Politics of Screen Practise - Essay Example

Running head: Revolutionary struggle in The Battle of Algiers and Battleship Potemkin Revolutionary struggle in The Battle of Algiers and Battleship Potemkin Over the past couple of years, a lot of films have been produced in both Tunisia and Egypt. However, the opinions of the film developers are not different. According to the films, the images recorded are of peaceful demonstrations that occurred in the Arab world between the year 2010 and 2011. The work of the filmmakers confirms that many individual had a rebellion towards the gathering ban that was enforced for many years although people were discontented by the laws. However, the films fail to depict the reason as to why the uprisings developed, their necessity and the type of social order they were ranked. Both Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin that featured the USSR in 1952 and Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers that focused on Algeria in 1966 are some of the renowned revolutionary films (Rosenstone, 2002). These films were produced after the occurrence of revolution in the countries. Goskino, the USSR State Committee for cinematography developed The Battleship Potemkin while Casbah Films managed by Saadi Yacef, produced The Battle of Algiers. The films entail of a stage that focuses on revolutionary struggle of battles that were lost. These were essential in the development of a new collective identity and also marked the historic activities that occurred during the period. However we note that despite propagandistic objectives, the films entail of a wide variety of interpretation. The revolutionary films have a fundamental characteristic that focuses on the anti-colonial liberation movements. This develops through a sense of self-assurance and definition of their culture after many years of colonial rule (Rosenstone, 2002). Revolution films are termed to be stocktaking; they have the ability of creating a clear perception of its reflection to the society. This is evident in the scenario where the people protesting in Cair Tahrir square identified themselves on the videos that were projected on large screens in their camps. According to Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein depicts the prior revolution of the Russians that occurred in the year 1905. This was a film that was highly recommended by many individuals. The viewers were captured by the creativity of the film even with the occurrence of the Cold War since it entailed of a mutiny based in czar’s naval vessel. The film focused on a exhilarating description based on combined revolution and a virtual subject describing how the editing of the film executed excitement, sympathy and revolutionary anger. The themes of the film are humane since they fail to uplift irrational culture of supreme leader. However they dramatize the oppression and violence that the Russians used in their rule and the urge of self independence by the people in the region. The book also depicts the freedom and solidarity that the revolutionist aims at achieving from the battle. Eisenstein described his experience during the Stanlinist era to be filled with liberation although it was deprived from the people before they assimilated it. The book indicates that people cannot focus on Potemkin since their hopes and illusions are short lived just as the uprisings which are prevalent in the Arab world. According to Eisenstein, he expresses his opinions in the film as a formalist although the film is revolution. According to Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, was inspired by Yacef Saadi and his experiences as the commander of the F.L.N. the film depicts the struggle of Algeria as they fought for their independence between the year 1956 and 1957. In this period, the nationalist movement changed and paid attention to Algiers instead of Kabylia and Aures. The film focuses on the development of guerilla warfare that had captured the attention of international community. During the warfare, women indulged in the revolution, and they had a task of passing information and weapons to the warriors across the beleaguered city. The film scholars term Gillo Pontecorvo depiction of gender and nationalism as the dramatization of the post colonial identity. This emphasized on the aspects of gender equality and the upholding of the egalitarian values. According to Battle of Algiers, all the cinematography aspects of the film seem to be centered on Marcello Gatti. Pontecorvo uses the aspect of countertype that is negative and it enhances the narrative. The repudiation ‘not even one foot of newsreel or documentary film is included in this picture’ captivates the attention of the viewers since it creates a relationship between the mage, authenticity and the referent. The Battleship Potemkin, by Sergei Eisenstein is compared to The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo, which depicts the prior phase of the revolution that was started by the National Liberation Front (FLN). This was against the French colonial governance that existed between the year 1954 and 1957 (Rosenstone, 2014). The Battleship Potemkin seems staged and it has an historical touch that comprises of newsreel, documentary title and voiceovers. Both films are similar since Eisenstein and Pontecorvo have an excellent way of managing the increased movements of the rebellious crowds. The Battle of Algiers focuses more on the changing tides of the characters and their personal lives. However, a keen scrutiny on the film makes the viewer to realize that the FLN leaders develop the plot of the film. They perform scandalous acts of terrorism on both the soldiers and the civilians. Eventually, they are overtaken by the French and who defend themselves by utilizing torment and harassment to cross-examine suspects. This enables the French leaders to execute the FLN leaders. According to Battleship in Potemkin it is evident that the political films tend to be exceptionally effective on the attack and deploying of stories especially in warring countries. However, the commemoration of the uprising depicted the danger entailed in the filmmaking (Sachleben, 2014). The Battle of Algiers had sympathies that viewers describe as unclear, and it focused on propaganda that was based on the convolution of the Algerian war. However, the films are politically based and they investigate terrorism based on the individual’s revolution. The film Battleship Potemkin was filmed at the pentagon during the Iraq war as a basic coverage on the happenings of a guerilla warfare. Some armies such as the Black Panthers utilized the film for their training. The film highlights the dilemma that occurred through the French government and the rationale utilized for brutal counterinsurgency. There are specific scenes at the film that give a fearsome impression to viewers since real events of terrorism are identified. This makes viewers to have an impression that the Battle of Algiers is a masterpiece in contrast to the gun wrenching concept it develops. The film becomes complicated on the scene where the French Army arrives; Mathieu articulates various policies that enable the French to subdue the Muslim rebellion. The film has an ending with the remaining FLN leader being killed in his secret hideout. The French indulge in retaliatory acts such as terrorism against the civilians; they use this as an opportunity to violently bring down the Muslims in the community. However, it is evident that the Algerians acquire their independence under the rule of de Gaulle. In both The Battle of Algiers and Battleship Potemkin, there is a balance of sympathy in the films. Pontecorvo’s film is described as an official production that has been sponsored by the Algerian government with many Algerians as extras in the film. It is based on the story of a certain FLN leader who describes the occurrence of events during the period. It is evident that filmmakers are usually drawn to politics because of the drama and there are higher stakes (Näripea, 2013). Politics encompasses of the fate of the entire society and the most vital values are exemplified in the films. However, they are supposed to resist the fascinating conventions of thriller and it offers an open channel to the viewers. Battle of Algiers is described as an international masterpiece that is equal to Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin and both films have continued to be top on chart over the past couple of years. The Battle of Algiers depicts the history of Algeria and its national liberation movement as from the year 1954 until the country gained its independence in the year 1962. The film is a detailed documentary although it has a black and white cinematography that gives viewers an impression of it being a newsreel. Gillo Pontecovo is determined to present a fair deal on the constant moral ambiguity based on atrocities in Nigeria. However, the viewers have a clear idea on the films concept since it was produced after Algeria gained its independence. The major character of the film is French Colonel Mathieu who has a long history of losing all his battles but he is still persistent. The film had been initially banned in France, since its viewing was described to enhance the spirits of the Black Panther and the 2010 Algerian world cup team (Sachleben, 2014). Battleship Potemkin was developed with an aim of celebrating the abortive revolution according to Eisenstein. It is evident from the film since it has rebellion as the major aspect that results to revolution. The film uses the technique of imagism, where images are utilized to create other new images (Lang, 2011). It is a propaganda based on Marxism since it has socio-political attributes of revolution which surrounds political ideologies. The film is a new cinema that is common among Russian film-makers. The producers are described as propagandists since they utilize the films to instruct various individuals on the Russian revolution. They also managed to encourage the young generation of the film makers to fulfill their tasks and this is described as the major benchmark of cinema history. Einstein develops various techniques in Battleship Potemkin, through a commemoration of the Black sea sailors during the 1905 revolution. The film gained many viewers in the entire world and it provoked mutinies resulting to a ban by the capitalist’s government. Eisenstein utilizes crowds in his films, this result to a revolution. The crowds are not ambiguous extras like those depicted in Hollywood films; instead they are real individual who have doubts and anger all over their faces. They are motivated to hold the revolutions with an aim of achieving freedom in their future (Shapiro, 2008). The crowds in the film are noticed to have a manner of making choices which are not expected to be isolated by the individuals during the struggle. The Battle of Algiers focused on the war that occurred between the year 1954 and 1962 as a result of misunderstandings. In the battle, the women were described as the main bombers. They were urban, educated in contrast to other women involved in the Algerian war struggles who were rural and illiterate (Mor, 2012). In the film Battle of Algiers, it is described as one of the major guerilla warfare although the Algerian war was generally rural and people used to fight in mountains and the countryside. At the end of film, we note that the consequences of the FLN were grave and there was a severity of the French being forced to leave Algeria. In conclusion, Potemkin revealed that political films may be extraordinarily effective on the attack as they deploy images and stories as a critical weapon. But its influential celebration of a well known uprising pointed to the risky simplifications of dedicated filmmaking. Even though the sympathies of The Battle of Algiers were clear, the film paid attention to the sheer propaganda limits by holding on the Algerian War complexity and motives and predicament of both sides. Many filmmakers will frequently be seen in politics due to the inherent drama viewed but also due to the stakes being high (Shapiro, 2008). The fate of the overall society, by saying nothing of the most important values, often suspends in the balance. But in making sense of this, the filmmakers need to resist the appealing conventions of thrillers, imitations from documentaries and individuals are their newsreels, whereby they offer a sure fire channel to a well recognized audience. The filmmakers would be wise in treating political issues not solely like agitators and advocates, taking advantage of the sensational, but as thoughtful witnesses, inciting or exciting the audience while they expand the horizons of filmmaking (Sachleben, 2014). References Lang, S. (2011). Twentieth Century History for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. Mor, J. S. (2012). Transition Cinema. University of Pittsburgh Pre. Näripea, E. (2013). The Women Who Weren’t There: Russians in Late Soviet Estonian Cinema. Postcolonial Approaches to Eastern European Cinema: Portraying Neighbours on Screen, 14, 303. Rosenstone, R. A. (2002). Does a filmic writing of history exist?. History and Theory, 41(4), 134-144. Rosenstone, R. A. (2014). History on film/film on history. Routledge. Sachleben, M. (2014). World Politics on Screen: Understanding International Relations Through Popular Culture. University Press of Kentucky. Shapiro, M. J. (2008). Cinematic geopolitics. Routledge. Read More