Understanding Realism in the Chilean Film, La Nana - Essay Example

Understanding Realism in the Chilean Film, La Nana Introduction Painting, literature, dance, and theater are already thousands years old. So, they are old art forms. But film is only century years old. So it is still young. Yes, film is younger but more entertaining. Film is part of the art of cinema. (Bordwell and Thompson 2010) The French theorist and critic André Bazin says cinema is unique art form. Why? It uses light to make real moving images. (Braudy and Cohen 2009, cited in Meyer 2012, par.3) Film is designed to influence viewers. It is fascinating. It shows different worlds in motion. It satisfies senses. And it attracts many viewers. The reason is films give viewers many different experiences. People always watch films because enjoying them very much. (Bordwell and Thompson 2010) Filmmaking began late 19th century. Then, theorists debate the meaning and purpose of film. Two big camps debate, the realism and formalism. The two camps are films of the Lumière brothers and George Méliès. They two understand reality differently. For Lumière brothers, film is a window to the world. The film can especially show what happening to the world by using natural settings and techniques. So theorists say Lumière brothers’ films realism examples. Another camp Méliès, the film is a canvas. The film is a special medium. It can use reality to create fantasy worlds by using special effect techniques. So theorists say Méliès films formalism examples. (De Valk 2013) Formalism was most popular until WWII ended. But many debate about realism. Also realism was more powerful. (Hallam and Marshment 2000) But film theorists debate realism because different understanding of realism nature. When is film realism? Is film realism because of content or form? Can film show reality by using unnatural forms? For example, is a cartoon film about reality realism? This paper says no. Why? This is because realism in film is seen in form, like the Chilean film, La nana (The maid). Defining Realism: Many Meanings Realism is about real life stories. Each person has a unique story to tell. That is why no single reality but many. So, film theorists still debate what the use and purpose of film (Lay 2002). Bazin (1967; 1971) is correct. “There is not one, but several realisms. Each era looks for its own.” (Cited in Lay 2002, p. 7) This is true. You see this in realism development. Realism came out because many social and intellectual changes in post-Enlightenment Europe (Hallam and Marshment 2000). Then in the 18th century, realism became most popular in the West. Then in the 19th century, realism became the favorite of opposition or reform. (Lay 2002) For example, Russian films were about Russian peasant fight against serfdom (Aitken 2001). Therefore, realism shows reality. That is why realism meaning always changing. For example in 19th century, realist theorists were very sure that artistic form and reality should match. But in 20th century, it is different belief already. Realism was more on form without clear relationship to reality. (Hallam and Marshment 2000) So important to understanding realism is how films are made every historical period. Carroll (1996) suggests putting prefix to the term ‘realism’. For example are the prefixes neo-, social-, or documentary-. This prefix tells the ‘what’ and ‘when’ of the film. (Cited in Lay 2002, p. 6) Armes (1971) says realism is in the mind. It is the desire to become true. It is accepting man as social animal. And it believes your social position in society your reality. (Cited in Lay 2000, p. 4) Meaning, your reality is what you live. What you do not live cannot be your reality. In Sebastian Silva’s 2008 film, La nana (The maid), Pilar Valdes (played by Claudia Celedón) did not understand why Raquel (played by Catalina Saavedra) always headache and dizzy. Pilar is the señora of the rich Valdes family in Santiago, Chile. Raquel is their stay-in maid. Raquel is 41 years old already. She is always in uniform. Pilar thought Raquel always dizzy because many work in their big house only Raquel doing all. So Pilar hired another maid to help Raquel. But problem only became very bad. Raquel also became angry because the problem not the work. Raquel likes the work. She loves serving the whole Valdes’s family. They are the father, Mundo (played by Alejandro Goic), the mother, Pilar and the kids – Camila (played by Andrea Garcia-Huidobro), Lucas (played by Agustin Silva), Tomás (played by Darok Orellana), and Gabriel (played by Sebastián La Rivera). Pilar is secured but not Raquel. So Pilar does not understand Raquel’s emotional and psychological problem. Raquel worries what will happen to her when she gets older. All her life, Raquel is only serving the Valdes family for 23 years. She loves the Valdes family as her own. But she is not really part of this family. Now she is getting old. Until when she can stay with the only family she loves? So, the new maids only made Raquel more afraid. What if the new maid will be better than her? Then, she might be kicked out. Besides, serving this family is her only life. This is the only thing she knows. Yes, the family is good to her. But this did not make Raquel a Valdes. Therefore, Raquel is sick because she afraid of her future because she is only a maid (Hamilton 2013). Silva’s La nana shows that your position in the society is your reality. As always said, reality is subjective. More important, in your reality is your political belief (Rushton 2011). Power struggle is clear in La nana. For example, the stubborn Camila shouted out against Raquel “You’re just a maid!” Meaning, Raquel has no power over Camila. Instead, Raquel should follow Camila’s orders because Camila is her master. This shows that maids are only servants. The good relation between Raquel and the Valdeses cannot erase this reality. They cannot be equals. The Valdes family is rich and Raquel is poor. The Valdes family can pay a servant to serve their needs. But Raquel needs to sell her services because she needs money to live. Also, the good relationship between Raquel and her masters cannot free her from doing the household works. In the film, Pilar tells Raquel not to wash the dishes but to rest because it is her birthday. But Raquel said it does not matter because in the end she will still do the dishwashing. The film shows the reality of maids in Chile. Maids in Chile work like slaves (Diestro-Dópido 2010, cited in Hamilton 2013, p. 2). Bazin (1967; 1971) says realism should leave enough space for viewers. This makes them discover their own realities within film texts. This can be done through the camera. To Bazin, the camera can show reality as is. The camera man should use deep shots and long takes techniques. (Cited in Lay 2002, p. 7) Bazin (1967) also said, this style is “inherently more realistic… and that such a treatment confronts our normal psychological processing of events, therefore making us aware of a reality we often fail to recognize” (cited in Hallam and Marshment 2000, p.14-15). Bazin (1967; 1971) believes realist film is an art work, because film becomes realist through skill (cited in Lay 2002, p. 7). La nana effectively used the camera to show reality. Bazin’s deep shot and long take techniques really made La nana realistic. These techniques also help viewers discover realities they often do not see. The German film theorist Siegfried Kracauer calls this technique the ‘redemption of physical reality’ (Aitken 2001, p.170). In La nana, deep shot and long takes are used to explain why Raquel sick emotionally and psychologically. As if the camera was spying on her. This let you feel that she has no privacy and no control of her life. To Wolf (2010), La nana “embodies the underlying spirit of Latin American cinema today: a resounding rejection of the ‘aestheticization of the real’” (cited in Hamilton 2013, p. 3). Qualifying Realism: Four Common Formal Qualities Yes, realism has many meanings. But Williams (1977) says all forms of realism have four common formal qualities. These are secular, contemporary, social extension, and political. The first quality is secular. This means realist texts are most important to be secular. Meaning, people act because of reason and logic and not of superstition and mysticism. Therefore, realist films choose to show human truth than divine truth. Secular is the most visible defining quality of realism. For example, La nana is realist because of secular qualities. This can be seen from the technical, aesthetic, thematic, and political aspects of the film. Technically, La nana used off-screen sound, muted color photography, and against the light camera work. It also used non-diegetic music that created the spying look (Matheou 2010, cited in Hamilton 2013, p. 2). Aesthetically, the film is produced in a natural setting. It is filmed in the house of Silva’s parents. Thematically, it contains serious subject matters, like sex, coming-of-age issues, discrimination, defiance, and violence. Politically, the film is about a present social problem in Chile. Williams (1977) also clarifies that conscious secularization is connected to “the development of rationalism, of the scientific attitude, of historical attitudes towards society” (p. 64). The second quality is contemporary. This means realist texts is about today in terms of setting, character, and social issues. For example, the setting of La nana is the house of a rich family in Santiago, Chile. The setting alone shows that having maids is common among rich families in Chile. The characters of La nana are the rich Valdes family and the poor maids. This alone shows that people in Chile are not equal. The third quality is social extension. This means realist texts intentionally extends the scope of characters and subject matter. This is to present the poor and the powerless. This is to show bigger social problems. Williams (1977) clarifies, social extension is key factor to the realist intention. Therefore, the visit of Raquel to the family of Lucy (played by Mariana Loyola) is to show the life of a poor family in Chile. How different the lives of poor and rich families. It also showed Raquel was relax with the family of Lucy she only met that day. She was relax because they are equals. No master and servant but friends. This scene was not part of the main narrative. But, it emphasized the problematic position of Raquel in the Valdes home. This scene was also an extended explanation of Raquel’s difficult situation. The fourth quality is political. This means realist texts are biased to the poor and powerless. Most of the time, they are affected by the politics of filmmaker. This can be seen in the theme and social extension of the film. La nana is about the social conditions of maids in Chile. It shows the big gap between the life styles of the rich (Valdes family) and the poor (Lucy’s family). Therefore the film is critical of the inequality in Chile. Conclusion It is clear that realism cannot have one common meaning. Because, the reality realism wants to show is very different, always changing, and many levels. La nana clearly shows this. There is the reality of Raquel, the reality of the Valdes family and the reality of the family of Lucy. These realities are all different. Actually, what created the problem were the different realities of Raquel and the Valdes family. So Bazin is correct to say that realism is not realism but realisms. But even with many meanings, realism cannot be without common formal qualities. Without these, realism would be very abstract and becomes useless. Actually the four common qualities of realist film Williams suggested helped in understanding realism. But more important, these supported the thesis of this paper. This paper believes that film realism is in form. La nana clearly showed that the four qualities of realist film should be matched with form for the film to be really realistic. Word Count: 2,001 Bibliography Aitken, I. 2001. The redemption of physical reality: theories of realism in Grierson, Kracauer, Bazin and Lukács. In European film theory and cinema: a critical introduction. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, pp. 162-202. Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. 2010. Part one: Film art and filmmaking. In Film art: An introduction. 9th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 1-51. De Valk, M. 2013.Eisenstein and Basin: formalism and realism, two modes of practice. In The film handbook. Oxon, OX: Routledge, pp. 120-144. Hallam, J. and Marshment, M. 2000. Realism and popular cinema. UK: Manchester University Press. Hamilton, R. 2013. A discussion of contemporary Latin American Ciema: The maid/La nana. Kino: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies, 4 (1) May, pp. 1-4. Lay, S. 2002. British social realism: from documentary to Brit grit. London: Wallflower Press. Meyer, K. 2012. Cinematic realism in The Hurt Locker. Cinesthesia – Grand Valley Journal of Cinema [online]. Available at: http://cinesthesiajournal.wordpress.com/issues/spotlight-bazin/cinematic-realism/ [Accessed March 11 2014]. Rushton, R. 2011. Post-classical Hollywood realism and “ideological reality.” CINEPHILE, 7 (2) Fall, pp. 14-21. Williams, R. 1977. A lecture on realism. 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