When we watched Orpheus in class, I thought it was kinda meh. Good not great... Weird reverse rubber glove shots? huh???
After the reading and the class discussion though, I saw many more viewpoints and sort of understood what the point of the movie was a little better. The thing that really interested me in the reading was the whole idea of poets/homosexuals having like this sixth sense for hidden symbols and signals and such. I really saw that in the movie alot and felt like Orpheus was special because he was a poet and being a poet means that he sees the world differently and more aware of the strange symbols everywhere. Going along with this, I really loved Orpheus' line when he is defining what a poet is..."someone who writes who isnt a writer..." I was just like, YEA, nailed it! I felt like that line caught the contrast and irony of the contradictory nature of this film. It just sounded like something Cocteau would say about artists and poets, where it doesnt really make sense and yet you know almost what he means in a cool and sorta cryptic way.
One point that came up in the class discussion that got me thinking was the point about Orpheus' falling in love with death meaning some brush with suicidal tendencies. I thought this was really wierd though because to me just the opposite seems true. Orpheus isnt topping himself because his life sucks, but is rather sort of learning to accept and be comfortable with the idea of death rather than hating and fearing it and trying to escape it or wish it was a dream. In the beginning, his life is in shambles after meeting his Death because he is scared of what ever is happening to/around him. By the end though, he has learned that Death is not something to be feared but rather something to embrace and accept. Once he has done this, he is able to live happily and go on living with Eurydice. This also plays into the contradictory and ironic, because when he runs from death he cant escape it, but when he loves and understands death he is free.
I could be wrong though, thats just what that topic got me thinking about.
What do you guys think?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Independent Lady??
In the movie Laura, the thing which draws all of the characters to Laura is her strength and independence. The article we read from Slant magazine discusses each of the men's individual attractions, however all of their views are unified by the importance of her role as an independent and strong woman who is talented, intelligent and sophisticated. We get views of her from other characters which show her as bold and happy and able to control things and get to the top of her field. So, while we think that she is dead, Larua has this aura of power about her that is felt deeply in the visuals of the film. The best example of this that I noticed was summed up really well in the "No place for a Woman: The Family in Film Noir", which is the portrait of her in her apartment which is so powerful and at the center of nearly all the shots while they are in the apartment. The portrait is just so huge and lifelike and displays this character that is being built up to be this incredible and perfect woman that everyone idolizes.
BUT, once she "comes back from the dead," we get to see that Laura isn't really quite so powerful and independent after all. This is when the fact that she is just this blank slate to which all the male characters affix their imaginings of the perfect woman comes to light. She is the opposite of a femme fatale. She wants to lose her current life and take up a domesticated life in a relationship with McPherson. Shots of her do not make her look strong, bold and in control, but rather as indesiscive and kinda mousy in my opinion.
BUT, once she "comes back from the dead," we get to see that Laura isn't really quite so powerful and independent after all. This is when the fact that she is just this blank slate to which all the male characters affix their imaginings of the perfect woman comes to light. She is the opposite of a femme fatale. She wants to lose her current life and take up a domesticated life in a relationship with McPherson. Shots of her do not make her look strong, bold and in control, but rather as indesiscive and kinda mousy in my opinion.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Third Man: Fiendish Irony and Orson Welles being too charming to hate
The reason I loved the film The Third Man is undoubtedly the amount of intense irony that occurs everywhere; in the story and dialogue, in the setting, in the music, and especially in the oblique camera angles and strange shots that are so compelling and make the movie so much more than just the lines of the actors. (Not to say that the actors aren't interesting or compelling, Orson Welles is the man!)
Generally, I have thought that it was a good thing that movies try and draw you totally into the story and really make you forget that you are watching a movie. The Third Man, however, really sort of makes a point of distancing viewers from the story in a lot of ways and pulling them out to say, "WTF? Thats really weird...Why are they doing that?"
The camera angles, for example, are just so off and angular that its really pretty much impossible to miss. I think that the odd camera work helps and adds to the story because it adds to the chaotic sense of confusion and isolation in the characters like Holly. We understand his lack of knowledge of the city, his not being able to understand what is being said half the time, and so these odd angles help to add to this weird confusing atmosphere that surrounds this character. The irony here, of course, is that generally to get a better and more in depth view of a character, you would naturally want a more straight and clear view of that characters experiences. In this however, Holly's experiences are confused and confusing, so a confusing angle is an ingenious way to sort of simultaneously deepen the audiences view of the characters and distance them from the film in odd way.
The setting that we enter would be one that I would expect to be well run and a pinnacle of the victors of World War II. Ironically, the reality is a ruined, chaotic world where terrible people like Harry Lime manipulate everything and exploit the weakened people of Europe and there isnt much the police can do to make justice a reality. Winning the war did not lead to a golden age(ish) for Europe like it did in America. The entire continent was destroyed. I hadnt really grasped this fact entirely and so I really found this chaotic setting of the beautiful city of Vienna to be an interesting eye opener
In the article "The Revenant of Vienna," they talk alot about Dracula and entering his "shadow world," which I found really interesting in relation to this movie in alot of ways. First of all, it plays directly into one of the major themes of the visual aspect of the film which is shadows and contrasts. The shadows are SOOOO important for making this gothic and dark feeling in alot of the scenes. Shadows even play a noticeable role in the plot of the film, with the shadowy figure of Harry Lime finally being revealed for example when Holly is shouting for the spy to come out of the shadows, or the huge shadows that he and other characters cast on the city and sewer walls of Vienna. Again, this is ironic because usually in movies, the things we want to pay attention to are the things where light falls, where we can see all the details. In this, emphasis is placed on the lack of light, on the lack of knowledge of what is really there, and on the confusion from not having the truth.
The article also talks about how Holly's arrival into the city of Vienna is alot like his arrival into this shadow realm, which I found interesting because before if you had asked me what the shadow world of the movie was I would say the Soviet section of the city. After all, this is where Harry Lime resides in the movie, its the place they are trying to keep Anna from (since she'll likely be imprisoned or killed), and I always thought that the Soviets are just generally supposed to be the bad guys in movies like this. It is not, however, just the Soviet sector that Lime lurks in and has power, and the "good guys" that arent on the Russian side of town arent really all that good in the end. So the better conclusion in my opinion is that the entire city is like a chaotic shadow realm.
Generally, I have thought that it was a good thing that movies try and draw you totally into the story and really make you forget that you are watching a movie. The Third Man, however, really sort of makes a point of distancing viewers from the story in a lot of ways and pulling them out to say, "WTF? Thats really weird...Why are they doing that?"
The camera angles, for example, are just so off and angular that its really pretty much impossible to miss. I think that the odd camera work helps and adds to the story because it adds to the chaotic sense of confusion and isolation in the characters like Holly. We understand his lack of knowledge of the city, his not being able to understand what is being said half the time, and so these odd angles help to add to this weird confusing atmosphere that surrounds this character. The irony here, of course, is that generally to get a better and more in depth view of a character, you would naturally want a more straight and clear view of that characters experiences. In this however, Holly's experiences are confused and confusing, so a confusing angle is an ingenious way to sort of simultaneously deepen the audiences view of the characters and distance them from the film in odd way.
The setting that we enter would be one that I would expect to be well run and a pinnacle of the victors of World War II. Ironically, the reality is a ruined, chaotic world where terrible people like Harry Lime manipulate everything and exploit the weakened people of Europe and there isnt much the police can do to make justice a reality. Winning the war did not lead to a golden age(ish) for Europe like it did in America. The entire continent was destroyed. I hadnt really grasped this fact entirely and so I really found this chaotic setting of the beautiful city of Vienna to be an interesting eye opener
In the article "The Revenant of Vienna," they talk alot about Dracula and entering his "shadow world," which I found really interesting in relation to this movie in alot of ways. First of all, it plays directly into one of the major themes of the visual aspect of the film which is shadows and contrasts. The shadows are SOOOO important for making this gothic and dark feeling in alot of the scenes. Shadows even play a noticeable role in the plot of the film, with the shadowy figure of Harry Lime finally being revealed for example when Holly is shouting for the spy to come out of the shadows, or the huge shadows that he and other characters cast on the city and sewer walls of Vienna. Again, this is ironic because usually in movies, the things we want to pay attention to are the things where light falls, where we can see all the details. In this, emphasis is placed on the lack of light, on the lack of knowledge of what is really there, and on the confusion from not having the truth.
The article also talks about how Holly's arrival into the city of Vienna is alot like his arrival into this shadow realm, which I found interesting because before if you had asked me what the shadow world of the movie was I would say the Soviet section of the city. After all, this is where Harry Lime resides in the movie, its the place they are trying to keep Anna from (since she'll likely be imprisoned or killed), and I always thought that the Soviets are just generally supposed to be the bad guys in movies like this. It is not, however, just the Soviet sector that Lime lurks in and has power, and the "good guys" that arent on the Russian side of town arent really all that good in the end. So the better conclusion in my opinion is that the entire city is like a chaotic shadow realm.
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