I don't know what everyone else thinks about the supplemental reading material that has been assigned over the last few weeks, but I personally have found them to be very insightful, especially the Kino Kultura reviews of Beshkempir and The Orator.
For example, with Beshkempir, I thought the film was great and the use of color was really interesting, but I didn't realize what the significance of using color at certain points in the film was. After reading the review, that approach made much more sense to me. In retrospect, it seems like something that I should have been able to pick up on by myself, but anyway... my point is that getting a better understanding of the film through the review made an already fascinating film seem even more powerful.
With The Orator, the film review kind of puts the distinctive style of the movie into perspective by briefly comparing it to the more serious approach of past films representing the same point in history. The author, in doing this, looks at The Orator as a film that is more along the lines of fantasy ("told according to the rules of a fairytale"), which was kind of interesting to think about. I can see how one would come to this conclusion, based on the narrative quality of the film, but I would not have thought of the film as a whole as being "unreal", so the author's explanantion of the events of the film as they relate to the format of a fairytale made me look at the film a little bit more critically than I might have otherwise.
Well, I guess thats all I really have to say about the readings for now. I just thought I would mention them because I have found them to be really helpful in making me think about the films from a different perspective and giving me a better understanding of some of the subtle details that I may not have figured out on my own.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Orator...
Well, this film was, in my opinion, one of the best so far. From the first scene, where the narration begins , introducing the story with Iskander's shadowed figure on the wall, I was intrigued by this film. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there was just something about it that seemed so different from most of the other films we have seen. It might be the use of narrative, or maybe it is just the story itself, I don't know. Some of the other films, while still intersting in their own ways, were contructed a bit roughly. That was not at all the case with The Orator. It seemed to flow nicely and included some really interesting cinematographic techniques that translated beautifully on screen.
Aside from the basic elements of the film, there were also some fascinating cultural aspects portrayed in the movie as well. For example, Iskander's inheritance of wives, and the relationship he had with his many wives (they thought of him as their master) was something that I was a bit suprised by. Also, the movement for women at the time to burn their veils, become educated and find their own identities was interesting to see because it is a part of Central Asian culture that we have not really seen in any of the other films. Those are only a few of the many things about this film that were quite attention grabbing. I honestly thought that the film as a whole was very well done, but in the interest of not rambling on too long, I won't go into detail (you've all seen the film and know the story, so I won't bore you with too many things that I'm sure you are already aware of). Anyway... definitely a film that I would recommend to others!
Aside from the basic elements of the film, there were also some fascinating cultural aspects portrayed in the movie as well. For example, Iskander's inheritance of wives, and the relationship he had with his many wives (they thought of him as their master) was something that I was a bit suprised by. Also, the movement for women at the time to burn their veils, become educated and find their own identities was interesting to see because it is a part of Central Asian culture that we have not really seen in any of the other films. Those are only a few of the many things about this film that were quite attention grabbing. I honestly thought that the film as a whole was very well done, but in the interest of not rambling on too long, I won't go into detail (you've all seen the film and know the story, so I won't bore you with too many things that I'm sure you are already aware of). Anyway... definitely a film that I would recommend to others!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Researching to Write About Film...
One of the things in the Corrigan text that really caught my attention recently was the importance of diligently researching films, filmmakers, etc. before actually writing about a film. I know that it seems like something that should be obvious, but I always just thought that when I wrote about a film, I was supposed to write based on what I observed on my own. I mean, of course I have written papers for other classes that involved research about a particular genre or change in subject matter, but never in such an intense manner as what is suggested in the text. My film related research usually consists of online journals, reference guides, and textbooks, but the book presented some really interesting options that could be very helpful in writing not only the final paper for this course, but with future projects as well.
One thing that Corrigan suggested was watching the bonus features on DVDs to find things like interviews with the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes footage and storyboards, among other things. I thought that this was interesting because I usually watch the supplementary material on DVDs anyway simply because I enjoy seeing the process of putting films together, but I never would have thought that these types of features could be helpful in conducting research, and while it may not necessarily be a viable option for researching the final paper, it is good to know for the future.
Another feature in this section of the text that I thought was excellent was the index of different sources (journals, reviews, commentaries, etc.). I have had trouble finding reliable sources of this nature in the past, mainly because I didn't know of many places to even begin looking, but I think some of these sites and publications just might prove to be quite helpful with the final project, which would be great.
So far, the Corrigan text as a whole has been very enlightening and has given me a better understanding of film in general and the many elements that are essential in making a film either very powerful or somewhat weak, but in all honesty, I think that this chapter may have been one of the most insightful for me personally simply because it provided so many different ideas for places to find relevant and reliable information for future research papers relating to media studies which, as I mentioned, is something that has proven to be somewhat of a challenge with other projects.
One thing that Corrigan suggested was watching the bonus features on DVDs to find things like interviews with the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes footage and storyboards, among other things. I thought that this was interesting because I usually watch the supplementary material on DVDs anyway simply because I enjoy seeing the process of putting films together, but I never would have thought that these types of features could be helpful in conducting research, and while it may not necessarily be a viable option for researching the final paper, it is good to know for the future.
Another feature in this section of the text that I thought was excellent was the index of different sources (journals, reviews, commentaries, etc.). I have had trouble finding reliable sources of this nature in the past, mainly because I didn't know of many places to even begin looking, but I think some of these sites and publications just might prove to be quite helpful with the final project, which would be great.
So far, the Corrigan text as a whole has been very enlightening and has given me a better understanding of film in general and the many elements that are essential in making a film either very powerful or somewhat weak, but in all honesty, I think that this chapter may have been one of the most insightful for me personally simply because it provided so many different ideas for places to find relevant and reliable information for future research papers relating to media studies which, as I mentioned, is something that has proven to be somewhat of a challenge with other projects.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Beshkempir...
Where should I begin? In my personal opinion, Beshkempir was a very good film. It was probably one of my favorites so far, actually. I thought that the film seemed to be very well constructed, had an interesting story line, and was really creative in terms of visual techniques.
First of all, Beshkempir's journey of self-discovery in the film was intriguing to watch on screen. His awkward relationships with his parents and the strong bond he shared with his grandmother (seemingly one of the only people who really understood him) were conveyed beautifully on screen, while the ending to the film can be considered somewhat bittersweet in a sense. The reasoning for this is because even though Beshkempir loses his grandmother, he starts to form a bond with Aynura, the girl he is interested in, sort of providing him with a renewed sense of comfort or the feeling that he has someone in his life that he can trust. It almost seemed like a new beginning for Beshkempir.
Aside from the story itself, the use of color in this film was quite creative and made the film even more interesting than it already was. I have seen the mix of black and white with color in movies before, but have rarely seen it utilized in such a unique way. I will admit that even though I enjoyed this element of the film, I was initially unaware of what the significance behind the use of color was. After reading the supplemental readings, more specifically the review, it makes the film seem even more powerful knowing that the director often used color to highlight details pertaining to Beshkempir's grandmother, who seemed like one of the most fascinating characters in the film, if you ask me.
I could probably go on about some of the other visual aspects of this film as well, because there were plenty of them that I found to be really fascinating, but it seems like I always talk about the visual elements of the movies more than anything, so I won't get into that this time. Overall, I thought the film as a whole was really good, so I'll just leave it at that.
First of all, Beshkempir's journey of self-discovery in the film was intriguing to watch on screen. His awkward relationships with his parents and the strong bond he shared with his grandmother (seemingly one of the only people who really understood him) were conveyed beautifully on screen, while the ending to the film can be considered somewhat bittersweet in a sense. The reasoning for this is because even though Beshkempir loses his grandmother, he starts to form a bond with Aynura, the girl he is interested in, sort of providing him with a renewed sense of comfort or the feeling that he has someone in his life that he can trust. It almost seemed like a new beginning for Beshkempir.
Aside from the story itself, the use of color in this film was quite creative and made the film even more interesting than it already was. I have seen the mix of black and white with color in movies before, but have rarely seen it utilized in such a unique way. I will admit that even though I enjoyed this element of the film, I was initially unaware of what the significance behind the use of color was. After reading the supplemental readings, more specifically the review, it makes the film seem even more powerful knowing that the director often used color to highlight details pertaining to Beshkempir's grandmother, who seemed like one of the most fascinating characters in the film, if you ask me.
I could probably go on about some of the other visual aspects of this film as well, because there were plenty of them that I found to be really fascinating, but it seems like I always talk about the visual elements of the movies more than anything, so I won't get into that this time. Overall, I thought the film as a whole was really good, so I'll just leave it at that.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Aksuat...
Well, if I'm being honest, I didn't really like the film Aksuat all that much. Its not that it was a bad movie or anything, I just got kind of confused and had trouble following along with what was going on in the film. After a while, I started to catch on to the story in this film and the significance of the characters, but it just wasn't one of my favorite movies of the semester.
One of the things that I did find interesting in the film was the use of composition and lighting techniques to convey a certain tone for the characters. I wrote about this in my response paper in greater detail, but one of the scenes that stuck out was in Aman's home, about fifteen minutes into the film. Aman was sitting in a chair when Kanat and a friend entered, trying to convince Aman to loan his brother money to flee from his homeland. In the scene, Kanat and his friend were towering over Aman, and were casting imposing shadows on the wall behind them, and at one point Kanat offered to leave his wife Zhanna and his unborn child behind as collateral.
I thought that the dim lighting and shadows in the scene were really good at foreshadowing the ruthlessness of Kanat's character and the fact that he was going to be responsible for trouble later on in the film. Also, the character placement (Aman seated, Kanat standing tall and looking down on his brother) was an interesting way of showing the contrast between Kanat's agressive, selfish personality and Aman's passive demeanor.
I just thought that I would mention this because it is one of the things about this film that really caught my attention. I could be completely wrong about it, but this was my interpretation of the meaning behind the lighting and positioning of characters within certain scenes, this scene in particular being one example.
One of the things that I did find interesting in the film was the use of composition and lighting techniques to convey a certain tone for the characters. I wrote about this in my response paper in greater detail, but one of the scenes that stuck out was in Aman's home, about fifteen minutes into the film. Aman was sitting in a chair when Kanat and a friend entered, trying to convince Aman to loan his brother money to flee from his homeland. In the scene, Kanat and his friend were towering over Aman, and were casting imposing shadows on the wall behind them, and at one point Kanat offered to leave his wife Zhanna and his unborn child behind as collateral.
I thought that the dim lighting and shadows in the scene were really good at foreshadowing the ruthlessness of Kanat's character and the fact that he was going to be responsible for trouble later on in the film. Also, the character placement (Aman seated, Kanat standing tall and looking down on his brother) was an interesting way of showing the contrast between Kanat's agressive, selfish personality and Aman's passive demeanor.
I just thought that I would mention this because it is one of the things about this film that really caught my attention. I could be completely wrong about it, but this was my interpretation of the meaning behind the lighting and positioning of characters within certain scenes, this scene in particular being one example.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Daughter in Law...
For the most part, I thought that Daughter in Law was a pretty good movie. This was another one of those films that seemed like something that many people can identify with on some level. In the film, we see a woman living in the desert with her father in law and coping with the news that her pilot husband has lost his life in World War II, yet continuing to hold out hope that just maybe its not true, and that he may one day return to her. The film used an interesting mix of flashbacks to convey life before the war when her husband was still around and she was happy. Through those flashbacks, the contrast between the joy of life pre-war and the loneliness felt after finding out that a loved one had become a casualty of war became quite clear and made the film more emotional.
With so many families in the United States dealing with their loved ones being sent to fight in the Middle East, this story seemed to be very relevant to the current state of our society. I'm sure that there are many people that relate to what the woman went through in the film and understand the heartbreak and emptiness that she felt. In this way, the film seemed capable of reaching its audience on a much more personal level than it might have otherwise and was quite powerful.
With so many families in the United States dealing with their loved ones being sent to fight in the Middle East, this story seemed to be very relevant to the current state of our society. I'm sure that there are many people that relate to what the woman went through in the film and understand the heartbreak and emptiness that she felt. In this way, the film seemed capable of reaching its audience on a much more personal level than it might have otherwise and was quite powerful.
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