tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34462212081434520102024-03-05T05:16:28.216-08:0021st-century East European FilmAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-56589470179365235182013-05-20T13:41:00.001-07:002013-05-20T13:48:29.903-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Blog post on Cristian Mungiu's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales from The Golden Age </i>(2009)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The Legend of the Official
Visit”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
protagonists in this legend are the mayor, his right-hand man Georghita,</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">and the government inspector
Sandu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other characters include Florica
the carouseloperator, Florica’s daughter,
and Gogu, the second government official who arrives</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> with Sandu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The motif of the phone ringing explores how
the protagonists of this legned interact with the government authorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the inspection and the possibility of
the motorcade coming, the townspeople have to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>prepare their town with signs of prosperity and
signs of good faith to the government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They do not appear to resent the government, but are instead excited
(though very stressed) about their village’s opportunity to participate in this
event.</span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
majority of the legend looks to have been shot with a medium or wide lens, in
order to capture a large amount of scenery in addition to the people, along
with a few close-ups to show the characters’ faces, especially during pivotal
moments in the tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These up-close
shots are a way to portray the emotional dynamics more dramatically than a
simple shot from one angle only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
Sandu <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is satisfied with the village
preparation, there is a scene of him eating and watching <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the musicians perform. His face looks idiotically
happy, and gives a very different <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>character
to the scene than that of the scenes during the preparation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certain scenes are shot with a handheld
camera, which gives the tale a slightly more hectic feel and accentuates the
villagers’ stress.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
short film makes light of this entire situation and the potential <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>criminality through the interactions between
Georghita, the townspeople and the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>inspectors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It becomes apparent that the expected level
of sacrifice and devotion <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the
government is absurd; they blindly follow because that’s what’s expected <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of them. Of the protagonists, Sandu and Gogu
exhibit the greatest flair. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gogu is
generally sleazy, while Sandu abuses his power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The director also casts Ceausescu as criminal by making the dire
situation of the “Official Visit” seem entirely ludicrous, thus showing the
whole system as corrupt and that it is not the individuals who should bear the
blame. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of this story,
the director creates a hectic atmosphere by transitioning between scenes in
which the characters are receiving new and often contradictory orders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film cuts between the key moments while
the village continues to get ready. The director’s choice to only show us the
beginning and (near) end of the officials’ carousel ride retains the childlike joy
of the carnival, the beauty of the scene, and the irony of the situation, undercutting
the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>unfortunate situations that the
characters find themselves in and making them comedic rather than potentially
tragic. The siuzhet does not include the motorcade passing through town, but
instead closes with the final phrase, “legend has it they were still <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spinning when the motorcade arrived.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
climax of this legend is the call informing Comrade Sandu that the dignitaries
will not be coming to this town. Comrade Sandu relays the message then demands
that everyone get on the carousel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everyone, including the ride’s operator, does so because citizens had to
obey the party’s orders, even the most ridiculous ones. The humor of this
legend, together with the stupidity of communist Romania, is magnified by the
screams of drunken party members who are trapped on a children’s play machine
by their own order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that the
characters are spinning in a circle as the camera pans the scene brilliantly
emphasizes the chaos of the moment for the viewer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Night also falls at that point, making the
lights of the carousel stand out in the shots while hiding the village from
view, further distancing the action there from the earlier part of the
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The inspecting mission is stripped
down to its essential ridiculousness and stupidity when it is viewed by a
bystander (the shepherd) who has no idea what has been happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final “twist” occurs when the viewer
hears after the tale that, in the end, the delegation did pass through that
area and found everyone still </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">spinning on the carousel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Romanian context is certainly important because it establishes the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>power dynamics that drive the plot, namely
Sandu’s arrogance and the villagers’ propensity to acquiesce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presence of the communist system is also
contextually and historically specific, as it provides justification for the
party’s abuse of power. It also magnifies defects inherent in human nature,
such as greed and overweening self-interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though the government is really at fault here, it is important for its
citizens to not lose their heads and to question the things that are demanded
of them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is, however, a universal
message within this index between privilege and foolishness: those in unmerited
positions of power may fall so accustomed to their privilege that they quicken
their own demise and look very foolish in the process.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The Legend of the Greedy
Policeman”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This
legend follows said policeman and his family and neighbors. Most of the screen
time is devoted to the interactions between the policeman’s son, Danut, and the
neighbors’ son, Mircea. The policeman uses his connections to have a pig
brought to him illegally – during the regime, this would be considered hoarding
and a serious crime. The characters in the film, while breaking the law, are
not presented as criminals or immoral. Instead, the director uses the
criminality of the act to comic effect, framing the regime’s laws as ridiculous
and nonsensical.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
legend uses many close-up shots of Danut and Mircea’s faces when they are
talking, giving a sense of friendship and closeness to their interactions. The
siuzhet also cuts between the scenes at home and school abruptly, without any
transition. This is used memorably in the last scenes of the legend. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a sudden gas explosion takes place, the
siuzhet switches from an indoor to outdoor view, which immediately cuts to a
shot of Danut at school the next day, with only minor injuries. The siuzhet
here serves to give the moment a comic rather than tragic or horrifying effect,
as such an explosion may trigger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">There
are two main revelatory scenes in the legend. The first is when Uncle Fane
delivers the pig, and it is revealed that the pig is still alive. This
immediately creates tension as the family must figure out how to slaughter the
pig without attracting attention, while they were anticipating a quiet delivery
of an already-dead pig. The second ensues when the pig explodes. Before that
point, the family seem to have executed their plan well, and the danger seems
to have passed. But with the pig explosion, their cover was immediately blown,
leaving them to deal with the consequences of their actions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A
small amount of knowledge of the situation in Romania is needed to fully enjoy
the film, particularly the significance of hoarding the pig. Such a thing would
not register as a crime for most audiences nowadays, and so the tension of the
legend might be lost. However, the character interactions should engage modern
viewers. The childrens’ horse play at school is also engaging, as are the
frantic and exasperated attempts by the family to slaughter the pig, even if
the consequences for their failure are unclear to the viewers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The Legend of the Chicken
Driver”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This
legend follows Grigore, who transports chickens between towns. Dealing with the
black market in this legend is presented as routine and morally neutral;
Grigore openly and casually discusses trades with his friend over household
chores. Grigore is told never to stop overnight while driving, yet one day his
truck’s tires are stolen and he is forced to stay in an inn. The next day he
discovers <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that the chickens in his truck
have laid countless eggs. The innkeeper convinces him to collect the eggs for
her to trade, which he does, due to his infatuation with her. This is presented
as a neutral or even virtuous action, as it can be seen as a selfless desire to
help a struggling innkeeper. However, he attempts the same crime a second time
later, and this time is caught and jailed. In the final scene, his wife comes
to visit him, as if by karma for his attraction to the female innkeeper. His
actions are still somewhat justified by the film, though, as his wife is
presented as bland and stern.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
siuzhet of the film tracks Grigore most of the time, casting the events from
his perspective. When he is caught by the police, it is presented suddenly, as
a rapid series of shots. First sirens are heard, then a shot of police cars and
flashing lights, then a shot of Grigore’s face. This makes it seem very
matter-of-fact, and that Grigore getting caught by the police was an expected
outcome, which for the audience it was.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> The turning point in the
legend is when Grigore stays overnight at the inn. Before then, he had been
following his routine diligently, but the stay at the inn breaks his routine,
opening him up to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>temptation. When he
discovers that the chickens have laid eggs after this, he quickly makes the
decision to gather them for Camilia. </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
legend is understandable without knowledge of the Romanian time period. While
the legend relies on some things such as food shortages and the black market
which modern views may be unfamiliar with, they are made clear pretty well in
the beginning of the film, so that the film presents a self-contained account
of the times. Grigore’s relationship with Camilia is also universal and understandable.
His quickness to help her, and their other character interactions, are based
more on human nature than the specific Romanian context.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The Legend of the Air-Sellers”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
the different vignettes in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales from the
Golden Age</i>, the one that seems to most clearly exemplify the state’s grip
on the Romanian people is “The <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legend of
the Air Sellers.” The protagonists in this vignette are Crina and Bughi, and
they break government laws by impersonating legitimate inspectors from the
Ministry of Chemistry. Bughi in particular can speak with a very authoritative
voice which is complemented by</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> his sharp suit and convincing
ID card. Crina’s family qualifies as Romanian “middle class” and therefore
quite poor – her parents must choose between making car payments and paying for
Crina to take a trip with her friends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
similar living spaces of her neighbors show the pervasiveness of this white-collar
poverty.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When
fate brings Bughi to her door, Crina decides to join him in his extortive
scheme to steal bottles from folks who could otherwise get small deposits for
returning them. Though Crina essentially steals from other Romanians, she is
certainly not portrayed as an evil character. Rather, her scheme is motivated
by poverty and necessity. The criminal actions the two engage in, while
definitely wrong, as they are defrauding innocent people, also feel light and
childish—a scheme one would imagine as a kid (but not try given its absurdity).
After all, Crina—who is amazed by the simple sight of a video player and
laments that she “eats yogurt all her life”—only wants to use the bottle money
to finance a school trip that her parents initially refuse to pay for.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In
this tale, there does not seem to be a major discrepancy between the fabula and</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">the siuzhet. Though more of
the focus is on Crina and her attitudes and experiences, the events of the
legend unfold in a chronological manner, without the use of flashbacks or
flash-forwards on the part of the director and screenplay writer. The director
alternates between close-up interior shots of Crina’s apartment and wider
exterior shots of her exploits with Bughi to highlight the dual nature of the
protagonist’s life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We observe numerous
scenes of Crina watching the film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bonnie
and Clyde</i>, and this motif of movie clips playing in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>background sets the stage for Crina’s telling
reaction shots. In one scene, as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bonnie
and Clyde</i> plays in a dark bedroom, the camera then pans to a close-up of
Crina’s face, illuminated by the flicker of the television. Her expression
transitions from contemplation to that of smugness, as she realizes that collecting
multiple bottles of air samples from each apartment would be more efficient
than single bottles of tap water.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
short film reaches its climax when Crina takes the huge risk of asking an
apartment administrator to collect bottles from every household in the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>block. As she loads the car, she sees a police
car parking next to the building, and the camera then refocuses on her
terrified face. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ensuing stairway and
rooftop chase seem to be filmed without a tripod, and the camera shaking adds
to the tension of the situation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then,
Crina makes her escape by leaping to an adjacent building. For a few seconds, both
Bughi and the audience must consider that Crina fell to her death, until she suddenly
reemerges behind a clotheslined blanket on the other roof. Though stealing from
those just as poor as either Bughi or Crina is condemnable<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in itself, there is likely an irresistible
urge to cheer for the duo in their efforts. The climax suddenly changes the
course of the plot from an underdog story to that of a tragedy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Although
the legend is deeply embedded in Romanian society under</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Ceauşescu, a previous
knowledge of the era is certainly not necessary for understanding or enjoying
it. The desire and motivation to execute what amounts to be a relatively</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> small scale scam seems very
characteristic of the rebellious stage that humans go through at that age. Young
people, based from personal experience, are more likely to fall victim to an
illusion of invincibility. It is also shocking, though, to hear that the low
hourly wage of an engineer, or that every apartment shown has problems with the
cleanliness of its air and water. Yet such squalor was a reality for an entire
country through the decades of the Ceauşescu regime. Furthermore, extracting
the core of the story from its context, this legend shows the moral development
of an individual: Crina realizes that stealing from others is not a solution to
her poverty.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Post edited by Kyle Casey, Melissa Fisch, Eitan Tye </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-2524652580183998722013-04-22T22:27:00.003-07:002013-04-22T22:27:47.157-07:00<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Blog Post on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way I Spent the End of the World</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In
contrast to such films as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reverse, Little
Rose, </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walking Too Fast,</i> which
highlight urban landscapes, Cătălin Mitulescu’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way I Spent the End of the World</i> (2006) bares the modest, frustrating
living conditions of Romanians living just outside the big city. The buildings
in the Romanian town are cobbled together from brick and sheet metal rather
than concrete, and when it rains, the unpaved roads turn into a muddy bog.
Conditions inside the houses are also less than luxurious, with the brother and
sister protagonists Lali and Eva sharing a bedroom that consists of little more
than two beds that are pushed together and a desk. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also a small kitchen with just enough
space for a dining area. And while there seems to be enough food to go
around—as evidenced by the neighborhood party thrown following the birth of a
child—there is definitely a shortage of certain desirable goods. In a scene at
the beginning of the film, Eva has to spread a very small piece of cheese over
three slices of bread, and she tempts Lali with a jar of fruit jam as if it
were a delicacy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Throughout
the film, the trams are depicted as crowded, the buses are outdated, and
personal vehicles are all in various states of disrepair. Scenes of
transportation often involve the younger generation and their desire to improve
their situation or to somehow remove themselves from the deficiencies of the
regime. For example, Lali and his little friends pretend to operate motor
vehicles, while at the same time they plan to murder Ceaușescu. The boys seem
to associate the two, as if they could use these vehicles to end the oppression
of the regime. As evoked in the film, however, modes of transport signify a
much more complex motif than simple fantasizing and dreaming. Transport
connects individuals with new realities that may exceed their expectations. On
one hand, a boat serves as a pragmatic means of crossing the Danube to escape
Romania while on the other hand the image of a big ship on the open sea itself
symbolizes freedom.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way
I Spent the End of the World</i> captures the pervasive everyday disgust that ordinary
Romanians felt for Ceauşescu and his cult of personality. While Andreï’s
parents are mentioned and blacklisted as dissidents, such people do not play a
primary role in the film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the son
of a secret policeman does not respect the regime. In one of the very first
scenes of the film, Alexander brings Eva, then his girlfriend, into an empty
classroom and shows off to her by taking a few fake but defiant swings at a plaster
bust of Ceaușescu before accidentally shattering it. Eva shows no remorse for
her involvement in the shattered Ceaușescu bust; her refusal to apologize is
grounds for school officials to transfer her to a trade school. Eva and Lali’s
father brilliantly responds to Ceaușescu’s cult of personality by satirizing a
newscast by Ceaușescu himself, to Eva and Lali’s delight. Even the slow-witted,
kind-hearted Bulba messes with dissent when he finds Lali hiding in some reeds
by a fishing pond; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bulba promises to
“take care of Ceaușescu for hurting my little friend [Lali].”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
close-up and medium shots of Eva throughout <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Way I Spent the End of the World</i> project her inner fortitude as well as the
key decisions she makes that drive the plot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She seems to process these decisions
thoroughly and silently before acting on them, but it is difficult to tell
whether she is feeling regretful, indifferent, or quietly triumphant. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hers is the face that Lali and we must
constantly try to decipher. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eva’s stubbornness
vis-à-vis her elders and peers motivates her actions during the first half of the
film, landing her in the trade school and leading her to reject Alexander and
other would-be boyfriends for the company of Andrei, who plans to flee Romania.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She proves her mettle to Andrei when she
refuses to move from a train’s path until right before it is about to hit her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Eva is not completely sure to what extent
she should exercise her propensity for risk-taking. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After preparing with Andrei for their great
escape and traveling with him in a freight car to the Danube, she abandons him
and swims back to the Romanian shore, unable to leave her family and, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in particular, her little brother. In other
instances, Eva seems compliant, dancing with Alex at her mother’s request,
earning an honorable mention in trade school, and working at menial jobs
without complaint. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Lali’s
role in the film is dynamic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At certain
points, he is the source of tension and concern for his family, succumbing
easily to illness or clumsily attempting suicide when his sister seems to have
gone away. At other times he resolves tension between other people, trying to
mediate the relationship between Eva and their mother when Eva returns home
from her failed Danube crossing and eating with Eva when she sits alone in
their bedroom. The antics of Lali and his friends often interject humor and
hope into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way I Spent the End of the
World. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>They are constantly playing
and dreaming up fantasies of traveling, being warriors, and even killing Ceaușescu.
Lali may represent the “I” in the film’s title because he embodies the most
profound desires of many of the nation’s citizens, keenly aware of the regime’s
hardships but still attempting to enjoy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">a normal, often pleasurable,
existence. “The end of the world” is a relative concept; for some people it
could mean the end of an oppressive regime, but for others it could be a big
sister’s journey to a distant career. Alternatively, though the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way I Spent the End of the World </i>implies
a singular perspective of the last year of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship in
Romania in 1989, in many ways the “I” in the title goes beyond the main
characters Eva and Lali, taking on a much broader, more inclusive, collective
representation of a major shift for the Romanian people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Way I Spent the End of the World</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> conveys the “bittersweet nostalgia” that Roumania Deltcheva
evokes in her article, “Reliving the past in East European cinemas.” The film
attempts to show that though there were many hard times during the regime, the
good memories cannot be forgotten. Even in the literal winter of the Romanian
Revolution, the environment still seems colorful and vibrant, an atmosphere that
Deltcheva identifies as the “golden hue.” This film is permeated with peach,
bright beige, and other warm colors, consistent with feelings of serenity or
even subdued happiness. After the riot against Ceaușescu and his death, the
film became infused with even brighter lighting and more vibrant colors,
suggesting the hope for a brighter future. The film also focuses more on
individual experience and complex characterization than the atrocities of the
Ceaușescu’s regime. Eva and Lali grow up under Ceaușescu; for them, the regime is
all they know. Lali enjoys a relatively carefree childhood which contrasts with
Eva’s harsh reality of enforced compliance and obligation. The film’s
indulgence in the imagination of Lali and his buddies also indicates that an
oppressive regime isn’t strong enough to suppress the creative, wandering mind
of a child. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see the boys driving
their neighborhood to foreign lands in broken-down buses and blowing such large
bubbles with their imported gum that these blow away into the golden brown sky.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This film does cherish childhood, but it
certainly does not long for the bad old days of Ceaușescu’s regime nor does it romanticize
that era in any way. Hatred towards Ceaușescu and painful consequences of his
oppressive reign are present throughout the film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the balance that Mitulescu manages to
achieve: the bittersweet with the sinister. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Edited by Rajlakshmi De, Tahsin Zaman, Song (Sean)
Zhiang</span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-31514182497541617612013-04-21T22:07:00.001-07:002013-04-21T22:07:12.523-07:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PbpIC7fcMTzHjSEtqxKw2RBSn0HWs2wEz30uritsQLjq6j1h5o3zqjvdkOQ91eLuYbEFdKpdksgIycXE2aoy6cGWgbaBskXwUhX3Ro55ZQgIYaU8JL5PH5XenyOU1FC2Nl5G35l4WCcL/s1600/walkingtoofast%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PbpIC7fcMTzHjSEtqxKw2RBSn0HWs2wEz30uritsQLjq6j1h5o3zqjvdkOQ91eLuYbEFdKpdksgIycXE2aoy6cGWgbaBskXwUhX3Ro55ZQgIYaU8JL5PH5XenyOU1FC2Nl5G35l4WCcL/s320/walkingtoofast%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Walking Too Fast </span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Blog</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Director
Radim Špaček chooses to express the bleak atmosphere of Czech “normalization” in
the 1980s with gray, dimly lit exterior shots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In general, colors are muted; beige, grey, black, dark green, and blue dominate
the film. The drab color scheme of the film may convey Gustáv Husák’s
aggressive repression of dissidence and difference. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, the viewer can tell that the
character Klára’s hair is a bold red, but the intensity of that color is only
fractionally conveyed by the cinematography. The cinematography also conveys the
sense of being followed and controlled, in keeping with the film’s original
Czech title, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pouta</i>, which means “handcuffs.”
Long distant shots and strange camera movements help create the feeling of
being followed, and the many scenes shot through doors, windows, or railings
reinforce the feeling of isolation and the fear of being watched.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
cinematographer portrays the urban Czech landscape as a series of smoggy
streets and anonymous, industrial-style buildings. Buildings shown in the
background have peeling paint or crumbling concrete, revealing the city’s
decay. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The soccer field and track where the
secret policemen exercise is surrounded by Soviet bloc architecture and devoid
of sunlight. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The office of the film’s
protagonist, the secret policeman Antonín, with the dark browns and yellows of
its walls and furniture, seems drab and lifeless. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Natural landscapes are also industrialized and
tainted, as in the scene where Antonín gets out of the car to relieve himself.
The place he stops seems naturally beautiful, but is also clearly the site of a
mine or quarry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only two things appear
to bring color and meaning into Antonín’s life—his vividly colored dreams and
Klára, with her red hair starkly contrasting with everything else around her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the film comes to a close and Antonin, as
well as the audience, achieves a final escape from the clutches of his mind,
the shot is not at all separated or claustrophobic, but radiates with sunlight
and ends in an unusual white screen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Czech dissidents in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walking Too Fast</i>
are portrayed as troubled characters whose motivations are conflicted. The audience
quickly learns of Tomas Sykora’s adulterous affair with Klára Kadlecova and
bears witness to his double life as he leaves a wife and children at home to
have sex with Klára in his friend Pavel Vesely’s apartment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomas is distinctly unheroic when his wife
discovers his infidelity; his only response to her hurt and fury is a short
“sorry”. He does, however, have his courageous moments in the interrogation
room with Antonín. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one scene he
refuses to submit even when he is being tortured. The cinematographer uses
conventional lighting in this shot, casting Sykora in brightness and moving Antonín
into the shadows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pavel,
the film’s second dissident, is torn between trying to collaborate with the
secret police in order to save his skin and feeling guilty for not standing up
to the secret police and fighting for a free life. It is true that he does seem
to believe in the ideals voiced in his writing. That being said, he does not have
the courage to live these ideals. He informs on Tomas to stay on good terms with
the secret police, and ultimately (at the request of the secret police)
convinces his friend to leave the country. During his interview with a German
magazine, Vesely tells a story he read: in a future autocratic state, dissidents
free themselves from its control because they trust each other. Off camera, it
turns out that Pavel is the one who abuses the others’ trust and “slits their
throats.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walking Too Fast</i>, Czechoslovakia’s
secret police force is a disjointed group of individuals who don’t seem to
trust each other. Secret policemen are initially depicted as very privileged,
living a seemingly carefree lifestyle with a bar and other amenities installed
in their headquarters. The viewer sees just how intimately the secret police
establishment is integrated into the lives of its agents – in their leisure
pastimes and at home. We are privy to secret police interrogation rooms,
offices, long hallways, detention cells, dark alleys, and car rides. The film
portrays the secret police as omnipresent and omnipotent in society. Their
power is clear: individual police officers can dictate to society through the
use of their badges. Antonín uses threats and violence to reinstate Klára in
her job, and he uses his badge to thwart interference when beating up a man who
was flirting with Klára at the bar. Antonín also uses his power to continuously
interrogate and imprison Tomas.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A
definite hierarchy is evident within the organization. Both Antonín and his
partner, Martin, report to the Major, and the Major reminds them both of the
secret police “family.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells Martin
to “take care of [Antonín] like a brother, if anything happens tell dad” and explains
that the secret police “don’t like people who don’t care about the family; if
they disappoint us, we punish them.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet,
as subsequent events show, this family is one that cares only about the
institution, not the individuals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
film depicts Martin as jovial and extroverted, whereas Antonín is introverted
and never content. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Antonín is tightly
wound and this self-induced pressure eventually causes him to crack. Martin, on
the other hand, is easy-going and kind of a goofball. Although less intelligent
and often manipulated by Antonín, the sociable Martin is ultimately able to
salvage his sanity by keeping a lighthearted attitude and refusing to let the
job dominate all of his relationships and interactions. The introverted Antonín,
on the other hand, lets “the service” become his “dad, wife, and old lady”—in
the words of the Comrade Major—and slowly loses his mind. While Martin plays
ball with others, the running Antonín ignores the football that Martin throws
at him. When the intoxicated Martin tries to entertain everyone, Antonín drinks
alone and feels sick. Antonín is tough, knows the miseries of life, assumes the
role of driver, and always wants to go “somewhere,” while Martin is simple,
never thinks of things too deeply, and enjoys living in the present and sitting
in the passenger seat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Klára,
Tomas’s lover and, increasingly, Antonín’s obsession, seems to be a special
character because she does not appear to apologize for who she is or have any illusions
about her actions. Her job at the factory emphasizes this—she is above it all,
above the rats in the maze, as she skillfully drives a crane. In some ways,
this attitude makes her similar to Antonín. She has an affair with Tomas, and seems
indifferent to his wife’s inevitable suffering. This is in line with Antonín’s
actions and character, as he is a man who will do anything for what he wants no
matter how much collateral damage he may leave behind. In his desire and quest
to have Klára, he ruins the life of not only Tomas and his family, but also his
own wife, whom he kicks her out and dispossesses. Loneliness is a common experience
for both Klára and Antonín, and drives both of their actions. Antonín even
tries to highlight their similarity by telling Klára that she is unhappy and
alone, just as he is. It is only when Antonín becomes directly involved in her
life and expresses his desire to protect and be with Klára that she becomes disillusioned
with her “reality” and sees her world and the people in it as they truly are.
Klára’s gradual disenchantment and acknowledgment of the forces operating
around her parallels Antonín’s growing delusion and loss of control of the people
and circumstances around him, though she refuses to follow him into his “chasm.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Before
the film begins, Antonín apparently served as a model agent, rigid and professional.
Over the course of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walking Too Fast, </i>he
retreats further into isolation and instability as the stress of his work and
jealousy towards Tomas take over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he
becomes more enamored with Klara, Antonín grows increasingly violent. He begins
to use his power as a secret policeman not to suppress dissent but to further a
personal agenda. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loses control of
almost everything in his life: his health, his job, his emotions, and his
allegiance to the state. First, Antonín begins to have panic attacks where he
temporarily loses control of his breathing. Second, as his infatuation with
Klára warms up, his fellow officers become suspicious, which in turn, stimulates
his paranoia while at work. Next, his feelings for Klára escalate while his
other personal relationships deteriorate. Finally, Rusinak is completely out of
control. His self-deluded love for Klára trumps his allegiance to the state,
which causes him to act impulsively and irrationally, paving the way to his
suicide at the end of the film.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Edited by Torrey Lubkin, Alex Stine, and James Wu</span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-31409581470160587852013-03-27T01:16:00.001-07:002013-03-27T01:22:30.805-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBZq0CTSbNX2j_eAZdiF3pXrU_ZzYGrjGaXY1anWToqErhqykbWPTk77fSe-2GU5PdeLb6DmT6sc1XEa4sHEn0cdQXtv6sNQFyolKiaPDpe6gIWkw_WcgG9oqUhXEfPWect5YTTBHElIM/s1600/e9c86863e2cb466eb7922a61cd431dbb,37,1%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBZq0CTSbNX2j_eAZdiF3pXrU_ZzYGrjGaXY1anWToqErhqykbWPTk77fSe-2GU5PdeLb6DmT6sc1XEa4sHEn0cdQXtv6sNQFyolKiaPDpe6gIWkw_WcgG9oqUhXEfPWect5YTTBHElIM/s320/e9c86863e2cb466eb7922a61cd431dbb,37,1%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Set in Warsaw on the backdrop of
the Polish government’s anti-Zionist campaign in 1967-1968, Jan Kidawa-Błoński’s
film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Rose </i>dives into that
world, humanizing the actions of the Polish secret police, dissidents, and
those caught in between and bringing the tangled relationships between these
three groups into focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film tracks
the evolving relationships of three central characters: the secret policeman Roman
Różek, the dissident Adam Warczewski, and the coopted informant Kamila
Sakowicz, who signs her reports as the title’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Rose.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little
Rose </i>depicts these characters’ living spaces as reflective of their
personalities and plot lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kamila’s
apartment possesses the potential to be something more, but it remains raw and
bare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her place tells the story of a
woman, an orphan, who is still trying to carve out a place for herself in the
world and is clearly concerned with upward social mobility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kamila’s apartment has a feminine quality to
it, as seen by the lace she finds to cover her table and the various knick
knacks shown in the background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
the site of her early sex scenes with Roman, before their relationship decays
into one filled with secrecy and hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The viewer is also privy to Kamila’s private moments when she enjoys
luxuries brought back from Adam’s apartment: the wine and various books.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Roman’s apartment is always in
shadow, with sunlight filtered through the windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to serve more as a shrine to boxing
and aggression than anything else; the audience can only view Roman’s office
space and trophy cases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The actions that
take place in his apartment are generally unpleasant, especially towards the
end of the film when Roman tries to rape Kamila on the desktop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this space we witness attempted rape,
fights, and sexual encounters that become more impersonal over the course of
the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roman’s apartment lacks any
boundary between work (writing and reading informant reports) and sexual
pleasure and pain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In contrast, Adam’s living space is
portrayed as homey, serene, and safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Flowers decorate the apartment and we see shots of his bedroom in
addition to his office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His place is
filled with fine old furniture, and the warm colors of the décor are
comforting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon first entering his
apartment, Kamila is impressed with the walls full of books and the wine that
Adam serves; his is the home of a cultured man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It harbors a close family, as exemplified by the scene of the Warczewskis
gathered around a crackling fire on Christmas Eve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam and Kamila have intellectual discussions
as well as sexual relations here, indicating the strength of their bond over
the mostly physical relationship between Kamila and Roman.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Just as his home is privileged over
Roman’s, so Adam himself is presented as a smart, coherent, educated contrast
to the brash, uncultivated Roman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it
is important to distinguish Adam from the other dissident writers portrayed in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Rose. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part, these writers are depicted
as petty and not particularly virtuous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though they intellectually oppose the regime, their primary concerns are
still their careers and personal desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Adam emerges as the hero among them, delivering the inspiring speech at
the Writers’ Union that ultimately causes a change of heart in Kamila.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, Adam is the first person we see
treat Kamila with respect: He admires her studies, seeks to improve her
writing, takes a personal interest in her hobbies, and loves her tenderly.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While Adam does exemplify truth and
virtue in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Rose,</i> he is at best
a flawed dissident hero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam is
completely fooled by Kamila’s seductive acts at the beginning of the film and
totally ignorant of her reports for Roman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even after Adam learns of her deceit, he chooses to ignore the
humiliation of being duped and decides to marry Kamila.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though Adam does believe in truth and virtue,
it would seem that love and the personal gratification he gains from being with
Kamilia eclipse those ideals.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Roman and Kamila, both coming from
impoverished backgrounds, form a relationship based on desperation and
lust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The orphaned Kamila has no one but
Roman in her life, and this loneliness makes her crave his love and attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theirs is a very physical relationship,
evident during the first nightclub scene and the sex scene that immediately
follows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the movie progresses, Kamila
grows apart from Roman, recoiling from his aggressive nature, and is drawn
instead to Adam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This transition is
fueled in part by Kamila’s growing role as an informant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though Roman does care very deeply about her,
he is pressured at work to push her closer to Adam.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The scenes involving nudity reveal
much about the characters’ thoughts and personalities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one early scene, Roman argues with a nude
Kamila in her apartment, his hostile and offensive behavior juxtaposed with her
openness, honesty, and vulnerability. When their relationship is withering, the
final sex scene with Roman is particularly impersonal, devoid of conversation
and eye contact, and afterwards Kamila lies curled in the fetal position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam, in contrast, is much tenderer with
Kamila, holding her hand as they make love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kamila’s nudity finally signals her resignation after Roman exposes her
as an informant to Adam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Roman
comes to her door, she simply drops her clothing and bares herself, as if she
were a sex worker for hire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The very sexual nature of Kamila and
her relationships, combined with the consequences of her actions, would seem to
qualify her as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">femme fatale.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is aware of her attractiveness and
exploits it to make Adam fall in love with her initially so that she can
extract information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kamila, however,
differs from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">femme fatale </i>in her
intention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She does not want to control
or harm Adam; she actually believes that if she proves Adam’s innocence, all
will be well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kamila accepts the job of
informant because she wishes to please Roman and perform a significant
job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In writing up her reports, she
seems more ambitious than malicious. Most importantly, Kamila undergoes a
transformation that disqualifies her as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">femme
fatale </i>even as it suggests her heroism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After Adam has been intimidated and beaten by two secret police thugs,
she decides to marry him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Kamila’s story in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Rose </i>resembles that of the
protagonist Sabina in another recent Polish film about the communist era, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reverse </i>(2009).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reverse,
</i>Sabina struggles with her own secret policeman-suitor, Bronek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Sabina is the antithesis of Kamila in
terms of her cultured background and carefully concealed anti-government ideology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She lives with her mother and grandmother in
a very comfortable apartment secured by her brother, who is a successful
socialist realist painter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabina’s
relationship with Bronek is barely established when he asks her to inform; he
comes into her life from a different place shrouded in mystery and sweeps
Sabina off her feet in a whirlwind romance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Such an impression cannot last forever, though, and the once-smooth
Bronek suddenly loses his touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabina
understands that she is being used and despatches her seducer with the help of
her entire family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Little Rose </i>thrives on uncertainty, so it is no surprise that the
final scenes bear out this pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
first ambiguity involves Adam’s death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Was he murdered?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The single rose
left at the base of the stairs to Adam’s apartment suggests that Roman was
somehow involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet the cause of
death, Adam’s fall from a ledge to the pavement, and the undisturbed nature of
the apartment make Roman a somewhat dubious perpetrator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was the death a suicide?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam at this point had been stripped of
almost everything he loved – his writing, job, reputation – and perhaps he only
married Kamilia to ensure that his daughter would be cared for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this scenario does not account for the
rose left by the stairs and does not reflect Adam’s otherwise brave character.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The final train station scene raises
even more questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Roman’s
Jewish identity is revealed by his superior, he is to be expelled from Poland
as part of the anti-Zionist campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
he is boarding the train, Roman looks most vulnerable, the lone traveler
without a family member or friend to wish him well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the last minute, he sees Kamila watching
him from behind a fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps Kamila’s
decision to come to the station is her way of closing this chapter in her life;
she needs to see Roman leaving to know that their relationship really is at an
end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet perhaps Kamila still cares for
Roman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of which is the case,
when Kamila and Roman share a final look, the film reminds us that their intentions
were initially aligned: They both longed to move up in the world and live the
good life, as they knew it, together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in Roman’s final smile there
seems to be an understanding that, despite everything, he is significant enough
for Kamila to watch him leave.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>Edited by Jane Chen and Alex Radek</i> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-23854148298042343242013-03-01T20:30:00.002-08:002013-03-01T20:44:02.647-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Blog Post on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reverse</i></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Borys Lankosz’s film <i>Reverse</i>,
the protagonists must conduct “business as usual” under the dramatically
unusual circumstances that the Stalinist reign imposed on the citizens of
Warsaw. Fear, paranoia and corruption are exhibited on two levels: through the
main film plot and through the societal norms visible through the film’s
depictions of Poland in 1952. The world is not a serene place and normalcy
contains pernicious elements, such as corruption, fear and delinquent behavior.
The secret police are portrayed as omnipresent and omnipotent in the film,
maybe not observable directly but always perceptible in the background. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family takes every single precaution to
comply with the government’s edicts. Examples include the mother giving up her
drugstore and Sabina’s brother painting artworks in the style of socialist
realism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the early scenes shows
Sabina, the protagonist of the film, speaking to her mother and trying to
figure out what to do with a small foreign gold coin that her mother owns.
Sabina decides to hide the coin by systematically swallowing and excreting it
every day. Sabina’s daily concealing of the gold coin marked “liberté” daily
demonstrates a fear and a paranoia that reaches into private spaces – both domestic
and human.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reverse</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> makes liberal use of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">film noir </i>techniques. The choice to
shoot the film in black and white, the stark contrasts with lighting, the
unbalanced camera frames, and a few classic <i>noir</i> shots effectively made
the film eerie and unnerving. The shadowy <i>noir</i> lighting of this film
emphasizes the moral duality of its characters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of its most classically <i>noir</i> scenes
of the film shows how Bronisław rescues Sabina from two robbers. The scene
begins with Bronek’s face in shadow, which is then slightly illuminated by him
lighting a cigarette. He looks like the epitome of a <i>noir</i> character with
a stern face and trench coat. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In its new
context the trench coat gains new meaning: in American <i>noir </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">film</span>, the protagonist detective works
in a trench coat, whereas in Stalinist Poland, the trench coat signals an
informer. As the film continues, Bronek’s persona becomes increasingly sinister
through <i>noir</i> tactics such as the wide-lens close up when he peers in at
the front door and the “crowded” feeling the viewer gets as Bronek becomes
physical with Sabina.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another <i>noir</i> technique that
is frequently seen in <i>Reverse </i>is the use </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">of closely framed shots.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing characters through peepholes,
windows, or doorways amplifies the claustrophobic effect of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">film</i> <i>noir</i>, especially because the
camera usually starts zooming in so that we cannot see the entire person
initially. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mirrors are also prevalent in
the film. Sabina’s full figure and face can only be seen within the mirror’s
reflection. Mirrors are present in the bathroom as Sabina attempts to swallow
the coin again. The presence of mirrors suggests that Sabina is always being watched,
even if only by her own reflection. This lends itself to the heightened
paranoia of the period. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Film noir’s</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> iconic “rat in a maze”
image occurs many times in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reverse</i>,
especially </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">after the murder of
Bronek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one instance we see Sabina
throw some belongings of Bronek from a bridge. The camera zooms out, and the
viewer sees an image of Sabina standing alone with the ledge on one side and a
moving train on the opposite side, engendering a sense of complete entrapment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Sabina and her mother Irena drag Bronek’s
body up the stairs to her brother’s apartment, they are shot from above,
positioning them as, in a sense, victimized villains. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A different kind of shot from above is used in
filming Bronek’s rape of Sabina on her dining room table. She is again portrayed
as powerless to extricate herself from that particular situation. Her
powerlessness is two-fold; first she would be unable to physically restrain
Bronek if she tried, and second, she is anxious and curious to experience sex,
and restrains herself for that reason as well. The sex scene also features
low-angle, strangely lit shots of Bronek, further painting him as distrustful. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The film unfolds from
Sabina’s point of view, using the expressions on her face </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">to advance the narrative.
This is congruent with <i>noir</i> films shot from the perspective of the
detective or “private eye.” The development of the hero’s role is usually wrapped
in mystery, where he is a loner and his personal life is no one’s business. Yet
we delve into Sabina’s life at home with her mother and grandmother. Sabina
alone is not the protagonist: her mother and grandmother are essential helpers
in Sabina’s quest to survive and transcend the stifling throes of Stalinism. While
initially appearing to be a fragile, innocent young woman, Sabina reveals
herself to be a surprisingly strong character capable of killing to protect
herself and those close to her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sabina lives modestly
and keeps very much to herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
bashful disposition makes it hard to imagine that she could be assertive.
Pervasive fear makes her qualities mousey: she stutters and shakes when
speaking to figures of authority, like her boss. She doesn’t have a commanding
presence; despite her height, Sabina makes herself seem incredibly small and
unimportant. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Sabina does aspire to
be heroic by performing subtle acts of defiance—such as attempting to swallow
the forbidden gold coin instead of handing it over to the authorities. She is a
quiet heroine, epitomized during the first time she swallows the coin and asks
to hear music from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madame Butterfly</i>. Swallowing
the coin repeatedly to Italian opera music, Sabina envisions herself an
extraordinary hero forced to live an ordinary life. She regrets not
participating in the Uprising, which suggests that for most of her life, she could
not muster the courage to act on her fantasies. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lankosz clearly used
Sabina’s character to show that the lives of civilians in Stalinist Poland were
not the tales of heroes and villains that other Polish films portray. Instead,
the lines were much more blurred – innocent civilians like Sabina simply wanted
to continue their lives in peace, but were sometimes forced to take extreme
actions. Her decision to kill Bronislaw and end his hold over her is swift and
calculated. However, Sabina apologizes to Bronek after she poisons him. By
killing Bronek, Sabina is not making a moral judgment. She is simply saving
herself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She aspires to be heroic when
she volunteers to commit suicide after she murders Bronislaw. She does not want
to create further problems for her family.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noir</i> films the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">femme fatale</i> was a beautiful, duplicitous woman who seduces the
main character with looks, charm, and sexual allure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She aims to lower his defenses and lead him
into a deadly situation. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reverse</i>’s
gender swapped <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noir </i>adaptation
continues with an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">homme fatale</i> character.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bronek is the secret policeman who
begins a false courtship with Sabina, attempting to seduce her into informing
on her boss. Bronek is seductive in his handsome looks and charming demeanor,
“sly tactics [employed] to establish total control.” The elevator scene shows
Bronek tightly embracing Sabina, all her office papers flying to the floor in
disarray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bronek’s
role is made more intriguing in that his character is historically based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did not take much imagination or
exaggeration to develop a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">homme fatale</i>
in Soviet Poland, for history made many. Bronek symbolizes the state power
which is beyond individuals’ control or understanding. His initial politeness
and attractiveness allude to the communist regime’s promise of a stable, rich
and simplistic future. His almost impossible knowledge of the gold coin
represents the omnipotent police presence. The rape and the subsequent
poisoning scene thus sets up the stage for the final confrontation between the
male and female, the perpetrator and the victim, the state and the individual.
In other words, the Stalinist state’s ugly, anti-artistic, masculine power
speaks through Bronek’s body.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sabina’s murder of Bronek
thwarts the state’s intrusion into her private sphere of family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She succeeds in hollowing out a shelter
against the corruption, manipulation, and destruction of the State in that she
successfully rids herself of Bronek, the enactor of the State’s will. However,
in eradicating Bronek, Sabina embodies that corruption in herself, corrupting
her morals to carryout murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabina
wants the corruption and evils of Bronek to end with her generation by
personally carrying the burden of truth. Her generation sacrifices,
internalizing the ugly truth, to protect her son’s generation from the bleak
atrocities of the past. The paintings of her brother Arkadiusz in the present
flash-forwards also illustrate this internalized past; distorted skeletons and
grey people fill his canvases. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sabina is also able to
create a new, better life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bronek’s rape
left Sabina with child. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through
pregnancy and birth, she physically transforms this past atrocity into the hopeful
future of her son. She lies to her son about his father, telling stories of
Bronek defending Poland in the Warsaw Uprising. In the flash-forwards, her son
is vibrant, kind, and confident. The lie that Sabina told him has allowed him
to flourish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabina’s sending of her son
to America physically distances him from Polish communism. Furthermore, her son
is openly gay—an idea that would never have been accepted in Bronek’s time but
reflects the transition to Sabina’s view of a more progressive society in
modern-day Poland. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The airport as one
setting for the film’s flash-forwards is symbolic of all that Poland has
become. It serves as a crossroads for the generations. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A board shows flights to and from every corner
of the globe: New York, London, Paris, etc. Poland has survived Communist
times and become a modern force. But not one that forgets its past, as is
evidenced by the shot of the cemetery on All Saints Day at the end of the film.
Sabina’s commemorative gesture, lighting a candle at the Palace of Arts and
Culture where she had buried the bones of Bronisław represents another nod to
remembering the past. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="PL" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: PL;">Edited by
Agata Kantorowska and Halina Krzystek</span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-80927661032368914822013-02-06T18:52:00.000-08:002013-03-01T20:37:21.498-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Blog Po<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3446221208143452010" name="_GoBack"></a>st
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divided We Fall</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
Jan Hrebejk’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divided We Fall</i>, the director
concentrates on the daily experience and difficult dilemmas faced by residents
of a small Czech town during the Nazi occupation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The precise location is left blank so that a
general audience can relate to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
as the main character, Josef Čižek, is an “everyman,” the city is an “everytown.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The village that he and his wife, Maria, live
in is purposefully portrayed as remote and “ordinary” to act as a microcosm for
the rest of Czechoslovakia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
film takes place solely in and around the town; instead of examining the war
from the perspective of soldiers, or the ethnic groups targeted by the Nazi
regime, it focuses on how it affected the daily lives of the residents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas many films depict battlefields or
concentration camps during World War II, the intimate setting in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divided We Fall</i> allows us to understand
the complexity of the Czech war experience through the subtleties of
relationships between family, friends, and acquaintances.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The small town setting also
demonstrates that no place was too small or out of the way for the Nazis to
occupy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The viewer can thus experience the effects of
Nazi occupation from the perspective of an ordinary civilian. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The action of the film takes place primarily
on one street, which lends an air of insularity to the city; one knows one’s
neighbors intimately. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lack of any
range of setting typifies the insulating effect that the war had on many
people, especially in Eastern Europe where informants were common. The insular
effect of the war is also alluded to when Horst claims that Maria “voluntarily
lives in a tomb” and she responds, saying, “we all do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choosing a domestic location as the primary
setting for the film emphasizes the invasiveness of Nazi occupation in daily
life, and the danger of resisting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
choice of this isolated apartment magnifies the fear, suspense, and emotional
tension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
film technically starts in 1937 when the Wiener family moves into their house,
but the main body of narration focuses on the two-year period from 1943 to 1945
when David Wiener hides in the Čižeks’ apartment, which was also the last two
years of Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The fact that we get a few glimpses of life before the war is
instrumental in conveying how much the lives of the townspeople change when the
war begins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="st">Prior to the
war Josef worked for a company owned by the Wieners, a wealthy Jewish family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Nazis invade, the village splinters
from a bustling intermeshed community into groups of nationalist Czechs,
pro-Nazi Czechs, and Jews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the face
of the Nazi might, no external resistance takes place, and the villagers simply
attempt to survive.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Josef and Maria Čižek come to hide David Wiener in
their home, in a way, by accident. Josef stumbles on David in the Wiener villa
when he goes to safeguard the family’s jewels from the Nazis who are coming
next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Čížek</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">s
come to hide David in their home largely as a result of circumstance and
loyalty, instead of outward heroism. Even though Josef prefers to maintain a
quiet, isolated, and somewhat lazy existence at home with his wife, his
memories of David’s decency before the war trigger a sense of
fidelity—reluctantly compelling him to protect his former employer after he
escapes from an extermination camp in Poland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Josef comes to realize that David’s fate and that of the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Čížek family are unavoidably entwined—if Josef
doesn’t protect David, the Nazis will most likely find him and execute the
Čížeks for refusing to turn in the fugitive. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
“decision” to keep him thereafter was based mainly on preserving their own
safety and that of the whole neighborhood – David could potentially be traced
back to the Čižeks, and as Maria reminds Josef, “You decided for him, for you,
for me, and for everyone on this street.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Josef’s only real moment of choice is when he decides not to rat out
David in the villa. After that, the other “decisions” are not really decisions
but consequences of that first choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="st">Tied into the contrast of helping each other and dividing against each
other are the themes of heroism and cowardice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both heroism and cowardice are rarely portrayed as proactive decisions,
but rather as reactions to moments.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
notion of heroism during World War II is a tricky one for the Czechs and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divided We Fall</i> reflects this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It portrays heroism in a very cynical light,
consistently undercutting what would normally be viewed as heroic acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Albrecht Kepke’s younger son, who was
raised to be a Nazi soldier, turns out to be a coward, getting shot by his own
countrymen for desertion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film
portrays the German notion of heroism as clear-cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is a hero or a coward; there are no
qualifications or asterisks attached to either category, such as the fact that
Dr. Kepke’s younger son was only a child, and it was wrong for his parents to
send him to war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, this black and
white dichotomy is portrayed as dangerous in the film. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Time and again, the film portrays “help” as the
simple act of staying faithful to those who helped you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this sense, the film implicitly<b> </b>dismisses
Dr. Albrecht Kepke’s notion that true heroism, like that supposedly shown by
his older deceased sons, can only be found on the frontlines of battle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Josef,
though heroic for saving David, is actually very fearful and apathetic –
qualities incongruous with the typical heroic personality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For example, Josef is ultimately a
hero because he spends two years risking his life as well as every life on his
street to house a Jewish fugitive. However, Josef is hostile toward David and
frequently exhibits behavior that could be labeled as “cowardly,” such as
soiling his pants upon finding David in the middle of the night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Čižeks could be considered heroes for taking David in, but one must also
remember that by being “heroic,” they are putting all of their neighbors in danger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Similarly,
even Horst Prochazka, whom the filmmakers illustrate as a cowardly, adulterous
collaborator insists to Josef that “we must help each other”—and diverts Nazi
investigators despite his knowledge that the Čížeks are hiding a Jew in their
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While visiting the Čižeks, Horst says, “Who would be
foolish enough today to act like a hero... We have to survive. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every lovely thing should survive, be saved,
eh?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, as the war was coming to a
close, Horst began expressing his fears about being skinned by the Czechs; immediately
after, Horst helped the Čižeks deflect the German police to save them and the
Jew that they were hiding. Josef offering Horst a cigarette both times linked
the two scenes- the first time Horst snuffed him, yet the second time he
accepted the offer and said “divided we fall.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lastly,
Franta, viewed as a hero for leading the local resistance against the Nazis,
was also the first to attempt to report David’s return out of fear that he
would be killed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every character in the
film exists somewhere on a spectrum between heroism and cowardice, an ambiguity
reminiscent of the passive resistance of the “good soldier Švejk” in Czech
literature. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The film emphasizes that the concepts of help and
heroism don’t stem from bold, visible acts of defiance, but rather from
remaining true to one’s morals and relationships when the direst of situations
arise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast to most war movies, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divided We Fall</i> largely portrays heroism
as the simple act of being loyal and staying true to friends, even in times of
crisis and imminent danger. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Individuals like Josef and Horst
are weak and helpless when facing a faceless, shapeless<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>terror that is everywhere.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
film rationalizes the nation’s collaboration with the occupiers<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>and its somewhat cowardly endurance:
because survival is in itself heroic, collaboration can be forgiven.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Instead
of focusing on the physical heroism of combat, as is so often portrayed in
films addressing World War II, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Divided We
Fall</i> sends the message that ordinary people must work together and assist
each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This film conveys a sense of
a national Czech community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is
this community that will fall if divided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span class="st">The Čižeks, along with everyone else, seem to be
deteriorating as the film progresses, as the isolation becomes debilitating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>Horst says, “We must help each other”
to Josef several times: first to persuade him to work for the Germans and later
to explain why he protects the Čižek family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By saying “we need to help each other,” Horst is stressing his own Czech
identity and at the same time subconsciously rejecting his connection with the
Germans. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than imply collaboration
with the Germans, this sentence suggests collaboration with fellow Czechs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="st">The ending of the film portrays
this theme powerfully, as only through helping each other are Josef, Maria,
David, and Horst all saved from almost certain death and the rebuilding process
can begin.</span></span><span class="st"></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span class="st"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The actor Bolek </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Polívka,
who plays Josef<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Čižek,</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">
communicates mainly with his eyes, usually by widening them or occasionally
glaring to show Josef’s emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
eyes usually show his fear, disgust, or whatever emotion he is
experiencing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Josef
does not change his character based on whether he is playing the “rescuer” or
the “collaborator”.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Horst tried to teach him a blank
loyal stare, and Josef could only contort his face into something that looked
vacant and dumb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He looks phony when he
practices his face with Horst; when Maria tells Horst and Dr. Kepke about being
pregnant—an instance when Josef should have used his practiced face—Josef’s
face gives away his immense surprise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Josef’s gestures and expressions are
comical at times, but hint at deeper emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span class="st">Josef’s body language expresses his fear and courage,
despair and joy, indifference and compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span>After first taking in David, Josef reacts sometime later by
soiling himself from the realization that he is hiding a Jew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after Josef learns about his
infertility, he tries to socialize with a schoolteacher and her students, but
comes across as resolutely creepy. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josef is always touching his wife in some way,
a symbol of trust and loyalty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
other side, he is able to successfully convey skepticism or disdain through
even slight changes in his facial expression.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Polívka smooches his fugitive, David, out of
frustration after yelling at him for attempting to leave; similarly, in a later
scene, Polívka kisses David again to express relief at his timely reappearance
when the Captain threatened to shoot his Josef for “collaborating” with the
Nazis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These very human gestures allow
us to clearly see how Josef struggles with both the roles of “rescuer” and
“collaborator.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Polívka
depicts the character of Josef Čižek as a reluctant rescuer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fear and desperation whenever Josef
played the role of rescuer are immediately clear from Polívka’s acting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is unnatural in many of his responses,
such as his awkward belting of “Mein Gorilla” when he needs to distract Horst
from David and Maria under the bed covers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite his clumsiness, however, Josef is effective and is the film’s
rescuer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josef<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>combines in himself the apathetic civilian, wanting only to return
to a normalcy and the heroic rescuer, risking everything to save a friend’s
life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
film blurs the lines between collaborating with the enemy and staying loyal to
one’s home, which can both be considered “help.” This film depicts no
straightforward collaboration or loyalty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Collaboration
is “helping” the enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this reason,
anyone and everyone could be a collaborator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, the interconnectedness of events, such as the ones that led to
Josef working for Dr. Kepke, illustrates that collaboration is more complex
that aiding and abetting the enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Josef reminds us that all the collaboration occurring is part of a
complicated situation: “You wouldn’t believe what abnormal times can do to
normal people.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgiveness must be
offered to one’s countrymen, because no one emerged scot-free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Collaborating with the enemy is not the same
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">being</i> the enemy, especially when
there is an inequity of physical power.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>Edited by Ben Collins-Wood and Katie Contess</i> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446221208143452010.post-55535280151119179842013-01-08T19:22:00.001-08:002013-01-08T19:22:19.368-08:00<h2>
<i>Divided We Fall, </i>dir. Jan Hrebejk. 2000.</h2>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04240823001295443751noreply@blogger.com0