Bagdad Caf Film Analysis - Essay Example

FILM ANALYSIS BAGDAD CAFÉ # 3. Why is the film Bagdad Café set in the middle of nowhere? Bagdad Café Percy Adlon is a film telling the story of a lady, Jasmin, who in her middle ages finds herself dumped by her husband in the middle of nowhere. The setting of the film is in the desert plains of America and this plays a key role to bring out some of the themes in the film. The story follows how Jasmin transforms the small community living in the desert to give everyone hope and new life. Love is shown to stem and develop out of anywhere, even in the core of the desert as long as people have an open heart and mind. The setting of the desert addresses several key issues which we witness in real life; they are all depicted in a metaphor quite simple to figure out. First it addresses the issue that we should never judge simply by the appearance as there is a lot behind what appearances show. Initially Brenda dismisses Jasmin by just how she appears which is shown in her statement about her “I mean, she shows up outta nowhere without a car, without a map. She ain’t got nothing but a suitcase filled with men’s clothing. How come? ....No! I don’t like it”. Brenda is quick to dismiss Jasmin but later she plays a vital role in transforming the café to a destination from the backwater it used to be. In a desert we expect harshness and a hard life but Jasmin transforms this through her support, friendship, love and trust to all around her. The desert setting also shows that we should accept people as they are. Jasmine arrives in the middle of nowhere where she meets a small community and she accepts them as they are and she spends time just sitting with them, familiarizing with them and eventually sharing their hopes and dreams with them. This understanding and acceptance transforms the entire café and the community as a whole. The process of transformation is two-way and the desert setting is a perfect way to depict this. Jasmin finds herself in a trying position trying to adjust to life in a seemingly empty and new place. Brenda on the other hand is facing a similar situation having been left by her husband. Apparently they appear to be very different but in essence they have much in common as each is seeking for a change in the middle of nowhere. After finding each other their friendship transforms both of them to find a common ground despite the rock-hard situation each is facing. Life in a desert rarely changes and people living in the place usually wake up to a routine schedule. This is a very similar situation to Brenda who everyday wakes up to the same clutter which is in her office. Jasmine steps into this situation but is courageous enough to clear out all the dirt despite the initial resistance. Her work is much appreciated later. This shows that at times it takes an outsiders view to show us the mess we are in and possibly for them to help us out of it. The desert setting helps to build on these major themes and thus it is the perfect setting for Bagdad Cafe. As earlier stated love and friendship can develop out of nowhere, as is depicted in the film by all the characters despite their living in the desert. MEMENTO Discuss the relationship between form and content in the film. How does the way the story is told have more significance than how it is told? Film –Noir’s have several distinctive features but one of the most overlooked features of it is its pronounced concern and awareness with the nature of the narrative. This can be seen in how the content of the film has to have a relationship with the form of narration. The effectiveness of the story is achieved by how it is narrated to the audience. In this paper I will show this type of relationship between form and content in the film Memento by Christopher Nolan and how its narration has a lot of significance. One of the major aspects of narrative theory is that there exists a knowledge hierarchy which fluctuates continuously as it is distributed through the entire film. Noir –films restrict their narrative which is achieved through manipulating the discourse and subjective voice over’s which results in discrepancy of the story’s information. This in essence creates an urge for knowledge and suspense for the audience and the protagonist as well. Memento is seen to employ this type of narration from the start. The title sequence for instance plays out backwards and this throws the audience off guard. This keeps them alert and prepares them for the rest of the film. Playing titles in this sequence is a stylistic device employed in the foreground of a film and this draws attention between the films form, narration and its content. Characters that are usually featured in the noir – films are depicted as being emotionally and mentally vulnerable. They themselves at most times hold this belief as well. In Memento we see Leonard as being vulnerable from the beginning of the film since the audience is made aware of his memory loss. Externally, he has tattoos which act as a constant reminder of his vulnerability and also of his quest as a detective. On his chest is an inking stating that “John G raped and murdered my wife”. Just below that he has inked “Find him and kill him”. This shows that he is somehow helpless and how this can be exploited. The narration here however creates an obstacle to the audience of what to expect since the mental state of regression and repression of Leonard hinders his quest when he says “Memories can be distorted”. Narration of a film as is the case in Memento helps the audience to identify personally with the character. In the case of Leonard, the audience sympathizes with him by knowing he has memory losses but with the shift of each scene this level of empathy is due to change. An example can be seen when Natalie tells Leonard that he is going to use him. This initially seems cruel and the audience will only come to understand this statement at the end when they realize she knew all along that Leonard had something to do with Jimmy’s disappearance. Typical narratives have a specific conclusion but in the case of Memento, Leonard hinders this as he is in a non-stop cycle of revenge. As can be seen narration plays a significant role to the audience in keeping them alert and yearning for knowledge. Memento is a typical noir –film and thus its content is dictated by the form that this type of film should employ. In conclusion there is a direct relationship between form and content of a film. THE 400 BLOWS 2. Discuss the theme of Freedom in the film. Choose examples of mise en scene that deal with this theme. How are pictures telling the story? The film “The 400 Blows” has various themes ranging from friendship, education, childhood and family. Besides these we can also find discipline, mischief, disobedience and injustice. However the greatest theme of the film is freedom. The film is a semi-autobiography of Truffaut as most of the events are inspired by his childhood memories and experiences. He develops the theme of freedom through his protagonist Antoine Daniel and the injustices he faces which are quite clear to the audience. The film begins with Antoine going through a very hard life at school and at home. His mother never wanted him to be born and his step father even brings him to the police after he stole a type writer. At school he is always getting punished and scolded by the teacher for mistakes which most of the times are committed by his friends. Within the first ten minutes of the films he receives multiple punishments from his teacher and thus he hates school. In fact he says he’d rather work than go to school. Since he is always getting into trouble he is eventually sent to a juvenile home. Antoine is depicted as being in constant search for freedom for all the things he hates. Initially when he is living with his parents he constantly escapes from home when he gets into trouble with his parents. He escapes and goes to stay at another place for instance with Rene his friend. He also escapes the scolding and punishments from his teacher at school by missing class and escaping to go to the amusement park or watch a movie. Finally he escapes the juvenile home to seek the freedom he wanted which he has been dreaming of all along – the ocean or the sea. The political aspect depicted by this film shows a society where freedom can only be achieved through a struggle. Institutions in society oppress the people as a whole through coercion and power. We see Antoine’s parents considering taking him to a military school since he has refused to change despite their efforts to bribe him. At school his teacher uses punishments to dictate what he has to do. We even see him getting punished for faults committed by his friends. In the military school his parents know that there is oppression and his freedom will be limited. Disciplinary actions will be taken against him severely since at home he has a chance of escaping to go stay somewhere else. The scenes for the entire movie play a role in showing us among other things the emotions of the characters. For instance we see a picture of Antoine when he is put in the truck and the view from behind the van shows him looking out holding the two bars. He is seen to be in deep thought but does not seem remorseful as he watches a car drive behind them. At one point we see tears on Antoine’s face. As an audience we can relate to this since most of the punishments he receives including being sent to the juvenile centre are not in merit with the crimes for which he is being accused. However he finally achieves his freedom when he escapes and achieves what he had been dreaming of – the ocean or the sea. THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE Discuss the use of symbolism, allegory or metaphors in the film. Victor Erice in his film The Spirit of the Beehive employs a lot of symbolism to put a very strong theme across. In an instant one is tempted to think that the film is all fictional and meant for entertainment but behind the horror film is a very deep meaning which is put across in symbolism. At first glance one is confronted with dismissing the movie for its use of symbolism and ‘ambiguity’. However, a closer look at it and one gets a whole new concept to the movie. This text describes the symbolism of the film and attempts to decipher the true meaning behind the film. Looking at it from the surface, the film is about a family’s attempts to cope with what was left behind after the Spanish Civil War. By virtue of even filming this film, it shows that the Spanish censorship and dictatorial regime under Franco was slowly but surely loosing its grip which it had on the film industry. Before this film most of the films in Spain were all made in allegorical form depicting the tight censorship in the country. The film begins with Ana and her sister watching Frankenstein by James Whale. The narrator in the movie proclaims that “You are about to see a monster”. Immediately after there is a cut to Ana’s father. The use of the word father can be seen as a symbol since Franco to whom most of the film was about used to regard himself as the “Father of the Nation”. As such Franco is depicted throughout the film as the monster. Ana, on the other hand, is symbolically used to represent the Spanish nation. In her daydreams she meets the monster as she had seen in the movie that lures her into believing in her false claims and reassuring sense of security. However this same monster turns out to threaten her very presence. This is very similar to Franco who came to Spain and lured people to believing he would help them only for him to turn out to be a dictator and oppress them. The movie uses very minimal dialogue and this silence symbolizes the tension witnessed in Spain politically under the Franco regime. We also see Ana and her sister parting and this is a symbol of the division witnessed between the Nationalist and Republican parties. The beehive itself symbolizes the working nation which works under the rules and conditions as dictated by Franco. All the post war commentaries are made without words being spoken to refer to the actual state of events. This is a symbol showing that there exists a connection between the movies and reality. In the beginning of the film it is Ana’s sister who tells her that the monster in the film Frankenstein actually exists. She herself represents the actual situation of Spain. On the other hand Ana’s belief in the monster symbolizes the hopes and possibility of Spain evolving to a new state without oppression. The entire film employs a lot of symbolism, and unless one takes time to dig the deeper meaning you can never knows its full meaning. Misinterpretation of Erice’s themes while making the movie is a common occurrence. It can only be understood through interpreting the symbolism, allegory and metaphors he employs in the film. A history of Spain at the time of filming this movie is also essential to understand it better. Work cited Staiger, Janet. Interpreting Films: Studies in the Historical Reception of American Cinema. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1992. Print. Read More