Fast-stepping siblings

It's been a while since CineVerse has featured a musical. To correct that oversight, book your plans to join our film discussion group on April 2 for a 60th anniversary celebration of  "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954; 102 minutes), directed by Stanley Donen, chosen by Len Gornik.

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On "Seconds" thought...

John Frankenheimer's "Seconds" appears to be quite the prescient picture for the mid-1960s, forecasting our youth-obsessed culture, the dangers of corporatization and blind trust in technology. Here's a summary of what was discussed during our group meeting about this movie:

WHAT DID YOU FIND INTERESTING, UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT ABOUT SECONDS?

·       It’s overwhelmingly dark and pessimistic, even for the Cold War era, with a conclusion that is especially downbeat. There is no tacked on happy ending here.

·       The visuals are creative, memorable and unsettling. particularly the distorted shots achieved by master cinematographer James Wong Howe, who uses fish eye lenses, distorted and wide angles, giant close-ups of blank, soulless faces, POV shots, tracking shots following heads and feet, jump cuts and other techniques to achieve a disturbing visual tapestry.

·       This is a film that attempts to expose the myths and lies behind the pursuit of the American dream and the search for physical perfectionism—at a time when advertising and popular culture emphasized physical beauty, materialism and sex appeal.

THIS FILM WAS A BOX OFFICE FAILURE IN 1966. WHY DO YOU BELIEVE AUDIENCES REJECTED IT?

·       It casts Rock Hudson against type—viewers were used to seeing him in romantic comedies

·       The film mixes several different genres into one: science fiction, horror, psychological thriller, noir, cautionary tale, and fantasy. Perhaps this ambitious mixing was ahead of its time and too off-putting to viewers in the mid-1960s.

·       The distorted, haunting imagery, bleak message and dark tone may have been too overwhelming and depressing for contemporary moviegoers.

·       The filmmakers chose to shoot in black and white vs. color, at a time when black and white was decidedly less popular.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PRIMARY THEMES UNDERSCORED IN “SECONDS”?

·       Distortion—as exemplified through the skewed visuals and warped shots.

·       Disillusionment—what we think will make us happy and fulfilled may be a lie. Is true happiness and self-fulfillment possible? Or do we always crave more?

·       Be careful what you wish for—if you think your life is bad, it could always be worse.

·       Resurrection and rebirth—ironically, in this resurrection, the body is perfected but the soul remains dead.

·       Distrust of technology—technology should be in our control, but this film argues the opposite.

·       The fallacy of the American dream.

·       Frankenheimer had said, in interviews, about this film: “When we talk about life, my philosophy is that you have to live your life the way it is. You can change it, but you can’t change who you are or what you’ve done before. And you have to live with that. I think that point was very well brought out in Seconds—that’s what the film is all about.”

·       In a Criterion Collection essay, writer David Sterritt wrote the following: “(Frankenhimer) told an interviewer that he wanted to adapt David Ely’s eponymous 1963 novel because ‘all of today’s literature and films about escapism are just rubbish, [since] you cannot and should not ever try to escape from what you are.’ Seconds was his outcry ‘against ‘the Dream,’ the belief that all you need to do in life is to be financially successful. He saw the film as ‘a matter-of-fact yet horrifying portrait of big business that will do anything for anybody, provided you are willing to pay for it. It expressed his contempt for ‘all this nonsense in society that we must be forever young, this accent on youth in advertising and thinking.’

OTHER WORKS OF FILM, TV AND LITERATURE THAT REMIND YOU OF “SECONDS”

·       Frankenstein

·       Invasion of the Body Snatchers

·       Faust

·       The Picture of Dorian Gray

·       The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

·       The Twilight Zone

·       Hollow Triumph

·       Eyes Without a Face

·       The Stepford Wives

·       The Face of Another

·       Shock Corridor

·       Carnival of Souls

·       Don’t Look Now

·       Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

OTHER FILMS BY DIRECTOR JOHN FRANKENHEIMER

·       The Birdman of Alcatraz

·       The Manchurian Candidate

·       Seven Days in May

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Seconds to none

Prepare for a sojourn into sci-fi and suspense in the sixties. On March 26, CineVerse will slate "Seconds” (1966; 106 minutes), directed by John Frankenheimer, chosen by Brian Hansen.

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Controversy, thy name is Griffith

"The Birth of a Nation" is not an easy film to watch in 2014 or any other year. But our film group took up the challenge of exploring this firebrand of a feature film to try to see what makes it tick--and the answer is clearly a very outdated, misguided and bigoted ideology that makes modern audiences cringe. Yet, despite its deplorably offensive content, "Birth" deserves to be recognized as a landmark motion picture achievement on many technical levels. Here's what CineVerse concluded post discussion:

IN WHAT WAYS WAS “BIRTH OF A NATION” INNOVATIVE AND PIONEERING?

·       It was the longest and most expensive movie ever made up to its time: most films were simple two- to three-reelers that lasted under 15 minutes. Thus, Birth of a Nation marked the dawn of the modern feature length film, signaling the end of the nickelodeon era.

·       It perfected the art of crosscutting and parallel action/editing in a sequence (e.g., the siege of the log cabin and the KKK’s coming to the rescue of its inhabitants), creating emotionally stirring montages of image and sound that increases suspense

·       Its moving camera techniques were revelatory and breathtaking to viewers: the film uses tracking shots, dolly shots and pans to create a kinetic energy of movement and action.

·       The film uses many close ups, a Griffith hallmark, to elicit an emotional reaction in viewers.

·       It employed multiple camera and used shots taken from many different angles.

·       It introduced night photography with the use of magnesium flares

·       It employed title cards that were more elaborate than those commonly used in this period

·       It extensively showcased natural outdoor settings and landscapes in its backgrounds instead of sets and soundstages

·       It used color tinting in many scenes for psychological or dramatic emphasis

·       It was one of the first to have an original score composed for an orchestra

·       The film also relies on panoramic long shots, fade-outs, iris effects, lap dissolves, high-angle shots, subtitles (different from title cards), and masked shots (in which part of the frame is blacked out to emphasize one or more objects)

·       The movie is impressive in its elaborately staged battle sequences, use of hundreds of extras and authentic costuming.

·       It was the first film to feature an intermission, advanced ticket sales, souvenir programs, costumed usherettes, modulated lighting, and special trains that would transport people from small mid-western, southern states to cities (soon theatres sprung up everywhere)

·       Additionally, this film established the director as the chief dominant power and visionary on a film, giving testament to the auteur theory.

IN WHAT WAYS IS “BIRTH OF A NATION” DAMAGING, IRRESPONSIBLE AND CONTROVERSIAL?

·       It’s clearly biased in its agenda and viewpoint, without showing the viewpoint of the freed slaves or non-carpetbagging Northerners

·       It demonstrated the dangerous power of film as ideological propaganda

·       It revived the KKK in the South, which had been practically defunct prior to the film. In fact, the movie is still used today to help recruit new Klan members, according to Tim Dirks.

·       It promoted many African-American stereotypes that later films used, including the black buck, the mammy, the faithful servant, the black brute, etc.

·       It casts white actors in blackface to play African Americans and biracial characters and relegates real African American actors to the background with no major parts.

·       It uses some speech title cards in stereotypical slang vernacular attributed to African Americans.

·       Griffith capitalizes on the murky details of the Reconstruction era (much of the history of this period is gathered from oral histories, biased historians, and eyewitness testimonies) by blending fiction with fact: consider the scene where the black politicians louse about in the state legislature, take off their shoes and ogle white women.

·       The film adopts a documentary-like realism in its approach by creating compositions based on antique photos and paintings and uses title cards that say “Historical Facsimiles,” which lead the viewer to believe that what they’re seeing actually happened in reality, when often it did not. Consider again the House of Representatives scene, in which the African American politicians behave shamefully. This is prefaced by a “Historical Facsimile” titled “Riot in the Master’s Hall. The Negro Party in control of the State House of Representatives.” This is stated as being based on a photo, but it has been debunked as being staged based on lampooning newspaper cartoons.

  

HOW DOES GRIFFITH USE FILM TECHNIQUES TO DISTINGUISH HIS GOOD AND RIGTHEOUS CHARACTERS VS. HIS EVIL CHARACTERS?

·       White characters get the benefit of warmer and brighter lighting, lighter makeup, and use of white tones and symbols in the overall misc-en-scene.

·       The KKK is lionized through sweeping camera movement, tinted colors meant to express passion, honor and bravery, and stirring music.

·       Griffith uses parallel editing and crosscutting between two sets of characters and scenes happening simultaneously to his ideological advantage: think about how he cuts between a good/hero character and then a bad/villain character. The pattern and rhythm of this juxtaposition of images sets the two sets of characters as diametrically opposite. Viewers are conditioned to root for the good guys (loyal Southerners, Klansmen) and abhor the bad guys (freed slaves, carpetbaggers, scalawags).

·       Notice how white players are typically placed in the foreground to emphasize their importance and black characters are often situated in the background, demonstrating a hierarchy of power and significance.

WHAT THEMES ARE ESPOUSED IN “BIRTH OF A NATION”?

·       Reconstruction and its aim of racial integration did not work, causing more harm than good.

·       The true golden age was the antebellum (pre-war) South, when blacks knew their place, prosperous, genteel families were able to maintain peace and order, and a time of chivalry, respect and proper social hierarchy was still in effect.

·       Relations between the races can be harmonious, provided that blacks don’t aspire to power or push true social equality.

·       African Americans given too much power and autonomy turn into sex-crazed beasts, violent savages and buffoons.

·       The worst villains of all are biracial peoples, who stand as an example of what happens when you combine Caucasian intelligence with inhuman ‘Negro’ qualities; in this way, Birth of a Nation is a cautionary tale that especially preaches against miscegeny.

WHAT’S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE?

·       Many would think “Birth of a Nation” would be a more appropriate title for a film depicting the Revolutionary War, but Griffith wanted to suggest that the end of Reconstruction in the South was the true beginning of our modern nation. Writer Donato Totaro wrote: “For Griffith…the “nation” that he gives birth to is not the forward looking, industrial nation that won, but a nation where the white south and white north would be united together under the banner of white Christian Anglo-Saxon brotherhood. For Griffith the real nation was shaped by the counter-revolution of the white-south against the freed African-Americans and the white carpetbaggers.”

WHY SHOULD OR SHOULDN’T THIS FILM CONTINUE TO BE VIEWED AND DISCUSSED TODAY?

·       This is an important artifact of film history that is arguably the most influential picture of all time: it may be ugly, inaccurate and reprehensible, but it is a milestone motion picture, warts and all.

·       It’s important that we never forget our past, including the way Hollywood made movies and promoted bigoted viewpoints and practices long ago. If we don’t learn from the mistakes of the past, we may be doomed to repeat it.

·       However, this film serves as a testament to the seductive power of cinema and its capacity to stir emotions, change opinions and rally people to evil causes.

·       It espouses a racist viewpoint that could influence impressionable viewers, and many people who see it for the first time today may mistakenly think it is historically accurate (especially the Reconstruction scenes, which are fictional).

·       It still has the power to offend and anger African Americans and whites alike, cause schisms and controversy, and evoke protests. For these and other reasons, some believe it should never be shown in public again.

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Writing film history with racism

On March 19, CineVerse will launch a new new series slated to run for the next few months: Pushing Boundaries--Films That Challenged the Censors and Created Controversial but Important Works of Cinematic Art. Part 1: Rewriting film rules with racism: “Birth of a Nation” (1915; note: we will only screen portions of the 188-minute film), directed by D.W. Griffith.

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Lost and found

"Searching for Sugarman" was every bit the film worthy of its 2013 Oscar win for Best Documentary, as judged by our CineVerse members who parsed through the picture yesterday. Here's a recap of our group discussion of this movie:

WHAT DID YOU FIND DIFFERENT, EXCITING, ENTERTAINING AND MEMORABLE ABOUT THIS DOCUMENTARY?

·       It’s constructed like a mystery that needs to be solved, and the mystery is universally appealing to almost all viewers because the subject, Rodriguez, is known to almost no one; unlike other documentaries that may focus on a well-known, familiar topic, person or issue, we come with no baggage, preconceived notions or biases about this musician. In this way, it builds intrigue naturally and organically.

·       It’s constructed in a classic three-act format that’s fairly easy to follow: the first act emphasizes the efforts of two South African rock aficionados, Stephen Segerman and Craig Batholomew-Strydom as well as the background surrounding the release and content of Rodriguez’s two albums, how they were received in South Africa, and the censorship and apartheid of that time. Act two centers on the search for this elusive, enigmatic musician. Act three focuses on the artist himself, who appears onscreen in new interviews with his daughters.

·       It forces us to ask several questions: “What if: what if Rodriguez had been appreciated in his time and made it big—what impact would he have had on the American music scene?” “What is the nature of being a celebrity, and is striving to be one really all it’s cracked up to be?

·       As Miami Herald critic Rene Rodriguez put it: “Searching for Sugar Man is a testament to how music — or painting or literature or any form of art — can take on a life far greater than its creator intended when it happens to connect with the right people at the right time."

·       It comes with a built-in soundtrack of songs by Rodriguez that heightens the intrigue and makes us appreciate an overlooked artistic talent through the prism of rediscovery. Most good documentaries use carefully selected music to punctuate themes, evoke an emotional reaction in viewers and form a contextual connection between what we see and what the filmmakers want us to feel. What better music to do this than Rodriguez’s own tunes?

·       It features computer animation montages of Rodriguez in Detroit (which segues seamlessly into live action footage), the money trail chart, and Rodriguez arriving at the South African airport. These animation sequences fill in the gaps visually where live action footage does not exist.

CRITICS HAVE ALSO POINTED OUT A FEW FLAWS AND DEFICIENCIES IN THIS FILM. CAN YOU CITE ANY?

·       There could have been more of an investigation and scathing indictment of the powers that profited from Rodriguez—in other words, they could have followed the money trail closer to indict the exploiters.

·       The film also leaves out Rodriguez’s history, connections and impact in Detroit.

·       Arguably, the film doesn’t ask hard-hitting journalistic questions, such as why he so quickly fell off the face of the earth, why his music didn’t sell, the mother of his three daughters, how he got his name, etc.

WHAT IS THIS FILM ABOUT, THEME WISE?

·       Redemption for an overlooked artist.

·       A Cinderella, rags to riches story.

·       Solving a mystery and asking probing questions about the nature of art, fandom, appreciation, celebrity and the music business.

·       How a person can be built into a myth and the truths hidden behind that myth.

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One sweet documentary

On March 12, make plans to join CineVerse for a very different kind of documentary film: “Searching for Sugar Man” (2012, 86 minutes), directed by Malik Bendjellou, chosen by Janet Pierucci; Plus: In preparation for next week's foray into "Birth of a Nation," we'll also present a brief documentary on the career and influence of pioneer director D.W. Griffith (30 minutes).

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Fiddling for answers

Turns out that Canada can export more than delicious maple syrup and stellar hockey players. The Great White North can also produce a quality flick, as evidenced by "The Red Violin," which was the subject of last evening's CineVerse discussion. Here's what we learned about the film:

WHAT IS MEMORABLE AND DISTINCTIVE ABOUT “THE RED VIOLIN,” ESPECIALLY NARRATIVELY (THE WAY THE STORY IS TOLD), VISUALLY, AND MUSICALLY?

·       The movie uses three framing devices to tell its story:

o   the tarot card reading, which yields cards that provide a foreshadowing for the different adventures to come;

o   the auction, which we are continually brought back to as: (a) the anchor that keeps us in the present and which brings together the descendants of past players affected by the violin; and (b) another means to foreshadow what we are to see next or eventually; and

o   the violin itself, which passes from one character, time and place to another and is the unifying thread of the film.

·       The film jumps around in time and space, lacking a conventional linear narrative. It employs flashbacks, flash forwards (in the form of the foreshadowing tarot cards), and repetition by replaying scenes from the auction but told from the viewpoints of various characters.

·       While the auction and the character of Morritz serve as important centrifugal hubs from which all these other stories are spun off, the story works as more of a series of interconnected vignettes and brief episodes; we don’t follow one central character throughout the whole film. Film scholar Andre Loiselle calls this structure a “mosaic narrative.”

·       The film is replete with diversity—consider the variety of settings, languages (five are spoken: French, English, Mandarin, German and Italian), characters, time periods, and tone. In fact, the tone commonly shifts, from tragic to comedic to romantic to suspenseful to anticlimactic.

·       Additionally, The Red Violin relies on the viewer’s intelligence to fill in the unexplained: the filmmakers don’t use titles to inform us, for example, of where and when a particular scene is occurring—we have to deduce this from context (e.g., dialogue, costumes, etc.). Likewise, we aren’t told much about the auction winner or how the instrument ends up in Kaspar Weiss’ possession or a monastery.

·       Defying the expectations of many, the soundtrack does not feature popular classical works played on violin. The score is actually an original one created uniquely for this picture.

WHAT THEMES AWAIT DISCOVERY IN “THE RED VIOLIN”?

·       The ability of art to transcend time and space and achieve immortality.

·       Man’s inability to achieve perfection and immortality, except perhaps through the things we create. In an interview, director Girard said: “The sculptor’s only freedom is to choose a piece of stone or of wood and eventually the nature of that thing will express itself through his talent, maybe, but the notion of the artist as the creator of things, the free will of the artist, I think are totally foolish…we submit ourselves.”

·       Man’s pursuit of this perfection, however, can lead to disaster, disillusionment, pain and suffering, as underscored by the misfortunes experienced by many who encounter the red violin.

·       Music, as personified in the form of the red violin, becomes a kind of living character unto itself in the film. Consider:

o   how the instrument seems to have the power to transform the destinies of those who encounter it;

o   how it “gives rise” to the passions of, for example, the man who uses it in his lovemaking; and

o   the curious and inventive inside-looking-out camera angle from within the violin onto Morritz’s face.

CAN YOU CITE ANY OTHER FILMS THAT ARE KINDRED SPIRITS TO “THE RED VIOLIN”?

·       Winchester 73

·       The Dress

·       Tales of Manhattan

·       The Phantom of Liberty

·       War Horse

·       La Ronde

·       The Lord of the Rings trilogy

·       The Yellow Rolls Royce

·       All the aforementioned movies share a common thread, in which we follow one object (e.g., a car in the latter, a rifle in “Winchester 73,” a horse in “War Horse”) from person to person, place to place, and adventure to adventure

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Scarlet strings

On March 5, CineVerse will bring back World Cinema Wednesday with a picture from Canada: "The Red Violin” (1998; 130 minutes), directed by Francois Gerard, chosen by Art Myren.

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