Lecture 10: Film Theory Professor Aaron Baker

Last Time: Stars Movie Stars, Their Images What They Are Why They Matter to Us George Clooney 2

Today: Film Theory What is it? Different Uses for Film Realism Formalism 3

What is Film Theory? 4 Lesson 10: Part I

5 Filmic Discourses Film Criticism Film History Film Theory

6 Film Criticism Analysis of one or a group of films A genre, filmmaker Evaluation of meaning, importance

7 Film History How film as a medium has developed, changed: -economically -technologically -socially -aesthetically

Film Theory What Is The Nature of Cinema? What It Can Do As A Medium How It Communicates Meaning 8

Six Models 1. Realist (Formalist) 2. Auteurist 3. Psychoanalytic 4. Ideological 5. Feminist 6. Cognitive 9

Each Different Viewpoint Realism/Formalist – How films show world Auteurist – Who creates film Psychoanalytic – How film represents, impacts human development 10

Each Different Viewpoint Ideological – How film represents, impacts viewers’ beliefs and values Feminist – How film represents women Cognitive – What is the experience of film viewers 11

Realist and Formalist Film Theory 12 Lesson 10: Part II

13 Focus Today: Realism and Formalism What is a film’s ability to show the world? Realism: Film documents reality. Limited filmmaker manipulation of what is shown. Formalism: Filmmaker has to interpret reality, manipulation of film form allows communication of that interpretation.

14 Italian Neorealism Decade After WW II Italy in Ruins Real Locations Non Professional Actors Challenges of Everyday Life for Working People Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Clip #1: Bicycle Thieves (1948) Director - Vittorio De Sica Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) – Factory Worker Post-WW II Rome Job Requires Bike Unemployment, Poverty and Crime 15

16 Andre Bazin French Theorist Wrote Influential Essays in 1940s and 1950s Advocated specific style to preserve film’s realism

Preserve Viewer’s Experience of Reality Don’t Control Spectator Keep Ambiguity in the Image Deep Focus Photography The Long Take 17

Deep Focus Deep Space in Focus Before Camera Fore-, mid-, background Multiple Narrative Areas Clip #2 Citizen Kane 18

Continuity Editing Dominant in Hollywood Films Directs Our Attention As We Watch Emphasizes Dialogue, Reaction, Cause and Effect Creates Clear Space and Time to Tell Story, Narrative Continuity 19

Deep Focus/Long Take Deep Focus/Long Take Deep Focus: Three Planes No Editing Long Take/Time to Look, Assess: -What are character motivations, emotions? -What is best for little Charlie? 20

21 Continuity Editing Ethical? Dirty Harry 1971 Det. Callahan (Eastwood) Stops Bank Robbers Establishing Shot Breakdown S/RS Clip # 3

22 Do You Feel Lucky Punk? Harry Takes Control Restores Justice Shots Endanger People on Street? Editing Focuses on Harry, Robbers Emphasizes Harry’s Heroics

23 Formalism Opposite of Realist Film Theory Accepts Need for Filmmaker to Interpret What Shows Viewer Celebrates Film’s Ability to Influence Audience Emotionally, Intellectually The Underneath, 1998

Style Realism = Lack of Style Formalism: Use Pattern of Film Form (Style) to Communicate Ideas, Impact Audience Clip #3: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) 24

Expressionism Germany 1910’s, 20s Multi-Art Movement Expression of Insane Mind Dark, Distorted, Nightmarish Worlds Influenced Hollywood (Noir, Horror) 25

26 Stylized Form Expresses Cesare’s (Narrator’s) Psychosis, Insanity. Formalism Communicates Psychological Realism

Summary: Realism and Formalism Same Objective: Communicate Insight About the World Different Methods: -Realism/Give Audience Direct Access to That World Vs. -Formalism/Present an Interpretation of It Both Emphasize Ambiguity, Complexity Both Require Viewer Interpretation 27

28 Soviet Montage Political Formalism in USSR 1920 First Film School in Moscow Socialism: Society with Equal Distribution of Wealth Film to Promote This Idea of Society

29 Lenin, Soviet Leader: “Cinema is for us the most important of the arts.” Challenge of Unifying Soviet Society 160 million citizens in USSR 100 languages

What Kind of Cinema? Fiction or Documentary? Popular Entertainment or Challenging Avant Garde Agreed on Power of Editing (Montage) to Construct an Ideology 30

Construct a Reality Shots Gain Meaning in Relation to Other Shots E.g. Kuleshov Effect Actor Mojoukine’s Expression Juxtaposed with— Soup = Hunger Baby = Happiness Coffin = Sadness 31

Sergei Eisenstein Soviet Filmmaker Intellectual Studied Literature, Philosophy, Art, History Multicultural Influences: Kabuki Theater, African Sculpture, American Indigenous Cultures 32

Eisenstein Starts in Theater of Attractions Like Carnival Comedy, Acrobatics, Shock Spectators Fire Crackers Theater is a Plough, We Need a Tractor [to Change Russian Society]. 33

34 Eisenstein’s Dialectical Montage (Editing) Discontinuity Editing Shots Not Fit Together to Tell Story Shots in Conflict Based on Dialectic: -Thesis/Antithesis = Synthesis Karl Marx’s Principle of History -Workers/Owners = Revolution

Battleship Potemkin (1925) Eisenstein’s Historical Film 1905 Sailors Mutiny on Black Sea near Odessa People of Odessa at Waterfront in Support Czar’s (Emperor’s) Troops Violently Suppress Protest 35

36 Odessa Steps Sequence Eisenstein’s Dialectical Editing Arranges Shots to Mirror Conflict between People and Czar’s Troops Clip #5 Preview of Dialectical Conflict (Russian People vs. Czar) that Would Cause Revolution in 1917.

Formalism in Potemkin Eisenstein Stylizes Reality/History with Dialectical Editing Presents an Interpretation to Audience Socialism in Russian Necessary, Justified 37

38 Stalin Soviet Leader After Lenin 1935 Ousts Montage Filmmakers Labeled Their Films Too Hard to Understand, Elitist Mandated Only Realism in Soviet Films

39 Summary Film Theory – What Film Can Do Realism: Film Can Record, Document the World As It Is Formalism: Filmmakers Can Use Stylized Form to Interpret the World Eisenstein’s Potemkin as Socialist Formalism

40 End of Lecture 10 Next Time: Film Genre