes
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Actors: Victor Sjostrom, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Bjornstrand
1. How do the dream sequences in the film incorporate aspects of Freudian ideology?
Hints of Freudian theory can be found in the opening scene of the film, where main character Isak Borg goes to a house in Stockholm. He sees an old hearse up ahead, and then looks up to see a clock with no hands. Then, one of the wheels of the hearse gets stuck and coffin falls out. The hand of a corpse, then, tries to pull Borg into the coffin. Symbols such as the clock, which stands for time running out, and the mirror, which stands for Isak’s self-reflection, are used to indicate hidden feelings within Isak about his past, present, and future. The most important symbol, however, is the film’s title: Wild Strawberries. The strawberries seem to represent Borg’s problems, or the weight he carries from his childhood. However, we realize that Borg has made peace with his past in his final dream, when his first love, Sara, says to him: “There are no strawberries left. This is a part of Freudian ideology, which states that symbols in one’s dreams stand for real-life people, places, problems, and other things that might be on the dreamer’s mind. Bergman tends to rely on these symbols as a film technique because he uses them to convey Borg’s inner feelings.
2. How does Bergman use various camera angles in order to distinguish between Borg’s dreams and reality?
When Borg is in reality, Bergman tends to shoot the film with generic shots. However, when Borg is in one of his dreams, Bergman chooses to be a little more creative with his filming and incorporates close up shots and far away shots. This effect seems abnormal to the viewer, and thus we conclude that Borg is dreaming. This effect can also be created by moving the camera forwards and backwards in a repeated motion.
8 ½
Movie: 1963, Fantasy, 139 Minutes
Director: Federico Fellini
Actors: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee, Sandra Milo
1. Why did Fellini chose to shoot this film in black and white?
In the film, things are seen as either black or white; there is no color, and most importantly, there is hardly any grey. Thus, ironically, Fellini chose to film the movie in black and white because it enhanced the contrast of color in the film. Although the setting is primarily white or of a lighter color, the people in the film are usually dressed in black. This creates a contrast between the subject and it’s environment. Because of this color contrast, none of the scenes look washed out; Fellini understood that the contrast between black and white would be visually pleasing to the eye. Also, many of the actors have dark hair, which I’m assuming is because it creates more contrast with the white background on screen.
2. How does Fellini use camera movement to his advantage?
Fellini utilizes camera movement by following multiple subjects in order to gracefully transition from setting to setting. Instead of incorporating point-of-view shots, he usually stands from the side gently moves the camera from one side to the other, sort of like an onlooker. He keeps the subject of the scene in the middle of the shot; thus, the viewer can never loose focus or get distracted by things going on in the background. In this way, he uses moving objects, such as cars or even people, in order to drag the camera through the scene without any awkward shots or angles.
