The Meanings and the Developments of Realism in European and World Cinema - Essay Example

The Meanings and the developments of Realism in European and World Cinema Realism in European and World Cinema represents the aspect of the films both in Europe and the world deserting the previous art of displaying idealized and fantasized screen plays and films, into the depiction of everyday life and the everyday activities (Hill, 2000:249). In this respect, both the course and the subject matter changed, where the subject matter became the everyday life events and occurrences that shaped the livelihoods of the people, while the subject matter changes from the usual historical maters of inventions and revolutions, into contemporary issues that affected the society. Thus, the concept of realism in films and cinema entails the pure representation of the normal life occurrences, without any attempt to idealize them or paint them in a different perspective. The transformation of films and cinema both in Europe and in different parts of the world occurred mainly during the age of enlightenment and the major revolutions of the industrial and agrarian, as well as the subsequent development, especially in the post world war era (Ryall, 2002:7). The realism in films and cinema is closely related to the concept of social realism, where the society started focusing seriously on everyday life and how it affected the livelihoods of the people, through analyzing the real life issues such as the conditions of work experienced by the working class, the role and position of women in the society at that time, as well as the conflict between traditional cultures and modernity (Caughie, 2000:44). Therefore, the meaning of realism in film and cinema was that a moment had reached when the world of filmography should stop idealizing life, but rather look at life through the real life eye, to help demonstrate what life was about at different parts of the world. In essence, the purpose and target of film development changed from the usual entertainment perspective, into the enlightenment of the society regarding the social ills that different classes of the society were facing, and possibly act as the voice advocating for change. There is one major advantage that was associated with the shift of the film and the cinema perspective from the idealized society into the real society. Considering that films and cinemas combined moving and still images with the aspects of audio and voice presentations, they were better placed to bring the real picture of the social setting to the society (Wayne, 2006:287). Therefore, through the changed perspective of the films and cinema into addressing the real life issues, the society was re-awakened into the reality of social injustices, inequalities and unfair treatment of communities within different social settings, as an aspect that served to enhance the rise of social and eventually political movements, which served to advocate for the necessary changes within the society. The combination of moving and still images with sounds and voices helped to bring the aspect of ‘real word setting’, while also depicting ‘real and fully-rounded characters’ addressing ‘real challenges and problems’, within ‘real cultural, social or modern environments’ (Hill 2000:250). The developments of Realism in European and World Cinema has taken different shapes where the effect has always been the creation of a controversy between the concept of full realism and the concept of restraint (Pincus, 1999:56). While the concept of full realism advocates for the creation of films and cinemas that do not idealize any aspect of life and the society, thus requiring that life must be displayed as it is, both in its cruelty and goodness in their extremes, the concept of restraint advocates for the presentation of life in its reality, only not concentrating on the extremes (Wayne, 2006:294). Nevertheless, while the two concepts are conflicting in relation to how films and cinema should be made, the fundamental principle that binds them to the realism concept in filmography, are characteristic of film and cinema to be both recognizable and believable (Hill 2000:257). Therefore, the qualification of films and cinemas as realism films require that every aspect displayed by the film is recognizable to the audience, and every act and behavior demonstrated by the characters is believable, without any aspect of pretence, acting or changed behavior coming out of the performance. The essence of the concept of realism in films and cinema is the representation of the conditions of the poor, and the by far, serves as a form of social protest against the existing structures that are creating a divide between different classes of the society (Ryall, 2002:12). A further essential requirement of a realism film is its preparation in real locations, where the initial aspects of recognizable and believable characters, settings and performances are reinforced by the reality of the location where the film is set. Nevertheless, the concept of realism in filmography has also changed, considering the different interpretations, especially pitching the academic and the conventional interpretations of realism. The film “The Maid” (2009), is one such film representing the reality of the society, in terms of both passive and aggressive hypocrisies that exists in a home setting, where an affluent family has employed a house keeping servant (Bradshaw, 2010:n.p.). The realism of the movie derives from the depiction of everyday human life that pitches the employee-employer relationship; especially the domestic working relationship that leaves the employer in the state of a master and the domestic worker is relegated into the position of a slave. First, the realism in the film stems from the presentation of the parent-children relationships and the conflicts involved in such everyday interactions, especially where the children are at their teenage age. Further, the film also displays the relationship between the parents and the maid employee, as well as how children interact with the maid. Further, the secret lives and interactions of the parents behind the curtains where the maid and the children cannot see them is also displayed, in addition to the secrets that such parents keeps to themselves (Foundas, 2009:n.p.). Finally, the film also revolves around the personal life of the housekeeping servant, detailed with her thoughts, feelings and collisions she enters into, especially in the kitchen, which acts as her roost and prison (Bradshaw, 2010:n.p.). While the film opens, an act of kindness, which could also be tainted with some hypocrisy is what the audience sees in the movie, The Maid, where her employer’s wife, Pilar, organizes Raquel who is the maid a birthday party since she was turning 41 years, which turns out to be a most embarrassing event of the day (The Maid 2009:n.p.). While the gesture could be interpreted as a show of goodwill, it can also be looked through the real eye of hypocrisies of the employer, who eventually turns to be oppressive and very demanding of the maid. Thus, at this point, the film starts adhering to the rule of realism in films and cinema, where the concept of the film being believable has to be met. Considering that in the real world situation most employers’ are oppressive and hypocritical, the film does not miss a mark in representing this character of the employer. There would be no difficulty for the audience, both as the employer or domestic employee, or even the other audiences who do not fall in either of the category to identify with the happenings of the film. Thus, the occurrences of the film are easily believable, since they are just a replica of what happens within the society in everyday life. Thus, while the concept of believability is easily and fully met by the film, the film suits the categorization of realism (Bradshaw, 2010:n.p.). The setting is yet another aspect of the film that suits the description of realism category of film. The setting of the film is a family that need the services of a housekeeping servant, and due to their affluence and high status of life compared to the maid, a conflict is bound to arise (Bradshaw, 2010:n.p.). The setting of the film is a home setting, which is purely meant to ensure that every audience can easily relate to the film, considering that all audiences have a reference to home setting, although the conditions might differ. The setting of the film also displays the normal everyday life of a family, entailing various activities that different members of the family engage in daily, while then converging them at the point of conflict; the maid. While parents and children are playing different roles in the home setting, the maid is supposed to serve them all. The demands of the members of the family from the maid are different, and as the demands keeps increasing while the espoused integration of the maid as a member of the family continues to fail, the maid increasingly turns out to be more resentful and oppressive (The Maid 2009:n.p.). While the desired relationship between the family members and the maid continues to become dysfunctional, the maid on the other hand accelerates her bad-temper and unresponsiveness, such that she only pretends to hear instructions when she has opted to hear them, and adapts to deafness when she does not want to hear the instructions (Bradshaw, 2010:n.p.). The realism concept of believability is well represented in the behaviors of the family and the maid, considering that it is naturally expected of a servant to be resentful when the master becomes increasingly oppressive, while it is also expected of the master to become demanding where the servant becomes increasingly unresponsive and tempered. The concept of the real characterization becomes more recognizable, where the housekeeping servant has to wear a uniform, while the other members of the family do not (Foundas, 2009:n.p.). In this case, even where the family pretends to have adapted the maid as one of their own, the disparity between master and servitude is displayed in this manner. The inclusion of the haughty grandmother in the film is yet another addition to enhance the recognition of the behavior of the maid. The grandmother constantly rebukes the maid and makes effort to teach her how a family should be attended to, thus increasing the demands on her even more. At this point, the maid eventually turns into dizzy and fainting spells, when the resentment and temper tactics do not work for her, to dispel the never ending demands of the employer’s family (Bradshaw, 2010:n.p.). Thus, while realism concept tackles the real happenings of everyday life in the society, the concept also extends to psychological realism, where an individual plays with the psychology of others in order to have his/her way in a situation that is either compromising or conflicting (Caughie, 2000:72). The maid has engaged the family in a series of psychological battles and she happens to win in this, since she keeps her employer hiring assistants for her, but she keeps driving them away, through guerilla tactics that are not apparent to the employer and his family. The psychological battle is so real, that it also plays on the audience, who may not understand why the maid insist on keeping her role as a housekeeping servant, in a house where she also feels at odd with the family, and especially with the rebellious daughter of her employer, Camila (The Maid 2009:n.p.). The character of the maid in the film has been conceived so well, but there are dramatic incidences where her reactions are surprising to everyone. She possess a gentle strand on one hand that invites the audience to see her vulnerability, but compensates the same with some degree of oppressiveness that leaves the audience satisfied that she is not the victim (Foundas, 2009:n.p.). The balancing act of the maid’s character is the major aspect that makes her attributes more believable and recognizable, considering that in normal life, whoever is oppressed seeks for avenues of redemption, through oppressing the oppressor where an opportunity arises. In this case, the character of the maid and by extension that of the whole family has not been painted beyond believability or idealized to plasticity, serving to make the film easily identified with normal and real life settings, which is the essence of realism. References Bradshaw, P. (August26, 2010), The Maid: Catalina Saavedra unleashes a star lead performance in this gripping Chilean thriller. The Guardian. Retrieved March 8, 2014 from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/26/the-maid-review Caughie, J. (2000), Television Drama: Realism, Modernism, and British Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Foundas, S. (Oct 13 2009), Good Housekeeping in Sebastián Silvas The Maid: Cleaning up the thorny role of a live-in maid. The Village Voice. Retrieved March 8, 2014 from http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-10-13/film/good-housekeeping-in-sebasti-aacute-n-silva-s-the-maid/full/ Hill, J. (2000), “From the New Wave to “Brit-grit”: Continuity and Difference in Working-Class Realism” in Ashby and Higson (2000). 249-260. Pincus, A. (1999), “Things I cannot Change‟ Filmmaker vol.7 no.2 p.52-55. Ryall, T. (2002) “New Labour and the Cinema.” Journal of Popular British Cinema 5, 5-20. The Maid (2009)-IMDb [Film] Wayne, M. (2006), “The Performing Northern Working Class in British Cinema: Cultural Representation and its Political Economy.”Quarterly Review of Film and Video 23(4), 287-297. Read More