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Cinema in Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies The interwar period witnessed an explosion of a variety of leisure activities within British society, some of which were new and some of which were not. One such leisure activity was that of the cinema, and featured as a popular pastime in Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. Whilst the cinema was not a new leisure activity during the interwar era, there were however, developments within this industry that were unique to this period. The cinema as a form of leisure was not new to British society, and indeed most western industrialised societies, during the interwar era. Prior to World War One it was not much more than a 'technical curiosity', but by the 1920s it was the 'new medium' and one that was a 'fully fledged form of art'. (Taylor 1970 p, 180) Throughout most of the 1920s, films shown in cinemas around the world were 'silent'. While silent films were not new to this era, the popularity of them experienced a 'new' and unique interest amongst the general public. Indeed, Vile Bodies highlights the popularity of the cinema and in particular, the 'silent' film as a regularly experienced leisure activity. Waugh's character, Colonel Blount, is the most obvious representation of the popular interest of films and film making at the time Vile Bodies was written. He tells Adam, after asking his interest in the cinema, that he and the Rector went 'a great deal' to the 'Electra Palace'. (Waugh 1930 p, 59) Furthermore, the films themselves were more often than not, directed at certain sections of society, for example women, immigrants and the youth. This often aided in attracting such sections of society to the cinema. The overall appeal of the cinema to the masses was particularly evident during the interwar era. Audiences worldwide wanted to watch the variety of films, particularly American produced films, and they always went back. The visibly attractive and glamorous Hollywood movies often depicted the success of the underdog over unjust authority. Values of cash over culture were often a theme in the early American films and societies with restricted social mobility, such as those in Europe, could dream of such a triumph. The working class and unemployed could fantasise about wealth, fame and freedom which America as a country was portrayed as offering. The stars, particularly Hollywood stars, made a huge contribution to attracting vast numbers of people to the cinema.
Movies in the Great Depression were outlets that the American people used to escape the daily hardships and struggles of their lives. Three genres emerged and flourished during this time period: comedy, musicals, and gangster films. Each genre depicted life in the Great Depression in different yet similar ways. While watching the movies, you can see that money played a large part in the plot. Justice and the law are also reoccurring themes. The treatment and depiction of women in these films is one aspect that is interesting to study and look at, as well. Women’s rights was still a hot button issue, and it is plain to see that by viewing such films as “Room Service”, “The Public Enemy”, and “Gold Diggers of 1937”.
Due to a federal antitrust law, production companies and distributors lost power and profits, and independent companies, such as the United Artists Corporation, gained traction. The antitrust law, combined with “the postwar downturn and above all the imperative of competing effectively with television,” led to the implementation of various widescreen formats, 3-D, and Technicolor in order to innovate film and engage the spectator. In doing so, this period imbalanced the emerging power of narrative with the resurgence of spectacle. Widescreen, especially, also contributed to a sense of realism, actively engaging the audience in the visual expanse of cinema. As a result, Some Like It Hot’s mode of spectatorial address, though not as focused on “attraction” as early cinem...
BIBLIOGRAPHY An Introduction to Film Studies Jill Nelmes (ed.) Routledge 1996 Anatomy of Film Bernard H. Dick St. Martins Press 1998 Key Concepts in Cinema Studies Susan Hayward Routledge 1996 Teach Yourself Film Studies Warren Buckland Hodder & Stoughton 1998 Interpreting the Moving Image Noel Carroll Cambridge University Press 1998 The Cinema Book Pam Cook (ed.) BFI 1985 FILMOGRAPHY All That Heaven Allows Dir. Douglas Sirk Universal 1955 Being There Dir. Hal Ashby 1979
Through the use of satire, the issues presented by Waugh in Vile Bodies become greatly influenced by the time period in which the novel was written. Great Britain, in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, was placed on the time line between the Great Wars. Thus, the novel’s placement in the history shifts its focus not only toward the emergence of the World War II but also on the depressed postwar economy of Britain at the time. Some of the most prominent ideas evolving during this period of time were embracive of the idea of change in areas such as religion, science, art, social rules, literature and economic and political conditions—changes that most often led to a feeling of “loss of community” (Wellman, 327). Because of the nature and the ongoing changes during this period the idea of modernism also played a major role in Britis...
David Lean takes advantages of this story to carry out a film critic and with it; he wants to reveal how England was at post-war times. It remains a vital decisive point in the history of the British cinema. After postwar period the course of doing films changed automatically, from this time onwards filmmaker focus on recreate the atmosphere in which England and its population were living.
Hollywood has for over twenty-eight years created and supplied products associated with movies to all main film studios, leisure and entertainment industries. The most revered clients recognized in the entire world include Disney, Paramount, Colombia, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros and Universal among others. For this basis, the greater part of the actors all over the world wants to labor and make a living in Hollywood. The exceptional and distinctive characters have their own customs, beliefs and cultures which aid them to pursue fame and fortune in this Dream Factory. Every talented person desires this American dream. There are numerous prospects that make life better and in Hollywood, t...
This essay uses a contemporary short film and an 18th century text to discuss Chatman's concern of bestimmtheit in films. I hope to address certain concerns such as the extent to which a film can "specify" a particular object and what this specification does with regards to our understanding of the text. In addition, I will relate the compression of information into imagery to the limitations of time, given that a short film has a limit of 15 minutes. To do this, I shall analyse the cinematography of the short film, and show how relevant they are in bringing out certain scenarios described in Defoe's text. The short film in question is The Periwig-Maker, a clay-animated film directed by Stephen Schaeffler and narrated by actor Kenneth Brannagh, and it will be analysed with relation to the text it is based on, A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe.
... imagination is sometimes more excessive than the action on the screen. After the application of Williams’ “theory” to David Creonenberg’s film Shivers, it is apparent that the spectator’s personal perception of the action (or inaction) is more the cause of the bodily reaction that Williams is referring to, rather than the objective excess on the screen. Ultimately, various characteristics of Williams’ arguments are true, but as a film theory in general, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre and Excess” needs further research and flexibility in order to be both relative to all “body” genre films, and applicable to all unique spectators.
“of exhibitionist confrontation rather than absorption,” (Gunning, Tom 2000 p 232) as Gunning suggests the spectator is asking for an escape that is censored and delivered with a controlled element of movement and audiovisual. Gunning believes that the audience had a different relationship with film before 1906. (Gunning, Tom 2000 p 229)
Before discussing the two films chosen and the debates between Barry Salt and Tom Gunning an understanding of how early film was first established must be attempted. Motion pictures have developed gradually throughout the years and have become an important tool of communication and entertainment in the 20th century and into the 21st century; having a substantial impact on the arts, technology and politics. The first public demonstration of moving film was Leaving the Lumiére Factory (1895); an actuality by the Lumiére brothers from France. By 1900 to 1910 films gradually moved from one-shot actualities into multi-shot films, with more complex narratives. However, dominant form remained the short film, with very few films lasting more than ten minutes. As David Robinson points out, ‘The first filmmakers did not suddenly invent a new form. Rather they relied upon existing patterns and ideologies.’ (Robinson 1996: p.69). This shows us that through the work of the theatre, filmmakers were able to create a new world through moving pictures thus attracting audiences to a new form of entertainment. The outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) helped early cinema through advanced technology being developed and an interest from Parliament involving filmma...
This coursework will be based on analyses and evaluation the different approaches to social realism in British cinema since 1960. Particularly, we will look at how different directors managed to reflect life of British people in his films, how social life and reality had been presented in other films.
Hollywood film has always been an influential phenomenon within the people of the United States. Many films have started enormous trends within cultural and social movements as well as political ones. Examples of this can be seen from the genesis of Hollywood film. As films became more popular, and more developed, the ideas that were presented within film reflected the changes that were occurring within The United States. The role of film, thus became even more important because it was source of entertainment, but also a source of propaganda that would influence gender stereotypes and expectations. The ideas that films present are usually very reflective of the time in which they were made, making them benchmarks for what was to be accepted
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
Previous film studies intend to look at national cinema in four terms: economic terms (production: where and by whom those films are made), text based approach(distribution: what the films is about, which films are shown), exhibition/consumption-based approach(which film audience are watching) and criticism-led approach(art is beyond the nations), Hinson argued that these approaches are inadequate because they used the concept prescriptively rather than descriptively which omitted the description of actual cinematic experience of popular audiences. (Higson,1989,p37) Instead, he suggested two method of identifying a national cinema. One is to compare and contrast one cinema to another (he also pointed out that there was a paradox behind the first m...
At that age, hardly any women in Britain could play key roles in the film such as filmmakers and women who worked in film was still be spectacle.( ) Therefore, gender could be expressed as the patriarchy society.