Viaggio In Italia (Roberto Rossellini - 1954)

I’m going to focus on a small section of the opening scene of Roberto Rossellini’s 1954 film, Viaggio in Italia (Journey to Italy).  In the scene, Katherine and Alex Joyce, a newly married couple, are driving to Naples, Italy to work on selling a recently inherited piece of property.

Denotation: 

Alex and Katherine are bickering about the choice to drive to Naples instead of fly. Alex wanted to fly there because of how much time they would have saved, yet, Katherine chose to drive because she wanted him to have a rest. She then proceeds to say she didn’t know he would be so bored when spending time with her alone. We then learn that this is one of the first times since being married that they were alone together.

Connotation:

This introduces the audience to the marriage troubles that will plague the Joyces throughout the film and will lead to their eventual divorce. When a couple is already arguing right after being married, culturally, we know that this is a bad sign. Yet, we also can infer that they love each other at the core because, Katherine wanted to drive so Alex could get a break from his home life, and Alex didn’t impose his will to force them to fly even though he wanted to.

Myth Producing:

-Men are controlled by women. (The fact that they are driving to Naples which Katherine wanted and Alex didn’t)

-Your true relationship is revealed once away from other people. (Arguing during their first true time alone after marriage)

Blog Assignment #4: Like a Shooting Script, but for an Essay

Our first essay topic asks us to compare and distinguish between two very different styles of film theory, the Formalist Approach and the Ideological Approach. We then must explain which approach we think is the most effective for studying film and why. To do this, we will use a number of outside sources and one of the films that we have screened in class.

(1)    Main Argument:  While the Formalist and Ideological approaches to Film Theory are different in a number of significant ways, they are both important aspects of Film Theory that can be used to adequately analyze and study films. However, I believe that the Formalist Approach is the more effective of the two.

(2)    Claim #1: (Background (Credibility)): In-depth explanations of both Formalist and Ideological Approaches. The Formalist Approach to film focuses on the analysis of formal structures within a film. It also pays special attention to motifs or patterns that may occur multiple times throughout a film. Most importantly, it doesn’t analyze of emphasize anything that is outside of the film’s proper. On the other hand, the Ideological Film Approach places an emphasis on the many themes and messages in a film as interpreted though our individual values and beliefs.  Support: Articles by Perkins , wood, Eisenstein, mulvey, film history text.

(3)    Claim #2: The Formalist approach to film analysis is the more effective of the two. It focuses more on the importance of what is within the film and the choices that were made during it’s production. Ideological film Theory on the other hand necessitates that one must use their pre conceived values and beliefs while analyzing a film which can lead to extreme bias and thus invalidate their analysis.  Support: I will find articles (probably from the MOVIE) criticizing Ideological film Theory.

(4)    Claim #3: Will analyze Psycho from the Formalist perspective. Looking at many of the motifs throughout the film as well as the mise en scene. Will also address many of Hitchcock’s deliberate decisions that changed the film.  Support: Psycho, Robin Woods article.

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is considered by many to be one of the greatest horror films of all time. I won adoration from both audiences and critics alike upon it's release and has since been rendered a classic. Psycho has a number of significant cinematic moments that are worth mentioning.

Although it may sound cliche, I think the three most cinematic scenes are the glorified shower murder scene, , the reveal scene, and the final scene.

The shower scene's intensity and sheer brilliance is astounding. The music, extremely fast cuts, and mixture of close ups and medium shots combine to make one of the most well recognized scenes in cinematic history.

The reveal scene in which Lila goes into Norman's basement and finds "Mother's" corpse, followed soon after by Norman dressed in his mother's clothes running at her with a knife, is also very cinematic. It manipulates expectations and scares the audience in a way that arguably no other medium can.

The final scene is consists of a the camera zooming in on Norman's face as he is smiling creepily. For a split second, his head turns into part of a bleached skull. This reminded me of a reverse version of the iconic opening zoom out in A Clockwork Orange.

Blog Assignment #3: To betray, or not to betray, that is the question.

1)      1)The majority of John Ford and Gregg Toland’s classic film adaption of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath remained faithful to its source material; yet, they did change some aspects of the story to make it more cinematic. Arguably the biggest change comes near the end of the film. While the novel ends with the saddening downfall of the Joad family, the film ends with them landing in a government supported agriculture camp and being able to stay together. I don’t feel as though this departure is indicative any auteur changes by either Ford or Toland. It seems as though something that the studio changed to cater the story to mass audiences. Seeing as though in many cases it is hard to accredit certain choices in any given film to the studio or director, I could be wrong about this.

2)   2)  I think that if used correctly, Auteur theory is a very important and relevant branch of film study, theory, and analysis. I think that it has been looked down upon in recent years because it has been used incorrectly by many film critics. Auteur theory should be used to asses a given film or a set of films in comparison to a directors complete body of work (filmography). It should in no way be used in a normal review of a film which must be unbiased and objective. If used in this setting, Auteur theory can cloud a reviewer’s judgment and invalidate their ideas about the film. Auteur theory is a very useful tool in analyzing any director’s stylistic trademarks as used in multiple films. It is especially insightful for directors who have a set of distinguished trademarks that are easy to spot and analyze such as, in the modern film scene, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher,  the Coen brothers, Alexander Payne, Wes Anderson, and Edgar Wright (among many others).

Grapes of Wrath

John Ford's classic 1940 film of John Steinbeck's best-selling novel The Grapes of Wrath, is widely regarded as one of the best film adaptions of all time. Having never read the book, I can't comment on any cinematic changes that were made for the film (although I've read about a number of them), but I would venture to say to that every moment in movie is cinematic. Any given scene is filled with selective framing, mise-en-scene, impressive sound design, and great acting. Whether it's the opening shot of the film wherein Tom Joad is walking down the desolate and dusty street with birds chirping around him, or his famous "I'll be there" speech at the end of the film in which extreme close ups are used. Every scene brings you a unique sense or realism that cannot be created by any other medium individually (literature, photography, music), but is produced by the combination of all of them.