No Man’s Land is a film directed by Danis Tanovic. It takes place during the Bosnian War between the years 1992-1995 in the former Yugoslavia. The film follows a pair of Bosnian soldiers named Ciki and Cera when they are attacked by Serbian troops after they are lost in a fog. They are both wounded and caught in a trench between lines. Two Serbian soldiers go to make sure the Bosnian soldiers are dead. While they are there, Ciki kills one of them and wounds the other. He keeps the wounded Serbian, Nini, alive in order to make it out of the trench without being shot by the Serbs. He finds out that the Serbian soldiers placed a bouncing mine under Cera who he thought was dead. They work together to draw a cease fire and get the UN involved in getting them out of No Mans Land. While they wait, they talk about life before the war and try to take each other out more than once. Once the UN arrives, they evacuate Ciki and Nino and find out that the Bomb under Cera cannot be diffused. The tensions between Ciki and Nino reaches a climax when Ciki shoots Nino, causing a UN officer to kill Ciki. The UN general lies to the reporters and tells them that the mine was diffused and Cera needs to be evacuated to a hospital. The film ends showing Cera still on the mine in the trench.

The film shows the reality of war and the terrible things that it drives people to do. The conversation Ciki and Nino have about a girl they both know is a perfect example of this. It shows how they have lived very similar lives and are much more alike than they think. However, Ciki still kills Nino in the end for helping set the mine under Cera. Another example of the results of war is the UN general trying to save face about leaving Cera in the trench. He does this to make himself and his organization look better even though it’s an evil lie. These points emphasize the theme throughout the film of the brutality of war and the terrible things it drives people to do, especially in the case of the Bosnian war.

Wolfgang Becker’s “Good Bye Lenin!” cleverly blends humor with tragedy to tell its story. The film, set in East Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall, follows the journey of Alexander Kerner, a young man trying his best to shield his bedridden mother from the realities of the political changes in Germany (that took place while she was in a coma).

The movie makes fun of the absurdity of living in Soviet-era East Germany through devices such as satire and irony. For example, the scene in which Alex and his friend fabricate a news report to account for Coca-Cola’s sudden appearance in East Germany is delivered humorously but touches on a not-so-humorous subject. Alex’s attempts to recreate the past by creating fake news broadcasts and finding old food products with the “Made in GDR” label on them, highlight the lengths people went to in order to cling to the ideals of socialism as it fell apart right in front of them. An illustration of irony is in the scene where Alex’s mother is able to step out of her bed for the first time. She goes outside and is confused (but hopefully delighted) to witness a huge Lenin statue being airlifted out of East Germany, not comprehending that the nation is currently experiencing a political uprising.

My favorite trait of combining these two genres of tragedy and comedy is its ability to offset the sad/tragic undertones of the film. Alex’s mother is entering the last stages of her life and is having to be hidden from the constructs of her country being rapidly changed around her for fear that it might send her over the edge. It’s a tragic situation that is only amplified by the absence of Alex’s father and the context of the family’s relationship with him. However, Alex’s attempts to maintain the illusion of the old East Germany for his mother are often quite funny to watch and delivered with a heart-touching element. It creates a great balance with the tragedy of the film that makes for an easily-digestible, entertaining (but still emotional and informative) watch.

Bad Education, directed by Pedro Almodovar, is a story within a story. We follow the two characters of Ignacio and Enrique who are childhood friends from their time at an all boys boarding school. Years later, Enrique works as a movie director and Ignacio, who now goes by the name Angel, is an actor who brings in a script he has written loosely based on their childhood.

One aspect of this film is its use of non-linear storytelling. Similar to some of the other films we have previously watched for this class, Bad Education makes use of oscillating back-and-forth between the present day 1980s, and the mid 1970s. However, what makes this film unique from the others is the fact that half of what we see on screen is actually fictionalized. At the very beginning of the movie, the character Ignacio, or Angel, visits Enrique, a childhood friend from their time at an all-boy’s boarding school. Angel gives Enrique a manuscript he has written titled The Visit. This story tells a tale loosely based on their time at school together with some creative liberties added. One half of the film is “real life” as Enrique reads through the script and then as he learns more about Angel. The other half is the actual filming of The Visit. 

On first viewing, the constant back-and-forth between the manuscript and reality can become blurred, the viewer often becoming confused with what is fiction and what is real. Almodovar’s editing style enhances this aspect as there is no distinction made between the manuscript story and reality. The only time when we clearly see the filming of the story is towards the end during the scene in which the priests murder Ignacio in order to end his blackmailing of them– the camera cuts between the scene and those behind the camera.

This way of making the film allows the audience to become as invested in the manuscript as Enrique. We feel as though we are watching what is playing out in his mind when he is reading it which adds an intimate aspect to the movie.

Made in 1981, the movie Blind Chance was directed and written by Krzysztof Kieslowski; however, the movie was only released to the public in 1987, following intense scrutiny and revision by state censors. The film centers around a young man named Witek, who is profoundly affected by his father’s death and decides to take a leave of absence from medical school to find his true calling. Kieslowski uses a specific scene at the train station three times, each with different results and slight variations. The film is split between these three scenes, and each outcome represents a different path that Witek will lead in life.

 In the first outcome, Witek makes the train barely and runs into an older communist on the train who convinces him to join the communist party. Witek successfully joins and breaks up a sit-in at a mental hospital and is rewarded with a trip to France; however, his first love Czuszka is an ardent anti-communist, so she shuns Witek. Witek tries to make up with her; however, his constant contact with an anti-communist leads the party to cancel his trip to France. 

In the second outcome, Witek misses the train and is tackled by a police officer. Witek is ordered to do community service and, through this, connects himself with anti-communists and joins the underground resistance lending his flat out for anti-communist meetings. He gets baptized, and the Catholic church is shown as a prominent leader in resistance movements. Witek applies for a passport to go to France he is denied because of his political views and captured by the police. The police over him a passport if he revealed his organization headquarters Witek refuses. However, on his return to the headquarters, he finds it raided and his friends taken away. 

In the third scene, Witek misses the train yet is not arrested. He finds love with a woman named Olga and marries her. Witek decides to continue his studies and becomes a doctor. He refuses to join the communist party and also refuses to sign any anti-communist petitions trying to stay out of politics the best he can. He is invited to travel to Lybia to give medical lectures; however, when the plane takes off, it explodes, killing Witek.

The film’s primary theme is centered around the title, as Kieslowski uses this film to show how blind chance can affect a person’s entire trajectory in life. This film, however, can be better understood with historical context, as demonstrated by the six years of repression and censorship before it was released. This movie touches on many prominent issues facing Poland at the time and is not shy about painting the communist party in a bad light. Kieslowski focuses on state repression, religion, and the importance of family. The cracks in the political system of authoritarian communism are clearly shown in this film and accurately depicts the general discontent of the population with the current political system. The one-party state in Poland would collapse two years after the release of this film.   

Released following the Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, Jaromil Jires’s film The Joke (Zert) brilliantly combines Ludvik Jahn’s past with the present, explaining the protagonist’s current bitter state of mind. Throughout the film, Ludvik spends most of his time reliving important events of his past, especially his expulsion from the Communist party and his time in the army meant to “reeducate” Ludvik. To effectively show this, Jires uses point of view shots throughout the flashbacks. Characters look directly into the camera, making the audience relive these moments as well. For example, as Ludvik is brought to a Communist party meeting to ask him about the postcard, those on the board, Paul, and Margareta peer into the camera as he is kicked out of the Party and university. In shots when Ludvik appears on screen, such as the scene when Alexei is found dead, he is shown as he appears in the present, clearly depicting that Ludvik is vividly remembering these crucial periods of his life.

These flashbacks are intercut with the present, often with music juxtaposing the events of the past. While Ludvik is recalling his days in the army, a band plays music for him. As they perform a song title “No More Masters, No More Slaves,” he describes how he was forced to spend six grueling years in the army, military prison, and the mines. Another scene depicts Ludvik in a brutal labor camp while joyful revolution songs play in the background. These scenes add to Ludvik’s bitterness while also including irony.

Upon careful inspection of the mis-en-scène in Agnès Varda’s 1962 film, “Cleo From 5 to 7”, one object in particular will stand out to viewers: mirrors. From reflective signs on the streets, to wall décor in cafés, and even to the glass in a hat shop, every shot in the film’s beginning serves as a means for Cleo to examine herself as she goes about her day. Anxiously awaiting the results of a medical examination for cancer, Cleo attempts to busy herself by doing the one thing she knows best, embracing her vanity. From Cleo’s perspective, “Ugliness is a kind of death… as long as I’m beautiful, I’m alive.” Varda’s consistent placement of mirrors allows viewers to analyze the depth of Cleo’s admiration for face-value qualities. In her early attempts to distract and prevent herself from wallowing in pity, Cleo orders a coffee without directly speaking to the waiters and tries on hats without talking to the saleswoman, all the while admiring herself in some capacity. This mentality is enabled by those around her, with her lover José and production team telling her not to worry about illness because she is beautiful. 

Soon, however, Cleo begins to seem lost, desperately searching for something she cannot pinpoint. Her previous glances of admiration turn to desperate stares, searching for answers about her identity. Instead of the mirrors providing temporary solace, they begin to follow Cleo as she wanders, agitating her the more she sees herself. Glaring at herself in a mirror in a restaurant’s window, Cleo internally examines her problematic mentality, thinking, “I can’t see my own fears. I thought everyone looked at me. I only look at myself. It wears me out.” It is only after Cleo talks with her friend Dorothée that the frequency of mirrors decreases, and eventually dissipates totally when she roams through a park by herself. 

It is there that Cleo meets Antoine, a solider who must soon return to the Algerian War. For the first time in the film, Cleo makes true eye contact with a stranger. Varda’s use of nature in these scenes allows for Cleo to form a close connection in a brief period of time. In the park, there are no longer busy streets, cars passing, and mirrors surrounding Cleo. Instead, only the flow of water, birds chirping, and peaceful conversation fills the soundscape. Only after Cleo leaves the pressure of the city does she find the peace she longed for. With Antoine, a stranger who does not spoil her as she was so often accustomed, Cleo finds clarity, understanding that true connection is the most valuable part of life. Soon after she receives her diagnosis, the film draws to a close as Cleo gazes into Antoine’s eyes, rather than into her own.