Points of Focus

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The Battle of Algiers follows the FNL movement and uprising against Algeria’s French colonizers in a vie for autonomy. Through the actions of the FNL’s leaders like Ali La Pointe and El-Hadi Jaffar, the story of the violence that ensued to create the Casbah War plays out in this historical reenactment. Although the story itself is intense, the use of cinematography further enhances the viewer’s feelings of shock when scenes of cafes and dance parlors being blown up are shown on the screen. The choice of filming techniques brings the viewer in close to the unsuspecting victims that are then seen in the next shot dead.

Part of the Casbah War included Algerian women dressing as French women in order to pass through checkpoints without suspicion. They then went on to plant bombs in public spaces. The idea and reality of these crimes is harsh and powerful in and of itself however Marcello Gatti, the cinematographer for the film, made these scenes of violence even more powerful with the use of different filming angles and shots. The scenes begin with the camera following the female bomber into the target public space. Each woman is filmed spending time in the café and dance parlor before the shot changes to a close-up of the women’s purses being placed in an inconspicuous place. The camera then switches back to the women as they exit. After the women leave the scene, the cinematography captures the innocent patrons of the businesses. Including up-close shots, shots of people laughing, drinking, and going about their daily lives, the cinematographer brings the audience into the fact that these victims were completely unsuspecting and simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After the viewer feels like they know the patrons and sees them as unthreatening and undeserving of violence, the camera angle switches to outside of the café and dance parlor where within seconds the buildings are leveled and bodies of the once lively and laughing people can be seen strewn amongst the rubble. Marcello Gatti could have focused only on the bombers and could have glazed over the patrons. However, he chose to have the viewers get to know the patrons and exist among them before they are killed.

Poking Fun at “New Money” in Mon Oncle

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Jacques Tati’s 1958 film “Mon Oncle” makes the center of its comedy the clashing of the old and new French lifestyles, as well as the class divisions. We follow M. Hulot as his brother tries to get him a job (and a wife) in this new economy. He’s shown to be a kind neighbor, and a good uncle to Gerard. Thus when we see him struggle to keep up with modernity, as in the kitchen scene where the new appliances seem determined to keep him from completing even simple tasks, we aren’t given to laugh at him, but at the kitchen. While at almost every turn the movie reinforces the idea that the modern house, and by association the new rich folk, are impractical, and obsessed with form over function. Such as the ridiculous stone garden which has almost no plants, and strange paths which the characters walk tentatively and awkwardly on.

The opening shots highlight the juxtaposition of the new, modern world being built on the still inhabited, partially rebuilt ruins of the old one. The environment becomes a focus nearly greater than that of the characters by the nature of the film’s cinematography. The camera greatly favors wide shots, and never moves to track the characters. Putting a large emphasis on the almost grayscale color palette of the modern areas, with their smooth, sterile surfaces. Compared to the colorful, lively scenes of old France, with its lower class folk. The diegetic sound in these areas also portrays a sense of homeliness, compared to the often near-silent scenes in new France. When the sound in the modern areas, particularly the Plastac factory, it instead instills a feeling of discomfort, portraying the sense that the world is busily attending to its increasingly alien duties with little to no regard for the people like M. Hulot.

Modernity and Consumerism in Mon Oncle

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Mon Oncle is clearly a product of France’s relative economic prosperity of the 1950s, with the main theme of the movie being the contrast between the modernity of the main family’s home and lifestyle and the more minimal and old-school lifestyle and neighborhood of the uncle. The film’s critiques of the modernity and consumerism of the wealth of France in the 1950s can be seen in the set/background design. The family’s home is beautiful but completely impractical. Their walkway to their front door is a great example of this, as it is a pretty design, but it takes longer to get to the front door because of the curved design. Additionally, during the garden party scene, the guests are constantly stumbling over the stone walkways and ledges. The house is full of modern technology and architecture that seems to have been bought for the sake of owning it rather than serving any real purpose, with many parts of it making the lives of the family harder.

The way the son, Gerard, interacts with his home and modernity also shows some of the critiques made by the film. The house is clearly portrayed as a place that isn’t very well suited for a child to grow up in it. It is full of harsh lines and cold colors, with it being mostly white. There is also a lack of things that look like they would belong to Gerard like toys. He instead looks to things like the decorative sticks during the garden party to entertain himself. This contrasts with the way he interacts with his uncle and the kids he meets in the city. He clearly looks forward to seeing his uncle and the other kids and is far more engaged and active with them. The way Gerard interacts with modernity emphasizes the critique that modernity is cold and superficial, whereas more traditional lifestyles are welcoming and genuine.

This idea is carried over into how the two different neighborhoods/locations are portrayed. The movie starts with a scene of traffic going into the father’s work. The scene has perfectly coordinated cars moving along the traffic lines. The scene has cold lighting and colors, and the cars are also dull neutral colors. In contrast, the scene in the uncle’s neighborhood is more chaotic, people and vehicles move more freely on the street, and unlike the introductory scene for the modern world, this scene has people interacting with each other. The people in the older neighborhood are more social and genuine. While there are little conflicts, they are easily resolved and the people in the neighborhood seem to care more for one another.

 

 

 

The Bicycle Thieves： Relationship of Father and Son in the film

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The film vividly shows the struggles of small people in the background of the times. In addition, I would like to say that several scenes and designs in the film are also very good at describing the relationship between father and son. I think the existence of the son has enriched the connotation of the film. From the process of the father and son searching for bicycles, we can see that this is a harmonious father-son relationship, with mutual trust and strong love. To some extent, bicycle is the common hope of both father and son. Although the process of seeking hope is a process of suffering, in this process, it reflects the dignity of father and son’s personality. When the father heard that a child fell into the water, his concern for his son immediately took precedence over the stolen “bicycle”. However, when the father and son’s suffering reached the unbearable weight in life, the father’s morality began to collapse, and he became a bicycle thief, and was physically and morally insulted by everyone. All this was seen by his son. At the end of the film is a very interesting scene, where the father cries like a helpless child, but the son held his hand like an adult. This is a very impressive scene in the film, which adds to the tragic meaning of the film. It can be said that if the father stole the car without the children’s attention, the plot might not be so heartache and impressive.

From Thief to Thieves

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“You live and you suffer.”

Bicycle Thieves is the story of one man trying to recover his stolen bike which he needs for work, but on a larger scale, it is the story of a broken country trying to recover and an examination of what people are willing to do when driven by desperation. One of the leading examples of Italian neorealism, Bicycle Thieves uses amateur actors and on location shooting, giving the film a feeling of authenticity and personal connection to the subject matter.

The original title for the film was Ladri di biciclette, or The Bicycle Thief, but the title was later changed to Bicycle Thieves. Changing the title to be plural illustrates one of the main themes of the film, that if driven by desperation and the need to provide for one’s family, anyone can and will turn to crime. As the film progresses and we watch Antonio become more and more desperate to find his bike, we also see him stray further and further from the caring man and father he was when the movie opened. One scene which perfectly illustrates this is when Antonio and Bruno are crossing the street and Bruno almost gets hit by the car. Antonio does not even turn around to check on Bruno. He is so consumed with finding the bike, he forgets who he is trying to find it for.

By the time Antonio tries to steal the bike outside of the soccer stadium, we see how the circumstances in post-war Italy could lead any good person to resort to crime. It becomes clear that the man who stole Antonio’s bike initially was driven by a similar desperation which drives Antonio throughout the film. The final shot shows Antonio and Bruno walking away from the camera with a crowd of people. At the end of the film Antonio is just another bicycle thief, along with all of the other desperate citizens of post-war Italy.

The Bicycle Thieves, The Struggle to Find Meaning After the War

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The Bicycle Thieves, while on its exterior displays a man in postwar Italy continuously and hopelessly searching for his stolen bike, truly is a metaphor for society’s search for purpose and meaning after the war. Antonio’s incessant search for his bike, something in which he could not make a living without, is reminiscent of that of which families in postwar Italy may have felt, especially those who had lost loved ones, houses, or jobs in the destruction of the war. Similar to Rome, Open City, the film provides the suggestion that children are the future of Italy with Antonio’s heavy reliance on Bruno throughout the film to help find the missing bicycle. This is especially evident in the closing scene where Bruno is shown holding his father’s hand to comfort Antonio while he is crying over what seems to be absolute devastation and inability to move on after he attempted to steal a bicycle himself. This seems to suggest that children are what is going to hold society together and make sure it stays on the right track after the war and destruction of fascist Italy.

Additionally, The Bicycle Thieves depicts the struggle between morals through the cinematography. Whenever Antonio was placed in a moral question, there would be a high contrast between light and dark in the scene; Antonio being contrasted in one and the setting in the opposite depending on the outcome of the situation. This is specifically true in the two scenes in which a bicycle was stolen. At the beginning of the film when Antonio’s bike was stolen, he was contrasted in bright whites against the very dark background of the tunnel after the chase and when Antonio stole a bicycle himself, he was shown in shadows while the rest of the surrounding setting was shown in the sun projecting a light contrast. This gives the film an underlying theme of a struggle to morality and immorality. Especially after the war, and the employment destruction that is shown by the mobs of people begging to be given work, the film tells the story of Italian citizens grappling with doing what is right or doing what is easy in order to cope with and move on from the war.

“The Third Man” and the Postwar Dilemma

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What does the world look like after it almost doesn’t exist? This existential question lies underneath much of the 1949 film, “The Third Man”. On the surface, it is a murder mystery set in postwar Vienna. The setting of a closed city run on the black market, with reserved characters, and the use suspense all contribute to it being a classic “film noir”. However, there is situational irony, jovial music, and a variety of dialogue thrown in, making it much more complex. The use of heavy shadows and “dutch angles” also gives the audience a feeling that there is more here than is being seen.

Holly Martins comes to Vienna for a job, and by the end he is lucky to be alive, more alone than at the start. His friend, Harry Lime, believed to be dead then dead by Martins’ hand, seems to believe that the world owes him something — or that he doesn’t owe the world anything. Their two perspectives of the world clash. The Ferris Wheel scene, with Lime and Martins high in the sky, shows how Lime always likes to feel in control. The audience does not know if Martins will get off alive. Martins’ investigation into “The Third Man” while managing the British and Russian authorities makes the film interesting enough. However, the best part of the film comes from Martins’ response to Lime’s crimes — both moral and actual. He wants to help the police arrest him. This helps build one of a central message of the film: right and wrong should matter more than relationships or societal conditions. Martins doesn’t excuse Lime for his crimes because he is his friend or because they live in a world after a world war. The last shot of the film shows that Martins survives, yet he is alone in a devastated and beautiful place. Like everyone after the war, he must move on.

The Third Man: Taking a New Angle

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The Third Man is a classic example of a film noir, a black and white mystery featuring a pessimistic American author named Holly Martins. Directed by Sir Carol Reed, the film is a tale of a struggling American (Martins) who arrives in Vienna after World War 2 with the promise of a job and housing from his childhood friend Harry Lime. Martins gradually becomes disillusioned with his friends’ character and decides to join the British government in their search for Lime.

The film utilizes Dutch angles to demonstrate Hollys warped perception of Vienna as he unravels the mystery of Limes death. Along with contrasting street lighting, Dutch
angles are used to dramatize the empty, cobbled streets of Vienna. Twice in the film Lime is revealed by stepping from the shadows into the streetlights. The only scene with extended dialogue between Holly and Harry, set on a Ferris wheel, with the camera elevating the men alternately according to the power dynamic through the conversation. This scene also demonstrates a pivotal moment for Martins in which the mystery of Lime is resolved, and he need to decide which course of action to take. When Harry decides to reveal himself to Holly, he is no longer able to hide from the camera until his death. Harry descends into the sewers, chased by the British and Austrian police. Dutch angles are once again used to highlight the maze-like nature of the sewer system, emphasizing the shadows. The maze which he was previously the only person to solve becomes a trap, as the police track him by the sound of his footsteps. This scene is dominated by diegetic sound; the flow of water, footsteps, gunfire, and dog barks in an absence of background music. Harrys actions are sped up to emphasize his urgency until he is shot in a confrontation with Martins.

The impact of the world war on Vienna is primarily demonstrated through the rubble in the streets, the penicillin black market to which Lime was involved, and the tension between the law enforcement of France, US, UK, and the Russians. Representatives from each government came to arrest Anna for a forged passport. The Russian officer is unpleasant and arrests her while the other three representatives are seen comforting her in turn. This scene highlights the actual political alliances and cements the British as protagonists against Lime before Martins confronts him.

The Third Man – Questioning Everything

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The Third Man is a quality piece of work. The scenery features both lavish city buildings and postwar rubble, creating an interesting contrast between the wealth of the past versus the present. The editing is quick, and the view often switches from character to character as they talk, resembling the style of a typical 1940s drama. The cinematography easily creates dramatic atmospheres such as the height of the Ferris wheel scene, the tall-shadowed and echoey sewer chase, and the time loop-like effect of visiting Harry’s grave. And the soundtrack of zither music is ideal for the movie, creating a more intimate atmosphere than the cheesy string orchestra often used in these kinds of movies. Given the depressing postwar setting, it could even be considered comical.

Postwar Vienna is depicted in The Third Man as a city divided among countries and ideological lines, but as the plot progresses the lines between who is right and who is wrong start to blur. Beginning with the shocking death of Harry Lime, the protagonist Holly sets off to uncover the truth of his longtime friend’s sudden demise. Along the way he meets several characters connected to Harry in various ways, each with their own feelings about Harry that leave them conflicted at times.

Initially Holly is relentless in his search for the story of Harry’s death, talking to everyone he can and disregarding the risks to others of bringing their often-illegal habits into the light. But as he digs deeper the consequences of his actions begin to stack up: Anna is exposed as an illegal citizen, the evasive Porter is found dead in his home, and most importantly, he learns that Harry is still alive. Meeting Harry at the Ferris wheel begins to make Holly regret his actions, and although he initially sympathizes with Harry, a walk through a hospital full of children affected by Harry’s black-market dealings changes his mind. Nearly every scene in the movie prompts the viewer to question what the characters do, up to the very end where a dramatic sewer chase leads Holly to kill his friend. Did Holly do the right thing? Were Harry’s actions justified? The movie provides no answer, only an image of a city restrained by occupation and financial hardship alike.

murderers are among us commentary

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In the movie the female lead actor known as Susanna came back from her concentration camp to start a new life and rebuild her country. When returning she finds the male lead actor known as Dr. Hans living in her house and they decided to share the place until he found another house. The real story began here when they started to stay together. Susanna’s intentions were to help him since she saw that he was emotionally and mentally damaged because of the war more than anyone else because he was there during the war.

The movie was made to show how and what people had to go through during that period. It was a very devastating situation for the people there. A lot of people had to fled out of their country and lots of lives have been taken and so on. In this movie we had 2 main leads that showed different view and spirits after the war. One side of the view was all about how people want to contribute and help in rebuilding their country and had a vision of a good future by working together and had hopes of meeting their family and relatives that had fled during the war. The other view people had was that there is nothing that can be done. It was as if life was over for them.

In general, this movie coveys the message that there is still hope and that they should move on and think of how to rebuild the country instead of being stuck in the past and live miserably.