Au Revoir Les Enfants and La Lengua de la Mariposa: A Closer Look at European Films
The films Goodbye, Children and The Butterfly’s Tongue both revolve
around the relationships between friends and between student and
teacher. Both films skillfully showed how each relationship developed
and blossomed and how each abruptly and sadly ended with betrayal.
However, the gravity and the context of the betrayal differ in both
films. In Julien’s case, his betrayal was unintentional. Perhaps his
glance was more out of curiosity and concern for his friend, Jean, not
knowing how a split-second glance can eventually lead to his friend’s
death. However, for me, Moncho was more accountable in his betrayal.
Though he probably didn’t fully understand the political situation
yet, the fact that he hurled not just accusations, but also stones
towards his teacher and friend, shows that it was indeed intentional
even if it wasn’t really how he felt. Even at his age, he already
knew the concept of right and wrong, and that by throwing stones and
hurling insults, he was ruining the friendship that they have built.
Despite that however, it was Moncho’s character that affected me
more. It was through his character that you can really see a
coming-of-age and sudden loss of innocence especially in times of war.
During the earlier parts of the film, Moncho was the typical innocent
and eager boy who was fascinated with everything he’s learning and
experiencing in his life. However, during the ending of the movie, we
see the destructive effects of politics and war on children. The last
scene is a powerful and heartbreaking statement about the destruction
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...ng a favorable life, even for the non-Jews. It showed
how children, no matter how innocent they may be, are forced to become
involved in the war, forced to become sacrificial lambs even if they
have nothing to do with it.
In contrast with the fast-paced Hollywood movies, European films
progress in a gradual manner that allows the viewer to appreciate the
significance of each and every scene. There are no stereotypical
characters or clichéd storylines, European films depict life as it is
and show people as they are. There are no mindless special effects to
simply fill time or to distract the viewer from the story. It simply
relies on a story grounded in reality, on characters that viewers can
identify with and on simply cinematography that touches its audience
not only visually but through the heart as well.
In class, we watched a film called Ethnic Notions. In this film, it brought to light how devastating and powerful images can be. Due to exaggerated images and caricatures created pre-civil war era of black men and women, stereotypes were created and have negatively affected the black race in society. Caricatures, such as the Sambo, Zip Coon, Mammy, and Brute, have unfortunately been engrained in the minds of generations. So much so their stereotypes still persist today.
Grainge, P., Jancovich, M., & Monteith, S. (2012). Film Histories; An introduction and reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
BIBLIOGRAPHY An Introduction to Film Studies Jill Nelmes (ed.) Routledge 1996 Anatomy of Film Bernard H. Dick St. Martins Press 1998 Key Concepts in Cinema Studies Susan Hayward Routledge 1996 Teach Yourself Film Studies Warren Buckland Hodder & Stoughton 1998 Interpreting the Moving Image Noel Carroll Cambridge University Press 1998 The Cinema Book Pam Cook (ed.) BFI 1985 FILMOGRAPHY All That Heaven Allows Dir. Douglas Sirk Universal 1955 Being There Dir. Hal Ashby 1979
Small, Pauline. (2005) New Cinemas: journal of Contemporary Film Volume 3, Queen Mary, University of London
Babette’s Feast Like probably most of the people in our class, I grew up watching and enjoying Hollywood movies and have never really tried to appreciate European cinema. I initially thought of it as something boring or something that required too much analysis and interpretation. took the “fun” part out of watching a movie. However, watching the film, Babette’s Feast, certainly changed my viewpoint. Though it didn’t fully transform my view into instant admiration and outright appreciation, my viewpoint on European cinema definitely changed.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
German Cinema since Unification. Edited by David Clarke. Continuum, in association with University of Birmingham Press. 2006
The Trouble with Men: Masculinities in European and Hollywood Cinema - Phil Powrie, Ann Davies and Bruce Babington.
Cinema studies: the key concepts (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. 2007. Lacey, N. (2005). The 'Standard'. Film Language.
It was not until the mid 1930s that the brutish dictator truly recognized the potential power of media, where in 1935 a special funding was given to the production of Italian films which was used to open up film institutions like the ‘Centro Sperimenale di Cinematografia’ (CSC) film school, and ‘Cinecitta’ (Cinema City) studios in 1937 (Ruberto and Wilson, 2007). The development of these institutions sparked the appearance of early sound cinema, specializing in genres such as comedies, melodramas, musicals and historical films, but were all categorized as ‘propaganda’ and ‘white telephone’ films by many critics due...
SADOUL, Georges. Dějiny světového filmu : od Lumiera až do současné doby. Vyd. 2. Praha : Orbis, 1963. s.156.
The Disputation of Barcelona was held through a period of 5 days in June of 1263 where Pablo Christiani, a monk that was a former jew, and Rabbi Moshe, son of Nachman Gerondi, philosopher, physician and a Jewish intellect in the Middle ages, participate in a disputation in the Kingdom of Aragon. King James and his wife Queen Yolanda host this disputation hoping for the conversion of Judaism to Christianity to be easy and simple and recruit Pablo Christiani to represent the christians while Rabbi Moshe is there representing the Jewish. This film shows the constant fight of religions trying to take out the Jewish religion and force a conversion. While they tried it through a disputation they never did stop torturing the Jews and forcefully convert
African cinema has evolved in multiple facets since postcolonialism milieu. Post-nationalist African cinema has transformed into a more complex network that simultaneously incorporates both global and national issues alike. Modern post-nationalist films aim to aim to repudiate a homogenized notion African Cinema while highlight the diversities in African cinema, unlike antithetical early nationalist variants which portrayed a generalized African identity. These post-nationalist film makers advocate the need for utilizing new film languages and ideals suitable to the contemporary cultural, social, political and economic situations of different African countries. Certain developments have been instrumental to this gradual cinematic evolution
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.