Screening Film History - Movie Review Example

SCREENING FILM HISTORY SCREENING FILM HISTORY Surrealism Surrealism refers to a complex form of art that involves the use of films, visual arts, and literature. In film theory, Surrealist cinema relates to a modern film strategy originating from Paris, France in the 1920s that attracts huge criticism in the film industry. Notably, Dada art movement, which opposed everything by refuting rational thought, founded Surrealist cinema (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014). Indeed, Dada art movement fostered irrational thought, intuition, and nonsense in a shocking but humorous manner during the First World War (The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014). As such, it promoted ant art behaviors in the society. Since the emergence of the surrealist movement in the 1920s, artists can establish some affinities in Surrealist cinema (Walz 2014). However, although surrealist movement was the first literary and artistic movement to engage in film production, many artists, and historians have been criticizing Surrealist cinema as films with a distinct genre (divadaniela 2014). Indeed, critics forced Surrealist filmmakers to do their works on private practice due to their radical nature. Indeed, the first Surrealist film was The Seashell and the Clergyman produced in 1928 when Surrealist filmmakers were developing. Notably, some of the characteristics that define Surrealist cinema are shocking imagery and juxtaposition, which equally determine the influence of Surrealism in the society. As such, we can use the results of surrealism to establish that surrealism depicts a dynamic piece of art, which seeks to explore the points of intersection and the points of departure in human existence. Surrealism finds cinema as a medium of expressing nullity in reality while using irrational imagery and the subconscious mind (TATE 2014). The films produced by Surrealism seek to inform the society that there is more to reality than what we see or know since reality has no limits. Such films include Un Chien Andalou. Critical Analysis of a Single Scene from UN Chien Andalou Film The Un Chien Andalou is a short silent French surrealist film produced in 1929 (Un Chien Andalou 1929). Luis Buñuel directed the film while Salvador Dalí scripted the Un Chien Andalou short surrealist film. The film features in the French language and runs for 17 minutes (Eight nights, fifty years of surrealism 2011). In producing this surrealist short film, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali sought to use irrational and shocking images with an aim of provoking the norms in film art. The short surrealist film came out in the surrealist period that heightened in 1929 when the surrealist group sought to replace the Dada movement (Un Chien Andalou 1929). This was because the surrealist group depicted the use of irrational thoughts, de-alienation, and materialism. Indeed, the entire film and single scene in the film depicts the use of corrupted imagery, reality, and time, which defines surrealism as seen in film art (Montgomery 2012, p. 1). Notably, the first scene of the film, which introduces the entire film, features a title card with an inscription “Once upon a time". The first title in the first scene of the film negates the norms of traditional film narrative (Corrigan and White, P 2012, p. 234). The first scene seeks to prove that the film will satisfy the expectations raised by storytelling to the audience and the norms of traditional film narrative (Un Chien Andalou 1929). Indeed, the chronology of the film manifests a disconnect since it jumps from the first title (“Once upon a time”) to the title card reading "eight years later" within the same scene and without any justification. In fact, there are no details, changes, or events between the two title cards (Un Chien Andalou 1929). The film seeks to provoke the attention of the audience and surprise their desire for the need to find the deeper meaning and closure since it is not visible in this film. Indeed, the motifs and images used in the film by the producers aim at presenting a wide array of interpretations and meanings of such symbolism. The images used in the introduction part are not only shocking but also derived diverse meanings, which confused the audience in a big way. Indeed, the shocking images forced the audience to establish the connection between the images with a view of deriving a deeper meaning. For example, the first scene presents a sliced eyeball as the first image to the surprise of the audience (Un Chien Andalou 1929). The film contrasted the image of the sliced eyeball with that of a sliced moon. The use of the conflicting images confused the audience since they could not ascertain the intention of the producers of the film. Unlike the traditional films that used images to please the audience, this film negates such uses and seeks to modify film art by shocking people and coercing them to think harder instead of deriving fun from imagery in art. This leads the audience to reconsider their knowledge in film art. Indeed, the first scene of the film confirms that the audience requires different connections to establish the meaning of the film by causing disorientation at the beginning of the narrative (Bunuel n.y). The film exposes the audience to the aspects of surrealism, which introduces new ideologies in the society in a shocking manner. Indeed, the film forces the audience to question their knowledge on narratives and film art. The introduction scene exposes the audience to a new video structure and elements, which forces them to think deeper (Un Chien Andalou 1929). Moreover, in the introduction scene, we can see a unique act where a man has a hole with ants in his hands (Bunuel n.y). Dalis pictures provided the ants in the film. Such an act is unpopular in the mind of viewers of modern films. Ideally, it requires deeper meaning to establish the meaning of such images. However, we can assert that the ants related to the people on the street where the man is standing (Un Chien Andalou 1929). Additionally, the way in which the razor cut the eyelid related to how the clouds cut through the moon since they establish the same shapes (Bunuel n.y). The film Un Chien Andalou shows the incoherence in general reality by limiting the application of logical reasoning in the film, which confuses the viewers as well as the producers (Montgomery 2012, p. 4). The rich imagery, irrational thinking, and shocking content of Dalis work make it hard for the audience to watch and understand the short surrealism film. The first scene equally shows how man dominates and mistreats the woman. We can see a young man sharpening a razor and testing it on his thumb while on the balcony. Then we see a man holding a young woman as she stays still (Un Chien Andalou 1929). The man abuses the woman by slitting the woman’s eye with the razor leading to the spilling of the vitreous humor .This defines how men mistreat women with no objection. The film presents a correlation of images by showing the razor and the clouds, which engulfed the moon as well as the clouds engulfing the moon as the man slits the womans eye with the razor (Un Chien Andalou 1929). The film relies on the Kuleshov effect, which defines continuity editing by presenting the surprising action of slitting the woman’s eyeball. Indeed, the film presents a new type of reality, surreality by analyzing the conflict in the first scene, which defines surrealism (Goto 1998). The introduction, chronology of events, shocking images, and the oppression on women define irrational thinking, lack of logic, negation of traditional narratives, nonsense, and intuition, which defines Surrealism in cinema. The beautiful images used in the film create juxtaposition since they derive conflicting desires where viewers find it difficult to establish the deeper meaning and correlation of such images (Goto 1998). Un Chien Andalou is arguably one of the violent and popular films that have enhanced the production of Surrealist films. Indeed, the Un Chien Andalou film is popular across the globe as the perfect example of Surrealism in cinema (Waters 2011, p. 1). Describing the Representative Genre Characteristics Found In the Scene In defining the genre characteristics of surrealism, we must establish the repetition of elements and an established formula that defines surrealism in the short film Un Chien Andalou. It is worth noting that we have artistic critics of surrealism as a genre with some saying that the irrational knowledge in Surrealist films cannot define a genre in art. However, it is the relation that Un Chien Andalou film bears to Surrealism concept that determines whether the film is Surrealist and not the surreal nature or relation to Surrealist movement of the film (Waters 2011, p. 8). Notably, the most significant representative genre characteristics found in the scene is abandonment of logic. Indeed, the Un Chien Andalou film aims at demeaning the realist, common perceptions, and providing complex view of the world by deriving different meanings on specific images. It is useless to seek for deeper meanings in the scene or characters in the film since they do not exist. The audience can only concentrate on the nature of events and consider the film with an open mind free from rational thinking. The first scene and the entire film aim at shocking the audience and provoking their desire to establish deeper meaning in a place where it does not exist. The numerous motifs and recurring images in the film have a multiplicity of possible meanings, which distort the objectivity of the audience and eliminate the artistic interpretation in the film (Montgomery 2012, p. 1). Indeed, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali rely on the dominance and reoccurrence of stripes throughout the film, which could have multiple meanings thus forcing the audience to think critically (Montgomery 2012, p. 4). The first scene presents a deviation and digression from the norm where a nameless man sharpens a razor blade as the clouds blow across the moon (Montgomery 2012, p. 1). In the same context, the man holds an indifferent woman’s eye open and cuts it in half following the motion of the clouds (Montgomery 2012, p. 2). However, the woman re-appears after eight years unscathed as if the film has two different women. The scene confirms the abandonment of conceptions and truisms by failing to show the location, time, and consequences of the criminal act, which defines lack of moral or physical limits of customary behavior (Montgomery 2012, p. 2). Moreover, the first scene of the film lacks coherence where shocking images and visual tricks jeopardize the narrative and confuse the audience (Montgomery 2012, p. 2). Additionally, the way we see the first scene of this film defines a genre characteristic of a Surrealist film. Indeed, the film starts in a haphazard manner, which coerces the audience to view the film with an irrational eye (Waters 2011, p. 25). The violent, comedy, and tragic events in the first scene manifests the resistance to logic, which defines surrealism in cinema (Waters 2011, p. 23). The film contradicts the nature of its presence where the audience anticipates to story to follow a generally accepted structure (Montgomery 2012, p. 1). Indeed, the chronology of the film manifests a disconnect in the structured society since it jumps from the first title (“Once upon a time”) to the title card reading "eight years later" within the same scene and without any justification. In fact, there are no details, changes, or events between the two title cards. This contradicts the orderly processes in the structured society (Waters 2011, p. 23). Significance of This Scene In Terms Of Surrealism of the Film The mise-en-scène of a presence in this scene affirms the intention of the story and the power of the elements used to narrate the story (Montgomery 2012, p. 1). The first scene presents disconnect in generally accepted structure of storytelling where the chronology of the events in the film contradicts the nature of its presence. Indeed, the scene jumps from the first title (“Once upon a time”) to the title card reading "eight years later" without any justification since there are no details, changes, or events between the two title cards. This defines Surrealism in cinema. The first scene presents the intention of the film by demeaning the realist, common perceptions, and providing complex view of the world (Montgomery 2012, p. 5). The film seeks to provoke the attention of the audience and surprise their desire for the need to find the deeper meaning and closure since it is not visible in this film. The scene informs the audience that they should only concentrate on the nature of events and considers the film with an open mind free from rational thinking (Montgomery 2012, p. 1). The first scene presents the use of motifs and recurring images with an aim of presenting a wide array of interpretations and meanings of such symbolism. Indeed, the scene contrasted the image of the sliced eyeball with that of a sliced moon and correlated the razor and the clouds, which played the cutting role. The clouds engulfed the moon as the man slits the womans eye with the razor. Moreover, the way in which the razor cut the eyelid related to how the clouds cut through the moon since they establish the same shapes (Un Chien Andalou 1929). The imagery sought to provoke the norms in film art and forced the audience to establish the connection between the images with a view of deriving a deeper meaning in art. The shocking images at the first scene derived confusion in the film and negated the traditional use of images in films. This defines surrealism in cinema. Works Cited Bunuel, L n.y, Un Chien Andalou, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://people.wcsu.edu/mccarneyh/fva/b/ChienAndalou.html> Corrigan, T & White, P 2012, The Film Experience: An Introduction, Bedford/St. Martins, Boston, New York. Divadaniela 2014, Surrealist Cinema, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://cinecollage.net/surrealism.html> Eight nights, fifty years of surrealism 2011, Washington. Goto, T 1998, Reality and Paradox in Un Chien Andalou, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/bunuel6.html> Montgomery, M 2012, Abandonment of Logic: Surrealism and Un Chien Andalou (1929), retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://mmonty32.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/film-analysis.pdf> TATE 2014, Surrealism, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism> The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014, Surrealism, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm> Un Chien Andalou 1929, Film, Luis Buñuel, Paris. Walz R, 2014, Surrealism and Film, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0139.xml> Waters, A 2011, Discerning a Surrealist Cinema, retrieved 19 May 2014, < http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/3092/1/Waters11MPhil.pdf> Read More