A Classic beyond Classic

Casablanca - THE Classic

I am so happy that I've finally gotten the chance to watch Casablanca. I had always heard that it was a classic and there were so many quotes I had heard from it. But for one reason or another I had never gotten around to actually watching the movie. So finally having the chance to see it I was not disappointed. It was really interesting to see the situations that resulted in the quotes I had always heard. While I do not like to watch movies involving World War II aspects, mostly due to frustration, I did not take too kindly to the movie at first, but gradually began to like it more and more. I absolutely love the main characters and how their roles were played.

Going by the four elements of the Film Form, the referential meaning of Casablanca is that a couple in hiding of Nazis is aided by the woman's ex lover, who helps get them on a plane to Lisbon from Casablanca, on their way to America. The explicit meaning is to almost symbolize the entire World War II. Implicitly, the main character, Rick, represents America and the nation's reluctance to join the war at first. Renault represents occupied France and their divided actions of both working with and working against Germany. In the end, Rick finally joins the battle, so to say, and Renault finally decides to aid him instead of working with the Germans. Symptomatic meaning is all about the war. (Although I'm have a hard time really getting the difference between explicit, implicit, and symptomatic down, to be honest...)

There are a few things that were repeated in the movie. The song, As Time Goes By is quite often repeated, though various occasionally by who requests it to be played, when it's being played and whether of not the lyrics are being sung along with the song. Another repetition is Rick's saying to Ilsa, his ex lover, “Here's looking at you, kid.” While the wording never changes, what he means by it does. At first, he's basically saying, “I love you” but later on the meaning changes. Particularly at the end of the movie, Rick says it meaning “I'll miss you”. (These however, are purely objectionable.)  

Citizen Kane and it's technological achievements

Thoughts on Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane was a decent movie. Storyline-wise, it was not something that would normally have attracted me, but I was absolutely fascinated by the technological advances that the movie made. There were a lot of interesting shots made that are artistic compliments you rarely see in movies today. (I have a small personal vendetta against the “art” behind the movie industry today in case you have noticed. It's not that I dislike the movies coming out now, but I feel like most people in the industry are only sticking to simple filming with “massive action/sexy storylines” and basic formulas that are guaranteed to make money instead of thinking about new and innovative ways to make movies.) Shots like looking through the snowglobe, or the view of watching a news film reel were different than most movies at the time. One particular element that I liked was in the very beginning as they were dissolving through different shots of the Kane's paradise mansion. Up in the right hand corner was a light from the mansion which remained constant through every shot. To me, the many little artistic devices used were what made the movie worth watching.

Of course, I have Orson Wells to thank for that one. Wells was one of the first directors to develop the idea of auteur; that the direct is more than just a manager, that the director is responsible for the overall “feel” and artistic motivation of the movie. Orson Wells really defined what a director should be. Alfred Hitchcock would later develop auteur to mean a director who defines a particular genre. This is part of the reason I wish to explore more of the directing/editing side of filmmaking in my Theatre/Cinema major.

The beauty of Film Noir

This particular week, we really looked at the Film Noir era. Most film noir movies have the theme of femme fatale. This particular style came about after WWII due to post-war disillusionment. This resulted in a lot of shades, contrast, and grey areas in plot. Just a quick rundown. Enjoy!

Double Indemnity Response

Admittedly, I had never really seen much in the way of film noire. Mostly just spin-offs and comedic approaches, such as the character of Sam Diamond in Murder by Death. But after learning about what exactly constitutes a film noire, I knew that it was a genre I'd like. I've always had a love for that classic ideal and a mix of danger and mystery. Walking away from Double Indemnity, I remember saying to my friend, “why don't people talk like that anymore? 'I knew that dame was trouble, from the second I laid eyes on her.'” There's something both classy and witty about the dialogue of those movies. In today's world, we have mostly fast-paced action. But that gets real boring real quick for me. The fast paced dialogue of the older movies, like this one, is far more exciting and interesting to me. It makes me wish I could be as witty and conversational. The elegance of the characters is only superseded by their wit. As he lays dying on the floor, the main character, Walter, just says something along the lines of “They moved the elevator a few miles away.” (I could not find the exact quote.

A few things really struck me during the film though. For starts, you can tell it was a completely different time with different cultural views. Everyone is smoking. There's never a comment or question about it. They didn't even do it as a way to glamorize smoking. It was as normal as getting a glass of water in those time periods. Then at one point Walter goes to a drive up restaurant where he is served a beer. Is there any easier way of telling someone plans to drink and drive? But it doesn't mean anything to them.

Also the lighting was very distinctive. There are shadows and silhouettes everywhere. Dark shadows, and contoured designs. It was all very mysterious. Also, it was easy to see the Production Code at work. You never see Walter and Phyllis actually kiss; it's always hidden or simply a kiss on the cheek. You don't see or hear when Phyllis' husband is murdered. They always tactfully hide his body when it is dumped on the train tracks. This is all very different from how movies are done now.

My favorite quote from the movie comes from Walter, as he's walking down the road shortly after killing Phyllis' husband. “I couldn't hear my own footsteps. That's the walk of a dead man.”

A look at the Silent Film Era

(Just a precursor, for this class we have weekly film viewings that relate to the topics we learned in class. These are my journal responses to the films.)

Film Journal Entry #1

The General

directed by and starring Buster Keaton

I have never really watched any film from the silent era. In fact, roughly the oldest film I've ever sat down to watch is any of the Three Stooges movies or one of my personal favorites, And Then There Were None. But these are almost twenty years after synchronized sound was introduced into the film industry. The extent of my experience with silent films, therefore, is all the minor clips I've seen portraying the damsel in distress while black card pops up with the villain's dialogue on it. I had a rather biased and jaded point of view about silent films, believing them to be nothing more than a series of shorts, with overdramatized acting, more similar to stage performance or comic book, even, than a movie.

So when we sat down to watch Buster Keaton's The General, I was amazingly surprised to find out how insanely capable and talented the actors were. There was next to no need for the dialogue boxes because the actors were able to express such significant, yet not over the top, emotions that you knew exactly what was going on anyway. Buster's expressions were especially charming and hysterical. Not only was dialogue near unneeded but the actors were so good at communicating silently, you could almost tell exactly what they were thinking. This all takes so much skill, I would not be surprised if half of todays actors would not have been able to make it in the silent film era.

Another astonishment came from the stunts and scenes which one has to remember were not touched up by computers. Now, even a simple dance step is thrown in by a computer graphics AI. However, in a time when computers didn't even exist, it's amazing to think that the actors had to know not only how to act, but also how to do whatever it is their character was doing. If the character needed to dance well, the actor had to dance well. If the character needed to be able to rides horses, climb trees, jump off moving trains, so did the actor. More over, if there was a scene where a bridge collapsed into a river, dammit a real bridge was going to collapse into a real river. Imagine the cost, the time and the effort that goes into that?! And the most stunning part, is that for a scene like that, you've got only one chance to get the shot right. No producer will pay for that even twice over.