In the two films I have studied, Pans Labyrinth and La Haine, the theme of representation is very significant in both films in constructing messages that challenge national ideologies of Spain and France. In Pans Labyrinth, the use of a patriarchal society where women are inferior along with the control of the class system through the fascist government and the civil war causing a lack of national identity within Spain is comparable to the film La Haine, the hyper-masculinity and lack of women contribute to a cycle of violence within the ethnic working class seeking a french national identity.
In Pans Labyrinth, the time period of the film is set during the fascist regime during the Spanish civil war. The fascist military is comprised of solely just men, spearheaded by the film's embodiment of fascism, Captain Vidal. Vidal is a ruthless, homicidal maniac obsessed with power and having a son. Vidal hates Ofelia, the female protagonist of the story and destroys her family, by telling the doctors to go ahead with Ofelia's mums childbirth even though she will die because of it and he murders Ofelia at the end of the film. He also murders the doctor, who euthanises a man tortured by Vidal, this act of compassion is deemed unmanly by Vidal and he is shot because of it. Contextually, it is accurate that Spain was dominated by men during this period of fascism and that women were treated inferiorly to them, which is evident in the film with the most powerful female character Mercedes who works as a cook. The film challenges the context because Mercedes, in her inferior position, works as a undercover rebel and starts the uprising of the farm Vidal lives on.
In La Haine, the three main characters are all male characters who are criminals, comparative to Pans Labyrinth use of hyper-masculinity. Vinz is obsessed with murdering a police officer with a gun highlighting the lack of compassion that associates with hyper-masculinity. Said is not violent like Vinz but he is still abrasive and aggressive, with a lack of respect for women. The least hyper-masculine is Hubert who wants to leave behind the cycle of violence in the French banlieue's however he is shown at the end of the film shooting someone, reaffirming the cycle of violence and hyper-masculinity. Throughout the film, there are almost no female characters with the exception of the boy's mothers and two females they try to chat up in a art gallery. Unlike Pans Labyrinth, there is no strong female character to stop the violence like Mercedes and this results in the cycle of violence continuing. Contextually, the film challenges a ideology that men are stronger than women because if the three young men in the film were stronger, they would act more like Hubert and try to get out of their way of life.
Continuing from this theme of women, In Pans Labyrinth, the position of women in the film is that they are inferior. Ofelia, the protagonist is bullied and oppressed by Vidal, a metaphor for how fascism oppressed women, her mother is seen by Vidal as a woman that will just birth his son, nothing more and Mercedes is a cook, even though she is a spy for the rebels. However, Ofelia and Mercedes are both similar female characters in that they are independent, they do not conform to the will of Vidal like Ofelia's mother has. Ofelia tries to steal her brother back from Vidal near the end of the movie, putting her life at risk and Mercedes ribs Vidal's cheek apart with a knife. At the end of the film, Ofelia lures Vidal into the labyrinth where he shoots her and takes her brother. Inadvertently, this distracts Vidal and Mercedes and the rebels are there to shoot Vidal when he leaves the labyrinth. The fascist government in the film is ended by women, implying that females are stronger than men.
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Friday, 28 November 2014
La haine ethnicity
Young men
Ethnic minorities-
Young black men are life affirming and positive however other characters confirm the more negative stereotypes of youths from ethnic minorities
Hubert is a drug dealer but he wants to get out of the slums
The White people in the film
How are the police represented in relation to what we know about the prime minister and president of france- challenges the dominant ideas of France as croissants and Eiffel Tower- highlights France's cultural expectations-
The lower class go by Liberty fraternity equality,
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Pans Labyrinth Representation
Representation
Ofelia is young and going through puberty, she is 11 years old but her growth has seemed to accelerate, due to the war making her older. The film contains some uterine imagery, with Del Toro saying that someone wanted to call the film 'a womb with a view'.
 |
| Symbolism of the ovaries, the red behind it symbolising menstruation. |
The film can be analysed as a metaphor for menstruation and the development into womanhood. Ofelia has a moon birthmark on her shoulder, symbolising the cycles of menstruation.
The third test she must pass involves the spilling of a innocent blood into a well. When she is shot, she bleeds into the well, this could be alluded to virginal blood. The death of Ofelia's childhood innocence is also the death of her.
The fantasy land portrayed in the film is also of a fallopian nature. The tree she encounters is shaped like ovaries.
This dumbed down version of womanhood signifies the patriarchal society in the film. The notion of women being powerful is just a fantasy. The power of nature is represented by women. nature in the film has been destroyed by men.
Pan eats a grape- reference to eve eating a apple in the garden of Eden.
Destructive/killing power- masculine
Spain had female farmers- feminine land
The men in the film are portrayed as devils. In this picture, vidal seems to have fiery wings of satan
Friday, 17 October 2014
Genre
Film studies essay 14th November
Comparative essay between two films - pans labyrinth / city of God/ la haine
Variety of MACRO
Themes- government oppression
Youth- innocence
Corruption of innocence
Violence/force
Narrative- shape/ structure-
These films travel well abroad
Look at international market and national market
National cinema- has to challenge dominant ideology of that country
Linked to the identity of of the country- identity- conventions of Hollywood- rules of fillms
La haine- vicious circle of life- the characters are trapped in it
Pans labyrinth- two narratives- interwoven storylines- viewed from the perspective of ophelia-represents Spain-
City of God- cycle of violence- the violence never stops, it will just be replaced by someone else
60s yellow- 70s greeny blue
Real life event
Representation study
Genre
La haine
Crime/ youth drama
Social realist
City of God
Gangster film ( la Haine has elements of gangster film)
Pans labyrinth
Fantasy
Horror
War film
Trailer 1- Spanish/ Mexico- horror- it's horror because it challenges Spain.s attitude about the civil war
Trailer 2- english/ Hollywood- fantasy- foreign audiences don't understand the context and just see it as a fantasy film and the trailer is made like that
Genre- the fantasy aspects are universal to everyone because they are relatable to everyone.
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Film studies
Narrative
500 word summary of the narrative of pans labyrinth- what is the structure- why is it relevant to the message of the film
Themes
Facism
Innocence
Conflict/Power
War- Spanish civil war
Delusion
Greed
Famine/ poverty
Oppression
Legacy/obsession
Family
Patriarchy
Rebellion
Messages
Fascism creates conflict within countries, and breeds hatred- facist regime of time period
Good always wins over evil- internal conflict
Fate isn't avoidable- people don't talk about it- taboo
Absolute Power is corrupting and leads to oppression- opression
War takes away childhood innocence - isolation and hardship
Belief doesn't solve problems - resistance to facism- eventual fate
La haine
Messages
Can't escape conflict
Government oppression exists and causes inequalities
Values are everything
Fraternity Liberty equality
City of God
Respect is everything
women are insignificant
No one will win the war for power
Death is the only way out
Context
Spanish civil war, facist regime, internal conflict, war between neighbours and families
People don't take about it- taboo, isolation and hardship, resistance- oppression- masculine society- very little role for women- Franco Franco took over the king- church- intimidated- quite conservative- Russia helped arm the rebels- proxy war- nazis and communists- Russia v Germany
CoG- poor people in favelas children in violent gang war and drugs, military in the poor, military arming the gangs
La Haine- student protestors killed during innocent protests- mbola- French nationals- French bnp- they got seats in the house of French commons- racists in parliament- Algerian massacre- all immigrants marginizaliaed in banlieues (slum)
Go throug films- style genre themes- magical realism
Friday, 19 September 2014
Monday, 7 July 2014
Classic Westerns and Django Unchained
Classic Westerns and Django Unchained
The film Django Unchained released in 2012 and directed by Quentin Tarantino is a spaghetti western film set in the deep south, following the adventures of Django, a recently freed black slave trying to find his wife Broomhilda , also a slave during the slave trade period of America. The films also acts as a tribute to the 1966 western, Django starring Franco Nero. The research I will look into will be exploring the other classic westerns that influence Django Unchained and how these films are homaged by Tarantino in his own film.
The first film and most important classic western that influences Tarantino and Django Unchained is the original Django starring Franco Nero and directed by Sergio Corbucci. The original Django was released in 1966 in Italy and was well recieved by critics as one of the great spaghetti westerns however it was banned in the United Kingdom for its violent content and at the time of it's production was considered one of the most violent films. Django follows the exploits of the eponymous white drifter played by Franco Nero seeking revenge for the murder of his wife. The violent content is something that is nearly always used in a Tarantino film, with stylised violence being prominent in Unchained. However whilst the original Django is a spaghetti western film designed to entertain its audience, Unchained incorporates the themes of racism into it's narrative providing a different and more relatable drive to motivate Django. Tarantino has incorporated films from his favourite spaghetti westerns from directors like the aforementioned Corbucci and Sergio Leone. [1] . The incorporation of racism into a spaghetti western is typical of Tarantino and his postmodern style of combining different genre's to create something new and organic, with combining spaghetti western and blaxpoitation cinema. [2] Another concept that Tarantino constructs is how Corbucci's Django is different to popular classic westerns like Sergio Leone's like A Fistful Of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in that Django has a much darker atmosphere and mood to the film, with it's extreme violence and characters setting it apart from the rest of the spaghetti western genre. Tarantino instead uses the backdrop of racism in Unchained to recreate the darker atmosphere and mood in his own film as a homage. [3] Unchained also features a cameo appearance from Franco Nero in one of its scenes who speaks directly to Django in a reference to the original film.
The aims of my research and what I am trying to find out is how the characteristics of the classic western genre and why they are relatable to a contemporary audience. For example, what are the concepts or ideas in westerns that appeal to audiences. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered one of the greatest films of all time but what does the film do to entertain audiences. More specifically, what is the difference between US classic westerns and spaghetti westerns, an italian subgenre of the traditional western film. Why are italian westerns more highly recieved than other westerns? Another aim I will try to find out is why did these spaghetti westerns appeal to Quentin Tarantino and inspire him to homage and create a narrative about racism and the slave trade with the spaghetti westerns of his own personal preference. Is there any parallels between Unchained's narrative, characters and settings and other classic spaghetti westerns? Is there an immediate continuation between the films or any links that can be made between them and Unchained. Finally, is Unchained a successful continuation of the themes and characteristics of the spaghetti westerns and does it's postmodern film structure change the effectiveness of the combination between western and race narrative.
The film Django Unchained released in 2012 and directed by Quentin Tarantino is a spaghetti western film set in the deep south, following the adventures of Django, a recently freed black slave trying to find his wife Broomhilda , also a slave during the slave trade period of America. The films also acts as a tribute to the 1966 western, Django starring Franco Nero. The research I will look into will be exploring the other classic westerns that influence Django Unchained and how these films are homaged by Tarantino in his own film.
The first film and most important classic western that influences Tarantino and Django Unchained is the original Django starring Franco Nero and directed by Sergio Corbucci. The original Django was released in 1966 in Italy and was well recieved by critics as one of the great spaghetti westerns however it was banned in the United Kingdom for its violent content and at the time of it's production was considered one of the most violent films. Django follows the exploits of the eponymous white drifter played by Franco Nero seeking revenge for the murder of his wife. The violent content is something that is nearly always used in a Tarantino film, with stylised violence being prominent in Unchained. However whilst the original Django is a spaghetti western film designed to entertain its audience, Unchained incorporates the themes of racism into it's narrative providing a different and more relatable drive to motivate Django. Tarantino has incorporated films from his favourite spaghetti westerns from directors like the aforementioned Corbucci and Sergio Leone. [1] . The incorporation of racism into a spaghetti western is typical of Tarantino and his postmodern style of combining different genre's to create something new and organic, with combining spaghetti western and blaxpoitation cinema. [2] Another concept that Tarantino constructs is how Corbucci's Django is different to popular classic westerns like Sergio Leone's like A Fistful Of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in that Django has a much darker atmosphere and mood to the film, with it's extreme violence and characters setting it apart from the rest of the spaghetti western genre. Tarantino instead uses the backdrop of racism in Unchained to recreate the darker atmosphere and mood in his own film as a homage. [3] Unchained also features a cameo appearance from Franco Nero in one of its scenes who speaks directly to Django in a reference to the original film.
The aims of my research and what I am trying to find out is how the characteristics of the classic western genre and why they are relatable to a contemporary audience. For example, what are the concepts or ideas in westerns that appeal to audiences. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is considered one of the greatest films of all time but what does the film do to entertain audiences. More specifically, what is the difference between US classic westerns and spaghetti westerns, an italian subgenre of the traditional western film. Why are italian westerns more highly recieved than other westerns? Another aim I will try to find out is why did these spaghetti westerns appeal to Quentin Tarantino and inspire him to homage and create a narrative about racism and the slave trade with the spaghetti westerns of his own personal preference. Is there any parallels between Unchained's narrative, characters and settings and other classic spaghetti westerns? Is there an immediate continuation between the films or any links that can be made between them and Unchained. Finally, is Unchained a successful continuation of the themes and characteristics of the spaghetti westerns and does it's postmodern film structure change the effectiveness of the combination between western and race narrative.
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