Pucker Up: The Find Art of Whistling - Essay Example

Pucker Up: The Find Art of Whistling: Analysis of a documentary Pucker Up: The Find Art of Whistling (2005 Analysis of a documentary Introduction Pucker Up: The Find Art of Whistling (2005) is a documentary film on those who whistle with such prowess that it is a skill that can mimic some of the greatest music in history. Listening to those with this skill is like listening to any other fine musician as they run through their paces and apply their skills in such a way to defy the imagination. The film is shot in Louisburg, Louisiana as participants prepare and perform at the 31st Annual Louisburg International Whistling Competition, where there is both a museum on whistling and a school to help those with this skill refine what they can do for competitive level participation. The film examines the nature of those who participate in whistling events as much as it looks at the act of whistling for what it gives to those who whistle. In creating a setting and providing a framework, the filmmakers give context to a part of life through its mundane and through the extraordinary. Those who Whistle As the documentary gives moments to those who whistle, the interesting takes on the topic of whistling are explored through interviews. One man has an affinity to birds and seems to be able to communicate with him. As he tells his story, the nature of his life unfolds through the beauty of this skill. How he does what he does is not clearly given, but that he does it creates a certain type of magic spell as he relates his story. That spell is grounded, however, when it is realized that what he does for a living is kill chickens.1 This contrast is startling and has a bit of dark humor when it is considered. Another interviewee lists off a series of tragedies that have occurred in his life, including having lost everything he owned to hurricanes, not once, not twice, but three times in his life. These tragedies are offset by his claim that whistling gives him a way to forget his problems.2 He imbues the nature of whistling with a power to heal, his way of getting through the tragedies he relates. The New York Musical Gazette states of whistling that “as a rule, a ploughboy will outstrip any well-bred man in whistling. The reason is, probably, that he is never haunted by a sense of the ridiculous”.3 This point of view, the sense that this is a common man sort of pastime is the focus of the film, giving ordinary people with an extraordinary gift a moment to present what they can do to the public. The nature of revealing such a skill in this type of film is defined by the way in which the people tell their stories. As the editor cuts the excerpts, he is creating a sense of how this skill impacts those who use it. The film allows for the topic to take on greater meaning as it is given an examination from the perspective of how it is part of a greater sense of life. While the topic is whistling and the focus remains on this topic, the themes of the film cover a wider sociological expanse. The nature of the skill is given latitude for its abilities to impact the one whistling, rather than the audience of a performance of whistling. The interviews, as they are conducted and then put together, allow for an emotional context to emerge in which the nature of how the event of whistling becomes part of a set of tools in which the user can find something gratifying. The interviews are done in such a way as to express to the viewer a sense of the culture of Louisburg. There is a sense that the viewer is more sophisticated than the subjects of the film, an almost condescension that emerges as the ’fishbowl’ style of observation creates a barrier between the interviewer and the subject. While the topic is treated with respect, the nature of the observation of the subjects becomes a part of a sense that the ’ploughboy’ is alien to the filmmaker, the divisions between social classes, as they view the topic, somewhat evident as the stories are related in such a way to leave the viewer with raised eyebrows and wonder. Documentary The documentary style allows for a filmmaker to look at a topic in such a way as to provide more than just a narrative. The filmmaker can see a topic for its relationship to greater society, the nature of the stories telling more than just a fragment of how the subject sees his or her part in the presentation of the topic of the film. The example of the man who sees whistling as a way to forget his woes, the emotional context is given a depth that allows the viewer to see the topic with a sense of its viability as a genuine value. In creating a sense that there is more to the topic than just a fascination with the skill, the filmmaker engages culture with a spectator aesthetic, while bringing the humanity of the topic into focus. According to Bill Nichols, “These films challenge assumptions and alter perceptions. They see the world anew and do so in inventive ways. Often structured as stories, they are stories with a difference: they speak about the world we all share with clarity and engagement”.4 This film becomes a part of this genre through its engagement with the subjects in such a way to bring forth the topic through its humanity. It could have simply been a piece that showed the competition of whistling, but instead it discusses the nature of the topic through the human element. There is no doubt that there is a separation and ‘otherness’ that emerges about the culture of that part of the country and the use of whistling as an oddity that belongs to that locality. However, the filmmakers are successful in bringing it back to an inclusive sense as it is made relatable to the viewer. The intention of the documentary style is to provide an observational recording of the events without impacting the subjects or changing the anthropological dynamics of the culture that is being recorded. Although it does bring into question whether or not it is possible to film an event and make it into art without changing something of its nature. This brings into focus the debate about whether or not film is artifice or a representation of reality.5 As the filmmakers engage the subjects of the film, the whistling begins to take on new aspects through the discoveries of how it is viewed by those who engage in the activity. The nature of something that is mundane begins to change into something that has more substance and can be seen for its unique place within the cultural dimension. A documentary must provide a point of view from which the filmmakers create their narrative. This need sometimes allows for a debate on the authenticity of the filmmaking process as it relates to how a subject is framed. If the subject is really given over to the viewer in an authentic way, the point of view of the filmmaker must be set aside for the pure revelations that come from the documentation of the topic. However, if the point of view is set aside, the narrative no longer has structure. Hence, if the narrative has no structure, a story is not told. Therefore, in creating a sense of the subject matter, the point of view must be used to frame the topic, but in doing so, something of the truth is lost and perception is manipulated by the filmmaker. Carroll suggests that this subject to selectivity and in selectivity there is a guarantee of bias. This means that a documentary film cannot be viewed without seeing its bias, neither is it capable of objectivity.6 In the act of creating the film, something of the truth is destroyed as it is presented through the selections that the filmmaker makes in order to create the narrative. This film is no different. It is clear that a sense of ‘otherness’ is an important aspect of telling the story. However, in creating the space between the observer and the observed, it might be considered that the nature of human connectivity is somewhat lost. The observed topic creates an alienation between the film and the viewer, thus defining the social space in a way that has been constructed rather than simply revealed. As it is the central focus, the topic overwhelms the description of the lives of those that are interviewed in such a way to provide that sense of alienation. As other aspects of the lives of the subject have been stripped away, the act of abstraction becomes a part of the way in which the subject is engaged, thus changing it in the process. The Performance One of the most fascinating aspects of the film is through the observance of the performance part of the film. As the performers are cut together, their renditions of classical opera pieces igniting the screen with inspiration that leaves the viewer in awe of the art form of whistling, the nature of the topic is rounded out into something that can be taken seriously and given respect. While the topic is treated with respect throughout the film, there are moments where some of the ridiculous nature of it comes through. However, in seeing this level of skill and awe-inspiring work from the participants, the film pulls its focus in tightly and creates a sense of the value of the topic as it is experienced by its participants. The selections that are presented during this portion of the film bring to the ‘alien’ nature of the topic a sense of the mundane elevated to an ‘otherness’ that is beyond the average man or woman’s capacity to replicate.7 Through artfully constructed cuts during the performances that show the humanity that goes into the preparation to appear on stage, then cut back to the magical renditions that are being performed, a sense of connection is established, then pulled back to its ‘otherness’. The film provides a look into the seriousness with which the event of performance is given, allowing the viewer to build an appreciation for the mundane act of whistling for its art form. The Film The film is presented in a classic documentary style, the nature of the way in which it is film having that ‘hand-held’ feel as the film is not steady, nor is does it feel constructed. This choice, of course, is designed to have a journalistic aesthetic, creating the illusion that it is necessary to be filming on the fly with no opportunity to truly set up the shots, nor to ‘create’ the set and setting of the events. This is not true, of course, but the effect lends itself to a legitimacy that supports the idea that it is a viable truth that is being told within the narrative. As the lighting and color of the film is subject to the shifting of unforeseen circumstances, the nature of the truth becomes constructed through the style and presentation of the film. This provides the “realistic aesthetic”, but in creating this aesthetic it is clear that the truth is once again a subject of bias.8 Conclusion The nature of the documentary is to provide a view into a part of Earthly experience in such a way as to provide new and interesting information about the topic. However, it is rare or possibly impossible to do so without altering something of the truth. Because the truth is a subjective part of a topic of discussion, it falls on the filmmaker to make choices towards creating an understanding within the viewer. In so doing, the filmmaker has provided his own bias and has then not reported merely a truth, but revealed a sense of it through the lens of his own imaginings. Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling is no exception as it “concerns the fate of the human being in the contemporary world” while providing a narrative about the way in which participating in a serious pursuit of whistling provides rewards to those who participate.9 The film is successful in portraying this aspect of life, although the style is a bit cliché and could have used a bit more refinement. The nature of the film is to reveal to the viewer something about the culture of those who seriously pursue whistling. In earning appreciation from the viewer, whistling is elevated in value. Bibliography Allen, Jeanne. ‘Self-Reflexivity in Documentary’. Found in Ron Burnett. Explorations in Film Theory: Selected Essays from Cine-tracts. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991. Austin, Thomas, and Wilma Jong. Rethinking Documentary: New Perspectives, New Practices. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: Open University Press/McGraw Hill Education, 2008. Carroll, Noel. ‘Nonfiction Film and Post-Modern Skepticism’. Found in David Bordwell and Noel Carroll. Post-theory: Reconstructing Film Studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996 Cook, Pam. The Cinema Book. London: BFI, 2007. Deveny, Catherine. Its Not My Fault They Print Them. Melbourne: Schwartz Publishing, 2007. Langman, Lauren, and Devorah Kalekin-Fishman. The Evolution of Alienation: Trauma, Promise, and the Millennium. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006. New York Musical Gazette. New York, 1866. Nichols, Bill. Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010. Read More