Realism in Relation to European or World Cinema - Essay Example

Discuss the meanings and the developments of ‘realism’ in relation to European or world cinema. You should illustrate your understanding through one or two examples of realist cinema. [Author] [Institution] Discuss the meanings and the developments of ‘realism’ in relation to European or world cinema. You should illustrate your understanding through one or two examples of realist cinema. There are several ways in which realism and its developments since the traditional classical realism era have changed to the modern realism world cinema. Realism in its purest form is defined as applying the practice or attitude to accept the situation exactly in the way that it is and to be genuinely prepared to handle it accordingly. Apart from the literal meaning, the realism practices have been expressed throughout the history in the shape of arts, theatre, literature and painting. In short, it is the attitude of portraying the things as they are actually. When it is about the realism in theatre, the most important focus is laid down on the film movement that took place in Italy called the neo-realist movement. This movement was created on the basis of a collection of the 1940’s and 1950’s films, most of which based on the recovering of Italy in the social and economic aspect as soon as the Fascist regime ended. This movement gives a detailed understanding of the key principle and idea behind the movement and how it influenced the modern day theatre in the European and world cinema (Nagib, 2011, p. 4). Neo-realism is a concept in which ‘neo’ is taken from a Latin term which means ‘new’. The addition of the term new in realism clearly showed that the movement tended to develop the ideas that were originally presented about realism through the classical traditional films, into a new concept that supported realism in the modern world cinema. At the time of the neo-realist movement, realism had already been evolved as a concept in the film industry. However, a group of writers who wrote in the magazine Cinema of that time introduced the concept of neo-realism. Their unhappiness with the current affairs of the state was the reason why they decided to launch a movement where their voices would be out loud through film focusing on the problems of the society that they, themselves, were witnessing (Gazetas, 2008, p. 127). These films often used new and amateur actors to be as close to real as possible. Today, this movement is known as a movement with films of the same characteristics. In many definitions about neo-realism, the director Roberto Rosselini said that neo-realism is “a Label” which remains undefined most of the times. He added that for him neo-realism is a moral position through which we look at the world. With the great filmmakers that evolved at the time, there was no real definition that could emerge and be agreed upon by all. Hence, neo-realism became a movement on which many filmmakers wrote and made films but they did fail to provide a determined focus on the subject. However, there was one exception to the unfocused stances of the directors and writers, Cesare Zavattini. He claimed openly that he belonged to this movement. Even though he had similar concepts about morality like that of Rosselini, he gave some other statements about neo-realism as an expression. He stated that the moralist impulse was marked as the beginning of the neo-realism approach. He said that in the army behind the neo-realist movement, Rosselini was his soldier. However the central idea of his concept was that the realism is an expression of daily life of real people and the adventurous activities that they discover everyday but they may be unseen and unnoticed (Bingham, 2011, p. 96). Zavattini chose poverty to be the illustration of neo-realism for him because he thought it was the major real problem of that time. He also opposed the American films and their traditions of calling cinemas hungry for reality. He believed that American cinema and neo-realism were distinguishing aspects and American cinema realism was rather unnaturally filtered. Many of Zavattini’s films were subjected to criticism and were called as fantasy on the name of realism. However, he recognized these problems and urged to focus on the idea behind his films. Despite the issues, the concept has been successfully developed by Zavattini through his classic films that are recognized as neorealist. The development of the neo-realist concept can be seen through the comparison of Zavattini’s film Bicycle thieves (1948) and Wang Xiaoshuai’s Chinese film Beijing Bicycle (2001). The Chinese film Beijing Bicycle may sound odd to consider in regard to the European cinema, but it has been observed that the film was not at first released in China because of some complications. However, in 2001, the film had been entered in the 51st Berlin International Film Festival and had won the Silver Bear and Best New Talent prize there. The film had been released in Europe, four years before it was released in China, where it had been received well. When the film had won the prize at the festival, the director had by that time not gotten the approval by the state to show the film. The films have great comparisons because the Post-Mao Chinese society events were identical with the post-Fascist Italian society events which gave a rise to neo-realism. The film Bicycle thieves is a story about Ricci, who is a father who is recently employed and sets out to search for his bicycle. His bicycle was the only means through which he could travel to his work. The story is plotted around the hopelessness and desperation of the man found in the severe economic climate of Italy and questions on his morality. The climax of the film unfolds when Ricci is frustrated and tired since he didn’t find his bike, and on the verge he attempts to steal another bike to justly replace his. But when he makes the attempt, a mob surrounds him, and he is forced to give back the bike in front of his loving son. The relation of the father and the son is the typical way in which Zavattini expresses the adventurous aspects of a simple life. In one part he wrote that the son and the father were walking down the street and the son was nearly run over but the father didn’t even notice it. Through such incidents he wanted to convey the everyday practices of such people’s lives. The concept said that because the father was so much involved in the search for his bike, that he repeatedly neglected his son. The themes of the film are poverty, economic pressure, and emotional instability under which Zavattini managed to reflect the realistic major consequences of a simple aspect of life (Aitken, 2002, p. 203). Economic desperation is another key issue addressed in the film in accordance to the experiences of Zavattini with the realistic events of his society. Moreover, he focused on the immense struggle that can be faced in raising a family, and in survival along with the economic, emotional and moral bond with the family which disrupts throughout the period of survival. Although many criticized the conclusion of the film which was unsatisfying, Zavattini stuck to his focus of the realism of the society. He said he wanted the audience to know and realize the urgency and severe nature of this issue which is present in the society. He further said that it was not his concern to make conclusions and give solutions, what his focus was to portray the need to change the current happenings (Elsaesser, 2005, p. 487). Beijing Bicycle used unknown actors to make the film realistic. It was about a working class teenager who came to Beijing to look for employment from his village. Guei finds a job as a bicycle courier and this unfolds the significance of bicycle in his employment. Ricci in Bicycle thieves represented the hardships and sufferings of the working class whereas Guei represented population of the villagers migrating to cities to find employment and their troubles. Guei’s bike gets stolen and the film then shows the stories of both: the thief and the victim. Xiaoshuai explores several other themes in the film other then poverty and moral crime implications. The film also shows the aspect when the thief Jian terrorizes Guei. Jian is a school boy and his characteristics are immensely different than those of Guei. Guei is a hardworking, determined and stubborn boy who is focused on the urge to earn and survive in the city whereas Jian is a boy who has been brought up in a totally different environment where he becomes selfish, greedy and materialistic. The film, apart from showing the economic and emotional distress caused to Guei, also shows a clear division between the two socially and culturally different characters, and how their attributes and attitudes vary from one another (Turner, 1999, p. 39). There is another major aspect covered in the film and that is the love theme. The film shows the experiences of love with both the boys and how their cultural and social differences account to more problems even in their love lives. The theme of love was merely not included in the film to attract the audience, but in fact to show the realistic happenings of the Chinese culture with sexual and social differences. In the case of Guei, he liked a woman who lived in an apartment complex and he assumed that she is wealthy and not for her thus never goes up to her or approaches her. The only time he connects with her was when he accidently hit his bike to her and carried her to his bed to recover. In the climax of the film Guei gets to know that she was actually a maid and also a village immigrant but it was too late because she had already left for good. On the other hand, Jian likes a girl who seems to be his match but because of his attitude and behavior she soon looses interest in him. He also decided to use a brick to hit the girl’s new suitor. As the film unfolds, it becomes clear that the main urge of desire remains between Jian, Guei and the bicycle. The prop bicycle however remains the central theme and core of the film. By the end of the film Guei gets the bicycle back and takes it to his home without the need to share it with Jian anymore. But the bike is now unusable and mangled. The end of the film remains unsatisfactory for the viewer just as Bicycle thieves’ end. The audiences of both the films feel the frustration by the end of the film. These films have been mapped to show and portray the culture and realistic problems of the society of their respective time periods. Both the directors have not given straight forwards solutions to the stories of their films, and have left it to the audience to react and take action for their own selves. This analysis shows that neo-realism was a movement which started in Italy but soon it reached to the other forms of world cinema. This can be said because the principles on which the neo-realism movement applies can be seen in many other works showing the same characteristics but belonging to the other side of the world. Wang Xiaoshuai was a director who belonged to China’s sixth generation of directors. He used his films to depict and express the state and condition of the country which was unseen by many of the people of the society. There are many realist movements that took place of which neo-realism movement was one of the major developments that took place in European and world cinema. The realism in theatre represents the current position of the filmmakers and the situations in which they find themselves presently. This means that more the social problems existing in the society means more need for realism in the cinema. In addition when a society has less number of social problems and gains stability, the need for realism or to show reality of the society in the actual picture diminishes. The need for realism is a socialist movement to increase awareness and for the betterment of the society (Hallam, 2000, p. 3). References Aitken I. 2002. European Film Theory and Cinema: A Critical Introduction. IN: Indiana University Press Bingham A. 2011. Directory of World Cinema: East Europe. Wales: Intellect Books Elsaesser T. 2005. European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press Gazetas A. 2008. An Introduction to World Cinema. NY: McFarland Hallam J. 2000. Realism and Popular Cinema. Manchester: Manchester University Press Nagib L. 2011. World Cinema and the Ethics of Realism. Texas: Continuum International Publishing Group Turner G. 1999. Film as Social Practice. London: Routledge Read More