Michel Gondry’s film Be Kind Rewind is a film that pokes fun at and removes the underpinning of film editing. This film is fundamentally about the art of story telling and editing. Throughout the film, the ideas of the rules of editing and filmmaking are completely nonexistent, as the main character of the film, Mike and Jerry, shoot films and release them, with no type of post-production process.
Be Kind Rewind follows Mike, played by Mos Def, and Jerry played by Jack Black, friends who work at a failing video store. When Jerry mistakenly becomes magnetized he accidentally erases all of the VHS tapes in the video store, leaving a mob of angry and disgruntled customers in his wake. To fix this problem, the pair decide to re-create famous Hollywood films, to satisfy their costumer’s needs. The results are films that are put together in one take, no budget, and no editing involved. However, the community is surprisingly receptive to these poor quality remakes, and business begins to boom. Gondry exposes the world of editing in this film, in a way that says big budget films and continuity don’t matter if the passion to make the film is there, someone will like it.
There is a use of pastiche in this film, where different forms of art collide. The story of Fats Waller is used throughout the film as a point of reference. These scenes are in black and white, and are visually creatively different then the rest of the film. The Fats Waller clips are more documentary style, with the use of voice over and interview.
The idea of time compression in this film is used in a montage sequence where the filmmaking team is in full swing. This montage sequence is unique in the sense that it shows the elapsing of time, as well as is also a montage sequence of the different films they are filming. As we move along the set, time passes, and we are introduced to various movies the group is “sweding”.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
In The Mood For Love
NARRATIVE FORM IN WONG KAR WAI’S In the Mood For Love
By Ashley Akunna
Wong Kar Wai’s film In The Mood For Love, is a film about two people finding love in the midst of heartache, and ultimately not acting upon these feelings. Chow Mo Wan is a journalist who has just moved into a boarding house with his wife, who is constantly working. Next door, is a lonely woman, So Lai-zhen, who lives with her husband who is continuously working. As the story unfolds we learn that both Chow and So’s significant others are having an affair with each other. The direction in which In The Mood For Love takes, affects the narrative form of the story, in an unexpected way.
The use of fabula, events that are implied but not overtly represented, can be seen extensively throughout the film. When Chow first gets his apartment, we know he views the apartment, but we never see him agree to live there. The next seen we see is of him moving his belongings into the apartment. This technique was most likely used to compress time.
A big omission in this film, are the faces of the spouses who are cheating, their faces are never revealed to the audience. This is done intentionally by Wai to emphasize the unimportance of them. The affair itself, and what the adulterers are doing is not supposed to be important to the audience. However, the way in which this affair affects Chow and So, and ultimately brings them together, is what the story is about. This choice is bold because, not only are we as audiences used to films where there is a big confrontation scene, but you find yourself waiting for one. Only to realize that this is not the direction in which the film is going. We never see Chow ask So out on a date. However, we see them out on date for the first time, after many nights of solitude and loneliness.
I would classify this film as an episodic narrative. In the book “Film” by Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Walls episodic narrative is defined as, “Events that are not tightly connected in a cause and effect sequence. Character actions may appear to be unmotivated, with hours or days unfolding in a spontaneous flow and the movie may seem to digress. An episodic structure emphasizes the repetition of everyday events rather than the dramatic accumulation of tension toward a moment of crises.” The film seems to be various moments between the couple in which they spend time together, eating, or contemplating what they would say if they were to confront their spouses. However, a confrontation never occurs on screen. Also, we never see a consummation of their relationship on screen, and the nature of their relationship is left ambiguous. This omission of sex on screen is done to emphasize the fact that the act itself is not what is important, but the emotions of the two and ultimate refusal to act on these emotions is what is intentionally being focused on. An episodic structure brings attention to the repetition of everyday events, which is clearly stated in this film. We continually see the pair together, discussing the affair, as well as spending time with each other and away from their neighbors. The film is left open ended, without a resolution, the pair do not get together, and we are left with many questions. Is So’s child a result of her relationship with Chow, and not her husband? Is that why she is not with her husband at the end of the film?
By Ashley Akunna
Wong Kar Wai’s film In The Mood For Love, is a film about two people finding love in the midst of heartache, and ultimately not acting upon these feelings. Chow Mo Wan is a journalist who has just moved into a boarding house with his wife, who is constantly working. Next door, is a lonely woman, So Lai-zhen, who lives with her husband who is continuously working. As the story unfolds we learn that both Chow and So’s significant others are having an affair with each other. The direction in which In The Mood For Love takes, affects the narrative form of the story, in an unexpected way.
The use of fabula, events that are implied but not overtly represented, can be seen extensively throughout the film. When Chow first gets his apartment, we know he views the apartment, but we never see him agree to live there. The next seen we see is of him moving his belongings into the apartment. This technique was most likely used to compress time.
A big omission in this film, are the faces of the spouses who are cheating, their faces are never revealed to the audience. This is done intentionally by Wai to emphasize the unimportance of them. The affair itself, and what the adulterers are doing is not supposed to be important to the audience. However, the way in which this affair affects Chow and So, and ultimately brings them together, is what the story is about. This choice is bold because, not only are we as audiences used to films where there is a big confrontation scene, but you find yourself waiting for one. Only to realize that this is not the direction in which the film is going. We never see Chow ask So out on a date. However, we see them out on date for the first time, after many nights of solitude and loneliness.
I would classify this film as an episodic narrative. In the book “Film” by Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Walls episodic narrative is defined as, “Events that are not tightly connected in a cause and effect sequence. Character actions may appear to be unmotivated, with hours or days unfolding in a spontaneous flow and the movie may seem to digress. An episodic structure emphasizes the repetition of everyday events rather than the dramatic accumulation of tension toward a moment of crises.” The film seems to be various moments between the couple in which they spend time together, eating, or contemplating what they would say if they were to confront their spouses. However, a confrontation never occurs on screen. Also, we never see a consummation of their relationship on screen, and the nature of their relationship is left ambiguous. This omission of sex on screen is done to emphasize the fact that the act itself is not what is important, but the emotions of the two and ultimate refusal to act on these emotions is what is intentionally being focused on. An episodic structure brings attention to the repetition of everyday events, which is clearly stated in this film. We continually see the pair together, discussing the affair, as well as spending time with each other and away from their neighbors. The film is left open ended, without a resolution, the pair do not get together, and we are left with many questions. Is So’s child a result of her relationship with Chow, and not her husband? Is that why she is not with her husband at the end of the film?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Me and You and Everyone We Know by Ashley Akunna
ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW
Miranda July’s film, Me and You and Everyone We Know is a film that is ultimately about the connections human beings make. The film deals with the theme of the odd reality of human connections, through an ensemble cast of characters who cross paths with each other throughout the course of the film. The film also addresses the issue of loneliness, and how it enables the characters to do unusual things.
Throughout the film there is a theme of the fear of interacting and making visual connections with people. Instead many of the characters in the film take to other ways of communicating with each other. Andrew played by Brad Henke is a shoe salesman who begins a relationship with two teenage girls. However, the relationship only exists through written messages the trio writes and post to each other from a distance. For instance, there is a scene when the girls catch Andrew staring at them from his window, and he quickly falls to the floor in order to hide from them. The relationship within itself is odd because the girls randomly pick Andrew as a “guinea pig”, and Andrew readily follows their lead. However, the “relationship” becomes purely illusory, with both parties being afraid to meet with the other. At one point, the girls even knock on Andrew’s door, and instead of answering the door he hides. Which alludes to the fact that Andrew did not want to engage in sexual intercourse with the girls, despite what his vulgar messages said. It seems that he is just a lonely man, looking for some excitement.
The film deals with people who are looking to pass time. There is a scene where Miranda July’s, Christine, character is driving an older man home. The pair spot a car with a goldfish in a bag, accidently left on the roof of the car. The scene turns into such a dramatic escapade for the pair. They are truly worried for the fish, and the emotional distress the owner will eventually go through. The smallest of events, is turned into the most important, because this is a mechanism the characters use to pass time.
Christine’s character is an example of the loneliness we all feel, and how sometimes we rush into a connection just to have one. She meets a shoe salesman named Richard, and it is clear that she is instantly smitten with him. There is a scene where Christine and Richard are walking down the street and they begin to talk about a relationship between them, that has yet to have occurred.
At the end of the film Richard’s son Robby, goes outside to investigate a noise he’s been hearing repeatedly over and over. He finds a man standing outside tapping a coin onto a post. Robby asks the man what he is doing, the man responds, “Just passing time.” I think this statement ties all the characters together. None of the characters really with motivation, in fact it seems to be quite the contrary. They seem to just act. Like the two teenage girls who begin a sexual relationship with Peter. Throughout the whole movie they harass him, and then end up performing fellatio on him, not because they like him, but because they are simply passing the time.
Miranda July’s film, Me and You and Everyone We Know is a film that is ultimately about the connections human beings make. The film deals with the theme of the odd reality of human connections, through an ensemble cast of characters who cross paths with each other throughout the course of the film. The film also addresses the issue of loneliness, and how it enables the characters to do unusual things.
Throughout the film there is a theme of the fear of interacting and making visual connections with people. Instead many of the characters in the film take to other ways of communicating with each other. Andrew played by Brad Henke is a shoe salesman who begins a relationship with two teenage girls. However, the relationship only exists through written messages the trio writes and post to each other from a distance. For instance, there is a scene when the girls catch Andrew staring at them from his window, and he quickly falls to the floor in order to hide from them. The relationship within itself is odd because the girls randomly pick Andrew as a “guinea pig”, and Andrew readily follows their lead. However, the “relationship” becomes purely illusory, with both parties being afraid to meet with the other. At one point, the girls even knock on Andrew’s door, and instead of answering the door he hides. Which alludes to the fact that Andrew did not want to engage in sexual intercourse with the girls, despite what his vulgar messages said. It seems that he is just a lonely man, looking for some excitement.
The film deals with people who are looking to pass time. There is a scene where Miranda July’s, Christine, character is driving an older man home. The pair spot a car with a goldfish in a bag, accidently left on the roof of the car. The scene turns into such a dramatic escapade for the pair. They are truly worried for the fish, and the emotional distress the owner will eventually go through. The smallest of events, is turned into the most important, because this is a mechanism the characters use to pass time.
Christine’s character is an example of the loneliness we all feel, and how sometimes we rush into a connection just to have one. She meets a shoe salesman named Richard, and it is clear that she is instantly smitten with him. There is a scene where Christine and Richard are walking down the street and they begin to talk about a relationship between them, that has yet to have occurred.
At the end of the film Richard’s son Robby, goes outside to investigate a noise he’s been hearing repeatedly over and over. He finds a man standing outside tapping a coin onto a post. Robby asks the man what he is doing, the man responds, “Just passing time.” I think this statement ties all the characters together. None of the characters really with motivation, in fact it seems to be quite the contrary. They seem to just act. Like the two teenage girls who begin a sexual relationship with Peter. Throughout the whole movie they harass him, and then end up performing fellatio on him, not because they like him, but because they are simply passing the time.
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