For this post I was originally going to write about The Omen, however after watching Monsieur Lazhar in French class this week I felt it was much more worthy of a blog post. After my first Formal Film Study I have realized that there are dozens of quality French films that I have yet to see.
Monsieur Lazhar is an emotional story of an Algerian man (Mohammed Fellag) who becomes a grade school teacher at in Quebec after his predecessor hangs herself in her classroom. Directed by Philippe Falardeau and based on a one-man play written by Evelyne de la Cheneliere, Mr. Lazhar brings to light a variety of emotional struggles and questions about recovering from loss and communicating with children. One child in particular Alice, who is played by the canadian actress Sophie Nelisse is scheduled to star in the much anticipated film adaptation of Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief. Nelisse gives a powerful performance that won her the Canadian Genie Award for best supporting actress in 2011.
Trailer:
The cinematography, accompanying sound work and superb acting make this a piece that left me in a pensive state during the last five minutes of French class. Example: the opening scene, during which a timid student, Simon, discovers the corpse of Martine Lachance hanging in a classroom as he is retrieving les berlingots (milk cartons) for lunch. As Simon walks down the hall the camera follows him without a tripod, shaking slightly as the suspense builds. Meanwhile it is snowing outside and the light that fills the hallway is flat and depressing. We are suddenly alerted by Simon's discovery with the clash of the milk cartons hitting the floor. All of the elements of production, cinematography, sound, lighting, and mise en scene contribute to an experience that is as if we ourselves are a young child discovering the suspended body of our teacher.
These ambiguities and nuances of such a story are justly presented with careful attention to mood, lighting, and camerawork. For this reason I give Monsieur Lazhar 8.5/10
Cantilevered Lies and how it relates to 1930's film: Genre: Drama/Thriller Synopsis: Our two main characters live a high profile life in futuristic London, England, and the husband (Val) works as an architect. His new boss (one of Val’s old professor’s during his final year in design school) comes in after an unexpected death of the former boss. This is the quiet reserved Feodor Chaliapin. An otherwise low stress, successful work ethic of Val is disrupted by the new boss, Mr. Kafkes (Feodor) when he begins sabotaging his business and personal life. These evil sentiments are based on upon the fact that 20 years ago when he was brand new to the industry Val secretly stole one of Kafkes’s designs. It is sinister and uncalled for, but Kafkes seduces Val’s wife, and screws up his work as an architect, creating chaos...
Days later we find Kafkes dead on the ground floor of Val’s most famous building, the one he stole from Kafkes, after part of the building’s structure collapses onto him. This reveals to Val, but no one else, that it was Kafkes’s own design flaw that caused his own death. Since Val has taken credit for this building, the design flaw ruins his career as an architect. Val debates whether to tell the general public that the building was not, in fact, his, which would clear his name but also be admitting to stealing the plans. The movie ends with Kafkes’s funeral, with a monologue from Val describing the irony of the situation. By dying, Kafkes finally got what he wanted.
Style: Our movie has an avant-garde style throughout with innovative lighting, deep space composition and thoroughly planned cinematography from Mr. Gregg Toland. These elements along with a foreign cast help contribute to an out of the ordinary futuristic feel.
Message: This movie has a recurring themes of karma and deals with the consequences of holding grudges. We tried to stray from a happily ever after type ending.
Director: In this time period, British director James Whale is known for his work on Frankenstein and The Invisible Man which makes him a perfect fit for an avant-garde futuristic thriller.
Cast: The great British actor Laurence Olivier shines in his lead role as Val a successful architect living with his wife (Vivian Leigh) in future London. Our lurking antagonist Kafkes is played by the deep voiced Russian Feodor Chaliapin.
Hays Code: In some scenes (i.e. the technologically advanced shot of the building collapsing) there may be intense footage not suitable for some viewers, however the majority of the film abides by the Hays code. We hide any blood and violence and any seductive dialogue is completely implicit.
Focus: One of our goals in Cantilevered Lies is to show off the incredible cinematography skills of the young Gregg Toland.
Disagreements? Nahhh: Our group worked extremely well together and we were all open to each others ideas. Plot, director, and studio etc. decisions were all mutually agreed upon and we are very proud of our final product. Hope you enjoy it!
Trois films francais assez differentes, mais avec des similarites subtils et une disposition eternel.
Films: For this formal film study I chose to look at three films from France. Two of the films A Bout de Souffle (Breathless), and Quatre Cent Coups (400 Blows) are iconic films from the French New Wave era of 1960. My third choice Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain (Amelie) is a more recent 2001 film starring Audrey Tautou that is full of quirky avant-garde imagery and romantic comedy scenes akin to Richard Curtis's Love Actually. Here are trailers for each of the films to give you an idea of what each film is about: A Bout de Souffle:
Quatre Cent Coups:
Amelie:
Now that we have a few snapshots:
How are these three films connected?
It would be easy just to say uh, well, they're all French films filmed near Paris, and they feature French directors, French actors and French sound and lighting and cinematography people...however, I didn't watch these three movies just to practice my french accent.
All three of these films are captivating works of art that break the boundaries of film-making in the times they were made to make all audiences, french speaking or not, ponder daily life, ambitions, and our relationships with one another.
How? Between Breathless, 400 blows, and Amelie I can pick out a number of striking similarities in over style and composition. All of these films tend to experiment a bit with atypical artsy shots and editing. In all of these films we see many "dutch" angle shots where the camera is set purposely off axis to emphasize some important aspect of the characters expression or reaction. In one particular scene from Amelie, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet uses a montage of close-ups, extreme close-ups, up and down angles, to build tension and emotion between Amelie and her lover. Then, when Amelie misses her chance to spark a conversation with Nino, she literally melts in a computer generated splash.
For Breathless and 400 Blows, Goddard and Truffaut didn't have access to the same type of contemporary special effects and editing capabilities that characterize Amelie, yet we still see similar back and forth angles and camerawork that complements the dialogue.
If it weren't for the difference in color and editing technology, it might not be hard to forget that these films were produced 40 years apart from each other. If I put a blindfold on and simply listened to the ways in which sound is used in each film I can count a number of similarities.
Upbeat, french bistro type music can be heard at some point in all of these films often at points where there is narration of philosophical commentary. The way the directors use sound separates the simple plot elements from the more thought provoking scenes and dialogue.
Take for example the way a suspenseful piano track creates tension in the hotel scene of Breathless:
Related Side Note-Acting and Expression: In all of these films I noticed a very definitive and distinct set of complex facial expressions that are essential to the overall mood and tone of each shot and scene. Take a look at each of these shots and try to imagine the thoughts and emotions of the characters. Dialogue isn't even necessary in these moments.
The passion in these three french films is one that we rarely see in typical Hollywood productions but rather in auteur projets. Here is a glimpse of what the Criterion Film Collection has to say about Francois Truffaut's 400 Blows:
"The400 Blows sensitively recreates the trials of Truffaut's own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, petty crime, and a friendship that would last a lifetime." -Criterion
Overall Conclusions: Ces trois films francais qui viennent de differents temps me montre que le mouvement, expression corporelle, le visage, et le son sont peut-etre plus important que la dialogue dans un film. On ne doit pas comprendre le francais pour comprendre les themes et les messages de ces films. Je suggere les voir sans subtitles et vous aurez une experience tres bien de film plus pure francais.
(Translation: These three French films that come from different times show me that the movement, body, face, and sound are perhaps more important than the dialogue in a movie. We need not understand French to understand the themes and messages of these films. I suggest seeing them without subtitles and you will have a very good experience of pure French film.)
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