A WHOLE NEW WORLD: An Exploration of Foreign Films and Cultural Contexts (DP YEAR 1)
"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 two 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/they was/were the framing context in detail.
3. What images/characters/themes/stylistic devices most stood out to you in each of your two 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!
I chose the films Slumdog Millionaire and The Pianist to analyze. I wanted to watch Slumdog Millionaire because my dad recommended it to me and while watching the trailer it looked the most interesting. I chose to watch the pianist because I love music and I relate to Szpilman in a musical way. I am also one-third Jewish and partly polish and I wanted to learn more about the events specifically my grandfather's ancestors may have lived through. For Slumdog millionaire, I feel that social/economic cultural contexts were explored the most thoroughly. Based on the title, the audience knows that this movie will involve answering questions to get money. Throughout most of the film when Jamal and Salim are young, they try to find ways to gain money to survive. Some of these tactics include giving tours to oblivious Americans and stealing. The characters’ interactions with other characters are also central to the story. Any of the cultural contexts could be applied to the Pianist, but the two I noticed the most were historical and institutional. The holocaust is a very recognizable historical event and The Pianist very accurately represented in the film what I could only imagine before. The setting, clothes, and makeup in the film placed the characters in a completely different era and the muted colors remain throughout the film. The context of institutionalism is very important to the film because the Jews and the Germans were heavily segregated at the time by the German government and both the Jewish and German military were placed on a different social hierarchy than the Jews. The stylistic choices that stood out to me the most in Slumdog millionaire are the lively music, non-linear script, and vivid colors. The music in the film is all in Indian and it is highly influenced by Bollywood. The script starts with the adult version of Jamal, then cuts to flashbacks from his childhood which take up most of the film. The colors in the film are almost all very vibrant and loud with warm and energetic colors. These stylistic choices come together to create a bright and warm film that, despite the challenges faced by the children, conveys hope from the kids' actions and perspectives. In the pianist, the stylistic choices that stood out to me the most are the lack of non-diegetic sound, the use of watching the events from the main character's point of view, and the impact of silence accompanied by visuals of the destroyed country of Poland. The lack of diegetic sound makes the events in the movie appear to be more realistic and conveys a feeling of emptiness and loneliness. Throughout the film, the background noise decreases gradually until the end of the film, where the only sound that can be heard is the footsteps of the people and the gunshots. There are parts in the film where the camera doesn’t include the main characters at all and the camera shows only what is happening in the society. The use of camera shots allows the audience to put themselves in the time period and makes it feel like they are really there. The audience has to come to terms with how they feel about the situation. Near the end, the main character is trapped in the destroyed country of Poland with nowhere to go, scouring for food and water. The camera at one point flies high in the sky to truly showcase how dystopian the country had become. My favorite film was The Pianist because it put into film what I had read about in history books and put my life into perspective. I realized that although I struggle sometimes, I am also extremely lucky to have been born in this era and in this country. I had a hard time watching even non-violent parts of the film because of how accurately it conveyed desperation and emptiness, but it was a film I know will stick with me for a long time.
ReplyDeleteThe films I chose are titled “Slumdog Millionaire” directed by Danny Boyle in 2008 and “Sofie Scholl–The Final Days” directed by Marc Rothemund in 2005. I chose slumdog millionaire because I was intrigued by the editing style and I was curious to see how the plotline played out as it was something I hadn’t commonly heard of in a movie. I chose Sofie Scholl because I am interested in WWII and I thought that the premise of her being a revolutionary during this time would be a compelling storyline.
ReplyDelete“Slumdog Millionaire” follows the global contexts of historical and geographical contexts. This is due to the fact that between the flashbacks and the present day, there is insight into how a majority of people live in India. We see Jamal and his brother Salim go through war and poverty without a father and have their mother killed right in front of their eyes. They are captured by people that aim to use impoverished kids for their monetary gain. They also live on a train for a while and make a living off of scamming people. These are the conditions that their country has put them in, forcing them to survive with pure wit and perseverance. In “Sofie Scholl–The Final Days”, the audience witnesses Sofie, her husband, and her brother–revolutionaries during Nazi Germany in WWII–get caught spreading anti-Nazi propaganda. The cultural contexts that apply the best here are historical and institutional. Sofie and the “White Rose” revolutionaries are fighting against the Nazi institution and the movie provides great insight into a period of time in history.
In “Slumdog Millionaire”, the stylistic device that stood out to me was the editing. I was very intrigued by the way they used flashbacks and montages to represent passing time. Throughout the movie, they even edited portions of the movie to show how they grow up with different actors. The flashbacks switch between Jamal in the present day being interrogated about how he won a gameshow in which he won millions of rupees. As he is questioned and asked how he knew all of the answers, the flashback goes through a pivotal and traumatic moment in his life that showcased exactly how he learned the answers to these questions. I was also a big fan of the coloring and lighting they used. Indian fashion and culture are known for their bright colors and I thought that the vibrant yellow tint over the film complimented it well. In “Sofie Scholl-The Final Days” I thought that the content was the most interesting to me. I thought that watching this movie would be more focused on the revolutionary actions they achieved in the “White Rose” but instead the majority of the movie was Sofie being interrogated and then going back to her cell. This movie is very different from any other movie I have watched within the context of Nazi Germany as it showed the brutal legal side of the privileged Aryans of the time.
My favorite film of the two was “Slumdog Millionaire” due to its fast-paced and emotional nature. While “Sofie Scholl-The Final Days” was also emotional, I found the plot to be repetitive and boring. I would have much rather seen what Sofie and the “White Rose” accomplished during the time they had not been caught.
The two films I decided to look at where Life is Beautiful, and Slumdog Millionaire both movies had some form of love in the story. With Life is beautiful the protagonist happens to run into a girl and fallin like with her. It Slumdig Millionaire it is about a kid answering questions trying to see an “old friend” the control context for both could be social/economic because both moves have to do with there main characters who are not the riches people in down about Aldo but have interactions and thing if solution’s only they could think of. The main characters in both don’t have the best clothes but in life is beautiful the man is able to support a family. It might also be helpful to have some historical knowledge to understand some scenes better. I liked life is beautiful. The dad was like a comic relief character and I can see myself acting like that in a similar situation.
ReplyDeleteThe two films I looked at were Slumdog Millionaire, and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. I selected Slumdog Millionaire thanks to an interesting plot that I wanted to see expanded further, and I decided to go with Sophie Scholl because of the films time period of Nazi Germany, which tied back to Schindler's List, a movie from the same period that honestly changed a lot of how I view films as a whole, and I feel was one of the most impactful parts of the entire class. In my opinion, both of these films fit historical cultural context the best, but they approach it in very different ways. Sophie Scholl shows a smaller time period in the middle of Nazi Germany, going into deep detail and focus to make the time period play a role in the story, while Slumdog Millionaire uses the passing of time with the goal of showing the events the children lived through, and the moments that made them both who they are. Sophie Scholl also follows the geographic cultural context, with the films location of Nazi Germany. The events that took place there only really took place there, with nothing else coming close, and the film wouldn't make sense in any other location. Slumdog Millionaire, on the other hand, while it does have elements of geographical context, has a far greater impact when looking at social/economic context. The entire premise of the film is based off of going from rags to riches, and most events in the film itself rely on money or social status to take place. Overall, within Sophie Scholl, I think what stuck out to me the most were the sets and lighting. Almost every scene manages to feel menacing and almost repulsive, and it helps highlight the almost alien environment that Nazi Germany was for somebody who wasn't a part of it. In contrast, the most interesting part of Slumdog Millionaire were the actors, and the characters they played. Watching the growth of these characters showed deep character development that to me was just really nice to see. Another thing of note was how looking back, you could understand how the characters came to be who they were based off of how you saw them earlier. A good example is Salim selling Jamals autograph. From the start, Salim was in it for the value and money, while Jamal saw something past that, specifically the autograph itself, and these character traits continued through the entire film. My favorite of these two films was definitely Slumdog Millionaire. I'm a big fan of well developed characters, and the way the film handled time, although confusing at a few moments, was pretty cool. Sophie Scholl was a great film, but I feel like the very thing that hooked me in the first place, the relation to Schindler's List, was also what bumps it down a bit for me. Although I assumed that going into it, the relation would keep me interested, I see in hindsight that it might have been a better idea for me to widen my scope, and look for a film that was different from other things I'd watched.
ReplyDeleteI selected the two films Life is Beautiful and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. I chose these films because they are both set around the same time period in World War II during the time of the Holocaust, however, the difference in culture and geography in the films creates a good contrast between the two. Two identifiable cultural contexts of the two would be historical since the films are set in a very significant time period, and geographical since one film is predominantly in Italian while the other is in Germany. The overall plot was able to frame the context pretty well with the concentration camps in the first films and the clear symbols of the Nazi regime in Sophie Scholl along with soldiers and the dialogue telling the audience when the film is set in. The two films show the struggles during the time of the Holocaust and their significance in both cultures as well as how they overcame these struggles. In Life is Beautiful, the father, Guido, convinces his son that their experiences in the concentration camps are a game to shield him from the terrifying reality of the situation. Sophie Scholl is a huge contributor to the formation of the White Rose in Germany, which is a Nazi resistance group. Geographically, we also see many elements and differences between a location where Mossollini reigned and a place where Hilter reigned. There is also a difference in language, which highlights the different cultures as well as their practices with the film in Italy often showing more frantic movement than the one in Germany where the pace appears to be slower. In Life Is Beautiful, the music score and the camera angles stood out to me. There is often diegetic sound, especially in the first portion of the film with sounds of rain, dialogue, or sometimes silence filling the space of music. But in the more dramatic and intense scenes, music is used to emphasize the mood and non-diegetic sound creates more emotion for the audience in these scenes. I also noticed the use of camera angles. One scene in particular that stood out to me was when Guido is trying to run away from the soldiers that want to kill him towards the end of the film, and he sees his son’s eyes through the metal door and just winks at him to say that it is all still a game. A perspective shot is used here with us seeing Guido’s son’s perspective through the small slit in the door. In Sophie Scholl, I noticed the saturation and use of color as well as the camera movement. The film has been desaturated in order to convey the melancholy and serious tone of the movie. The main pop of color is the color red, which Sophie wears for a large part of the film and can be seen with symbols for the Nazi regime. There is significance here in the director highlighting Sophie’s relationship with the situation and how she plays a significant part in trying to bring the horror to an end. With camera angles, the camera rarely stays still, moving with the characters in the film, especially focusing on Sophie. There are many times when the camera is shaky, which really brings the uneasiness of the situation further into the audience’s mind as well. I enjoyed watching both films, and I think my favorite might be Life is Beautiful since it gives a historical context that you do not normally see and the plot of a father trying to protect his son’s innocence is very unique and portrayed in a strong way.
ReplyDeleteThe movies i decided to watch was The Pianist and Life is Beautiful. I picked these two because they both take place during the WW2 era. They tell a story about survivors of the holocaust which during the time of both release dates was a rising interest in cinema. Both films heavily used historical and political context as it talks about one of the worst tragedies in human history The Holocaust. And political as it shows Germany's rising power and influence over Europe during the time. The Pianist is based on the historical story of Szpilman, a Jewish polish man famous for his skill in playing the piano. His life is changed when Germany invades Poland. the movie is mostly set during World War Two, depicting the Nazi invasion and the genocide of Jewish. The historical context of the film is important in understanding the events portrayed and the experiences of the characters. At the same time, The Pianist also covers political themes, such as the brutality of authoritarian regimes and the consequences of their actions. The film portrays the Nazi regime as an oppressive political system that seeks to exert complete control over people's lives, as well as the resistance of some individuals who fought against it. Life is Beautiful tells a story about just before the onset of World War II, a Jewish man named Guido Orefice marries a woman named Dora and begins a family in Italy. Guido, Dora, and their little son Giosuè are imprisoned and taken to a concentration camp as the war starts. Guido persuades Giosuè that their position is just a game, and that the first person to reach a particular point would receive a prize, in an effort to shield his kid from the horrors of the camp. While Life is Beautiful is set in World War Two and depicts the experiences of a Jewish family during the Holocaust, its cultural context is primarily historical. However, the film does contain some political elements, as it portrays the anti-Semitic policies of the Italian government under Mussolini, and the collaboration between fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during the war. Overall, while the film does touch on some political themes, it is primarily historical. My favorite out of the two films was the Pianist. Mainly how it perfectly captivates raw emotion in some scenes. Which i think made the movie more emotional. And for a war movie, it does really well to be more of a drama instead of a thriller.
ReplyDeleteI chose the 2 movies the pianist and Sophie Scholl: the final days because after watching Schindler's list I became very interested in how other movies would depict the horrors of the Nazis as well as how people survived and resisted the Nazis. Both of these films had a strong historical and institutional context as they are depicting what life was like during while world war 2 while under the Nazi institution. The movie Sophie Scholl the final days takes place in 1943 in the city of Munich Germany and it depicts how members of the white rose sought to resist the Nazis and how Sophie, her brother and Christoph were killed for supporting this resistance. The Pianist depicts how a jew named Wladyslaw Szpilman was able to survive the holocaust with the help of many brave people who all ended up getting killed by Nazis and Soviets. What stood out to me most In Sophie Scholl: The final days was Sophies Sheer determination to do what she knows is right and resist the evil Nazis no matter what. What I found most interesting in the pianist was Wladyslaw Szpilman's character development. In the beginning of the movie he is a confident man who does whatever he can to keep his family alive during the Nazi occupation. After his family dies and he is constantly made to survive hardship after hardship he becomes quieter, less proud and confident and more desperate. This makes it all the more beautiful when he finally survives the entire war and gets to go back to his passion of playing the piano. While it was very interesting to witness sophies determination I still found the character development in the pianist to be more interesting and for that reason the Pianist is my favorite out of these 2 movies.
ReplyDeleteThe two films I chose to do were "the pianist" and "life is beautiful". In both of these films an obvious cultural context was portrayed. This being the invasion and rising of the Nazis at the time of world war 2. However these are both given in different perspectives of the event, a polish perspective and a Italian perspective. In the pianist, we follow a Jewish-polish perspective of Władysław Szpilman during the holocaust. He is a really good piano player and his piano playing is noticed by a German officer who helps him escape the Warsaw Ghetto. The film is dark and grainy, with really long camera shots to emphasize the darkness of this period in time. I like how Szpilman is connected with the audience throughout the story when we are introduced with flashbacks and voice overs. This helps us connect with him to see his emotions and how he deals with his situation. "life is beautiful" on the other hand has bright and vivid colors, to show how despite the situation, life is still beautiful. In this story we follow the Italian-Jewish perspective of Guido who has a son. When the holocaust happened he tried his best to be happy in the moment and help his son to be happy by making games. These two movies show the two cultural context differences between Polish and Italian. The Italian perspective could be "this is sad however we can look at the positives of everything" and the Polish perspective could be "Depression, but there is hope". Personally my favorite movie was the pianist because of how the cinematography captures the moment. It adds realism with the gloomy colors and the perspective of Szpilman. I also love the powerful slow shot when Szpilman plays the piano in the Warsaw ruins, this represents the sorrow the Jewish people went through and how in any culture, music brings people together.
ReplyDeleteI picked the movie the pianist and the movie life is beautiful. to start, the pianist is a great reenactment of how life was druign the time of the soviet german takeover. it seemed like all hope was lost and theres nothing you can do. This pianist got very lucky as he was saved from death multiple times. In the movie life is beautiful, guito is a funny nice man who gets himself wife and a son but in the midst of all that the german soviet takeover is going on. the nazis take guito and his son away to a concertration camp. through the turmoil and terrible living conditions, guito manages to convince his son its all a game and he keeps him happy. guito manages to convince his son that its all a game as he hides him away and guito is killed. guitos son is met with an american soldier the next morning who takes him back to his mom. I very much enjoy these movies and they both consistantly show implications of how war effected the people of these times.
ReplyDeleteI chose to watch Slumdog Millionaire and Life is Beautiful. In Slumdog millionaire the cultural context of geography was extremely prevalent, as it was set in India and the culture and way of life heavily impacted the film. References to street vendors, celebrities, places, even the mention of gangs helped shape the movie as a whole and move the plot along. In Life is Beautiful, the cultural context of history stood out the most as the film was rooted in WWII. The film took place around 1938 and 1945, many references to the social and economic state of Italy in the 1940s occurred and that helped push the story along and develop it. The latter half of the movie even took place within a concentration camp and Guido and Joshua's adventures there. In Slumdog Millionaire the use of non-linear storytelling was extraordinarily prevalent and helped keep interest in the film. The use of non-linear storytelling was also very useful in presenting evidence as it was necessary to the primary timeline. In Life is Beautiful, the use of comedy and fast-paced editing worked beautifully to push the story along and keep the viewer entertained. Irony within Guido's lines was also very prevalent in the story as he would often know more about the situation than the person he would be talking to, allowing "magical" things to happen for him. Overall I liked the first half of Life is Beautiful better, but Slumdog Millionaire was my favorite the whole way through.
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