A WHOLE NEW WORLD: An Exploration of Foreign Films and Cultural Contexts (Year 1, 2022)
"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 TWO 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 two films was your favorite and why?
In a world where traveling to far away places is difficult and expensive, 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!
The two film choices I made were Sophie Scholl: The Final Days and Three Colors: Blue. The Sophie Scholl film originated in German, and Blue came from France/Czech Republic. I selected these two films since when watching clips or trailers, I became intrigued by the story they had to offer. For Sophie Scholl, after reading a blog post about her, her story became of more importance to me, and honestly, the film has changed my perspective of German culture during World War II now. I was under the assumption that most Germans persecuted Jews, however many saw the wrongs, and Sophie, her brother, and a friend were just a few of those. After watching a clip of Blue the colors and aesthetics of the film caught my attention. It was unlike any other film I had seen before. Although a challenge I came upon was understanding the story when the film was in French, it often became difficult to keep up with the events taking place.
ReplyDeleteRelating to cultural contexts, Sophie Scholl strongly represented the historical context and institutional context. For historical context, the film was centered around the risks German people took to make it realize that persecution of Jews was wrong. This side of the story is just as important in Jews freeing others, as it proves there is some good in humanity. The main event taking place throughout the film, is World War II, as a bombing raid is a prominent scene in the film. Relating to institutional context, the German society has placed strict policies on society, which are often defied. Propaganda of any type was not allowed, and if caught the President of the Peoples’, along with an assembly, would select a fit punishment. For the film Blue, a social context would fit best, as Julie is reacting to a horrific event that took place in her life, and learning to move forward, throughout the film. At the beginning of Blue, the audience witnesses a car crash, which takes Julie’s daughter and husband. This leads her to become suicidal and struggle in her life, trying to erase the past by selling her home and moving to a smaller apartment. Julie attempts to shut out the pain, even when it is affecting her and her health.
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ReplyDeleteIn Sophie Scholl, there is an image that has emotionally impacted me and stuck with me since seeing the film. At the very end of the film, Sophie is sentenced to execution. As a guard opens the door, the audience sees a bright room with a single guillotine in the center. I have never seen such an emotional image before, and it has stuck with me since. The contrast from a dark room to a brighter one, really emphasized the cruelty of the German regime, coming to life. Regarding characters, Sophie’s friend, Christoph, really stood out to me. As emotionally impacting as the film was, the concept that Christoph was given no mercy for having a wife and young children at home, really impacted me. It was amazing to see how he was willing to risk his life, just to create a better future for his wife and children. Regarding the film, Blue, the end of the film stood out to me most and was different than I’d ever seen a film do before. Throughout the film, we meet many characters, including the main character, Julie. A series of about 10 minutes of sliding panels reveal the lives all the characters are living, including the joys and dejection in their lives. I found this was an interesting way to end the film, as only music followed the scenes, and no dialogue or explanations were given to explain the events happening. As an audience of the film, I simply had to infer what was taking place, and do outside research after the film concluded. In addition, there was a repetition of a certain piece of music during certain parts of the film. It seemed every time the main character was facing a momentous moment or a climatic event took place, that this piece of music would play, I am still not entirely sure what it was used to represent, yet I did dramatize the film.
Out of the two films, I would say my favorite was Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, as emotional as the film made me, it was truly an eye-opening one. It felt like watching Schindler's List all over again, in a way where the film emotionally impacted me so much that I will have to wait a while to rewatch it. I feel all World War II films do this to me, as the stories they are telling are true and did happen to people. It is difficult watching the cruelty of our society, however, Sophie Scholl also represented the courageous part, and truly was an inspiring character throughout the film. I would recommend this film to anyone to receive a similarly eye-opening experience, yet recommend they bring tissues along too.
For the study of cultural context, I chose to analyze the films Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, directed by Marc Rothemund, and Life is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni. I chose these films because they both represent people defying the expectations of the time: Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. With Sophie Scholl, she defies expectation by standing up for her beliefs in all circumstances no matter what treatment she was subjected to by the corrupt government. In Life is Beautiful, the protagonist Guido Orefice defies expectation by using his imagination and wit to keep him and his family optimistic despite living in a concentration camp and being subject to cruel treatment. The story of Sophie Scholl distinctly follows a historical-cultural context through the use of real transcripts from Sophie’s interrogation. This makes it the most historically accurate and adds to the emotion felt during her final days. Through the use of authentic transcripts, the viewer was able to capture what an interrogation in Nazi Germany was like and see what Sophie, her brother, and many others were having to face. In addition, the film Sophie Scholl utilizes the stylistic device of color to portray important meaning and symbolism. No matter what, throughout the film, Sophie wore red against a backdrop of gray, symbolizing how she had a presence that interrupted the accustomed world and would remain to be remembered. In addition, the Nazi flags and banners, as well as the outfit of the judge, were bright red. This represents how their government was truly corrupt, however, they viewed Sophie as corrupt for her beliefs and actions. The desaturated color in every other aspect of the film portrays struggle and depression with the corrupted implemented government denying the beliefs of all others in and outside the community. Life is Beautiful also follows a historical-cultural context as it takes place during a significant point in history: the Holocaust. With this, the director made distinct choices to accurately represent aspects of concentration and death camps, as well as how their world was infiltrated. This adds emotion to the story and represents the power that the protagonist holds for remaining optimistic and imaginative. Not only does this film follow a historical context, but it also follows a social context for this exact reason. Throughout the film, Guido Orefice is tested as he becomes separated from his family and in a concentration camp. His strength can be found in this social consideration with how he defies the odds and makes sure to hold on to his wit through love and comedy. This not only defies the expectations of society, but the expectations of the historical context of the film, as it would be painfully difficult to maintain such optimism for life. This is what gives the film its most significant theme. Significance can be found in the theme that, no matter what citation you’re put into, life can still be seen as a beautiful thing to be cherished. By making this theme stand out to the audience, the viewer is able to take the same lesson from the film and cherish their own happiness. Out of the two films chosen for this study, my personal favorite is Sophie Scholl: The Final Days because of the power in the direction, stylistic choices, and cultural components. Displaying Sophie as strong and powerful in a place where her power diminishes makes it so that her legacy is represented and maintained. Her story is simple, yet powerful as the choice to act through inaction is what created the legacy that is represented lives on today. Facilitated by the manner in which she and her comrades stood in the face of death and held onto their beliefs, the film of Sophie Scholl is a favorite to be remembered.
ReplyDeleteI chose Sophie Scholl: The Final Days and Three Colors: Blue because I was interested in looking into Sophie Scholl after the L&L blog and I’ve been wanting to watch Three Colors: Blue and look into French culture.
ReplyDeleteI would put Sophie Scholl: The Final Days under a historical context as the movie and its story is based on a girl named Sophie Scholl who used her words through leaflets to spread anti-Nazi messages during a time where it could be deadly to do so, but she did so despite the odds to stand up to her government. As for Three Colors: Blue, while I wasn’t entirely sure where to place the movie, I felt it went better under the social context as it frames around the story after her family is taken from her in an accident that leaves her feeling withdrawn and isolated in her social environment until she reconnects with Olivier.
Starting with more of a play on symbolism for the title, Blue tells a sadder story of loss in which sadness is represented by blue. The indication of this play on the color can be found many times in the movie with blue lighting among other effects, even at the beginning when the daughter is holding onto blue tinsel outside the car window in the air. These things really emphasized the meaning of its title clearly for its audience. In Sophie Scholl, the character of Sophie Scholl stood out as she is the main focus of the film. Though she seemed nervous throughout the multiple questionings, she was able to put up a brave front when lying to the interrogator and eventually told the truth when her brother had confessed. When she was relieved of this duty, she was more confident and proud for what she had done, which the people around her saw as crazy, with her only concern at the moment was the safety of her family but otherwise was a person shown with no regrets of her actions and participation.
As for my favorite of the two, while I did enjoy both, I would have to go with Three Colors: Blue because of the storyline and growth of Julie learning to love again, but I did like the perspectives we got from Sophie Scholl and how she handled her fate.