A Cinematic Journey: From Classic Hollywood to Post-Modern Masterpieces
Posted on May 31, 2024 in English
Night and Fog (1956)
Key Players
- Director: Alain Resnais
- Narrator: Michael Bouquet
- Scriptwriter: Jean Cayrol (imprisoned at Oranienburg)
The Graduate (1967)
Key Players
- Director: Mike Nichols
- Benjamin: Dustin Hoffman
- Mrs. Robinson: Anne Bancroft
- Elaine Robinson: Katharine Ross
- Novel: Charles Webb
- Screenplay: Calder Willingham & Buck Henry
Themes and Techniques
- Leitmotif: Use of music to cue a character’s entrance or mood.
- Continuity Editing: A-B-C storytelling.
- Elliptical Editing: A-B-H storytelling, skipping over expected events.
- Musical Montage: Conveying the passage of time and repetition through match cuts and music (e.g., “April Comes She Will”).
- Oedipal Dynamic: Explored between Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, mirroring his relationship with his mother.
- Thematic Similarity: Circular construction and irony between the opening and ending shots.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Key Players
- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Writer: Arthur C. Clarke
- Dr. Dave Bowman: Keir Dullea
- Dr. Frank Poole: Gary Lockwood
- Dr. Heywood R. Floyd: William Sylvester
Technical Innovations
- Stop Motion: Frame-by-frame animation for realistic effects.
- Slit-Scan Photography: Used to create the wormhole sequence.
- Matte Painting and Rear Projection: Combined on the same negative for spacecraft interiors.
- Sound Editing: Focus on single, impactful sounds rather than layered audio.
Themes and Motifs
- Dawn of Man: Linking apes and humans, exploring the struggle for dominance.
- Jump Cutting: Creating a sense of disorientation and time jumps.
- Monolith: Representing an extraterrestrial force influencing human evolution.
- Sun and Moon Crescent: Symbolizing the eternal struggle between light and darkness.
Network (1976)
Key Players
- Director: Sidney Lumet (“lightning quick” director)
- Diana Christensen: Faye Dunaway
- Max Schumacher: William Holden
- Howard Beale: Peter Finch
- Frank Hackett: Robert Duvall
Themes and Commentary
- The “Golden Era” of TV: By 1955, half of U.S. households owned televisions.
- Satire: Employing irony to critique the media and society.
- Howard Beale: A throwback to the golden era, a “mandarin” of television.
- Max Schumacher: Representing ethical programming and the search for truth.
- Diana Christensen: Embodying a generation raised on television and its logic.
- Frank Hackett: The quintessential corporate man.
- Punditry vs. News: Howard Beale dictates feelings rather than reporting facts.
- Repressive Desublimation: Redirecting pent-up energy onto distractions like television.
- (Ersatz) Vox Populi: The audience’s desire for simplified narratives and easy answers.
Goodfellas (1990)
Key Players
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Henry Hill: Ray Liotta
- Karen Hill: Lorraine Bracco
- Jimmy Conway: Robert De Niro
- Tommy DeVito: Joe Pesci
- Paul Cicero: Paul Sorvino
Genre and Style
- Left Cycle Gangster Film: Maintaining audience identification with the gangster despite his actions.
- Right Cycle Gangster Film: Correcting audience identification by the film’s end.
- Gangster Films of the 1930s: Presenting a negative image of the American Dream.
- Film Noir: Exploring themes of morality, consequences, and first-person narration.
- Biopic: A biographical story using narrative conventions of the genre.
- Intact Nostalgia: Romanticizing a past the protagonist never had, a desire to escape class and abuse.
Techniques and Themes
- Freeze Framing: Pausing the visual while the narrator highlights an emotional shift.
- Retroactive Justification and Situation Ethics: Justifying actions based on circumstance rather than absolute morality.
- Steadicam Shots: Creating smooth, flowing visuals, often used for tracking shots.
- “Married to the Mob” World: Juxtaposing a facade of family values and Catholicism with criminal activity.
- Categorical Maxim: “Never snitch, never rat on your friends.” Homage to The Great Train Robbery.
Amistad (1997)
Key Players
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Producer: Debbie Allen
- Writer: William Owen (based on his book)
- Composer: John Williams
- Theodore Joadson: Morgan Freeman
- Roger Sherman Baldwin: Matthew McConaughey
- Martin Van Buren: Nigel Hawthorne
- John Quincy Adams: Anthony Hopkins
- Cinque: Djimon Hounsou
Themes and Style
- Intercultural Exchange: Leading to character growth and a more just society.
- Docudrama: Blending cinematic fiction with historical events.
- Allegorical Experience: Evoking emotional resonance through personalized storytelling.
- J.M.W. Turner’s “The Slave Ship”: Visual and thematic inspiration.
- Binary Counterpoint: Contrasting the nobility of the Africans with the contemptible behavior of some whites.
Fight Club (1999)
Key Players
- Director: David Fincher
- Author: Chuck Palahniuk
- Narrator: Edward Norton
- Tyler Durden: Brad Pitt
- Marla Singer: Helena Bonham Carter
Themes and Commentary
- Male Worth: Shifting from traditional measures of adversity and purpose to consumerism.
- Restricted First Person Narration: Limiting information to the narrator’s perspective.
- Unreliable Narrator: Creating a bond with the audience that is later shattered by conflicting perspectives.
- Post-Modernity: Exploring themes of fractured identity, waning affect, and the search for meaning.
- Bob: A metaphor for the crisis of masculinity.
- Tyler Durden’s Intrusions: Representing the narrator’s breaking points and descent into chaos.
- Nietzschean Philosophy: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Applied to the narrator’s journey.
- Turning Point: Bob’s death, leading to the reawakening of the narrator’s super-ego.
- Existentialism: Embracing the risk of death as a path to freedom.
- PR Ratio: Highlighting the increasing dominance of public relations over genuine human connection.