Introduction

       Film is an ever-evolving medium that has gripped the attention of casual viewers and serious critics since its inchoate days of short and simple actualities. This blog will explore and analyze four significant films in cinematic history for the techniques used by their directors or auteurs that set them apart from other works of the same time period. Each film challenges the filmic norms or standards for the time it was made it and reveals important details about the culture in which it was created. 

Easy Rider (1969)

Breathless (1960)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Easy Rider

          The 1960's and early 1970's in America was a time of critical societal and filmic changes. While Americans struggled to come to terms with the Vietnam War, Hollywood struggled with how to depict the changing social landscape in film (Shiel). While most filmmakers were unable to capture the essence of the times on film (or felt they were ideologically unequipped to do so) (Shiel), director Dennis Hopper managed to successfully portray the changing social landscape in his successful film Easy Rider (Monaco). Easy Rider depicts the story of two friends, Wyatt and Billy, who decide to abandon all material attachments and hit the open road on a couple of motorcycles in order to discover who they truly are, a la Jack Kerouac and On the Road. The two friends represent the restless counter-culture comprised mainly of teenagers and college-students who felt alienated from society. In the true spirit of bohemian culture during the 60's and 70's, they experiment with hallucinogenic drugs in a search for enlightenment. In one of the last scenes of the movie, the two make it to New Orleans where they do acid with two female escorts in a cemetery. Hopper gives his audience a first hand experience of the trip (and I'm not talking about the one involving motorcycles)

The hallucinogenic effect derived from this scene is achieved through the use of dialectical montage. This montage technique follows the formula A+B does not equal AB. The goal of this technique is to create a totally new meaning from the actions in scene A plus the actions in scene B. Typically, the two scenes feature different subjects that relate because of the meaning that is derived from their juxtaposition. Dialectical montage is not just a sequence of events, it is collision of two things that come together to create a new meaning. In this case, the collision of various, seemingly random images in the entirely of this montage suggest a heightened sensory experience. Obviously, it expresses that the characters are quite high and they are experiencing a warped perception of the world. 

In the beginning of this montage scene from Easy Rider, Hopper cuts from the characters, to a panning shot of the building, back to the characters, and then back to the shot of the building in which a sun flare pierces the audience's view. In the background, an eerie echoing of voices can be heard. It is truly, for lack of a better word, trippy. The camera angles are dizzying. We feel as if we are experiencing the acid trip with Wyatt, Billy, and their two female friends. 

As Hopper continues to cut between seemingly unrelated images, the same eerie echoing can be heard along with the sound of a girl's voice (depicted above) narrating the resurrection of Christ. Tripping on hard drugs in a cemetery seems awfully disrespectful, but the incorporation of religion and the concept of Christ suggest that the American youth was deeply confused about whether or not there was a true God they could trust in. Maybe, they were waiting for a new savior. 

The camera approaches different scenes from various angles and cuts between shots at varying speeds. As the high of the characters intensify, so does the echoing of the voices and the speed of the montage. Sometimes, the camera will pan up to the tree tips and spin around to cause a disorienting affect. Then, it will cut to the sun, a man walking through the cemetery, or a girl undressing between two marble tombs. The distortion is both dizzying and terrifying. 

In the final shots of the hallucinogenic montage, we see Wyatt and Billy in the arms of a female statue. They look out at the audience in a way that seems to ask "what do we do next? Where do we go from here?" Although they are disrespecting a sacred place by firstly doing drugs and possibly engaging in some form of sexual activity and secondly climbing on what is probably someone's tomb, they seem to be challenging the system that has established rules against these trespasses. Why should they respect a system that never respected them? Why should they honor the values of a machine that doesn't honor to bother to understand theirs? The questions that these shots and the montage as a whole provoke are ones that the American counter-culture seemed to be asking itself and struggling to answer.

          The 1960’s in America welcomed the emergence of the Beat Generation. The beats opposed the war, violence, and America’s dependence on material items. They represented a counter-culture which was heavily involved in hallucinogenic drugs as a means of escape and enlightenment. Easy Rider spoke to this counter-culture. Made on a budget of only $300,000, it was very representative of the American spirit in the 60’s and was hailed by some critics as the new American cinema (Monaco). Easy Rider’s success did not come from its lavish production and massive cast- it was a low budget film with a very distinct creative vision, yet it was perfectly created to target the teenage/college-aged audience Hollywood had been seeking to target for years (Monaco). It proved to the industry that it could not rely on glitzy techniques to excite young adults, it had to be innovative and aesthetically metamorphic if it wanted to continue its success.

Works Cited:

Monaco, Paul. "The Sixties."

Shiel, Mark. "American Cinema, 1965-70."

Breathless

          Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless is considered one of the major turning points in cinematic history. It epitomizes the French New Wave movement and reflects the theory of auteur-ship that was popular among independent filmmakers. Breathless is most noted for breaking the traditional cinematic codes that had been set in place since the beginning of film history and for providing viewers with a filmic experience that emphasized sensation over plot. Though it is sometimes tedious or frustrating to watch because of its jarring jump cuts and shaky camera movements, Breathless maintains its relevance by allowing viewers to feel as if they, along with Godard, were experiencing film for the first time.

The film begins with a car theft. Main character Michel steals a vehicle and sets off along the French countryside in the hopes of making it to Paris. Godard allows his viewers a view of the setting with multiple and seemingly unnecessary establishing shots. Godard makes jump cuts from one section of the road to the next in a manner that seems exasperating. Not only is the lens that we're viewing this world through very shaky, as if an amateur filmmaker is sitting in the passenger seat of Michel's car and documenting every moment, but it is hard for us to settle down and immerse ourselves in it. Right from the beginning, Godard shatters the illusion of film (Keathley). The goal of Hollywood cinema is to ensure that viewers are unaware of the fact that they are watching a movie. This is achieved through polished editing/cuts and steady camera movements. Godard, on the other hand, makes viewers very aware of the fact that they are watching a movie. The shaky camera and jarring cuts from perspective to perspective allow us to experience his process of filmmaking.

Another rather jarring aspect of this scene is the fact that Michel directly addresses his audience. He breaks the fourth wall and talks to us. Godard employs this technique to catch his audience off guard and make them a bit uneasy, thereby distancing themselves from the film's actual plot (Keathley). The goal of Breathless was not so much to convey a specific plot as it was to convey a sensation among viewers. Michel directly challenges his audience for watching him and is telling us to screw ourselves, more or less, for doing so (Keathley). 

At this point, while driving through the French countryside, Michel notices that he is being followed by police. Coincidentally, the jump on the car dies and he must pull over to the side of the road. He gets out of the car and is quickly joined by a policeman on a motorcycle. 

In a series of erratic cuts, Michel points his gun on the policeman and kills him. All we see, however, is the camera pan down Michel's arm into a close-up shot that spans the length of the gun and then the policeman fall into the bushes after he is shot. The abruptness of this scene eradicates the notion of unity that was a code in most Hollywood films (Keathley). There is nothing harmonious about the disjointed cuts from Michel, to the gun, to the fallen policeman. Instead, it seems messy and fitful. These techniques provide us insight into Michel's current state of mind. Just as Wiene's bizarrely stylized sets in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari suggest the insanity of his central character, Godard's jarring jump cuts and disjointed editing techniques express to the audience that Michel's mind is messy, unpredictable, and unreliable (Keathley). 

In this shot, the final in the shooting scene, we see Michel abandon his car and the man he just murdered and take off across a field. Godard employs the use of a wide angle and a tracking shot so that we may follow Michel in his escape. He cuts to the tracking shot immediately after the policeman falls into the bushes. There is no shot in between the two to establish Michel's emotional reaction to what he has just done. A shot such as this would allow the audience to make a psychological connection with the main character (Keathley). Godard, however, denies us this connection and distances us from Michel, which leaves us with a lot of questions as to what our relationship with him is. Do we identify with this man? Do we celebrate his triumph over the law, or do we condemn him for committing a murder? We can trust neither Michel nor Godard and, as a result, feel a heightened sense of uneasiness. 

        Breathless reinvented film because it allowed viewers to feel as if they were experiencing it for the first time ever. Traditional cinematic code dictated that directors would tell their audience a story in a way that made spatial and temporal sense. Viewers learned to trust that directors would fully develop relationships between them and the characters they were watching on screen. Godard's jarring jump cuts, shaky camera angles, and lack of character identification completely demolish this code and make Breathless almost amateurish. But the fact that these qualities are part of an artistic vision meant to generate a unique sensation among viewers make it profound. Godard, in true auteur fashion, uses his camera as his pen and develops a very personal and unique style (Art Cinema and the Idea of Authorship). He does more than just tell us a story about a young man who steals a car and tries to convince the love of his life to run away with him, he uses distinct stylistic choices, like the ones described in the films above, to craft an art piece. While other films adhered to a code of unity, illusion, and harmony, Breathless was unpredictable, untrustworthy, and spontaneous and, for these reasons, remains refreshingly timeless.

Works Cited:

"Art Cinema and the Idea of Authorship." Film History. Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell. 

Keathley, Christian. "Jean-Luc Godard's A Bout de Souffle and the American Cinema." Senses of Cinema. Nov 2007. Web. 

All Quiet on the Western Front

          All Quiet on the Western Front is a powerful film that gave viewers an inside look at the traumatic life lead by soldiers on the battlefront in WWI. It is revered today for its historical relevance as well as its cinematic achievements (Chambers) and its impressive use of sound technology at a time when sound was still relatively new. Its graphic representations of the Western front and strong anti-war sentiment still reverberate through American history to today. 

This is the beginning of a bombing scene in which the film's hero, Paul Baumer (standing up in the back) and his fellow soldiers experience the harsh reality of battle on the Western Front. In this shot, they begin to hear bombs falling near the trench they're holed up in. This neither excites nor especially terrifies the men, as many of them have become jaded to life on the line of battle. They expect and anticipate the bombings. This is one way of demonstrating the dehumanizing ability of war- these men are used to the destruction and it no longer phases them when they have to participate in the death machine. 

This shot also create an interesting sense of depth for the viewer with the placement of two men laying down in the foreground of the shot, three men sitting in middleground, and Paul standing in the background. It creates a sort of pyramid effect as well. In addition, the older, more experienced soldiers are laying down, understandably tired from the battles they've fought. Paul, young and still relatively naive and energetic stands up in the back. It will not be long, however, until he is laying down too. 

This clip is a part of a tracking shot of Corporal Himmelstoss running through the battlefield, attempting to dodge bombs and schrapnel. Director Lewis Milestone was one of the first to use a moving camera to track the actions of the characters in his film (All Quiet on the Western Front). During the early sound era of film, cameras were confined to a stationary, bulky soundproof box that muffled the noises they made (The Uncertainty of Sound). This made them virtually immobile. However, Milestone used a very large mobile crane to capture shots like this, and was the first to do so (All Quiet on the Western Front). Milestone's work in AQWF was an impetus for other directors to shift from limiting themselves to static, stage-like talking pictures to dynamic and versatile films that combined sound with movement (Chambers). 

All Quiet on the Western Front depicts many graphic images of destruction. This particular scene features the bombing of a graveyard, a typically sacred and revered place. The visual and aural authenticity of the bombings convey a realism for American audiences that they had never experienced on screen before (Chambers). Milestone forced his viewers to see the revulsion in these acts of war and, as a result, inspired a deep anti-war sentiment in his American audience.

Each time a bomb exploded during this scene, the sound of the explosion accompanied the visual blast. For an early sound film, the sound in AQWF is impressively synchronized. The sounds of the battle were pre-recorded and added after filming was complete (All Quiet on the Western Front). This type of synchronous sound is known as postsynchronization dubbing.

This is one of the final images of the bombing scene. It depicts Paul taking cover in an open grave and discovering that he is huddled next to a dead body. He is horrified at what he has just escaped from and horrified at what he escaped to. Here, we see Paul's loss of innocence. He has changed from the enthusiastic, patriotic schoolboy to a war-hardened soldier. The fact that he is laying in an open grave in a recently bombed graveyard demonstrates to the audience that there is no humanity or sacredness in war, and our young American men are completely immersed in and trapped by the dehumanization that it promotes. Paul seems to be framed by the destroyed casket he takes shelter in, symbolizing that the only place in which one will ever find solace after experiencing war is in death.

          Though All Quiet on the Western Front was a very powerful source of opposition for war in America, it was met with hostility abroad. Political conservatives, fascists, and Nazis in Germany and Italy believed it degraded the glory of war and the valor of soldiers (Chambers). Mussolini banned it immediately in Italy and when the film opened in Germany in 1930, it was met with Nazi street protestations. Many Germans saw it as an insult to their national pride. In order to maintain its place in the German film market, Universal studios agreed to make cuts in the film, and after the censored version opened in 1932, it became the sixth most popular film in Germany (Chambers). Hitler, however, banned the film entirely when he came to power in 1933 (Chambers).

         For Americans, All Quiet on the Western Front symbolized the horror of battle and framed a popular perception of WWI that reverberates through history and into modern times (All Quiet on the Western Front). It allowed people to experience and understand the corruption of war through the lens of Milestone's camera. Not only did it inspire anti-war sentiment and opposition to the making of war, but it built a shared sense of humanity and pacifistic nationalism (Chambers).

Works Cited:

Chambers, John Whiteclay. "All Quiet on the Western Front: The Antiwar Film and the Image of WWI." Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television 14.4 (1994). Print. 

Miller, Frank. "All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)." Turner Classic Movies. Turner Entertainment Networks. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. 

Introduction: The Uncertainty of Sound. 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Directed by Robert Weine and released in 1920, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was Germany’s answer to traditional Hollywood cinema and the first world war. During the 1920’s in the wake of WWI, Germany was one of several nations to forge a major film presence (Resistance to Hollywood). The films that came out of this time are very unique to the country they were produced in and are stylistically characterized as German expressionist films. This style arose from two factors: the warped psychological state of Germany during and after WWI and financial constraints that forced directors to find alternative means to traditional lighting and set design (The Frame in Two Dimensions).

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is told entirely through a series of flashbacks. The only time we are in the present tense is at the very beginning and end of the film. Here, Francis has finished recounting the story of an evil doctor who has trained his somnambulist Cesare to predict people's deaths and then kill them in order to ensure that his prediction came true. The evil Dr. Caligari is eventually unhanded by the law, laced up in a straight jacket, and thrown into an insane asylum. This is the story that unravels throughout the movie. Despite the fact that the story is incredibly eerie and supernatural, the viewer assumes that Francis is sane and accepts his tale as truth. The darkness of this scene, however, suggests a very ominous psychological state. This man has sat in obscure gloom for an hour while telling his story, so perhaps he is disturbed. This is also a reflection of the atmosphere in Germany during the years after WWI- dark, gloomy, and ominous. 

In the next shot, we are brought into what appears to be a large sitting room or parlor. People mill about mindlessly, almost as if under hypnosis. The only depth suggested by the mise en scène is created by the wheel design on the floor of the set. Otherwise, the set looks rather like a theater stage. It is as if Robert Wiene filmed the scene on one flat plane (Ebiri). There is little variance in camera angles or lenses. Due to a lack of funds, Wiene had to rely on the appearance of his set to create effects such as depth or the contrast of lightness and darkness. If he wanted to convey physical darkness- like the darkness seen in the archways at the back of the set- his set designers would paint the shadows according to where they would appear if actual light was used. This technique was also used to create a sense of depth, as exemplified by the wheel pattern on the floor of this shot.

In this shot, Francis spots Cesare, the somnambulist of the story he has just finished telling us. His terror and shock are quite clear. He grips and hides behind another man, his eyes widening in fright. Because The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a silent film actors could not convey emotion through their voice. Many times, they relied on over-acting and making overly expressive facial expressions or bodily gestures to gesticulate to the audience about how they're feeling. 

At this point, we are beginning to wonder where Francis is. According to the story he just told his audience, Cesare is no longer living and his master, the supposedly evil Dr. Caligari has been laced up in a straightjacket and thrown into solitary confinement. Is Francis crazy, or was the entirety of the movie simply a dream of him?

After Francis draws attention to the fact that Cesare is a dangerous being who has somehow risen from the dead, he is swarmed and restrained by a group of people who appear to be some kind of hospital nurses. At this point, the viewer begins to realize that Francis is insane (despite his protestations) and the room he is in is a part of an asylum. The people milling about, including Cesare, were all characters in the story he just told his audience. Francis' insanity instills in the audience an heavy sense of uneasiness. If we can't trust him, but we've also been told (by a madman) not to trust Dr. Caligari, who can we trust?

In this shot, Francis has been restrained in a straight jacket and is being hustled into solitary confinement by three asylum attendants. The bizarre and stylized angles of the room he is currently being forced into reflect Francis' erratic state of mind. It is clouded by encroaching darkness and completely off balance. Despite financial restrictions due to the poor economy in Germany during this time, Wiene uses his resources to their highest potential. The lack of professional lighting and intentionally primitive sense effectively add to the macabre atmosphere of the film (The Frame in Two Dimensions). Through the warped appearance of the world that Francis occupies, the audience is able to experience his off-balance perception of his surroundings. Through the whole movie, we were experiencing his insanity and, as a parallel, the insanity of post WWI and pre WWII Germany. 

In this shot, Francis has been thrown into solitary confinement and is being inspected by Dr. Caligari himself- a man we believed to be heinous and evil but who is actually the director of the insane asylum. Once again, the terror is apparent on Francis' face. His expression is so overdramatic that it's almost funny, but it conveys his extreme terror nonetheless. 

At last, the whole truth is confirmed and acknowledged by Caligari. This is the last "speaking" shot in the movie. From here, the audience does not know what will happen to Francis. How is Caligari going to cure him- shock therapy, a lifetime of solitary confinement, death? If Francis and his mental state reflect the mental state of Germany during the 1920's, this question also applies to to Germany as a whole. What was the cure for the economic/social/political crisis Germany was enduring at the time? The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a tumultuous, bizarre, and very ominous film that not only reflects the obscurity that Germany was currently experiencing, but also warns of the impending darkness on the horizon.

         The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari focuses largely on the concept of one man (Cesare) being hypnotized by another (Dr. Caligari) to do heinous things (murder people). Though Hitler had only just begun his rise to power, his skills in persuasion can be compared to the power of hypnosis. The hypnotic powers that Caligari possesses and the hypnotized state in which the members of the insane asylum seem to be in (refer to shot 2) symbolize the mass manipulation of the human soul and psyche that Hitler implemented during his reign (Ebiri). Dr. Caligari maintains its status as an art piece and integral part of the German expressionist style while also making very relevant points on the dangers of mass hypnosis and the warped mental state of Germany during the 1920's and onward. 

Works Cited:

Cook, David A. "Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari." A History of Narrative Film. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Print.

Ebiri, Bilge. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." The Film Journal. Print.

"The Frame in Two Dimensions: mise en scène in German Expressionism." Film: A Critical Introduction. Print.