Event: A View of The King's Speech

The Landmark Theater in West Los Angeles plays a more diverse range of films than many commercial theaters. This includes quite a lot of European films. One of these that has been playing recently is The King's Speech, which was made in cooperation between the UK and Australia. The film fits a current trend, set in the UK between the two world wars, and focuses on the royal family. It is the story of the Duke of York who overcomes a speech impediment as he succeeds his older brother to become King George VI and leads the UK into WW II.

The film was shot beautifully. The use of depth of field, composition, and focal length in regard to spatial distortion was stunning. This is the sort of thing that often distinguishes a European film from a Hollywood film. Depth of field was used to isolate subjects, and was so shallow at times that it drew a significant amount of attention to itself, which is counter to the typical Hollywood film, but it was really pleasant to watch. Composition was used to support the story by exaggerating the space between characters or creating a visual hierarchy which supported an emotional or intellectual one. Wide angle lenses were used to create spatial distortion which induced a negative feeling about the subject.

The king's speech therapist was an Australian, hence the UK/Australia co-production. He was thought a fraud because it turned out he was not a doctor. But he never claimed to be a doctor and in fact was more effective than any doctor. He had got his education in speech therapy because, as an actor, he found he was good at helping shell-shocked WW I soldiers returning to Australia. He developed non-traditional methods which actually worked, instead of the ridiculous methods the king's knighted doctors provided. These doctors were simply "yes men" who would not give the royal family any answer they believed the family did not want to hear and were useless.

The film was melodramatic at the beginning. In fact, it was too melodramatic, to the point of nausea. If this film had one weak point and one strong point, it would be that many elements were overdone. This is a weak point because it was distracting and detracted from the story, and a strong point because it was visually beautiful.

More English Humor

I think that I will once again show how attached I am to Doctor Who and share with all of you, who do still check this blog occasionally, a parody of the show. It stars several British comedic personalities including Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English for those of you who need memory jogging) and Jonathan Pryce (Governor Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean).

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death

There's a Part II to this as well which you can find easily enough in the side-bar. Enjoy!

Last funny Ali G clip

hey i just wanted to share this ali g clip with andy rooney. i think its hilarious and shows a situation with someone who wont put up with him and loses their patience. i know we talked about in class how he can tend to prey on uneducated people to put up with his antics. well here is the reverse. anyways just thought this is hilarious and would be enjoyed. thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KglSPl7g14Q

Sorry for spamming

hey guys, sorry for spamming the boards, i just wanted to take a second to recommend a really good movie store called cinefile. Its a small independant movie store but has tons of international and independent feature. it is a great way to watch more obscure european movies or other movies from directors or countries we learned about in class that may be hard to find on netflix.

anyways, its Called Cinefile, its right off the 10 at the 405 on santa monica, really close to SC

http://cinefilevideo.com/

anyways, again sorry for spamming but its a cool little store with a huge selection which can also help any of u who have obscure movies to watch for your exams you may have missed diring the semester in other classes. enjoy!

..."A Serbian Film"

So, I'm really hesitant to share this one. But class is over, so I suppose I can avoid the scornful gazes. I had never heard of this film until a friend let me know about it. It's called, literally, "A Serbian Film". I will preface this by saying I have not seen this film yet, and I'm not sure I will- It premiered at South by Southwest in the U.S. this year, and I believe has only been shown in theaters late at night in Serbia. It is supposed to come out in the UK in a heavily edited form (over 4 minutes missing).

Anyways, the film is about a retired Serbian porn-star who is struggling to provide for his family, and when he is approached to star once more in a porn film, this time by an artsy, obsessive director, he accepts. Of course, it turns out all is not as it seems. And from there on the trailer I watched descends into some of the darkest corners of the human soul I have ever seen on film - on par or worse than "Irreversible" and "120 Days of Sodom" - and this was just a trailer...

So I will not attach a link to the trailer. If you really want to watch it, and I'm warning you, you can easily find it online. The Serbian government have been trying to outlaw the film, while the director claims its about the "molestation of the people by the Serbian government...it's about the monolithic power of leaders who hypnotize you to do things you don't want to do. I suppose you can decide for yourself, should you choose to see it.

It's certainly an interesting case study for censorship in Eastern Europe.

Hungarian Film - "Kontroll"

So...I thought I had posted this earlier, but apparently it never went through or something. Anyways, I wanted to share a film I have enjoyed for a few years now, but most people haven't seen.

It's a Hungarian film named, "Kontroll" (not to be confused with Control, another movie about the band, Joy Division). It was directed in 2003 by Nimrod Antal, who's actually become something of a big deal in the U.S for his action films - He directed the new "Predators", which was surprisingly OK.

But I digress. Kontroll is a dark, highly stylized and symbolic comedic thriller roller-coaster ride which takes place entirely within the Budapest subway system, the second oldest in the world (after London). Suffice to say, the locations and mood are amazing, and the film is really a gem in my opinion. It won tons of awards at various film festivals, including Cannes and Palm Springs. I own the DVD.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQnWCPMrII

French Hardcore Rap - Sniper

All the talk of French rap by Kaitlyn in class made me wonder if any of you guys had heard of this French rap group - SNIPER. They're somewhat notorious in France for their controversial lyrics, as well as their success in selling albums.

Here's a video (low-budget, it seems) for their song, "La France"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXWoTTTlvxM

Russian Response to WikiLeaks

While the world is finding that the United States may not be such an imperialist power seeking world domination after all, WikiLeaks has announced new plans. I'm pretty sure that the people who want to believe the U.S. is an evil entity will continue to believe so, regardless of the pleas by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to "deal" with Iran. Sweden is taking more action than the U.S. with a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange. Whether the allegations in Sweden are bogus are disputed. But what I personally find interesting is the Russian dynamic. The Russians have a history of dealing with these kinds of things with swiftness and brutality. Consider all of the journalists that have died in Russia over the last few years. My recommendation for Mr. Assange is that if he survives the Russians, he should go after the Mexican cartels next.

Rowan Atkinson Clip

So in case you didn't get enough British comedy from my group's presentation about the subject, here is yet another clip! This comes from Rowan Atkinson's (Mr. Bean, Black Adder) stand up routine that satirizes traditional Shakespearian theater and acting. In particular this clip mocks the self aggrandizing done by Shakespearian actors and also mocks the predictability of Shakespeare's plots. Though it might seem ironic that a professional actor mocks the very craft and most prized author for their profession, one must remember that Atkinson does not come from a super theatrical background because he studied electrical engineering in college!

It's a pretty funny clip, and if you wanted to watch some more excellent British comedy then look no further.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsBi6kmUS98&feature=related

Tastes

Since the last thing we talked about in class was how Hollywood interacts with European and world cinema, I thought that it would be appropriate to share an experience I had on an "international" flight to Canada on my way home for Thanksgiving. My flight was on Air Canada where they have those mini TVs in the back of everyone's seat. I was bored and not entirely ready to engage in anything too studious since my flight had left the terminal at 8am, so I went searching through the movie selections.

There were lots and lots of recent Hollywood movies (none of which I really wanted to watch) and the Hollywood "classics" that they offered were all westerns or too obscure and unusual-sounding from their descriptions to pull me in. So, I went to the Canadian movies. Most of them were shorts under 20 minutes, which I found slightly disappointing. I did see one short called "Sohni Sapna" which was very art-film-esque and was based around an Indian fairy-tale in which a man and woman fall in love, but she is of too high a class to marry him and is married off to another man, but every evening she swims to him until her clay pot (flotation device) is replaced by an unfired one, so she drowns. The feature that I saw was called Small Town Murder Songs about a Mennonite community where a formerly violent police officer has to deal with his past after a young woman's body is found.

While not European, I felt like these films could easily fit under the category of "world cinema" since they fit very nicely into Elsaesser's description of world cinema on p. 509, "an essentially ethnographic outlook, even where the narratives are fictional and stories drawn from legends or folktales."

I don't know where you could watch these films other than on the Air Canada flights, but if you do stumble upon either of them, I recommend that you take a look.

TV: Arab Music Channels

In my research for the group teaching project I ran into an interesting youtube video. Since we were discussing the Eurovision performances, this video seemed more than appropriate for the blog.

Our discussion about American influence on Television in Europe is also an issue in Arab countries. As Richard Gizbert explains in a mouth full of words, a lot of the music channels have been influenced by pop idols from the west, their music videos started to gravitate towards Arab music videos that did not carry Islamic values, now they're trying to change that with "Islamic Idol". Just by the name, you should already know what to expect--an "American Idol" spin off. Here's the link:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRgRWGFzbGI

I personally don't know what to think. It's interesting to see how a talent competition can be altered in a way to not only promote musical talents, but also religion! My only objection is that, if they were so concerned with the westernization of their music channels, then how is taken a westernized TV show format any more true to their culture? Then again, I can understand the opposition, where the format really doesn't interfere with representing themselves 100%. Considering how they want to represent their nation(s) 100%, did they forget about the women? How can you make such an attempt and only allow men to participate in the representation?

Waltz with Bashir: Avant-Garde Animation

I thought of the film Waltz with Bashir while we were discussing The District and the issues that its animated aesthetic brought up. During the discussion, it was mentioned that this film may have been jarring because we have been brought up to think that animation is for kids, as many of us have not been exposed to anything but American animated films, cartoons, or Japanese anime.

This film is one of the few animated films that I am familiar with that is not geared toward children, and furthermore, holds an emotionally tense narrative that revolves entirely around serious cultural and political issues. In this case, the 1982 Lebanon War.

Similar to The District, the aesthetic is unfamiliar for its dissociation from a light, child-geared plot; its story is does not include a touch of mature content, rather the serious, politically-loaded story lies at the opposite end of the spectrum. Furthermore the aesthetic does not resemble typical "glossy" animation, but an foreign, avant-garde look. When looking at this film through a critical lens, I would assume that this style has an effect similar to the animation in The District; the avant-garde style calls attention to itself and does not allow for a passive viewing experience. Personally, I was quite (happily) distracted by the aesthetic because I found the style to be so intriguing and aesthetically pleasing, as the composition of many shots are breathtaking and colored with a dark and gloomy palette matching the temperament.

The creation of the avant-garde look combines classical animation techniques with Adobe Flash cutouts, though many critics mentioned its close proximity to rotoscoping. At the end of the film, the animated style is replaced with live footage of the aftermath of the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut--an interesting conclusion, as Israel's responsibility for this is still debated today.

Waltz with Bashir is one of the most interesting films I've ever seen--I would definitely recommend this film to everyone, especially because it's so relevent to so many of our discussions. I first heard of this film through the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008, since then, I believe it has circulated festival circuits, recieving critical acclaim and several awards or nominations.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J9uoLMhMhs
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185616/

Certified Copy

Certified Copy is a new film made by Abbas Kiarostami. It's his first feature film he's ever shot outside of Iran which is a pretty big deal since he's considered to be one of the most significant authentically Iranian directors. I haven't seen the film yet but it seems very far away from his normal work. His films have been known for being long, depressing and hopeless. The poster for this movie already seems to be the exact oposite of all of these traits. It's bright, colorful and fun. His decision to make a film about Italy staring Juliette Binoche is bizarre and slightly disappointing; however, the film is supposed to be great!

Also, the film is a coproduction with Iran. Kiarostami's production company is working with Italian and French production companies in order to make this film.

French Government Cuts Film Funds

French gov't nabs $26.6 mil from CNC

Finance committee had wanted to cut $175 million

By ELSA

PARIS -- The French senate has passed a measure to divert $26.6 million from the film fund body Centre National de la Cinematographie to the state budget.

This year's healthy French B.O. results mean the CNC should receive an extra $234 million in 2011 from taxes on tickets, in addition to taxes on TV channels, VOD and film-related products.

The finance committee's Philippe Marini said that the $26.6 million axed from the CNC's 2011 budget will help offset the country's budget deficit.

One of the CNC's biggest projects is a three-year plan to earmark $168 million to digitize 1,500 screens in small cinemas.

The finance committee had previously proposed to cut $175 from the CNC's 2011 budget but faced widespread protests from France's film unions and industryites.

After the Wedding

There is a really excellent Danish movie called "After the Wedding." It was nominated for best foreign oscar but lost to another great movie, "The Lives of Others." I hate spoilers of any kind, so I'll keep a summary of the movie fairly brief.

The movie is centered around a man named Jacob who runs an orphanage in India who is facing large financial problems. Suddenly a wealthy donor appears from Jacob's home in Denmark who offers to bail them out, but demands that Jacob must come back to his home country to receive the money. Jacob leaves much to his frustration at missing one of the orphan's birthdays and returns home to Denmark where he realizes that the wife of his potential benefactor is his old girlfriend from years ago.

Without spoiling everything, the movie is very focused on identity and belonging. Jacob is confronted with the issue of where he best belongs whether in the foreign third world country or back in Denmark with people who need him there. The acting is really superb, the cinematography is great, and the whole thing is very excellent. If this sounds at all like the kind of thing for you, I'd say watch it. Netflix has it streaming, so you can always check it out there.

Here's the trailer, but it does the movie no justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lKCRdGXCeM

Economic Crisis and Nationalism

Well I thought it was pretty funny when I first heard of PIGS. That is to say Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, the four most economically troubled EU states. But the fact is that the EU is in a crisis and there is nothing funny about that. After all, crises have been used to usher in tyranny, such as Post-war Germany, when Hitler usurped power, gaining popularity by blaming the crisis on other groups.

The latest country to seek aid from the EU is Ireland, and that has had some political consequences for the state. But when people give you money, they can insist you absorb their ideas as well. This may not always be the best, but this is the consequence of making poor decisions. However, this can also be destructive, as the following impassioned speech asserts. I am reminded of a quote by Sir Winston Churchill that went to the effect: things work out well when you look after your own interests, but when you start telling other states how to do their business, things don't work out. It's a short clip. Enjoy.

Eden Log

Recently, for a bit of fun, I decided to watch a movie, called Eden Log. I had no idea beforehand that it was a foreign film.

Turns out Eden Log is a French-produced, French-language low-budget genre film, and although far from a perfect film - I must admit I enjoyed it and found it quite stylish, not to mention impressed by the production design, and boldly untraditional pacing.

We follow a man with amnesia, who wakes up in a big muddy underground pool, and must find his way to the surface, discovering all sorts of horrifying secrets and characters along the way. In fact, the film plays very much like a very stylish, patiently-paced video game. There is very little dialogue, but that actually plays to the films advantage.

Maybe all of you, like me, tend to forget that European nations don't just produce art films, and socially-conscious films - they produce genre films, too, just like the U.S.

If you like sci-fi suspense, you may very well enjoy this movie:

TRAILER:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv5lYKC2D74

The Kelly Family interview on Polish children's show

I stumbled on this worldly musical family- The Kelly Family when doing research for Monday. This is an interview done on a Polish children's variety show called "5-10-15" with two of the brothers in 1998. The interview is done in English, and dubbed over in Polish, so those of us that don't speak Polish can strain to understand it! They are a very interesting family and worth google-ing at least to see them perform, with the long 'hippie' hair and fun outfits.




I'm excited to see what the other teaching sessions will uncover!

The District, rappers

I have to admit I own this movie, so I've seen it a few times and attempted to show friends. I thought you might be interested to see what the rappers look like- this video is them doing it in the studio side-by-side with some of the 'cartoons'.

Broat goes hunting

I know we were talking about Sacha Baron Cohen being Jewish and having a very loose sense of humor in terms of Judaism. Here is a clip from Da Ali G show, i believe it's a deleted scene, but anyways his conversation while hunting at about 2:30 is a bit shocking. I haven't decided if it is funny or just too scary to laugh at, I was wondering what you guys thought about it? It is similar to what he says about what they do to homosexuals in his country in Borat the movie.
Enjoy? or not...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sT_5zKW96I

Special Event Summary — Lullaby

For my relevant public event I attended a special screening of the 2005 Israeli documentary, Lullaby, by Adi Arbel This film documents the mothers of Israeli and Palestinian mothers who have lost children due to the never-ending conflicts between Israel and Palestine. Some of the stories they tell are quite horrifying and disturbing, one mother’s child was only 5 months old and was killed when a stone thrown by Palestinians hit him. Other kids were killed in explosions, martyrs, ambushes, or fires. It is very unsettling how many people are either killed or injured due never ending violence between Israel and Palestine.

Although all the mothers still grieve over their lost children, some of them question whether or not it was worth it to have had kids at all because of the pain and suffering of losing a child. They all also say they still go out everyday and hope or think they might still see their child, running or playing at school or with other kids. I think most parents who lose a child anywhere in the world probably have these similar episodes and thoughts, however, I did feel like the mothers in the movie were very well composed when talking about their children, not to say they weren’t hurt and upset and that they didn’t love their children or care about them, but I think tragedies and loss of loved ones is probably so much more frequent in Israel and Palestine that the mothers of these lost children are fairly tough skinned. I don’t want to give the idea that they weren’t emotional about the loss of their children, many of them did have moments where they broke down and needed a second to stop and mourn their loss, but their was feeling that if this show had been made in America I would predict that most mothers would be much more hysterical over their loss just based on the fact that there are so many more tragedies in Israel I feel like people over there have to compose themselves in a much stronger way than we would in America.

Although this movie is a documentary, I think it is very un-cinematic. Before the screening there were several Middle-Eastern filmmakers who talked about the style of movies from that region and they are not at all like the glamorous Hollywood movies we are used to, and they are anti-consumerism and want to have almost an uncomfortable realistic style, however, this film really had no cinematic qualities whatsoever. In class we watched many movies that successfully had this realist, nit gritty everyday life style, movies like Lamerica, Caché, and the movie that ultimately reminded me most of this film Lullaby, Flowers From Another World. Again, the comparison is hard because Lullaby is a documentary, however, I do think that most documentaries can utilize artistic and cinematic qualities through camera angles, inserts, edits etc. This film was comprised solely of medium shots of the mothers being interviewed that almost never changed and the camera never moved. There were a few inserts, one of a mothers hand (which seemed out of place considering it was the only insert like that) and then another of a poem written by one of the mothers deceased daughter’s. These shots worked, however, there were so few of them they were almost awkward and it made the audience wonder why there weren’t more inserts. I think maybe you could argue that the film maker really wanted to leave you stuck in this room with just the mothers and not allow you to leave their feelings and emotions, however, if this was the case I think it simply didn’t work because the audience needed new imagery the 5^th and 6^th times we cut back to the same mothers talking about their loss.

Overall, this movie has a great message and a great purpose, to try and inform these two conflicting nations, Israel and Palestine, not only how much harm they cause to each other, but how similar they are to each other. When interviewing mothers from both sides of the conflict who have had such similar losses and lost children due to almost identical attacks you think they would learn how unnecessary and unproductive this ongoing fighting is. One mother is even quoted in the piece saying, “losing a child is such a horrible experience I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.” I think that is really the most powerful line in this piece and really hammers home what this movie is trying to tell to both the people of Israel and Palestine. I also think this movie has a very relevant place in our class in the way it tries to unite two conflicting nations, in so many movies we’ve watched about Europe in class they are about the relationships between nations just like Lullaby is.

Black Nights Film Festival (127 Hours)

Black Nights Film Festival hits the screens

TALLINN - The main program of the 14th Black Nights Film Festival, which began on Wednesday, Nov. 24, cements its status not only as one of the most important film festivals in the Baltic region but one of the most important in the world. Showing over 220 feature films, the festival offers something for everyone, from the hardened cinema fan to the curious bystander.

The International Competition EurAsia focuses upon cinema from Europe and Asia and will include a screening of the eagerly anticipated “127 Hours,” the latest film from the director of the Oscar winning “Slumdog Millionaire” Danny Boyle. Starring James Franco, the film tells the story of mountain climber Aron Ralston who became trapped on a mountain for nearly five days in 2003.

Acclaimed for its high tension (and a gruesomely realistic amputation scene) the film will be a sure fire success. Also look out for “Son of Babylon,” this year’s Iraqi entry for the Academy Awards that follows a young boy who attempts to find his father after he fails to return at the end of the Gulf War. It’s a moving and hard hitting tale about an important issue that is both brave and human. Other highlights include Essential Killing, Poland’s entry for the Oscars, which stars Vincent Gallo in a Kafkaesque tale of mysterious imprisonment and redemption and the multi award-winning Estonian feature “The Temptation of St. Tony,” the dreamlike film about a midlevel manager who begins to question the notion of goodness.

“The Temptation of St. Tony” will also be competing in the Tridens Baltic Feature Film Competition which looks at the very best cinema emanating from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Other highlights of the competition include the world premiere of “Pit No. 8,” a film set in a Ukrainian coal mining region now overcome with poverty that is a timely portrait of parents and teenagers trying to earn a living in abandoned coal pits. Other films include “Eastern Drift,” a film that is already being touted as one of the best Lithuanian films of 2010 after receiving hugely positive reviews after its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and “Jaguar’s Corner” (Dir. Andis Miziss, Latvia), a documentary that explores the relationship between a Baptist mission and the indigenous people of Bolivia.

The North American Independent Film Competition will focus upon those American Independent productions that have the best potential for distribution with new works that include “White Irish Drinkers” (Dir. John Gray, USA), a powerful coming of age tale set in 1970s Brooklyn starring Karen Allen, “Incendines” (Dir. Denis Villeneuve, Canada) a film which sees two siblings search for their middle Eastern roots at the behest of their late mother and “Year of the Carnivor” the first feature from Sook-Yin Lee, one of the stars of the controversial sex film “Shortbus.”

The director of the Black Nights Film Festival Tiina Lokk said: “The competitions bring together established talent and new directors who will take cinema into the future. It will be a great chance for the Black Nights audiences to see some truly exceptional films whilst giving those who work in the industry a chance to get an overview of the past year’s happenings on the big screen. And let’s not forget that the competitions are the tip of the iceberg, with Black Nights presenting many other excellent screenings, retrospectives and special events.”

The 14th Black Nights Film Festival will also provide the kick off to Tallinn’s hosting of the 2011 European Capital of Culture. On Dec. 4th, the European Film Academy will be presenting the 23rd European Film Awards in Tallinn. Hundreds of film professionals across Europe will be attending the annual industry highlight event, including huge numbers of film stars, to provide glitz and glamour in the depths of winter.

You can also look forward to some excellent documentaries, a focus on Human Rights films and the Vitamin Boost, a selection of films designed to give your system a jolt after you’ve spent the day in the cinema. And trust me you’ll be spending much of your time there. With such a great selection of films from all over the globe how could you not?

For more information about the festival schedule visit www.poff.ee

Interesting Blog

Today in class, we discussed stereotypes about muslims that were addressed in Borat. This happened in the film at the rodeo when Borat hoped George Bush would be able to drink the blood of every man, child in Iraq because he improperly believes that that all Iraqis are terrorists deserving to die.

Though Borat purposely exaggerates the stereotyping of Iraqis and muslims, many people in the real world do possess such incorrect view of how muslims really are. Below is a blog I found that seeks to erase the stereotyping of muslims by demonstrating how they are just regular people.

The blog is calls "Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things." The blog shows the wardrobe of everyday and famous muslims to highlight how they are real people who don't always wear burkas.

http://muslimswearingthings.tumblr.com/

Special Event: White Material

For my special event assignment, I attended a screening of the film White Material, directed by Claire Denis, which opened in New York last week (and opens in LA 11/26). The film takes place in an unidentified African country and is centered around the terror and devastation remaining after post-colonialism through the eyes of a white woman, Maria, and her family, who refuse to vacate their coffee plantation when they learn that civil war has broken out and that violent rebels are fast approaching.

As the both the rebels and the narrative progress, the film exposes the ideology behind the various tensions between the countries inhabitants. On many levels, the film attempts to humanize all inhabitants of the space, regardless of their actions. It does so by referring to the question of home—by acknowledging and at times, validating, each group’s sense of entitlement to this country. On one hand, the film communicates Maria’s right to her home, yet, it challenges this by depicting other groups’ sentiments towards the white population and additionally, their own hardships that they believe have earned them the right to control their ‘home’. While Maria’s stubborn refusal to part from her home is infuriating and unjustified, as it puts her family in grave danger, a series of flashbacks communicates her understandable ties, and furthermore, right, to her land and her home. However, during one scene, an African man tells Maria that the country “doesn’t like” her or her son, despite the fact that he is a native and born in Africa. Although Maria distinguishes herself and family from the “dirty whites”, it is clear that the sentiments and history associated with this skin color overshadow the individual. While the film refuses to point a finger by continuously communicating each group’s reasoning, these scenes do little to humanize neither any individual nor the terror of the event. For example, one scene depicts a group of rebel children sleeping in sea of stuffed animals, reminding the audience that these are just children and furthermore, they innocently feel just as entitled to their home. However, their actions can not be ignored nor validated; rather, this scene is one of many that expresses that each individual is a human and should be treated as such--which is something the characters cannot comprehend.

Overall, the film brought up questions that have lingered throughout many of our lectures this semester. After large-scale political change and centuries of power struggles, what is national identity? What is a boundary and who has the right to extricate an individual, a culture, or an ethnicity from a territory? Does a territory truly belong to anyone? And if so, who has the right to call their country ‘home’? While the film does not answer any of these, it proposes the question as one of duality. Given the fictional narrative and unidentified country, the film serves to remind us that these are questions that can exist anywhere at anytime--they should not be read as specific to an event or territory—they already and will always exist within each and everyone’s ‘home’.

Tomorrow, When the War Began

I was invited to a private screening of Tomorrow, When the War Began, which is an action movie made in Australia, co-produced by the United States (Paramount Pictures) and Australia. Although the film was successful in Australia since it is based on a book series that is widely known there, many focus groups around the world were really not receptive. I think that this is ironic since it is a teen action film. I feel like action is one of those genres that can transcend boundaries, especially when it is full of special and visual effects. After some test screenings in the United States, it didn't do so well, so Paramount decided not to release it here. They are releasing it in the UK though. After talking to people, I believe that the heavy Australian accent made the picture not as likeable in the States. I think that it is interesting that they are releasing it in the UK. Although English is spoken in the United Kingdom, it is still a different accent, but was still accepted. What does this have to say about Americans? To me it says that we can't accept something that we usually like just because it sounds different. We couldn't accept this action movie because of the dialogue. It was interesting seeing how the executives liked the picture, but all agreed that it would be difficult to distribute in the States. This reminds me of the reception and learnings we got from Borat. Although Sasha B. Cohen is portraying a foreigner, we all know that he is a Hollywood person; he is acting/impersonating someone else. How receptive would we have been of the satire if it were coming from someone that is actually from Kazhakstan?

I really cannot say much more of what was said in this public blog because of a disclosure statement that I signed, but I find it interesting that the UK was accepting of this film, while the US was not. This proves how important dialogue is in our films. Although there have been successful foreign films in the States, they have either been dubbed or subtitled. How would it have looked if we had subtitled or dubbed a film that was already in English? This makes me feel like we are close-minded, and cannot embrace a "different" English.

Here is some information about the film:
IMDB
Variety Review

(Group Teaching Project) Music: Lost in Translation

Would anyone be interested in focusing on music, in light of some of the discussions that have come up in our past few classes?

I was thinking about focusing on both the appropriation of American music in Europe, American's use of European regional music, and European regional sounds fused with music from other cultures....

What happens to the original intent/meaning behind music?

For example, what does it mean when themes and sounds rooted in hip hop music and culture is used by European musicians? Is the history of the music overlooked? Or does it carry associations with the original form and given its own significance in each culture?

I think this is also applicable in the reverse situation. What happens when a regional musical tradition is exposed to (not to mention marketed to) other cultures? For example, the Balkan sounds used in Beirut, an American group who may not understand the origins and meaning of the music.

OR the Roma Rap that fuses native culture and sounds with a contemporary, hip hop culture?

Is the meaning inherently "lost in translation". Can this be offensive to the original meaning of the music and native cultures?

Is music a transnational art form that is exempt from this type of criticism?

Extended Blog Post: Special Event Summary = "Enter the Void"

For my public event, I attended a screening of Gaspar Noe’s latest film, “Enter the Void” (2010), which was playing at the Landmark Theater in Los Angeles for a limited run. Although I have already briefly touched upon the film in a previous blog post, I feel compelled to come back to it with a more critical eye, particularly due to the fact that it is simply so completely different from every other European film I have seen in the past few months.

The film can be described as a an exploration of the interwoven themes of life, love, death and rebirth. These themes are delved into by following the protagonist, Oscar, a drug-dealing addict, through his present, past, and after-life. This all takes place mostly in Tokyo, and centers around his relationship with his sister and their parent’s death. Of course, this description barely scratches the surface of the intensely original audio-visual experience that Gaspar Noe has crafted, a film that is hard to categorize and even harder to contextualize.

Indeed, the film tends to defy useful comparison and contextual analysis with most other relevant European films today. Gaspar Noe, the “bad-boy auteur of French cinema” is known for making films that straddle the line between avant-garde art and narrative filmmaking. From the seizure-inducing, blindingly-cool and absurd opening credits, you know immediately that “Enter the Void” is going to be an unusual cinematic experience. It does not lend itself to obvious social, national or political analysis. The film is a bizarre hallucinatory sense-straining trip into a hellish neon nightmare-land, with little immediate connection to the real world. Somehow we end up emerging after nearly 3 hours, imbued with a feeling of rebirth, and a sense of love conquering death, but most of the audience is unsure of how they even came to that conclusion. At least the audience remaining that hasn’t already left the theater mid-film, overwhelmed or confused.

So, how do we place this film amongst the rest of European cinema? Do we chock it up to a bizarre random art film, an anomaly free of the implications of all that we’ve learnt this semester? Not so fast, if you really dig deeply, and look at the overall format and makeup of the film, some interesting thoughts emerge. First and foremost, Enter the Void is a film directed by an Argentinian-born French director, which takes place in Tokyo, and is populated with American, Japanese and French actors, all speaking in different languages. The film is the furthest thing from a national film – the content has nearly nothing to do with its location, which serves only as a provocative backdrop to explore the film’s themes. The film is, I think, a universal film, or to put it in other words, an example of global or world media. The story is meant to appeal (or at least be freely examined) by people of all nations, and the film bares little attachment to any national culture or context, French, American or Japanese. It is a film about people, about travelers, about the outcasts of any society. One could argue that any country could have made the film, although it certainly fits best within the European sphere, if only for its very liberal displays of nudity, sex, violence and drug use, which would be unthinkable in a U.S. film. In fact, the film is unrated. Furthermore, while I think the film will be greatly enjoyed by American audiences who appreciate art film, the film also maintains an intense European identity due to its complete and utter rejection of classical Hollywood filmmaking aesthetics. Can you imagine an American film in which the main character’s face is only glimpsed two times, and just for a few seconds? While one could say the film is marketed very narrowly (if it’s trying to market itself at all…) towards a niche art-film appreciating audience, it is also targeting a broad an international range of such film-lovers. This is made further obvious because it has to be one of the most expensive experimental narratives ever made, with a budget around $23 million. Even if you are not an arthouse fan, the broadly appealing and visually seductive graphic effects make it a globally attractive film. Anyone who appreciates this sort of auteur, experimental arthouse filmmaking can enjoy and relate to this film regardless of their nationality, gender, race and socioeconomic class.

Here is a link to the opening credits – they get more and more about 1 minute in, and then transitions into the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLlLH6xDTD8

And here is the official trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKRxDP--e-Y

Wende Museum

I went to the Wende Museum in Culver City which is dedicated to the preservation, acquisition, and allowing access to materials from Eastern European during the Cold War period. The museum’s name comes from the German word for wall. Among the artifacts in the museums possession is a 2.6-ton segment of the Berlin Wall painted by renowned wall artist Thierry Noir that is positioned outside the museum’s entrance.

The museum is fairly small with one main exhibition space on the second floor and an installation on the first floor. I spent the majority of my time in the first floor exhibit that was called “Facing the Wall”. It focuses on the 96-mile wall, which was the ‘frontline of the Cold War’ that prevented East Germans from escaping to West Germany. It examined the Cold War icon from the personal perspective; what it was like to cross it, built it, defend it and deface it. It takes the stories of a day visitor, an East German Stasi officer, a boarder guard and a wall painter.

The first section focused on a day visitor, who grew up in West Berlin and his father was a leader in the communist party. As a boy he visited East Berlin many times, buying items subsidized by the East German government. In his section of the room were things one would experience in boarder crossing; promotional tourist brochures, wax seals, various passports, pavement stones, the gate controller, stamps, a cabinet with official documents, subsidized items and various currencies.

The section titled ‘Behind the Curtain of the Stasi Officer’ displayed items in daily use of a Stasi officer at the wall. The was a briefcase of espionage devices, interrogation equipment, surveillance equipment, a sign with the motto of Stasi officer, an officer uniform and a video of an abandoned Stasi office post wall collapse. This Stasi officer was the man responsible for drawing the line through Berlin for where the wall was to be built.

The final section was titled ‘Protecting the Barrier’ which focused on a commander of East German boarder. He was responsible for securing the border and preventing an attempt of some East German to escape to the West. What I found interesting about this section was the facial recognition system that the major devised. There was a poster that had the blown up flashcards used to train boarder control in order to see who was using a false passport. The majority of them I guessed wrong because the faces looked so similar. There was one example I guessed incorrectly I thought was unfair because it was a side-by-side picture of twins.

Then there was an interactive computer screen with interviews of the four men in the modern day, retelling events from the past. This is where I learned of the wall painter Thierry Noir who grew up 5 meters from the wall. One day he was just overcome to paint it and later was asked if he was paid by the government to do it, which he was not. He said that it was not possible to make something beautiful that was meant to kill. His feeling of the painting of the wall was a symbol of liberty. In more recent history, photographs of his painted sections of the wall were used in advertising as a symbol of freedom.

This exhibit emphasized the complex and interconnected contradictory nature of everyday history. It was not just one event but years of time that affected many individuals. It showed that the wall as a place of employment and a place to be feared. It depicted the duality of history as the actual event and the personal experiences of the people that lived through it. The wall was a place where the realities of political ideology and personal experience came face to face. I believe this exhibit was relevant to our class in the personal nature of its telling of history and acknowledgement of the past with the unique perspective.

Event: War Photographer

On November 1, I attended the USC screening of War Photographer (2001) by Christian Frei. The event took place in the SCA building and was sponsored by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Los Angeles. Some representatives were at the event as was Christian Frei himself. The film was shown as part of a two-film event along with a Q&A with Frei in between the two pictures, War Photographer and Space Tourists (2009). Unfortunately, I was only able to stay long enough to watch the documentary War Photographer.

The premise of the documentary is simple enough. Frei follows the war photographer James Nachtwey, who is considered one of the world’s greatest war photographers, as he sets up an exhibit in New York with photographers from his travels around the world documenting war and poverty. To go along with shadowing Nachtwey, Frei interviewed others who worked in similar jobs or work along Nachtwey himself. An interesting part of the film was to see new correspondents, like Christiane Amanpour, who I have seen on CNN, talking about Nachtwey and his work. It helped connect the film to an American audience in a small way and it also showed another part to reporting disasters like war that we don’t always see during their news report. The film allowed the viewer to see the event just a little like these reporters and photographers see it. It reminded me of No Man’s Land, and how the media interacts and reports wars, especially when it touched how far a reporter would go to get their story and the question of when is something so horrible that maybe one should find a way to intervene and stop it. Is it really possible to take yourself out of the situation and just be an observer? Is that humane? That’s the dilemma that many of these reporters and photographers face.

The lasting impression I was left from this film was just a great admiration for Nachtwey to be able to continue his line of work. He sees so many terrible events but has such a devotion to document them to let the world know that he has sacrificed some relationships to pursue his dream. Nachtwey has to get very up and personal to the situation and the people to get the great pictures he gets to tell his story. All the horribleness he sees every time he goes on a shoot would mentally destroy a lesser person, yet it is so important to document for the world to see and realize what is going on in different parts of the globe.

Event: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy

For my event I watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the rest of the trilogy of Swedish films. The most interesting element in these films is the lead character Lisbeth Salander, a provocative woman who goes against all the traditional norms of traditional female leads. She acts as a tough and intelligent protagonist, yet unlike other Hollywood lead women, she doesn't ooze sexuality. The repressed sexuality of Lisbeth fits perfectly in these films that has key scenes addressing rape, sex slavery, domestic sexual abuse and violence. I see her as a stark contrast to the women superheroes portrayed in Hollywood who fight crime in high heels and tightened corsets. Lisbeth wears baggy clothing, has tattoos and piercings, little makeup and a short hairstyle. The film wouldn't be able to take modern issues of sexuality seriously if they prescribed Lisbeth into the archetype of traditional Hollywood leading women. By repressing Lisbeth's sexuality, the filmmakers are able to address the issues of sexual abuse more clearly.

What seems perplexing is the title of the films (based on the book series) referring to Lisbeth as a "Girl" when in reality she is very much a woman. Lisbeth, as a young woman, embodies the mature aspects of adult decisions, yet they label her a "girl." Perhaps the filmmaker/author is trying to give younger girls a better role model than the Hollywood stereotype. Lisbeth as a real role model would be a better representation of how to deal with situations that most girls face at one point in their lives by fighting back instead of always being the victim. The author equips Lisbeth with modern technology and computer hacking skills in addition to her martial arts background, virtually absent in any Hollywood films where men dominate the technical and athletic aspects of characters. By ascribing traditionally male aspects to Lisbeth, the filmmaker/author equips her with the strength and dexterity to take on her male counterparts.

The antagonists in the film are all men, however their sex isn't their advantage over Lisbeth, they are men in governmental positions, positions of power. The metaphor of the government raping the people and the men in the film raping the women, seems to be representative of how the Swedish feel about their government. In the Hornet's Nest, Lisbeth's father escaped to Sweden for asylum after defecting as a Russian spy. There is a strong political comment against not prosecuting a Russian spy for sexual abuse because of his advantage in revealing Russian secrets. Traditionally, Sweden has been a safe haven for people escaping their countries after committing crimes. It seems the Swedish reveal this discord in the film. Having a women, traditionally thought of as powerless, standing up against "the man" or the government, allows the filmmaker/author to voice the population's concern over political asylum seekers.

In the film, the defectors are the ones who run the illegal sex trafficking ring, bringing Eastern European women into Sweden to be systematically raped for profit. The film follows an investigation into the underworld that turns up many of the male governmental figures as clients with Lisbeth's father using blackmail to control them. The portrayal of trafficked women also speaks about Sweden's confusing prostitution laws which make it legal to sell sex but not to buy it and the many European women who are sold into prostitution in other European countries once they arrive in Sweden. These films comment on many of the social and political problems that the Swedish people face.

Event: 127 Hours

I didn't know until after viewing the blog posts, that someone else beat me to the punch. I'll try to stray away from the same topic.

I went to watch the Academy Award-Winning Director Danny Boyle's film, 127 Hours. I figured it would be appropriate in the context of European media, because Boyle is a British film/tv director. It made me wonder how a director of European decent identifies himself in Hollywood. Can we consider 127 Hours European cinema because the director is European? Or would we have to identify it as European cinema by looking at the story structure, aesthetics, production companies, and etc.? I think something can be found in the aesthetics and story.

Since the release of Slumdog Millionaire—or even before—Boyle seems to have started on a new aesthetic style. A type of style that is not typical in Hollywood mainstream cinema. The first five minutes of 127 Hours starts with a 3-panel display of different footage/angles (can also be seen in the trailer); even as the narrative kicks in, it returns to that same setup numerous times throughout the movie. If I were to identify Boyle's aesthetics, I'd say it's a very playful style. By playful, I mean he is very unrestrained to the systematic/by-the-book Hollywood aesthetic style--"oh you must have this shot, then this shot, then that..." I think since Boyle has now established himself as an award winning director, he has enough power/trust in the industry to do what he likes, which in turn allows him to be himself aesthetically.

It is the first film Boyle has written (ever) with Simon Beaufoy, who is also British. It is a very peculiar Hollywood style story, that clearly follows a three act structure; and has the perfect "high concept” style. On top of that, the story reflects quiet clearly on the American Dream: if you work hard and don't give up, you will succeed. However, at the same time having half the film take place inside the crack of a huge rock, is not very Hollywood. I couldn't help but compare it to No Man's Land, and the concept of immobility/isolation. However, what sets each film apart is the ending. No Man's Land has an unhappy ending, whereas 127 Hours doesn’t. From this comparison, I think it becomes clear that the story is much more of an American cinema story than anything else.

With these two points of comparison—aesthetics and story—I agree with what someone else wrote about Elsaesser concept of "double occupancy" in relation to 127 Hours. Danny Boyle definitely has a sense of double occupancy as a filmmaker. He is able to identify himself as a non-American director through his aesthetics, while also tackling a story that is outside of his national identity. As a result, he receives a hyphenated identity. I think we can obscurely refer to a moment in the film where one of the girls tells Aron Ralston (James Franco) “Oh you’re one of those.” Aron answers, under his breath, “No I’m not.” To me this exemplifies the concept of not being purely one thing, or from one region. And whether or not this piece of dialogue literally refers to Boyle’s identity as a filmmaker, I’d like to say it does.

Outside Event

A few months ago in October I went back home to Portland, Oregon where I went to a screening of the 2009 French film A Prophet at the Living Room Theater. The film was very well received with an oscar nomination for best foreign film, and it won the grand prix at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival among other awards. The movie is centered around a poor un-educated nineteen year old French boy of African descent who is sentenced to six years in prison and his gradual rises to power during his sentence. Unlike most other prison movies that I've seen that focus mostly on offering commentary and criticism for justice systems like in Cool Hand Luke and Birdman of Alcatraz, A prophet instead uses this setting and narrative device to discuss the issue of hybrid identity in France. The director of the film named Jacques Audiard even states that the goal of his film was to “[create] icons, images for people who don't have images in movies, like the Arabs in France.” In representing this unseen ethnic minority and criminal element within society, Audiard seeks to bring out the nationalities and criminal identities that France would rather sweep under the rug and ignore.

Though films like Im July and Flores de Otro Mundo rightly present some benefits from hybridized identity, A Prophet also details some negative externalities for having a multi-ethnic national identity because majorities will assert their dominance over the minorities. In this class, we have spent a lot of time about discussing questions and conflicts arising from shared national identities especially through the films of Lamerica and Zentropa. Lamerica presents hybridized identity as tragic through Gino's loss identity of his Italian identity, and A Prophet demonstrates another problem with shared identity because in a country with many multi-ethnic identities, minority groups are always pushed towards the periphery of society where they can only achieve and get ahead by wrong doing. This is exemplified in the main character named Malik El Djebena's (Tahar Rahim) whose African descent and criminal identity work together to define him as an outsider. This happens because French society is biased against prisoners like Malik and much of France is distrustful of foreigners. Thus society would not allow Malik a legitimate place in an honest job due to his outsider status, so he instead seeks advancement in crime which is an avenue that French society deems appropriate for foreigners and convicts. Rather than fighting against this misconception against prisoners and foreigners, Malik supports and embodies this stereotype by becoming a successful criminal. If France was more accepting of their multi-ethnic national identity, people like Malik would not be forced into the periphery and instead be allowed to enter into society to try their luck working in a traditional French occupation and lifestyle.

Analysis aside, I really enjoyed watching this movie. The story was great, and I was entranced by Malik's character and his story chronicling his gradual uprise to becoming an underworld boss. It's fascinating to study him as he gradually transforms from a young, uneducated kid reluctant to do wrong to the end of the movie when he leaves prison as cutthroat and confident with a parade of cars offering him protection. Additionally, the side characters have interesting narratives of their own that add to the story's depth and enjoyment. One such story happens as Malik's friend is eager to commit crime in order to secure more money for his family before he dies from cancer, and the second happens as Malik's initial Corsican mob boss gradually loses control of the prison to the Arabs. I'm not sure if A Prophet is better than the Oscar winner for best foreign film because El Secreto En Sus Ojos was also a great film, but A Prophet is at least just as interesting and fun to watch. If you are in the mood for a compelling and dark prison story, do yourself a favor and watch it.

teaching assignment

Would anyone be interested in doing research on the main sources of children's television programming in Europe?

Event: Cinema Italian Style 2010

On November 17th I went to the Italian Shorts Program at the Egyptian Theatre. These screenings were part of Cinema Italian Style 2010 presented by Cinecitta Luce and The American Cinematheque. What was nice about this night of the festival was that it featured six Italian short films-- each very different from the one before. They screened “Niente Orchidee,” by Simone and Leonardo Godano—where a bar owner makes a deal with the Mafia that proves to be dangerous for those around him, Michaela Cescone’s “As In A Whisper”—which focuses on a strange encounter between a man and a woman, who’s relationship is quite ambiguous at first, “Armandino e il Madre” by Valeria Golino—which features a romance between two teenagers in the MADRE, Naples’ museum of contemporary arts, “The Game” by Adriano Giannini—which explores children’s games in the midst of WWII, and “As It Should Be” by Davide Minnella—where an aging chef, who works in a kitchen that prepares final meals for prisoners about to be sentenced to death, passes on her secrets to a young girl. What struck me the most about “Armandino e il Madre” is that the romance featured in the short is between a French girl studying in Naples and a Gypsy originally from Naples. There aren’t very many references to the boy’s status as a Gypsy but it is mentioned in a joke from his younger brother once; this seemed unnatural to me considering all the tension surrounding Roma at the moment. The film was very sweet and funny but seemed a little idealized. I felt that ‘The Game” was one of the most realistic and poignant films of the night because while the majority of the film focuses on a silly game played by a group of Italian boys on the beach in 1943 the film ends with them looking out at naval tankers in the ocean heading towards the shore. This film shows both the idealized side of Italy-- with its beautiful beaches-- and yet alludes to the fact that the lives of these little boys would no longer be the same once the war reached them. Those were my two favorite films, but overall I was impressed by most of the short films shown. In my opinion short films are the most difficult to produce because so much must be said in such a short amount of time. Overall it was great to see another side of European film.