An Uninterrupted Development and Advancement of Cinema - Assignment Example

Why is the critical/theoretical interrogation of film culture such an important part of the formal study of cinema? Cinema plays a key role in shaping people’s beliefs and thoughts as well as reflects and interrogates the social, economic and political aspects. While filmmaking remains a profitable industry it has a strong role in expression, stability and change. Normally students are living in a world where images and visual media make a prominent impact. If one becomes familiar with the history of a film, its aesthetic components and economic contexts, students will be able to upgrade their basic skills of critically evaluating the films. Critical interrogation helps students to question the moving images, improve media literacy and explain a movie as an expression of art, culture and business. The main task of a film study lesson is to facilitate students to face the basics of film text, appreciate the style, language and implications of the movie. In fact an interpretation of the language of a film forms the basis of interrogating the film. Such interrogation is also about integrating all the elements associated with a movie including performance, technical details like camerawork, editing, etc (Benyahia and Mortimer, 2012). In fact the genre has survived in the mass culture because people would like to see the same thing repeatedly. For instance, while watching a detective film one would expect stereotypical approach and would be disappointed to find any strong cultural demand that the film might have on him or her. Thus the concept of genre is associated with repetition. Such repetition gradually takes away the originality and produces mere copies such that the student has no basic text or base to study. Often the mass culture puts before us a methodological dilemma which any conventional pattern of commentary cannot address (Jameson, 1979, p.138). An original or authentic cultural production would derive on the anecdotes in several niche of the social life around the world. Critical interrogation would provide space for “mechanisms of manipulation, diversion, degradation” etc which are constantly working within the mass culture and media (Jameson, 1979, p.141). This in turn would permit us to adapt and study mass culture not simply as a kind of distraction or false consciousness but in fact a work of revolution on social and political anxieties and fantasies which may be managed effectively. A psychoanalytic approach clearly reveals that the involvement with films can be established by certain kinds of likes and dislikes which are already dominating a person alongside the social formations which are giving shape to him. The social defined sexual differences and origins govern the ways things are interpreted. Psychoanalysis can explain often the way the patriarchal society shapes the formation of films. One can face the ultimate challenge here of fighting the unconscious which is shaped like a language. For instance the female poses as the symbol or signifier of the male counterpart whereas a man can express or fulfill his obsessions with the help of imposing linguistic dominance while the women needs to play the role of the bearer of the meaning delivered by the command rather than making the same. In a developed stage, cinema places before us questions on the manner in which the unconscious part of the brain gives shape to visual effects and pleasure of the eye. Hence analysis of films would be of interest to the feminists who can find an outlet of their frustration under the “phallocentric order” (Mulvey, 1999, p.834). Technological advancement has turned the world of cinema into a place of capitalists and thus provides scope for alternative cinema to develop. This will give place for a radical and political essence to develop and poses threat to the basic assumptions of traditional cinema. This invites an “avant-garde cinema” which is only possible out of critical interrogation of movies especially mainstream ones. Among the different forms of pleasure offered by cinema one is scopophilia which reflects that simply viewing the film gives pleasure just like being looked at gives pleasure. Scopophilia is often associated with viewing other people or objects and identifying or relating oneself with them. Mainstream cinema essentially emphasizes on human form. The space, stories etc are anthropomorphic and the screen reflects the visible presence of a person in the world. For instance children might satisfy their curiosity about the private parts or genitals by looking at the films and other people’s bodies. It offers erotic basis for pleasure which is derived by looking at another person as a visual object. Often such erotic pleasure can turn into perversion and some kind of sexual satisfaction which arises from viewing the moving images on screen. In mainstream cinema, a blocked world which gradually unfolds and seems ignorant of the audience’s presence imparts a sense of separation and plays with their sexual fantasy. The conditions of screening of facts and the unfolding of events give an illusive impression to the audience of looking at a private world. A sense of omnipotence arises as the viewer identifies himself with the protagonist and this often may lead to satisfaction. A movie tries to produce the natural conditions of reality in a man’s life (Mulvey, 1999). Only critical interrogation can make this presentation and replication perfect and the film in terms of its impact can go beyond the human characters. Three kinds of looks associated with cinema – the camera’s look for the pro filmic event, audience’s philia for the final product and the affinity of the characters towards one another in the film itself. The idea is to get rid of the presence of camera and focus on the third aspect. However without critical evaluation and material process of recording, fictional drama or cinema cannot achieve reality and attain the truth. For instance the movie Crash attempts to pinpoint the racial undertones and decisions based on such discriminations along with racial tensions which demand critical approach to interpret. This movie somehow appeals for forgiveness of the whites by inculcating a spiritual domain. It reflects a sublime truth which only critical interrogation of the characters, scenes and incidents can reveal. (Howard and Dei, 2008). Hence criticism of films or critical interrogation of cinema is essential. Bellour observes that the problem of analyzing a film can be solved and again initiated only to constantly push the analysts into a learning phase and match a new kind of creative play with the images. Serge Daney is one of the talented film critics who discovered the manner of writing with pauses in sentence which could correspond with freeze frames which in turn are introduced into reader’s thoughts. His integrating the theoretical technique with the criticism imparts collective creativity. Many writers have learnt to freeze the images and move them another way. Bellour has pointed out that it is important to focus on the entire film rather than analysis different elements of the movie. Film analysis often has the rare chance of turning into cinematic theory. In that case we do not need to carry out analysis of whole film but some parts of it can resolve a theoretical problem. Film itself has taught us alike the other forms of media, a certain discipline where one may write on images, convert them into language (Bellour, 2000). The French television series ‘Coneastes de notre temps’ is an instance where film frames and quotations in form of clips were used. Recent examples are Steven Mamber’s analysis of The Birds and the Virtual Screening Room pilot project of Henry Jenkins are representations of film critics which can take forward analysis of films to an advance stage. Bellour proposes not to write about developing the images which are unattainable. He also picks on the analysis of a film on basis of a shot or sequence of shots. Taking the instance of The Hidden Star (“a classical film with modern ruptures”) Bellour reveals how a shot can contribute to the formation of the story and action in the movie. An emotion is built form one end of the movie and moves towards the other end. Ritwick Ghatak’s film as Bellour analyses them, are mostly based upon “loss shock and separation” (Bellour, 2000, p.xiv) and hence is a kind of movie which one does not critique but accompanies or goes along with. Hence again the significance of analyzing whole of the film arises. The interior of the shot, sound and light are also essential areas of focus and their role played in developing the story and emotional structure as a whole is important. However one element still remains in Bellour’s mode of analysis – that is, the signature stylistic and rhetorical choice which point out the way one looks at film theory and history. Bellour had once claimed that there should be no analysis of films. He explained in a brief work ‘Analysis in Flames’ that one needs to enliven the dead corpse of film theories. He proposes a rejection of the old methods of analysis and focus on the relationship between the images and texts. Creative writing in terms of analysis of films produce an “analytical practice that chooses its objects of study on the basis of a passion for the medium, a passion shared with a director determined to challenge what we think about “the” image, relations between and among images, narration, the relation of the spectator to the screen and the way that representation is bound up with culture, history, memory.” (Bellour, 2000, p.xv) Such critical analyses therefore gives birth to new set of literature in film studies, throws light on newer dimensions and opens the mind to accept innovations in technology and thoughts. Critical interrogation of movies also opens up the space for analysis and creating more realistic images and giving answer to questions representing the curiosity of not merely one but a group of the audience. Again studying the theory of spectatorship, one may say that spectators may denounce the result or cannot do away with their disbelief. This implies interchangeability of the terms ‘black spectator’ and ‘resisting spectator’ which reflect that some blacks can identify with the Hollywood’s impression of the blacks. Most theories related to spectatorship did not explain the impression of blacks with respect to a film. Hence it is important to take into consideration the psychology of the blacks and whites towards racial discrimination. Interrogation of theories and analysis of films taken together can lead to correction of existing theories and betterment of movies. Only when the creativity of films interacts with the existing theoretical framework, one will be able to generate new theories and meet the taste of the audience more closely. Critical interrogation keeps room for adaption to new and innovative views and help in bringing positive modifications for betterment of the cinematic world altogether. Apart from spreading the reach of literacy films can also add to the cultivation of social skills in students and add worth to the information gained from the text. Films themselves provide students with meaningful opportunities to completely understand their skills and talent and apply their theoretical lessons to real situations. This provides better scope and meaning to their learning. This can also play a multi purpose tool in providing education. Champoux (1999) mentioned that a film can be used in various ways to assist in the learning process: a case, a metaphor, satire, symbolism, meaning, experience and time (Goldenberg, 2010, p. 14). In fact when well chosen and modulated, feature films can be occupy the core of learning experiences of young minds and can serve as an effective tool for accomplishing definite educational ends. They can not only be used as a source of information regarding the remote historical events and ages, but also be employed to create awareness and concern in them for various cultural, political and social issues. At this point interrogation helps in clarifying the historical backdrop and other context against which the story is framed. This is the reason why several literatures talk about the integration of films into social studies and have been promoted by many prominent organizations like the ERIC Clearing House for Social Studies Education and the National Council for Social Studies (DSa, 2012). Teaching and learning both can take place effectively through films only when systematic interrogation is carried out coupled with interaction between teachers and students. In teaching, films such as documentaries may draw support from values and theories associated with mass communication. They may in fact deduce from the concept of constructivism where the learners can develop or upgrade their knowledge by associating the modern and conventional knowledge all by themselves and also from question based learning or interrogation which mainly employ students and help in understanding the content better. Lane (2007) contends,“ Inquiry-based learning provides a means to actively involve students in the learning process…to reflect on their own learning, gain a deeper understanding of the course concepts in an integrated fashion, and become better critical thinkers” (Bernardo, 2011 p.3). Students can be encouraged to produce some documentaries and reflect their creativity and originality. Thus they can even learn and interpret beyond their lessons and view the world in a clearer manner. In conclusion one may say that critical or theoretical interrogation of cinema is important in order to promote or facilitate an uninterrupted development and advancement of cinema. Such interrogation is relevant to psychoanalysis, gender and racial differences and viewpoints. The audience might either agree or differ or have mixed feelings with respect to any message delivered by a film. Interrogation can only bring out the intricacies of filmmaking and the impact it can have on the mind of audience. Analysis of films can also give birth to new set of literatures. However some experts have suggested critic of film as a whole instead of critically analysis different elements by analyzing different shots. In fact films can be an important part of education in all kinds of classroom, especially in higher education here they provide nutrition for young minds which can ask questions and relate the film to the theories they learn in class. References Benyahia, S. and C. Mortimer (2012), Doing Film Studies, London: Routledge Bernardo, A. (2011). Reading What’s Beyond the Textbooks: Documentary Films as Student Projects in College Reading Courses. ELTWorldOnline.com . Bellour, R. (2000),The Analysis of Films, Indianna University Press Champoux, J. E. (1999). Film as a teaching resource. Journal of Management Inquiry , 206–217. DSa, B. (2012). “Are Feature Films an Effective Teaching Tool for Sensitizing Students to Human Rights Issues?”, The Journal of Multiculturalism in Education, 8(1). Retrieved from: https://www.wtamu.edu/webres/File/Journals/MCJ/Volume%208%20Number%202/DSa%20-%20Are%20Feature%20Films%20an%20Effective%20Teaching%20Tool%20for%20Sensitizing%20Students%20to%20Human%20Rights%20Issues.pdf Goldenberg et al. (2010). Enhancing recreation, parks and tourism courses: Using movies as teaching tools. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 9(2),6-14. Howard, P.S.S. and Dei, G.J. (2008), Crash Politics and Antiracism, New York: Peter Lang. Jameson, F (1979), Reification and Utopia in Mass Culture, Social Text, 1, pp.130-148 Mulvey, L (1999). “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism : Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP: 833-44. Read More