Documentary Realism in Films - Movie Review Example

Comparative Analysis of "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Life is Beautiful," and "The Aviator" using the Critical Perspective Film as an audio-visual form of art expression also subsists, in more ways than one, to different perspectives in explaining a specific phenomenon in human life and history. Not only is film a product of human culture; it also has a social function, and this is to mirror or reflect the realities that humanity faces everyday or at a specific point in time. As in every work of art, films contain messages that its creator wants to express to his/her viewers. Thus, film as an art in which the audience is 'educated' or at least exposed to one perspective that help explains an event in human history, at least from the creator/director's perspective. In the discussion and analysis in this paper, three kinds of films are analyzed based on their social function-specifically, how each film represent a criticism of war and conflict at different periods in history. These films are "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Life is Beautiful," and "The Aviator," which are categorized as documentary, fiction, and non-fiction films, respectively. These films are analyzed and interpreted based on their ability to provide a critical look at the conflicts that occurred and which became the basis-primary or otherwise-for the development of the narrative in each. The analysis posits that the three films criticize war and conflict in various ways. "Fahrenheit 9/11" criticizes the political instability caused by the offensive attack that US waged against Iraq, causing greater discord between the Middle Eastern nations and US and its allies. "Life is Beautiful" reflected the absurdity of World War II, as millions of lives, particularly Jews, were unnecessarily lost as a result of the genocide imposed on them by Adolf Hitler of Germany. Lastly, "The Aviator" provides an in-depth look at the lives of the people in the context of Howard Hughes' life and using the World War II as the socio-political background. In it, the film reflected the politico-economic machineries that motivated and supported World War II, uncovering also the politics that occurs 'behind the scenes,' the politicking of businessmen and aircraft manufacturers in order to benefit best and profit the most from the war. Apart from these comparisons among the three films in terms of their depiction and critical interpretation of war and conflict, this paper also looks into the differences in the execution of the directors in depicting these interpretations into film. For "Fahrenheit," Moore's critical look at the 9/11 bombing and US invasion of Iraq is more explicit and direct, in the sense that real film clips were used to critically interpret the Bush administration's actions before, during, and after the tragic event. "Life" provides a different execution as well, weaving its criticism into the story of Guido's family as Jews persecuted for their race and religion. However, unlike Moore's "Fahrenheit," Benigni's film depicts a fictional scenario put into a real event in human history. "Aviator," meanwhile, illustrates the life of Howard Hughes, depicting his life and achievements and chronicling the events relevant and significant to his development as an important personality in both the entertainment and automotive businesses, as well as politics. In understanding the contrasts among "Fahrenheit," "Life," and "Aviator," it is vital to understand first their crucial differences. "Fahrenheit" is a realist documentary, because it provides real images and accounts of events surrounding the 9/11 bombing, events that Moore had organized in a manner that provides support to his criticisms and arguments against President Bush and the administration. As explicated by Bordwell and Thompson (1997), a documentary does convey truth in that it illustrates "events as they actually occur," but it can also be depicted realistically when the director 'controls the editing of the images' to be included in the film. A documentary is realistically portrayed even if these images are controlled in the editing process, since one of the main functions of the documentary is to "present information" as the creator sees and interprets the topic or event at hand (42-3). Michael Moore is best known for his documentaries that are, at best, political in nature. His criticism of American politicians cannot be more defined, explicit, and direct than the controversial film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." In it, Moore expressed his criticism of the US offensive attack against Iraq, which was a decision put forth by the Bush administration despite the lack of evidence showing Iraq's responsibility on the 9/11 bombing. The film is composed of different images, records of videos that, when looked into separately, does not hold any meaning to the audience. However, with a particular viewpoint in mind, Moore integrated these videos and images together to form a coherent narrative of the 'collaboration' that the Bush administration had involved itself with Middle Eastern kingdoms, making the administration as guilty as the terrorists in promoting attacks and threats against US (primarily) and other nations as well. Moore's story in "Fahrenheit" is not so much about criticizing the Bush administration for the sake of criticizing it. His criticisms have a valid basis: it is because of the administration's offensive attack against Iraq that American soldiers, and other nations' soldiers for that matter, are continuously dispatched in Iraq, leading to numerous, unnecessary casualties and deaths. The hypocrisy of the administration is demonstrated in many instances in the documentary, but most memorable are two accounts of these in Moore's film. The first account was when Moore went past his story of the Bush administration's alliances, and went on to closely look into the war at Iraq. Using two sets of images, he contrasted the 'claimed' and 'real' truths about the ongoing war-the claimed being the Bush administration's side of the story, and the real truth as the stories of American soldiers-both dead and injured-in Iraq. The first set of images was dominated by the image of Bush delivering a speech about the success of the US attack against Iraq, wherein its success is marked by the carrier bearing the words, "Mission Accomplished." After this image, wherein Bush claimed that "the United States and our allies have prevailed," news clips of bombings in Iraq were shown, enumerating the casualties and tragedies that have occurred to American soldiers, in particular. These series of news clips and images provide the audience with an account of what is truth and what is not in the Bush administration's campaign against terrorism. The second account demonstrated the hypocrisy of the politicians who supported the war effort against Iraq themselves. In interviews conducted by Moore to congressmen who supported the war, none had shown courage or willingness to "sacrifice" their children to fight for the US in its conflict with Iraq. Most memorable from this last segment in the film are images of individuals and events that implied the culture of corruption and controlled politics and economy behind the US offensive attack. Implied in these images is the message that all of the administration's actions and policies are motivated not for the welfare of the nation, but only for the welfare of the elite class and businesses that backed up President Bush's campaign and holds dominant control over him-politically and economically. Critical perspective of the World War II was present and served as the pivotal event that led to the story of "Life is Beautiful." Directed by Roberto Benigni, "Life" chronicles the life of Guido, a Jew who tried to give the war a more pleasant and tolerable perspective for the sake of his child, Giosue. This film is considered fictional because it was not a realistic account of Guido's life and the World War II; that, while the war had indeed been a real event in human history, the life of Guido as a prisoner of the Holocaust had not been real. Thus, Benigni's film is a fictional, yet representative, account of the persecution and life of Jews during World War II. Unlike Moore's criticism of the US offensive attack against Iraq, Benigni's treatment of his criticism was subtle and considered necessary, for the major context in which the story takes place is the world war itself. Discrimination against Jews was gradually established even before the war plagued Guido's country; and when the war did come to his and his family's lives, his suffering was not explicitly shown, and was misdirected, in fact, to other characters in the film. Memorable of these subtleties that Benigni used was his interpretation of the rules imposed on Jews, in order to mask the tragedies and injustice committed against Jews to his son, Giosue. Compared to Moore's film, Benigni organized the film historically, in which the act of genocide against Jews became its climax. A similar portrayal can be found in Di Caprio's "The Aviator," in which the depiction of industrialist Howard Hughes' life was chronologically depicted, from his early beginnings and involvement in the entertainment business, to being an industrialist and significant personality during the World War. "The Aviator" is considered a non-fictional film because it illustrates the life and events relevant to the life of Howard Hughes, a noted industrialist in the mid-20th century. "Aviator" is not a film about a social event; instead, it informs the audience about the life of a successful and controversial individual. Unlike Moore and Benigni, "Aviator" did not show or address explicitly social issues relevant to Hughes' time, such as the world war. However, looking into the film more critically, Di Caprio did indeed focus on a critical perspective when Hughes engaged in providing aircraft for the military, an incident that showed how manufacturers have profited and considered the war as an enterprise rather than a serious undertaking that inevitably sparked as a result of international conflicts among nations. At best, the documentary provides the best venue for social issues to be discussed, as shown in "Fahrenheit," in which truth-claimed or real-are shown and addressed directly for the audience's knowledge. Bibliography Bordwell, D. and K. Thompson. (1997). Film Art: An Introduction. London: McGraw-Hill. Read More