World Film and Television - Report Example

Significance of Spaceman’s Cap in Nagisa Oshima’s Boy “Boy” (1969), a film directed by Nagisa Oshima depicts the story of a young boy, Toshima forced to support his chaotic family by participating in a scam that involves faking automobiles accidents in order extort money from unsuspecting motorists. In this film, Oshima employs a several techniques to convey a series of antagonisms, limitless parental exploitation, marital strife and abuse within a family. One of the techniques evident in this film is symbolism. Symbolism entails the use of symbols to communicate complex meanings, qualities, ideas or feelings. Symbols used in films often represent or stand for a particular idea, belief or action (Indick 2004). In “Boy”, one of the symbols used is a spaceman’s cap. The use of this symbol begins when the Toshima is given the cap as a present by his step mother. It is a gift given only after he constantly demands and nags for it. Toshima desired the cap after seeing it in a store window displayed on a robot. In this case, Oshima uses the spaceman’s cap to represent the Toshima’s fantasies. As a boy living in a dysfunctional family with an abusive and exploitative father, Toshima often fantasized of becoming space alien and escaping to outer space. Therefore, when he received the spaceman’s cap from his step mother, his felt that his fantasies had somewhat materialized. When he wears the cap he feels empowered and motivated to realise his dreams of becoming space alien and escaping to outer space. Noticeably, the cap is central to the first time that Toshima actually runs away (Turim, 1998). Moreover, Oshima uses the spaceman’s cap symbolically to represent Toshima’s self-worth, ingenuity and self-reliance. For instance while on his own, Toshima witnessed a scene where two older boys roughed up a victim to the ground for his pocket money. Afterwards, when he approached the victim on the ground, the boy threw his cap in a muddle. Toshima becomes distraught about what happened to his cap and does his best to wash it in the rain gutter and dries it using a steam vent. In this case, it is evident that Toshima has some sentimental attachment to the cap. The cap symbolizes his self-worth, ingenuity and self-reliance. Thus when his cap is in ruins, he feels distraught and loses his self-confidence. However, when he restores his cap to his full stature, he feels more confident and content. This cap becomes an object through which Toshima demonstrates his self-worth, confidence and self-reliance (Turim, 1998). Furthermore, Oshima uses the spaceman’s cap symbolically to convey realism or reality. Shortly, after Toshima manages to clean his cap, his step-mother throws the hat in the streets where it is trampled on by a passing vehicle. Following this event,Toshima feels a sense of loss, despair and becomes distraught. He loses hope that one day he will become a space alien and escape. For awhile, while wearing the cap, Toshima was immersed in a world of fantasy. He felt that he could be a space alien and escape from all his troubles. However, when his step-mother takes the cap and throws it away on the streets, he starts to get a sense of the misery around him. It begins to dawn on him that there was no way of escaping his miserable life. Thus he starts to wish that he is dead. It is worth noting that, in this film Oshima conveys an insidious family corruption that leaves Toshima emotionally maimed. Being only 10 years old, he has to grapple with a lot of trauma, exploitations, abuse and fear of abandonment. The spaceman’s cap provided Toshima a way to escape from all this. When the cap is thrown to the street by his step-mother, his illusion is shattered and he has to face reality of how things are (Turim, 1998; Ratner , 2008). References Boy, 1969. Film. Directed by Nagisa Oshima. Japan: Art Theater Guild. Indick W, 2004, Movies and the Mind: Theories of the great psychoanalysts applied to film, McFarland, North Carolina. Ratner M, 2008, Saturday’s Child: Nagisa Oshima’s Boy, viewed on June 13 2013 Turim M, 1998, The Films of Oshima Nagisa: Images of a Japanese Iconoclast, University of California Press, Los Angeles. Critique of the Indian caste system in Ritwik Ghatak’s Subarnarekha (1965) The film Subarnarekha (1965) depicts the predicament of refugees living near Calcutta following the partition of Bengal in 1947. In this film Ghatak conveys the anguish of homelessness and living in exile. Moreover, he showcases the negative impacts of the caste system in India (Galt & Schoonover 2010). The caste system is basically a traditional system of organisation where people are organised into a hierarchy of hereditary groups. Those from the higher group or caste receive special entitlements whereas those from the lower caste are disadvantaged and discriminated against (Pruthi 2004).At the start of the film, Ghatak highlights the negative impact of the caste system by showing how Abhiram’s mother, a needy low caste women is denied admission to the refugee camp mainly because she is from the low caste. Shortly, after she is denied entry to the camp, she is mistakenly abducted by unknown assailants. In this case, we see that the caste system leads to unnecessary discrimination, segregation and ill- treatment of people from the low caste. For many years, Abhiram is separated from his mother, he only manages to see her shortly while she was dying on the railway platform. The separation of between a mother and his son serves as metaphor for trauma of discrimination and separation caused by social and religious sectarianism (caste system)(Ghatak 1965). Ghatak uses the character of Abhiram to critique the Indian caste system. Although he is from the lowest caste, he is portrayed as a noble, hardworking and capable character. He excels in school and even receives a scholarship to study Engineering in Germany. Besides this, he writes a book and intends to publish it. Evidently, these qualities contrast with the beliefs held about people in the lowest castes. The way his character has been portrayed in this film challenges the stereotypes about people from the low castes. People from this caste are often considered as sinful, incapable and unequal to others from the higher castes. Nevertheless, the character of Abhiram challenges this misconception (Ghatak 1965). Furthermore, the Indian caste system is depicted as being stereotypical and prejudiced. For instance when Ishwar discovers that Sita is in love with Abhiram, he forbids their love mainly because Abhiram is from the low caste. Although, he has lived with Abhiram for many years and knows that he is a noble person, he considers him as unworthy to marry his sister mainly because he is from the low caste. His friends also criticize him for taking in a low caste boy. When Sita elopes and gets married to Abhiram, Ishwar becomes angry and is left heartbroken. In this film, Ghatak subtly employs mythological themes to highlight the underlying issues of the Indian caste system. He conveys that the caste system is a fixed hereditary system based on beliefs of pollution and rebirth. For instance, people from the low caste such as Abhiram are perceived as being unclean, impure and outcasts. Therefore, their union or marriage to a person from a higher caste like Sita is considered as an outright violation and pollution to the people from a higher caste. Individuals from the lowest castes are often made to believe their unequal to people from the higher caste due to the sins of their ancestors in the past life. This notion comes to life in this film when Abhiram refuses to acknowledge the love between Sita and Abhiram (Pruthi 2004; Ghatak 1965). Ghatak also depicts that, a caste system leads to disintegration of relationships and isolation. When Ishwar fails to acknowledge the love between Sita and Abhiram and tries to marry Sita to someone else, he loses his family. Due to his stereotypical beliefs influenced by the caste system he loses his family and is left alone (Ghatak 1965). References Galt, R. & Schoonover, K. 2010, Global Art Cinema: New Theories and History, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Pruthi R, 2004, Indian Caste System, Discovery Publishing, New Delhi. Subarnarekha, 1965. Film. Directed by Ritwik Ghatak. India. Read More