Silencio Magnifico

I've never been a big fan of silence films. Nor have I ever been a big fan of Spanish films. However, this week I watched Blancanieves. I loved it. In fact, if this wasn't a silent film I might not have liked it as much as I did. Why? The cinematography is forced to reveal the plot. And the cinematography is beautifully done in this film. One of my favorite film ideas is taking a traditional story or fairy tale and putting a twist on it. Especially, when the plot of the original story comes together very slowly and there are connections in the plot everywhere. In this case, director Pablo Berger puts a Spanish, matador twist on the classic tale of Snow White, or in Spanish, Blancanieves.

Connections. This film is all about connections and finding them in every single part of the story. For example, and another one of my favorites of the movie, meeting Carmen's parents and then Carmen herself or as a young child, Carmencita. We'll start with her father, the famous matador. We see him getting dressed to go into the ring. The entire seen is shot with extreme close ups. Really extreme. To the detail of each thread and sequin.

The cinematography is huge when introducing these three characters, especially given this is a silent film. First, it's important to understand the background of Snow White. She was born into a royal family. Not exactly the case in this film. However, she still comes from important people, so it is important that the cinematography captures the elegancy of Carmen and her parents.

Anyway, we have the famous matador being dressed in elegant and sparkling clothing. The clothes of a traditional matador. Then we have just a magnificent piece of cinematography when he opens up his locket to look at his wife. The camera zooms into her face on the locket and the shot fades from a close up of the locket right into the actual close up of Carmen's mother, who is sitting in the stands above the ring her husband is about to enter. We see medium close ups of her, a beautiful woman who is also dressed elegantly. So far, both parents have been shown in close up shots to reveal their elegance, beauty and importance. After the ordeal with the bull and the birth, both the parents (whom yet are not parents but are about to be) are in the hospital, both with lockets of each other. So we get sweet and touchy emotions in there. As the dad dies, we see the grandmother of Carmen (La Abuela) standing over the dying father. The shot fades to black. When the shot fades back in we see the grandmother, dressing a young kid, Carmen, in a (what else?) elegant white dress.

So meeting each of these characters sums of the beautiful cinematography of this film and the amazing effects it brings. Each piece of the plot and each scene connects to another part of the film or the original story of Snow White. Might even watch this again to pick out all the connections in this film.

'Zero' Gender Walls

Zero Dark Thirty destroys gender walls. Female director, Kathryn Bigelow, creates one of the most talked about films of the decade centering on the ten year manhunt for Osama bin Laden. Very, very, very rarely do we see an action film such as this directed by a woman. Before the films release, we already knew that there would be talks about gender. After its release, these talks escalated on the back burner while the depiction of torture in the film took over as the controversial subject that was buzzing on the internet and eventually into the United States government. It is because these two coexisting subjects that I believe Bigelow shattered gender borders.

The depiction of torture directly effects the depiction of women in the film. Yes, you have the easy answers that support the feminism--confident, unique and smart characters (Maya). What really propels feminism in this film is how Bigelow challenges gender roles head on. In multiple instances, Maya is referred to as a "killer." Early on the "killer" references subtly challenge Maya's somewhat reserved and relaxed behavior. We see many examples of torture in the film, even in the first half hour. At first Maya is uneasy about the subject of torture. Her fellow analyist, Dan, says she can just watch the torture on tape if it makes her more comfortable. Dan asking this is vital because it fulfills the stereotypical man thinking the woman in the room can't handle something heavy like torture. Maya then demands that she is in the interrogation room when it happens. She demands this. Showing confidence and destroying a gender stereotype. Does this endorse torture? No. It depicts it. Does this make Maya a killer? No. She isn't a killer but her destruction of gender stereotypes increases with correlation to her demeanor.

In a tense scene where Maya's frustration begins to take over, she screams at the CIA director. Take out the dialogue in this scene and what you get is a room full of men taking orders from a CIA director and then some woman storms in. This scene is one of my favorite and one of the best scenes in the film. Maya obliterates gender roles completely with a very interesting line. "I'm the motherfucker that found this place, sir." Maya blurts this line into a conversation two men are having about a location. However, have the CIA director ask the question before Maya's line, "Who's the motherfucker that found this place?" You would assume, or the director would assume, that he is looking for the man who found this place. The actual line is Maya blurts into the conversation and the CIA director asks her, "Who are you?" I'll admit, when I hear the word "motherfucker" I think that whoever used the word is using it in reference to another man. Maya, in a room full of men, says that she is "the motherfucker." This scene encompasses what the whole film does, in terms of gender roles.

Maya is a character who is placed in a scenario that is dominated by men. She is in situations that men handle and tasks, like we see in the film, men don't think women are capable of doing. People do things at war that are hard to deal with. That's what Zero Dark Thirty is about. While people have focussed on the torture part of the film and whether Kathryn Bigelow supports torture, the film is more about feminism in war. Bigelow depicts torture, just like she depicts strong women in the CIA field. She uses both topics to depict one another. If she supported them, then one would win over the other and the film would lose its destruction of gender roles, its important depiction of torture, and lack a lot of value.

The Problem With Horror

Everyone loves a good horror film--most people do. I'm not too big of a horror guy but even for those who are there is always one common problem with the horror genre.
Is it scary?
If a film is advertised as a horror film we expect it to be scary when we go see it. If it is not scary then we discredit it as a horror film.
This week I viewed the Guillero del Toro film, The Devil's Backbone. As we see in the DVD cover to the left, one may think that the film is going to be a horror film.
Besides the ghost aspect, the setting may be the film's best shot at being a horror film. This orphanage that Carlos is put in looks creepy and is isolated in a desert in Spain. There is nothing in sight except this orphanage. This gives the film great opportunity for horror and suspense. However, I found more drama with some suspense.
The ghost aspect is great. There is nothing wrong with that other than it's the most unoriginal piece of horror ever. But everyone loves a great ghost story.
The genre of this film can be summed up with one quote. When Casares is talking to Carlos and says the name of the film. "The devil's backbone. Children who should never have been born." The last part is what Carlos is trying to figure out. He has just lost his father and is attempting to find our his purpose. He is at the age where he really begins to grow up. Therefore, I found the film more about Carlos and his internal journey rather than ghosts and fear.
Dictionary.com defines horror film as, "Motion picture calculated to cause intense repugnance, fear, or dread."
Dictionary.com defines drama film as, "A film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes."
By definition and my own opinion, I found that The Devil's Backbone is not necessarily a horror film, rather a drama film with strong suspense elements in it.

Rape Vs. Infidelity

This week I watched the fantastic 1993 New Zealand film, The Piano. It was a great film about a woman, unable to speak, that is sold into a marriage. This woman, Ada, speaks through sign language and her gifted piano playing. However, the man she marries, Alisdair Stewart, doesn't have enough room in his small house and doesn't let Ada bring the piano and it remains on a beach. One of Stewart's friends, George Baines, takes her to the piano on the beach so she can play it. When Baines hears her play he beings to develop an attraction to her. He begins doing various acts to help her and she--eventually--begins to be attracted to him. In short, there's a bit of tug and pull between the two but they end up making in love, and are caught by Ada's husband Alisdair. 
Ada and Baines have an interesting relationship. But I had the question asked about there relationship and "is it rape?"
I will say that the film is a feminist film. But rape? I wouldn't go that far with it. At all. Just because she is unable to speak, that gives her a disability and one can make the argument that Baines takes advantage of that. And he does, to an extent. But there is an extent and the relationship never reaches a point of rape. When the film ends, which man is she with? For spoiler purposes we won't say but for those of you who know ask yourself that, then ask yourself if their relationship was rape.
When Ada discovers she can't keep the piano, Baines is the one that takes her to it. When she plays he begins to find her attractive. She, at first, isn't in to him. However, Ada eventually realizes she misses Baines and goes back to him, which leads to sex, which Stewart witnesses outside the house. Therefore, it is not rape, it is infidelity.

The 'Right' Thing to Do

This week I viewed the 1989 film Do The Right Thing. An intriguing film about an African American named Mookie and his relationship with his boss, an Italian American, and the rest of a Brooklyn neighborhood. The films main points center around the movement for racial equality and racial justice. The title, Do The Right Thing, refers to the choices the characters must make to obtain the racial justice they desire.
But what is "the right thing?" When the film ends two quotes appear. One from Martin Luther King Jr. and the other from Malcolm X. The two quotes make up the ongoing conflict in the film itself.

"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral..." -Martin Luther King Jr. 

"...I don't even call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence." -Malcolm X

Dr. King believes that violence is wrong and that people should be passive in their attempts to receive equality. Malcolm X believes that violence can be used in self-defense. He says earlier in the quote that if someone in power has what you need and is acting oppressively than you must do what it takes to establish equality. These two quotes make up Mookie's story.

In the end, Mookie throws a trash can through Sal's window. He is using Malcolm X's quote and doing what he thinks is necessary to receive equality from his Italian American boss. I believe that Mookie did not do the right thing. However, I do think violence would eventually be the answer but Mookie's act is wrong. Mookie vandalized and ended up destroying Sal's property. Sal never really destroyed Mookie's property.
In my opinion, doing the right thing means doing what you need to do to achieve achieve this equal relationship with others. Smashing in a window isn't one of these things. Like I said, violence would probably be needed eventually because acting passively wasn't getting things done in Mookie's situation. An interesting point to think about however is this: were white American's doing the right thing as well? Depending on the perspective, white Americans weren't necessarily doing the right thing either. So how is Mookie supposed to do the right thing to those who aren't doing the right thing.

Shot Within a Shot Analysis

I'm definitely a fan of cult movies--when they're really good. I often feel that they are hit or miss for me.   And it's this way for a lot of people. It is known that cult classics can sometimes be relatively low budget films, making a cult film "so bad it's good," a term coined by critic Michael Medved. I'd say that's the case in the 1970 film El Topo.

The story this film attempts to tell isn't all that bad and it has certain cinematic qualities that all films desire. In particular, the above scene really caught me. There are a lot of close ups in this film that capture the intense emotions the characters are expressing. This shot, while it's not necessarily a true close up, does a fantastic job of capturing the emotions of the entire scene, of almost every character in this shot, the Colonel and one of his men. 

Throughout the movie so far (the first 22 minutes) there are, what some might call, cowboys, gallivanting through the desert, abusing and taking advantage of people and laughing at just how great they think they are. We discover that these men work for the Colonel. It is also hinted to us the the Colonel is an extremely powerful man and the most respected and important person in the film. 

This scene captures just how important he really is. The Colonel steps outside and the cowboys immediately stop laughing. A close up of the back of the Colonel slowly pans down to the shot you see above. The pan down shot reveals all the metals and weapons the Colonel has, revealing why he is so respected and powerful. While still staying with that same shot of the Colonel, we also see through that shot into another perfect shot, framed by the Colonel's legs. 

For starters, this shot does an incredible job of showing how great and mighty the Colonel is and how week and small the cowboys are compared to him. Then we get a great view of that face the cowboy has. Fear. That's immediately what one perceives. Altogether you get a shot within a shot, creating one cohesive shot that reveals a mighty ruler and his feeble servant who has been reverted to a small, desperate man on his knees in fear. 

Seconds and The Joker

Dystopias are common in a lot of movies. Many film plots involve a hero making the world a better place. Or a hero overcoming a villain creating a dystopia. This would be my idea of a modern dystopia film. However, this week I watched Frankenheimer's dystopian film Seconds and, while I do agree that it is a dystopian film, it was different from a dystopian film I would find today.
I am a massive Batman fan. As I mourn the news of Ben Affleck, I remain a fan of the Dark Knight and the Christopher Nolan film series. And my favorite film to watch is The Dark Knight. The Joker is one of, if not my favorite character of all time. My reason for this is because so much is packed into that character to make him the epitome of dystopia. He is a man with no emotions, carelessly burning the world down, he has no morals or values, and most of all is pure corruption. In The Dark Knight, The Joker takes the people of Gotham and uses them to corrupt the city. He pins the innocent and the guilty criminals against each other and in doing so creates a dystopia. Nolan uses characterization to enhance this dytopia. Unlike Frankenheimer's method.
In Seconds, a similar method is used in which a character, Arthur, is living in a normal world and becomes corrupted by wanting to continue living through surgery. When he is made a Second named Tony he feels trapped from the setting he is put in. Unlike in The Dark Knight where the dystopian world is created throughout the story, Tony is placed into a dystopia that already exists and through his characterization and experiences in this new world slowly realizes the dystopia he is living in and plots an escape. This method of creating a dystopian film is used as often in today's films but is still very effective.