Visual Arts And Film - Essay Example

 Visual Arts And Film Pedro Almodovar and Douglas Sirk were both film directors. Both directors are renowned for their work in melodrama although they lived in different times (Angela 2003, pg. 15). The works of Pedro Almodovar work was inspired by the works of Douglas Sirk. Both directors lived in Europe; Pedro Almodovar was Spanish while Douglas Sirk was of German origin (Angela 2003, pg. 19).The French New Wave was a deviation from the norm in the French film industry. The filmmakers at this time focused on the political and social upheavals of their time.

The film makers experimented with narrative and visual styles thereby deviating from the conservative paradigm. Films were more of the documentary type also in the French New Wave (Angela 2003, pg. 27).Important movements for the European National Cinemas are; Canadian national cinema such as the films ‘Meatballs’, ‘Death Ship’ and included directors such as Wim Wenders and Jean-Luc Godard. The French national cinema was part of this movement and included filmmakers such as Jean Epstein, Jean-Luc Godard among others.

German national cinemas were part of this movement. directors include Herzog, Fassbinder and Wim Wenders (Angela 2003, pg. 31).The five important features of art cinema according to Bordwell are narrative, editing, cinema space and time, summary and composition and style. Andre Bazin was an influential and important film theorist and film critic. He was French. He is important in film theory because he greatly influenced criticism and film studies after world war II (Angela 2003, pg. 35). He was personally in touch and in favor with many film directors and argued that films should be left to the interpretation of its spectators.

The features of melodrama, according to Peter Brooks are several among them are that melodrama has a beginning and wants to end in innocence (Angela 2003, pg. 39). Melodrama is also depicted as having victim-heroes whose virtues are upheld in the end. Melodrama borrows from realism to appear real. This is done so as to add action and passion in the film. With melodrama, there is pathos and action (Angela 2003, pg. 43). Characters who represent good and evil are the main cast in the melodrama.

The opening sequence of All About My Mother is serene and depicts the beginning of a rather emotional movie. The opening sequence of The Return is rather scary. The movie starts with slow music that makes it sound like a horror film. The opening sequence of Raise the Red Lantern depicts the traditional lifestyle of the Chinese and presents a Chinese aura about the movie (Angela 2003, pg. 52). The opening sequence of Kung Fu Hustle is dramatic and serves to hold the viewer's attention towards the start of a dramatic movie.

The opening sequence of The Maid is entertaining even with the starting music that seems to suggest the beginning of a comedy-like film.An example of self-reflexivity in the film is Attitude and ability for one to measure them. Also, one can self-learn instrumentally or socio-culturally. This is with the aid of personal actions or activities (Angela 2003, pg. 55). The author of quote A is Samantha Lay. The author of the second quote is David Bordwell. The author of quote C is Cesare Zavattini.

The author of quote D is Stephen Neale. The author of quote E is Raymond Williams. The author of quote F is Raymond Williams and the author of quote G is Andre Bazin (Angela 2003, pg. 118).BibliographyAngela, D., V, 2003, The Visual Turn: Classical Film Theory and Art History. United States: Rutgers University Press.