Film Studies Reality Effects and Truth Effects

An alternative way to describe realism (and formalism) To discuss realism (and formalism) in terms of effects which a film (or art and literature) create on the audience.

Reality Effects and Truth Effects ‘Reality Effects’ - they come into being when representations in moving images give the audience the impression that they mimic the ‘facticity’ of the world around us, or surface appearance. Roland Barthes

Reality Effects and Truth Effects ‘Truth Effects’ - they come into being when representations in moving images agree with viewer’s ideas of what is true about the world in a general sense. They have to do with whether texts conform to what she generally believes about experience. Michel Foucault

Reality Effects Richard Attenborough’s biographical film, Gandhi, imitates how Mahatma Ghandi looked, how he spoke, how the world in which he lived looked like and what his life was like - creation of an impression that the film is mimicking facticity, that is, a reality effect.

Reality Effects Jinnah and Ghandi Hunger strike Opening Assassination Gandhi interview, Jinnah, Jinnah and Ghandi Hunger strike OpeningAssassination Gandhi interviewJinnah

Reality Effects Film images create ‘reality effect’ among audiences when they are impressed that the images objectively mimic reality. Filmmakers must imitate reality as faithfully as possible. Filmmakers recreated Gandhi and the life of Mahatma Gandhi by carefully studying him or his life, and by closely referring to biographies, photographs and newsreels. Funeral newsreel Movie version Funeral ProcessionFuneral newsreel Funeral Procession

Truth Effects Moving images have ‘truth-effects’ even when they are not true, because they only need to agree to what audiences believe true. Audiences do not have to have prior accurate knowledge about what a film represents or do not need to know whether it objectively reflect reality or not. Samuel Fuller’s House of Bamboo (US, 1955) display the images of Japan and Japanese women. False for those who know Japan and Japanese women but true for those who believe them true.

Reality Effects and Truth Effects Reality Effects Materialist approach to our cognition Things exist independently of the individual’s knowledge of them. Truth Effects Idealist approach to our cognition Things do not exist in themselves. They exist only as ideas that each of us has of them.

Reality Effects and Truth Effects Materialist conception Idealist conception

Film Realism and Reality/Truth Effects Our impression of moving images being realistic or not depends on reality or truth effects, or both, that they exert on us. Reality and truth effects as alternative to film realism

Reality and Truth Effects Analyse the reality and truth effects that a film make on you. Riso Amaro, Giuseppe de Santis’s 1949 film. Francesca and Walter are a criminal couple. To avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of migration workers. She meets a rice worker, Silvana, and is later rejoined by Walter in a rice farm. Robbery, triangle love and murder takes place. Riso amaro

Reality and Truth Effects Reality Effects Shot on location in the countryside of Vercelli and in Veneria and Selve Farms in Lignana, Piemonte. Non-professional actors found locally. Local dialects used Costumes worn by those who worked in rice farms around Truth Effects Silvana Mangano as Silvana, Miss Italia contestant, but she is a peasant woman, if you believe so.) Rice must have been planted as we see on the screen. We have never seen how rice was planted in Italy but we believe it was like the movies – men plough and women plant, songs and supervisors

Reality and Truth Effects Reality Effects Social situation - Reliance on migration workers - Their exploitation - North/South divide Customs Lives of migration workers in farms Truth Effects Social situation Peasants wishing to get out of poverty Peasants even prepared to commit crimes (stealing and cheating) Italians are emotional and amorous Italian way of love

Analyse the reality and truth effects that Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algier exerts on you. Battle of Algiers

Reality and Truth Effects Reality Effects Record of Algerian straggle for independence Shot on location in Algiers The film based on the accounts of Saadi Yacef, a FLN military commander. Truth Effects Record of Algerian straggle for independence ‘I have never been to Algeria, but it looks like being shot in Algiers as the title says so. ‘I know that struggles for independence took place in Algeria and they must be as depicted in the film.’

Reality and Truth Effects Reality Effects Cast is non- professional except Jean Martin, who played Colonel Mathieu and all found in Algeria. Martin served as a paratrooper during the Indochina War and knew the French paratroop. Truth Effects Movie characters seem to be real Algerian. Colonel Mathieu looks like a real French colonel.

Reality and Truth Effects Against Reality Effects Film deliberately shot in black & white. Reality does not come with music or sound effects. Algerian music for Algerian actions and the sounds of gunfire, helicopters and engines for French actions Truth Effects As if we were watching a newsreel or documentary. American version has a disclaimer, ‘not one foot of newsreel was used.’ Music and sound effects make emotional effects clearer