Reed started out as a theater actor the 1920s, with Edgar Wallace’s troupe, and by the early 1930s he worked as a dialogue director for Associated Talking Pictures, and quickly rose to second-unit director and an assistant director. His film career grew under the collaboration of top leading producers such as Alexander Korda, Basil Dean, J. Arthur Rank and Edward Black. Reed’s directorial debut came with Midshipman Easy (1935) and Laburnum Grove (1936); both are noteworthy and mark the beginning of his venture into films adapted from books. The Third Man is based on author Graham Greene’s novella by the same name. Two other popular films by Reed, and personal favorites, are Trapeze (1956) starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Gina Lollobrigida, …show more content…
These rumors are untrue” (Grant 641). Orson Wells was hardly on the film set, he was only in certain keys scenes, and in mere glimpses, as he was indeed the missing third man in most of the film. Reed had to use his own hands in the cut-way scene where Welles is trying to gain his freedom from a sewage steal grate. Another actor almost got the part, “Robert Mitchum would have been offered the role of Harry Lime - despite Reed’s own preference for Welles - had Selznick not become worried Mitchum’s recent marijuana bust might deter audiences in the US Midwest” (Grant …show more content…
Krasker's masterful use of shadows, camera angles and close-ups perfectly reflected the pessimism and upheaval of post-war Europe. It earned him an Academy Award and continues to influence cinematographers” (TCM). Indeed, the acclaimed Australian born cinematographer as a young adult gained his artistic education in Paris and earned photography skills while studying in Germany, and finally returning to England to learn filmmaking. Not long after, Robert Krasker (1913 - 1981), by the 1930s spent much of his time moving up from camera operator to director of photography in England. Krasker was greatly influenced by German Expressionism of the 1920s and translated that to his style of film noir in the
In the film industry, there are directors who merely take someone else’s vision and express it in their own way on film, then there are those who take their own visions and use any means necessary to express their visions on film. The latter of these two types of directors are called auteurs. Not only do auteurs write the scripts from elements that they know and love in life, but they direct, produce, and sometimes act in their films as well. Three prime examples of these auteurs are: Kevin Smith, Spike Lee and Alfred Hitchcock.
McFarlaine, Peter and Ryan, Tom. “Peter Weir: Towards the Centre”. Cinema Papers 16:4 (1981): 6-22. Web. 2 May 2014.
The first movie I would like to concentrate on is the film that is considered to have started the development of the genre – M by Fritz Lang (1931). Born in Germany and originally starting his career there, Fritz Lang shot this film in Germany as well, before moving to the U.S. later in life. This film was also later translated in the United States in 1933 (Garncarz 219-25). Although, earlier in the 20th century Hollywood had already produced a number of films that had similar features to “film noir” (among them are Nosferatu (1922) and Sunrise (1927)), but which still were shot more in the stylistic traditions of horror (Wexman 49). This film (M (1931)) was also the first one to start a whole line of black and white movies with similar characteristics and techniques used in them. Although color movies have already taken their established place in the film industry, the decision to shoot films in black and white was a creative technique that provided films with a certain atmosphere and allowed using more denominated shadows and light accents. Everything in this film, from complex, maze-like narrative which includes crime, police and court and leitmotif as a background music to the shadows on the columns and in the windows and simple shots that presuppose something horrifying. Lang also explores an unsavory subject in his work which is now considered one of the features of “film noir” (Brégent‐Heald 125-38). M’s plot and narrative shifts from protagonist’s to antagonist’s point of view (the viewpoint of Hans and the cops trying to catch him), blurring the boundary between
One of the most prominent and influential directors in New Hollywood was Italian-American Martin Scorsese. His first major critical success, and what is often considered his “breakthrough” film, was 1973’s Mean Streets. This film helped to establish Scorsese’s signature style in regards to narrative and thematics as well as aesthetically. Scorsese developed a unique and distinct directorial flair to his films, with reoccurring themes, settings, cinematography, and editing techniques, among other elements. This led a number of film critics to declare Scorsese an “auteur,” similar to Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and other auteur directors of the French New Wave.
Film Noir, a term coined by the French to describe a style of film characterized by dark themes, storylines, and visuals, has been influencing cinematic industries since the 1940’s. With roots in German expressionistic films and Italian postwar documentaries, film noir has made its way into American film as well, particularly identified in mob and crime pictures. However, such settings are not exclusive to American film noir. One noteworthy example is Billy Wilder’s film Sunset Boulevard, which follows the foreboding tale of Joe Gillis, the desperate-for-success protagonist, who finds himself in the fatal grips of the disillusioned femme fatale Norma Desmond. Not only does the storyline’s heavy subject matter and typical character structure suggest the film noir style, but also Wilder’s techniques of photography and empty, worn-down settings make for a perfect backdrop for this dark approach at filmmaking.
The period of post World War I was a very important time period for Germany, it was a chance for Germany to make a new name for itself. Germany used this period to make advances in many areas, but on major one was the art of cinema. Before WWI cinema was fairly simple. However, when the opportunity arose after WWI Germany took it, and helped in making cinema into what it is today. After the war was over the German government knew it needed to do something to help its citizens, who were hurting. The government and military worked to support the local film industries. The borders were cl...
The German Expressionist movement was a number of movements that began in Germany during the start of the 20th century. It mainly dealt with poetry, painting, art and cinema. The success of expressionist films helped Germany seen as the most technically advanced in the world. The expressionist style can be...
The link between expressionism and horror quickly became a dominant feature in many films and continues to be prominent in contemporary films mainly due to the German expressionist masterpiece Das Kabinett des Doctor Caligari. Wiene’s 1920 Das Kabinett des Doctor Caligari utilized a distinctive creepiness and the uncanny throughout the film that became one the most distinctive features of externalising inner mental and emotional states of protagonists through various expressionist methods. Its revolutionary and innovative new art was heavily influenced by the German state and its populace in conjunction with their experience of war; Caligari took a clear cue from what was happening in Germany at the time. It was this film that set cinematic conventions that still apply today, heavily influencing the later Hollywood film noir genre as well as the psychological thrillers that has led several film audiences to engage with a film, its character, its plot and anticipate its outcome, only to question whether the entire movie was a dream, a story of a crazy man, or an elaborate role play. This concept of the familiar and the strange, the reality, the illusion and the dream developed in Das Kabinett des Doctor Caligari, is once again present in Scorsese’s 2010 film Shutter Island.
Elsasser, Thomas. "National or International Cinema.'" New German Cinema: A History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1989. 279-306. Print.
1959 was an exciting year in the history of filmmaking. An extraordinary conjunction of talent throughout the globe exists. In France, Truffaut, Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette, and Resnais all directed their first films, thus establishing the French New Wave. In Italy, Fellini created the elegant La Dolce Vita, and Antonioni gave us L’avventura. Most importantly, though, in America, famed British director Alfred Hitchcock gave us the classic thriller North by Northwest, the father of the modern action film.
Morality and ethnics are two terms that closely resemble one another. Morality and ethnic both have to do with the concept of what is considered as right and wrong. However, there is a distinct different between the two. Morality is the principle that concerns itself with what is right and what is wrong based on an individual’s personal opinion and thoughts. Ethnics are a set of rules that are considered as “right” and are set out by an external source. Two types of philosophical ethnics are deontology and utilitarianism. Utilitarianism focuses on maximizing happiness while deontology focuses on duty and rationality. If one was given the option to save the life of one person or save the life of five, how would one respond? Those who believe in utilitarianism have a different mindset as to how to solve this crisis. However, like any theory that exists, there are always strength and weaknesses to those theories.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
The Impact of German Expressionist Films Upon the Modern Film Industry. N. p. n.p ., n.d., n.d., n.d., German Expressionism and Its Influence on Alfred Hitchcock. Filmhistoryf13.wordpress.com - "Filmhistoryf13.wordpress.com N.p., 8 Dec. 2013. Web.
The Prater wheel scene packs everything that makes The Third Man (Reed, 1949) an excellent movie into a single sequence. There is a lot to unpack in the two and a half minutes, especially between Holly Martins (Joseph Coen) and Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Due to the overwhelming amount of formal symbolism in the film, this paper will narrow down to three aspects: the movement between the actors, the lighting, and the mise-en-scene.