A WHOLE NEW WORLD: An Exploration of Foreign Films and Cultural Contexts (Year 1 Scholars/Instructors Only)
"Foreign films teach you a new language, but it's not the language you think. It's the language of cinema" - Vera Blasi, Academy Member.
One of the great rewards of watching foreign films is the infinite ways it can open up the world for you as a viewer. You identify with a character from another time and place. You share their thoughts and feelings--their hopes and fears. A sense of intimacy and humanity is created through the experience and we go from an "Us vs. Them" mentality to a "We are Them, They are Us" way of thinking.
This month, there are five films made by foreign directors on our screening schedule: Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (German - trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x14U3R3-dFE), The Pianist (Polish - trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFwGqLa_oAo), Three Colors: Blue (France/Czech Republic - trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxz-FQvRxbY ), Life is Beautiful (Italian - trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CTjcVr9Iao), and Slumdog Millionaire (India - trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q ). After watching the trailers, select THREE of the films that most appeal to and interest you and watch them. Then, respond to this blog below by addressing the following:
1. Name the films you selected and why.
2. For EACH, identify 1 - 2 cultural contexts you feel were most strongly explored (historical, social/economic, geographical, technological, institutional) and describe how it was the framing context in detail.
3. What images/characters/themes/stylistic devices most stood out to you in each of your three films?
4. Which of the three films was your favorite and why?
In a world where travel is currently so limited, we, as film students, can travel through the lens of a filmmaker's camera to worlds far away in space and or time. Take the journey. Learning about how other cultures express themselves through the medium of cinematic art not only teaches you more about other places and people; it teaches you more about the art of filmmaking as a whole. It teaches us more about ourselves and what can bring us closer together.
I look forward to hearing what you discovered on your journeys!
1. Sophie Scholl: It was so great to watch Sophie’s pasitific stand against Nazi Germany and was really inspirational.
ReplyDeleteSlumdog Millionaire: It was one of the few Nazi films for this month.
Three Colors: Blue because it’s a beautiful story and I just enjoyed the movie a lot.
2. Sophie Scholl: Historical context because it’s all about Nazi Germany and the people living in there. Institutional because Sophie and her brother are breaking the laws and facing the consequences for it.
Slumdog Millionaire: Social/Economic since it’s about a poor person getting a lot of money and the consequences and reaction of it as well as how Jamal’s life in poverty had shaped him.
Three Color: Blue - Social because it’s an exploration of grief in a social setting.
3. Sophie Scholl: There were a lot of muted colors in this film, Sophie wore red all of the time which is a color associated with freedom and rebellion. The Nazi banners were the same type of red as what Sophie wore and stood out equally as much, the red on those banners symbolized war and blood. I really liked Sophie and how strong willed she was.
Slumdog Millionaire: I noticed a lot of yellow saturation with the movie is showing the present, and less of it when there is a flashback. I loved the score in the movie, all of it were just great choices.
Three Color: Blue- A lot of, well, blue saturation and blue in general. There’s a lack of music at the beginning helps us focus on the trauma and the grief that is felt by Julie. Then the music appears as she begins to recover, and it’s everywhere when it does appear
4. Slumdog Millionaire since I loved the score, and the whole movie had me tense with anticipation and the tension was just great. I loved the tracking shots in this movie and how the violence was handled. I felt like the audience on “Who wants to be a millionaire”, rooting and hoping for Jamal to win.
1. Name the films you selected and why.
ReplyDeleteSophie Scholl: Sophie's rally against Nazi Germany was very fun to watch and made me want to root for her
Slumdog Millionaire: I had heard it was a very good and well reviewed movie wanted to compare it to other films
Three Colors: The entire film was very well made and was very entertaining
2. For EACH, identify 1 - 2 cultural contexts you feel were most strongly explored (historical, social/economic, geographical, technological, institutional) and describe how it was the framing context in detail.
Sophie Scholl: The historical context of Sophie is very present as in takes place in nazi germany and focusses heavily on the people impacted by the Nazi regime
Slumdog Millionaire: The economic and social responses of the main character to his newly gained wealth and how it impacts him and those around him
Three Color: Blue - the social impact of how grief impacts a society and the people within it
3. What images/characters/themes/stylistic devices most stood out to you in each of your three films?
Sophie Scholl: The use of bright and bold colors to push heavily on the ideas that the director was trying to present.
Slumdog Millionaire: The use of color to show the difference in time as well as the score which was used very well
Three Color: Blue- The film makes use of its namesake in both color and mood, with somber music and blue tones being used to convey emotions throughout the film
4. Which of the three films was your favorite and why?
I really enjoyed slum dog millionaire as the film was very captivating and had me rooting for the main character the entire time
1. I chose Sophie Scholl, Life is Beautiful, and Three Colors: Blue to watch. I chose Scholl and Life is Beautiful because they showed different aspects of Germany within World War II in unique ways, and I chose Blue because it was the shorter of the two musically themed movies, the other being the Pianist.
ReplyDelete2. I believe that in both Sophie Scholl and Life is Beautiful, the historical and social contexts are the most explored, as Sophie Scholl dived into the social aspects of the White Rose Resistance within Germany at the time, making it historical, and Life is Beautiful because of it's portrayal of events from the Holocaust through the eyes of a younger child, his father, and the fantasies that he created to protect his child.
I believe Blue leans much more towards the social context, as it is very focused on interpersonal relationships between characters in order to tell it's story.
3. Sophie Scholl: I noticed that the color red was only used in three places, Sophie's jacket, the Nazi flags, and the uniform of the judge. It seems to be used as a way to highlight the radicalism within both parties, not to say that Sophie wasn't right in her actions, but it is a strange connection for the film to make.
Life is Beautiful: The main thing that stood out to me was the portrayal of Guido's fantasies. While at the beginning his fantasies were allowed to run wild and free as the Jews weren't under as heavy scrutiny, he soon had to change tune during the Holocaust, as long as he was away from his son, where he still tried his best to make it all appear less scary for him while trying to get them both through safely.
Three Colors: Blue: Obviously the use of the color blue to denote Julia's lingering baggage from her husband, which was mixed along with excerpts from his music to drive the point home that despite appearances, she was not mentally well after his passing and as she locked herself away from the world.
4. My favorite was probably Life is Beautiful. I felt that the comedy was very good within the beginning of the movie, which helped transition it to the more serious setting, and was a helpful as contrast to the terrible situation surrounding the movie. However, the ending was a large punch to the gut in my opinion, but I am glad it ended on a higher note.
Sophie Scholl, Slumdog Millionaire, and Pianist, I chose them because they seemed to be historically accurate and the Slumdog Millionaire looked really cool from the trailer.
ReplyDeleteSS: Historical, institutional : it was based in facts from history and it was speaking to the faults of the Nazis in Germany. The use of the sky to show her beliefs and a higher plane stood out to my brother as we watched together. I noticed the dull colors and repeated instances of symmetry.
SM: Geographical, social/economic : it was focussed on Indian culture and the main idea was about the class of the protagonist. The cuts and camera movement seemed to be very rapid and shaky to show the chaos and tension. The concept of overcoming anything no matter who you are is overarching and by using the time cuts is drilled in to the audience.
P: Historical, social/economic : The setting and attitudes of the characters were heavily based on history and was demonstrating the society of the time. The main actor was very talented and the effects and props of the film seemed to be very period accurate.
I enjoyed them all. I loved how fast Sophie could react and dodge persecution, the flashbacks through time showed how his life lead to that one moment, and the Pianists dedication to live. I’m not sure which is my favorite, I enjoyed them all for different reasons. The stories and execution of the films were very fantastic.