Since filmmakers have been making films they have often felt the need to document important aspects about the events of their lives. The reasons for this are numerous and varied this is especially true of autobiographical films. These films are often based around a collection of episodes that hold importance in an individual’s life. They include a combination of personal encounters that an individual has experienced at/or over a particular time and in a specific place. They may include individual people, events and objects that hold importance to the film maker that they feel the need to document. The following essay will examine the relationship between the subject and the importance of places in autobiographical films. The films that this essay will explore are My Winnipeg (d. Guy Maddin 2007) and Caro Diario (d. Nanni Moretti 1993) As the term autobiographical would suggest the subject of these films are in essence the self. These films include personal stories and are 1st person subjective narratives. As Brooks states “an autobiographical film occurs when a director represents themselves either directly or indirectly on screen” p In the case of My Winnipeg the central character of Maddin is played by an actor Darcy Fehr and it is a fictionalisation or self-projection of Maddin. The film is however narrated by Maddin. In Caro Diario the main protagonist is played by the film’s director Moretti. The subject of both of these films is to give the viewer a glimpse of the private world of the protagonist by also objectively recording the historical and cultural world they live in. This can bee seen in the documentary style of both of these films as Lane states ‘At the core of this exploration lies a tension that hinges on the ... ... middle of paper ... ... Everett, Wendy. (ed.). (1996). European Identity in Cinema Exeter: Intellect Books Lane, Jim (2002) The Autobiographical Documentary in America. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press McNeill, Isabelle.( 2010) Memory and the Moving Image: French Film in the Digital Era (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press) Pike, Nora. (1996) ‘From lieux de mémoire to realms of memory’ in Nora, P. and L. D. Kritzman (eds) (1996) Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past. Vol. 1: conflicts and divisions. New York and Chichester: Columbia University Press. Rascaroli, Laura. (2004) Caro diario, in Bertellini, Giorgio (ed.) (2004) The Cinema of Italy. London: Wallflower Richardson, Michael. (2006) Surrealism and Cinema, London: Bloomsbury Academic Wilson, Emma. (1999) French cinema since 1950: Personal Histories, the University of Michigan : Duckworth
Greene, Naomi(1999) Landscapes of loss: The national Past of Postwar French cinema (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press)
This analysis will explore these cinematic techniques employed by Pontecorvo within a short sequence and examine their effects on our understanding of the issues and themes raised within the film.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
Mathijs, Ernest, and Jamie Sexton. "Chapter 6." Cult Cinema. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. N. pag. Print.
Hewitt, Leah D. “Salubrious Scandals/Effective Provocations: Identity Politics Surrounding Lacombe Lucien,” South Central Review, Vol. 17, No. 3, Cinema Engage: Activist Filmmaking in French and Francophone Contexts, John Hopkins University Press, (Autumn 2000), pp. 71-85
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
Small, Pauline. (2005) New Cinemas: journal of Contemporary Film Volume 3, Queen Mary, University of London
...use of documentary style lighting and discontinuous editing that diverges from the Hollywood “invisible” editing. Through understanding the historical climates these two seemingly similar French cinematic movements were in, the psychology of a generation can be visualized in a way truly unique to the indexicality of the cinematic medium.
Lewis, J. (2008). American Film: A History. New York, NY. W.W. Norton and Co. Inc. (p. 405,406,502).
Elsasser, Thomas. "National or International Cinema.'" New German Cinema: A History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1989. 279-306. Print.
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.
Although in shambles, It did not take long for film to make a resurgence in France. Domestic production was boosted following the introduction of The Centre National de la Cinématographe, a government organization that provided assistance to the industry in the form of loans and training. Imported films, especially those from America, began flowing into France following its liberation by Allied forces, and moviegoers were suddenly exposed to years of new films they had been previously cut off from all at once. As the market for films began to heat up, French filmmakers were presented with two choices; continue producing films adapted from relatively outdated literary works in the classic French tradition, or imitate the Hollywood Studio system of production, creating big-budget features for an international audience with the assistance of the CNC. These contrasting styles of filmmaking...
Gaudreault, A 1990, ‘Showing and Telling : image and word in early cinema’, in Elsaesser, T & Barker, A, Early cinema : space, frame, narrative, BFI Publishing, London, pp. 274-281.
The film Cinema Paradiso was originated in 1988, it is a drama film that was directed by Giuseppe Tornatore and it’s original title was Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. The film was an inspiring way of exploring Italian Cinema and how it’s importance to viewers it truly is. Salvator, who is the main character looked up to Alfredo as a child, who was his best friend and teacher who taught him everything he knows about film making. In Cinema Paradiso the film dealt with several elements such as scenery, photography, editing, sound, lighting. Cinema Paradiso film showed specific understanding of the Italian and American traditions place in the history of this film. Cinema Paradiso is a film that not only is strong in Italian culture but also shows the significance
‘Then came the films’; writes the German cultural theorist Walter Benjamin, evoking the arrival of a powerful new art form at the end of 19th century. By this statement, he tried to explain that films were not just another visual medium, but it has a clear differentiation from all previous mediums of visual culture.