Joseph Roman

10/20/10

Rashomon (1950)

Country of Origin: Japan

Language of Film: Japanese

Released in Japan August 25, 1950

Released in United States December 26, 1951

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Starring:            Toshirō Mifune – Tajomaru
Masayuki Mori – Samurai (husband)
Machiko Kyō – The wife
Takashi Shimura – The Woodcutter
Minoru Chiaki – The Priest

Awards:          Best Screen Play (1951 Blue Ribbon 

                        Awards)

                        Best Actress (1951 Mainichi Film                      

                        Concours)

                        Golden lion (1951 Venice Film Festival)

                        Best Director (1951 National Board of 

                        Review)

                        Honorary Academy Award (1952 24^th 

                                                                                        Academy Awards)

            The film Rashomon was heavily influenced by silent film and modern art. Kurosawa felt that cinematic sound was never purely an accompaniment to the film. He felt that the real sound added to the images in the film as well as multiplied the effect of the scene. He also practiced a modern art technique known as simplification. Accordingly, there were only three settings of the film: the Rashomon gate, the woods, and the courtyard. Each of these settings were produced in a minimalist fashion satisfying his practice of simplification.

            I read two articles, Judgment by Film: Socio-Legal Functions of Rashomon by Orit Kamir, and http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?

cid=136021&mainArticleId=160926. The first article talks about the evolution of the word Rashomon. The author talks about the words evolution from the title of the movie to an actual legal term. The second article gives some of the background about the film. It talks about how the film was perceived in Japan as well as in the United States.

            After reading the articles regarding the film, I was able to open up my mind a little bit more considering the fact that I really didn’t like the film much. The articles helped me look beyond the picture and allowed me to process the underlying message of that of the film. For instance, the second article talks about how the Japanese critics of the time showed their displeasure for the film. The Japanese weren’t necessarily proud of the way Kurosawa exercised his liberties as the director. They felt that he took it a little bit too far. All in all, his directorial views helped make this film historic as well as a significant influence on popular culture of its time. After we screened the film, Professor Mirrer talked about how the film’s title was actually being used as a legal term. The first article gave me some background about the development of the word. The word Rashomon is used legally to refer to the relativity of truth. The article covers how the truth changes from person to person regardless of the sincerity of each person. Their views aren’t usually a direct reflection of what happens at the scene of the occurrence.

            Much like 400 Blows, I didn’t really enjoy this film much. This film had a lot more action then the last, but the action scenes lacked the realism that I’m kind of into. Its hard for me to enjoy these films considering I come from a generation where every film pushes the limits of realism and makes fantasy look like it can actually happen. Besides me giving my biased opinions, I’ve got to talk about my gaining respect for the film. If there’s anything positive I can do it’s that I can now respect the film for being groundbreaking. The articles helped solidify that for me. I feel that regardless of the film being boring for me, it was something that was incredibly new for the viewers of its time. This is something I can respect about the film. Overall, I really didn’t like the film, but the fact that it defied its cultural norms, helps solidify itself as a true cult classic for film theory buffs.

The 400 Blows (1959)

Joseph Roman

10/13/10

400 Blows (1959)

Country of Origin: France

Language of Film: French

Released in France May 4, 1959

Released in United States November 16, 1959

Directed by Francois Truffaut

Starring:         Jean-Pierre Leaud – Antoine Doinel

                        Claire Maurier – Gilberte Doinel (Antoine’s Mother)

                        Albery Remy – Julien Doinel (Antoine’s Father)

                        Guy Decomble – School teacher

                        Patrick Auffay – Rene Bigey (Antoine’s best friend)

Awards:         Best Director Award (1959 Cannes Film Festival)

                        Critics Award of 1959 (New York Film Critics’ Circle)

                        Best European Film Award (1960 Bodil Awards)

                        Nominated for Best Original Screenplay (32^nd Academy Awards)

              The film 400 Blows was influential to the development of film-making. Upon the film’s release, it was considered to be the beginning of the French New Wave. Films developed within the frame of the French New Wave are usually proposed with two basic principles, Mise-En-Scene and Auteur Theory. Mise-En-Scene is the work done by director and how he or she gives images to the words on the screenplay. It covers the what is done before shooting; Mainly characters, décor, camera angles, and camera movement. Auteur theory is the idea that a film should be a medium of artistic expression that conveys the director’s personality

              I read two articles “The 400 Blows,” by  Annette Insdorf (http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/528) and ”The 400 Blows Verisimilitude and the (Re)presentation of the city” by Steven Chong (http://knol.google.com/k/the-400-blows). The first article reiterates the fact that a pioneer of the French New Wave developed the film. It talks about how the film was somewhat a semi-autobiographical film in the manner in which it elaborates how Truffaut moves backward and forward in time in recalling his own experience while forging a filmic language. The second article focuses on the details of the French New Wave that can be found in the film. It also covers how the Film was a description of post-war France.

             After the reading the articles regarding the film, I gained a bit of understanding the French New Wave. The first article talks about the film’s semi-autobiographical background. The directors who conveyed the themes of the French New Wave often recalled their own experiences when directing their films. An example of this would the parents of Antoine Doinel. In the film, Antoine’s mother had him when she was a young girl. She then met his soon to be father, right after he was born. This is the exact family background of the Director Truffaut. The second article touches on another French New Wave development in which certain characters lack the professional training to be considered professional actors. It talks about how it helps elaborates a more natural feel to the film, which was certainly groundbreaking for the time in which it was made. An example of this would be the actor Jean-pierre Leaud. He was the actor who played Antoine Doinel. He in his own right had no professional training as an actor, but he exuded the realism necessary to depict a misunderstood child.

 

            I found that the film wasn’t too entertaining, but regardless of the entertainment it provided it helped provide me with information regarding the development of film. During the screening I realized that there were many shots that were similar to the films of today. An example of this would be the opening shot where the camera taped the façade of a city in France. Another would be how the camera usually followed the characters as well as at times gave us a point of view shot of the actual character. This was something that we didn’t see in films shot before this film, and I was surprised to see that this was something that directors of the French New Wave began. Viewing this film may not have been enjoyable but it certainly opened my eyes when I gained some insight in how this film helped influence the direction of films in modern day cinema.