Upon seeing Berlin: die Sinfonie der Großstadt, architect, writer, film theorist and cultural critic Siegfried Kracauer is said to have felt great discontent towards its absence of a conventional narrative, claiming that its superficial interest in the aesthetics of the metropolis failed to establish a connection among the portrayed phenomena by neither embroidering on the human element or presenting Berlin objectively detailed and geographically accurate. Looking at Ruttman's earlier work in Opus I-IV, his interest for turning abstract material into delightful, optical compositions are more obvious. It is in a similar way the metropolitan life is treated as a strictly aesthetic phenomenon in the symphony of Berlin. And by working with representational images, the film proved to have a wider appeal while still sharing the passive and static camera-work essential in his previous films. Personally, I feel that this quasi-documentary contains a highly present narrative that, through subjective angles and montage editing that don not compromise its objective cinematography, tells a story so clear it would put any Morgan Freeman voice-over to shame.
Reviews
7 Reviews
À Propos de Nice
(1930)
À propos de surrealism
9 April 2007
After scraping together enough money for a camera, it is said that the young film-fanatic Vigo set of portraying the 1920's city of Nice through inexperienced experimentationalism in a curious and clumsy way almost to the point of voyeuristic naivety. But then again, one might argue that such a viewpoint is more naïve than any you might encounter in the film. Through the inventive cinematography of Boris Kaufman, A propose de Nice describes life in the costal city with a subtle overtone of social criticism. As Jean Vigo reluctantly settled in Nice due to bad health, his discontent for bourgeois tourism is emphasised through its juxtaposition with the local working-class. The wealthy visitors lie annoyed and dissatisfied, roasting in the sun, while the local working class wait on them hand and foot with a smile and a cheerful attitude towards life. As they can be seen as death and the decay of man, the festival Mardi Gras dancers might represent the opposite through the life-giving consequence of female sexuality. More important, I believe the film displays a fairly accurate experience of Nice as that of the director through this delicate fusion of realism and surrealism.
Short Cuts
(1993)
Self-projective disgust
9 April 2007
"It was while watching "Short Cuts" I first realized I was gay" was my mate's initial response when I told him we were watching it in class. And no wonder, I thought, the way it portraits women. While the male characters come off as untrustworthy, egocentrical bastards with clear fidelity and emotional commitment issues, the female cast are subtly revealed as antipathetic, cold-hearted, kaniving parasites who use all external factors (their kids, carrier, other men etc) as momentum in achieving what they want for themselves. In all, the spectre of stereotypical LA inhabitants pollute every scene of the film up to the point where the closest the film come to a voice of reason is that of the clown, who as a profession conceals her true face for a painted on smile to be laughed at and ridiculed by strangers. Returning to the physical aspect of the man- woman relation, the female promiscuous behavior and casual exposure in contra-sexual context and the returning male inappropriate, innuendous and disrespectful attitude towards sex with their reluctant "significant others", made me realize I despise human nature all together. Though heavily exaggerated, the characters have features we all can relate to. I hate how the films I love make me feel disgusted by myself.
Visions of Light
(1992)
The importance of Cinematography
9 April 2007
Taking a stand for cinema's populist underdog, Visions of light reinstates the basic elements of importance in film in an age where the artistic merit is credited the director and the actors. Or maybe it merely tells an audience what every filmmaker knows so well; that the art of film would be nothing without light and the craft of capturing and animating it. Since the origin of film-making, cinematography has maintained its reputation of being a craft, long after the role of the director was given creative control. And with such a responsibility in management of physical and optical parameters, the creative expression of the director of photography is purely based on experiment through immense control. From Charles Lang being instructed to "put his shadows wherever he wanted, but not on the actors face" to David Lynch and Frederick Elmes discussing "how dark is dark", the art of cinematography is just as much about being an illusionist as just a mediator between production and aspection. In commentary to his "sketching of things in the dark" to the point of monochromism, John Alton summed up the spirit of cinematography in reminding us that it is not as much about the lights you turn on as the one's you don't.
Volver
(I) (2006)
Recurrence
9 April 2007
After watching any film by Almodovar, I always wonder why I liked it and rarely if. "Volver" revolves around some "Almodovarian" women, with their humane and approachable personalities of female strength and flaws, making their actions seem somewhat reasonable.
The film's setting is visually emphasized by the urban scenery of Madrid and the windmills on the dusty plains of La Mancha. And as it may well had been set elsewhere, knowing Almodovar, any reference to disillusioned windmill-fighting in La Mancha is as little coincidental as his Hitchcock-like use of camera angle to underline different views of the characters/plots. As several men have been killed by returning fires, it may be suggested that there has been some foul-play throughout the towns history, if the fire is seen as a link between incest rapes and passionate murders like Lynch does in "Fire walk with me". The rational protagonist fights fire with the purifying water that rinses the knife, freezes the body and wash away all sins. She is not as affected by the forceful wind that disturbs and wakes the dead, provoke fire and alters human behavior. Isn't it strange how certain characters never seem to fulfill their role? Like the emotional sidetrack of the film-crew leader, never developing. I guess that Almodovar must have a pretty cynical view on love, love being either unfulfilled or tainted. "Volver" is a beautiful composition of characters, events, colors and music that in truth doesn't need any analysis to be appreciated. I think the film would have been equally clear to me had I seen it without subtitles.
The film's setting is visually emphasized by the urban scenery of Madrid and the windmills on the dusty plains of La Mancha. And as it may well had been set elsewhere, knowing Almodovar, any reference to disillusioned windmill-fighting in La Mancha is as little coincidental as his Hitchcock-like use of camera angle to underline different views of the characters/plots. As several men have been killed by returning fires, it may be suggested that there has been some foul-play throughout the towns history, if the fire is seen as a link between incest rapes and passionate murders like Lynch does in "Fire walk with me". The rational protagonist fights fire with the purifying water that rinses the knife, freezes the body and wash away all sins. She is not as affected by the forceful wind that disturbs and wakes the dead, provoke fire and alters human behavior. Isn't it strange how certain characters never seem to fulfill their role? Like the emotional sidetrack of the film-crew leader, never developing. I guess that Almodovar must have a pretty cynical view on love, love being either unfulfilled or tainted. "Volver" is a beautiful composition of characters, events, colors and music that in truth doesn't need any analysis to be appreciated. I think the film would have been equally clear to me had I seen it without subtitles.
Rebels of the Neon God
(1992)
Rebel with a cause
9 April 2007
On a more obvious level of multiple layers, a crucial, cultural point of significance seems lost in translation. As Rebels of the neon god comprise the sense of urban alienation, tradition and cultural adaptation, secularization, the decaying city and loss of identity, the original title translates literally Teenage Nezha. And as implied by his frustrated mother, the main character of Hsiao Kang bares resembling "qualities" to that of the rebel god, born into a human family and in constant opposition. While most reincarnations of Nezha grow additional limbs for the purpose of eradicating their father, Hsiao's idle hands become the playground for the prankster god. Sparked by an act of force, the two main plots of the film intertwine, and are further fueled by the returning violence. After their encounter in the arcade, Hsiao can be seen playing the same shoot-em-up as the one Ah Tze played while sitting next to him, symbolizing a change in character and the unraveling of the revenge. The directors returning use of water as ever-present, controlling element of nature, suppressing spaces of confined and human, primal behavior sets up a hierarchy of command in the metropolitan chaos of Taipei.
Constructed realism; the art of faking documentary objectivity
9 April 2007
Through highly composed scenes of everyday objects, selected, arranged and lighted to express something beyond their mundane physical reality, photographer Perry Ogden pursuit his desire to raise awareness in an objective way. But what happens when a messy room is rearranged through strict scenography to look even messier? What happens to reality when it is enforced through manipulation? Is it beyond realism or just fictional realism? And does this really lead to an objective presentation of a photographers subject rather than just the photographer's subjective composition on objects? Like in a Jeff Wall image, the perfect detailing and significance of everything leaves the observer skeptic of the authenticity of the portrayed reality. Whit an intention to create such suspension, playing on the observer's expectations and presuppositions, this simulated realism can be a powerful tool. As for Pavee Lackeen, I personally feel it lacks a proper stand to have an appeal within the genre of Cinéma vérité while to much control lies within the reach of the director to attain any atmosphere of documentary realism. To turn an old phrase, maybe a thousand words are worth less than an image?
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