Of Last Year at Marienbad

The French New Wave genre bothers me. I appreciate the groundbreaking techniques they've done for the world for cinema but alas, these techniques just feel forced. Breathless, for example, feels like it's just using jump cuts for the sake of using them. While Last Year at Marienbad, on the surface, is a frustrating film within this genre, I mean ultimately it's an hour and a half back and forth conversation of "Hey I know you" "No you don't", there are several key artistic elements that give the narrative open for interpretation. Ultimately, giving the impression that Last Year at Marienbad is better than the sum of its parts.

Many consider the artistic cinematic style of the film to be too perplexing. While this is true it almost always gives the impression of a dream-like state. According to the reading this week, the film's protagonist "X" is perceived as an outsider and "a rebel against [...] ritual conversations". This explains the chaotic editing in the beginning when all the characters are

conversing together. The camera constantly moves back and forth between conversations, ending and starting them abruptly, so the audience doesn't connect with these characters the same way the protagonist doesn't connect with them.

The constant surreality of the film gives this idea that possibly, the narrative is all merely a dream or all just a figment of "X"'s imagination. One can perceive this idea through the idiosyncratic dialogue and surreal imagery. Many of the dialogue in the film seems unnatural, emotionally disconnecting; something everyday people wouldn't say in basic conversations. There's even a moment where a poem is spoken in the background on loop by the narrator and later by characters in the film. This abundance of idiosyncratic dialogue gives the premise of what is going on isn't exactly real and possibly just a dream.

Another surreal aspect is the imagery and use of shadows. There is one noteworthy shot where all the people have dramatic shadows while the trees have no shadows at all. Other aspects involve playing with the conventions of editing, featuring jump cuts between the bar and "A's" bright room flashing back and forth and more noteworthy, when "X" thinks he may have raped "A", there's a scene where the camera quickly zooms in on "A" arms extended. The zoom flashes over and over again in a perplexingly jarred fashion. Even the film's score is so oddly out of place at times, using extremely haunting and dramatic chords for mere establishing shots, that it seems like the background music for a nightmare.

This surreal and dream-like atmosphere gives the idea that perhaps the events of the film never really happen at all. Whether it's all a dream or all just a delusion of the film's unreliable protagonist.

Of Orpheus

I found Orpheus to be a very visually stimulating and groundbreaking film. Not only were the effects ahead of their time but the two primary special effects were profound motifs for the narrative, one of which is also portrayed as a foreshadowing for the movie's ending.

In Orpheus, mirrors are the portals used to travel to the underworld. Additionally, mirrors are the major objects that the special effects revolve around; whether it be the characters walking through them or mirrors breaking in a stunning reverse film effect. There could be several reasons why mirrors are portrayed as portals to the underworld. One explanation could be mirrors are a symbol of Orpheus' egotistical personality and how his selfishness resulted in the death of Eurydice. Another symbol can relate to the themes in the film that deal with beauty and love after death.

The other major special effect is the using of reversing film. When a mirror breaks, Orpheus puts on gloves or when Death asks a recently deceased character to rise, the film goes in reverse creating an intriguing visual trick. The presentation of images being shot in reverse is a foreshadowing to the end of the film where Death sends Orpheus back to an alternate past where Eurydice never died and the two are in a much happier marriage than before.

The masochistic tendencies discussed by Naomi Greene are somewhat understandable through Orpheus, mainly through the relationship between Orpheus and Death. Orpheus becomes obsessively interested in Death where even when his wife dies, he only traverses through the underworld to find Death not Eurydice. The idea of becoming obsessed and eventually falling in love with Death not only has masochistic but homoerotic undertones.

This is due to the fact that when one looks at Death's portrayal in other films, Death is almost always male. Additionally, even if Death was a woman in Orpheus she still had the atypical "alpha male" qualities through her superiority complex of always having to control the situation and manipulate those she considered to be below her. Even in the beginning of the film, Death forced Orpheus to stay in her home despite the fact he wanted to leave, as if almost trying to kidnap him. Whenever Orpheus questioned Death in this segment, she tersely disregarded his questioning in a bossy manner. This personality of Death as one who is controlling and assertive gives her this "alpha male" like attitude, alluring to the idea that Orpheus falling in love with Death is his way of expressing his homosexual tendencies.

Of Laura

When it comes to the film noir genre, I am more concentrated on the aesthetic and technical elements of the film rather than the story or the characters. With films like Touch of Evil, I am so mesmerized by the lighting and cinematography that I don't really find myself engrossed in the narrative as much as I should be. Frankly, that is quite the opposite with Laura. The cinematography and technical aspects are fairly conventional compared to the other two films we watched in this class which allows one the fully concentrate on the story and characters.

I found the characters to be very deep and interesting, specifically Waldo Lydecker. When first see this character typing on his typewriter in the bathtub and walking around naked in front of the protagonist, Mark McPherson, it was fairly obvious to discover that this man was a tad bit off. In addition, Laura's love interest, Shelby Carpenter is also an odd character in regards to his somewhat promiscuous attitude. Even up to the moment where he plans to marry Laura, he still has another lover on the side, Ann Treadwell, who still shows romantic affection for him and also wishes to be his wife. Throughout the film, Carpenter jumps affection between these two women throughout the film even when both women are in the room.

Such odd and frankly inappropriate moral behaviors make you wonder the principles or Carpenter's character or, more importantly, what's going on through Ann and Laura's minds when they see the man they love showing affection to someone else, sometimes even right in front of them. The moral ambiguity of these characters is what keeps the mystery so intriguing to the audience.

While reading the Slant Magazine review of the film, one certain idea stuck out like a sore thumb: when the writer alluded to the concept that Waldo Lydecker was a homosexual. At first, I found such a statement to be rather preposterous statement until I looked back on Lydecker's behavior and realized the substantialness of the argument. Waldo Lydecker was never truly in love with Laura or had romantic/sexual feelings for her. He was merely Laura's mentor turned jealous, overprotective "best friend". Such jealously erupts between Lydecker and McPherson when Waldo gets extremely offended with McPherson's use of the word "dame". Lydecker is not obsessed with Laura in a romantic aspect, per se, but with the image of her as a sophisticated socialite, much like what Lydecker identifies as himself. Additionally, his clean erudite fashion style and idiosyncratic personality further emphasized why one would question his sexual orientation.

On The Third Man

When I think of the film genre term, film noir, two key technical elements run through my head as to what this genre is: haunting moody soundtrack and a heavy use of chiaroscuro lighting. Oddly enough, The Third Man doesn't necessarily utilize either of these techniques and in fact tends to establish a mood through the opposite of haunting or chiaroscuro creating a truly interesting juxtaposition.

When I think of a score in a film noir, I usually think a melancholic jazz piece: a haunting exchange between saxophones and trumpets in the distance evoking an atmosphere that is both dark and sensuous. The score in The Third Man however, is nothing but. The score incorporates only one instrument: the zither. The use of this string instrument results in a score that sounds almost comical at times which is odd when synchronized with segments that establish a far more dramatic tone.

Another unconventional element that was displayed in this noir is that the lighting is far brighter compared to other films within the genre. Film noir movies are always known to take advantage of elaborate lighting and shadow work and while The Third Man does utilize some use of shadows many scenes in the film are displayed as fairly bright even when it is nighttime. Ultimately, this combination of light atmospheres in the lighting and score mixed with the dark story create a post-modern juxtaposition that meshes polar opposites to create an unusual atmosphere for the audience.

On Citizen Kane

About 20 years before Citizen Kane hit theaters in the Roaring Twenties, cinema in the United States only began to entertain the masses. It was still a new medium that had trouble being distinguished between theater. Very few films at the time managed to master the artistic accomplishment as Citizen Kane did and used many cinematic techniques that were considered revolutionary for its time. Additionally, it had a phenomenal sense of suspension of disbelief that very few films of its time were able to portray.

To be honest, some of the film's techniques are still visually staggering to this date, particularly the predominant use of deep focus. Very few films use deep focus in such a significant way. This is true because directors may want the audience to concentrate on only part of the scene rather than the whole picture. Additionally, deep focus requires a director to stage the entire scene. The lack of deep focus in many films is described effectively by director Steven Soderbergh: "That kind of staging is a lost art, which is too bad. The reason they no longer work that way is because it means making choices, real choices, and sticking to them. (...) That's not what people do now. They want all the options they can get in the editing room."

Seeing the shots in Citizen Kane with such a wide perspective and a deep focus that gives everything in the shot fair clarity. Seeing every aspect in a scene in perfect focus is truly exhilarating especially in this day and age when the production of film is so centered around editing, CGI and other post-production techniques. With all of these aspects being overly used in today's films, it's refreshing to be visually enticed by the natural look of the film's setting through its use of cinematography and focus.

Another unconventional aspect that makes it shine above the traditional American film is the way the narrative presents itself. We know the main character is dead right at the beginning of the film, yet the story still manages to make us care for a dead man. That's what makes this film different from other movies that deal with a man's life. According to film critic Bert Cardullo, this is not a study of Charles Foster Kane's character it is more about the study of the experiences he goes through and how those experiences affect Kane and others around him. This as well as the audience's curiosity with what "Rosebud" is is how we connect and care about Charles Foster Kane and his life.

These aspects as well as its use of jump cuts (the bird scene stands out above all the rest) demonstrates how Citizen Kane truly is a unique film that holds up even today. It is shot and presented in such a different way than most modern American films due to its predominant use of deep focus. If your a fan of films that are visually pleasing without relying on CGI or other post-production effects, you need to see this. This is the film that started it all.