Response: Bordwell & Cinema Paradiso

After reading through seven different perspectives on Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso and Classical Hollywood Cinema, as outlined by Bordwell, two opinions stand out: Tornatore strayed from the rules guiding the classic narrative style in creating Cinema Paradiso and the protagonist Salvatore's love for Elena is never fulfilled.   

The classic Hollywood narrative follows a very basic chronological plot line centered on the main character: "an undisturbed stage, the disturbance, the struggle, and the elimination of the disturbance" (Bordwell 19).  Rachael pointed out that Cinema Paradiso seems to stray from this basic outline due to its "retrospective narrative form", which is achieved by connecting different points in time with various objects (lemons), characters (the crazy man in the square) and Salvatore's own physicality (posture, etc).  I would argue that this retrospection is only meant to explain Salvatore's struggle with the disturbance at the heart of the story.  

My summary of the plot is as follows:

-Undisturbed stage: Salvatore is a wealthy man who is disconnected from his family and his past (as evidenced by his mother's inability to contact him)

-Disturbed stage: Salvatore learns of his mentor Alfredo's passing

-Struggle: Salvatore is forced to choose between heeding Aflredo's words on never returning home or honoring Alfredo by attending his funeral

-Elimination of the disturbance: Salvatore returns home to a familiar yet strange world

To me what's unusual about this plot is that its course is a rather minimal (with regard to screen time) portion of the movie.  The undisturbed stage is done quickly but effectively and the disturbance happens in a manner that deepens the protagonist's isolation from his past: in his new world Salvatore is casually told by his lover of Alfredo's passing.  The fact that this lover, who is presumably Salvatore's most intimate companion, is unaware of the weight behind the information she has shared implies complete separation between Salvatore's past and present.  It is therefore necessary to revert back to his childhood to intimately share the complexity of Salvatore's struggle.

In addition to narrative structure, Bordwell also pointed out the necessity of a second plotline centered on romance.  The most obvious romance in the movie is Salvatore's love-at-first-sight infatuation with Elena.  We first see her through Salvatore's camera, after which Salvatore woos Elena in an overly dramatic (dare I say, cinematic) manner and later passionately embraces her in the rain.  But after all the over-the-top drama and passion, Elena is just gone without a climactic send-off or disagreement.  There is no closure.  Upon further examination of this relationship, as Anne describes, his love for Elena is no more than "an infatuation with the love depicted on screen."  Salvatore's interactions with Elena are simply recreations of the romantic scenes he grew up watching.

Charles further points out that in the flashbacks to Salvatore's childhood we come to understand this "film-obsessed child and how the romance of the cinema, the community togetherness of the theater, shaped and created his identity."  The true romance in this story seems to be between a young boy and the movies.  This pairing has all the makings of the typical romance plot line: a goal, obstacles and a climax.  Salvatore is initially shunned from the movies he so desires to see, he then finds a way in, falls in love, and finally ends this "romance" when he leaves town after hearing Alfredo's declaration that his infatuation with movies is unhealthy.  This romance is given closure in the end of the movie when Salvatore watches the Cinema Paradiso fall and with Alfredo's last act as a mentor.  Alfredo leaves Salvatore a montage of previously edited out movie clips, clips Salvatore had longed to see as a child.  By viewing this montage, Salvatore is finally allowed to experience the embraces that he had been denied for so long. 

Freewater Spring 2009 Schedule

The new calendar is up!

check it out: http://www.duke.edu/web/movies/calendar.html

Reflection: How does film in general affect the way you see the world?

As a movie lover, I had a hard time getting into Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" as, in the beginning of the essay, it seemed that Benjamin's intention was to reduce the invention of film to the next step in the progression of mass production (i.e. the process of cheapening an object so as to increase it's availability).  With the frequent use of such terms as "decay" it is not hard to associate his sentiments to an overall negative outlook on the history of film.  I began to warm up to the article when, after a long commentary on the value of art lying in its authenticity as an original work formed by the artist, Benjamin recognized the evolving ideals of art that parallel our evolving society when he says:

"... the instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed."

Furthermore Benjamin made the astute observation:

"... mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitic dependence on ritual.  To an ever greater degree the work reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility."

I think the key idea from this observation is that the filmmaker (or the photographer) is aware that he is creating art that is meant to be reproduced.  Before the invention of still and motion photography, I believe it was suitable to include authenticity in the definition of art.  The introduction of photographic technology made it necessary to modify said definition.  I believe an appropriate and broader definition of this new art that includes photography and film can hold on to the ideals that have always been at the core of artistic expression:

Art is the intention to create and communicate by lending one's humanity to what is otherwise without meaning.  (Note: This is my own working definition of art, I obviously don't expect everyone to agree with it.)

The added bonus of this new technology/form of art is that it can touch many more observers.  I believe first and foremost art is a form of communication, it is a way to express other perspectives, share other worlds, and questions our own existing beliefs.  Film is particularly effectual in this expression due to its unique ability to carry the observer into an entirely different universe and live in someone else's shoes.  

A prime example of this immersion into another universe is Fight Club.  The "one day" moment that sets the wheels in motion is when Edward Norton's "narrator" meets Brad Pitt's "Tyler Durden".  Tyler opens the narrator's eyes and helps him realize the insignificance of his possessions that have come to define his life.  This inspires a new bohemian existence, which sets the narrator on a journey of self exploration.  What he finds is that he is Tyler Durden... sometimes.  We finally see what the rest of the world sees: a man beating himself up in a parking lot, a bipolar lover, an ardent leader, and a social terrorist.  The film-goer gets to see both perspectives and as a result gets to ride alongside the narrator in his roller coaster of self-discovery.

The power of film, as illustrated by Fight Club, is the ability to transport the viewer into the mind of another.  The viewer gets to sympathize with the man who can't control himself, who projects his darkest desires onto another being and who justifies destruction as a means to find meaning in his own life.

Other great examples:

- Monster - learn to sympathize with a real life serial killer

- The Sixth Sense - see from the perspective of... well, I won't spoil the surprise if you are one of the few people who haven't seen it yet

- The Purple Rose of Cairo - see a "man" come to terms with being a fictional character who doesn't belong in the real world