Tammy Lam

Cinema and Ideology

Marina Shron
Unit 3: Dziga Vertov and Cinema Verite. Realism versus expressionism.
It is evident that Vertov learned from Eisenstein and applied the theory of montage
to his documentary ideal of presenting "life caught unaware." Vertov's The Man with
the Movie Camera took montage to lengths beyond Eisenstein with his turbulent and
elaborate montage; very avant-garde.
I think Vertov is very clever in choosing the sequencing and the pacing of the cuts
between montages. Something that really caught my eye was how he chooses to
imitate and juxtapose movements and actions at the same time. The tonal montage
that starts with the woman washing her face, then an exterior setting with
something being hosed, the woman continuing to wash her neck and shoulders,
something else being hosed, the woman wiping her arms with a towel, the woman
wiping down a window. The movements between the woman wiping herself clean
and the woman wiping down a window comes of as a sort of conflict. Perhaps its a
conflict between the working class and the people of higher class. This conflict
between the working class and people of higher class and the contrasting of their
movements are prevalent throughout the whole film.
Following that is an almost rhythmic montage of a back and forth between the
woman cleaning her face and blinking, then the shutters on the window start
opening and closing, then a camera lens trying to focus on flowers. Although the
montage isnt exactly rhythmic, you can feel a rhythm between the movements of
the three actions. These things correlate because they all have sight and clarity in
common but differ to enhance a message and to elicit thought in the viewer. In doing
some research, people tend to claim that there is no obvious message in Man with a
Movie Camera. I see otherwise- with Vertovs clever montage sequencing and
juxtaposing, the film almost comes off as a propaganda film. The message could be
about the divide between the working class people and the higher-class people.
Vertov is very successful in using his collision editing style to evoke thought in the
viewer. Also I thought it was interesting that there was no use of language or any
sort of title cards throughout the film and everything filmed is very relatable to any
person-the film can be viewed by anyone at anytime without language or cultural
barriers.
Unit 4: The Battle of Algiers
1. The Battle of Algiers is a great example of how a fictitious film with such a strong
doctrine can be very ambiguous at the same time. As well, in this film, you can see
how the use of montage has evolved throughout the decades. Contrasting with
Eisenstein and Vertov, Pontecorvo uses longer shots with more attention to
narrative, giving the overall plot more sustenance rather than using only short and
sporadic sequences to build the plot. The dialectic relationship between the shots
and the rhythmic montage really builds suspense in the viewer- are these women

going to be successful in carrying out the bombings? Although the women breeze by
the military checkpoints with ease, with cuts between the close ups of their faces
and shots of the overall environment, you can see there is obvious tension. The
tension is hyperbolized by the sounds of the environment (lively music, loud
chattering, sounds not out of the norm) contrasting with the expressions and
actions of each woman. The women are easily received in each environment and are
not subject to any sort of scrutiny, you can see this with the first woman, she is
immediately offered a seat and the man tries to strike up a friendly conversation.
What I take from this scene is that the intellectual montage here is the classic idea of
looks are deceiving. The three beautiful women easily roam the city; they walk it
as if they are of utmost importance. They deceive the army men and common
people, as they are flirtatious and cool as they move to their designated areas to
plant the bomb. Not a single person suspects these beautiful women of being
bombers simply because of their well-kept appearances.
2. The still I have chosen to analyze is when the woman who is designated to plant
the bomb at the airport is walking with her child down the street.

Informational: A woman is walking with her child down a street as people eat
outside at a restaurant
Symbolic: The woman is an Algerian woman dressing in disguise as a European
woman to avoid any serious confrontation from the army men and is on her way to
her designated post where she will plant a bomb. How the woman is walking infront
of the traditionally clothed Algerian woman symbolizes how repressed the
Algerians are at this time.
Obtuse: The obtuse meaning can play off of my interpretation of the intellectual
montage. The importance of looks in society is an unchanging value and the idea will

forever prevail. The Algerian woman that is attractive, looks and dresses like a
European woman. This woman has to disguise herself to look inconspicuous
because if she doesnt pertain to the ideal European identity, she would be more
likely prone to inspection and scrutiny. She has to conceal her true identity to gain
any respect.
Unit 5: Triumph of Will

Informational: A silhouetted Hitler greets the Nazi supporters as the Nazi supporters
cheer and greet Hitler with the iconic raised hand gesture. Hitler is at his prime in
the Nazi regime.
Symbolic: The role of authority is very symbolic of this still. With his large
overpowering silhouette, it is clear that Hitler is the powerful and godlike figure in
this still. The darkness of his figure perhaps symbolizes and foreshadows his inner
darkness. His strong dark figure easily overwhelms the crowd. Also how the entire
crowd is doing the same gesture towards Hitler shows the unified
support/appraisal they have for him. Hitler does not have his arm fully extended
and seems pretty static, whereas there is a lot of movement from the crowd and
they have their arms fully extended and this symbolizes the power he has over the
crowd.

Obtuse: The obtuse meaning I believe is the criticism of the worship and faith people
rest in a statue-which is simply an object with no life. Here, Hitler is almost statue
like- his figure very static, strong and bold, which contrasts with the liveliness of the
crowd. The darkness and the fact that his back is shown towards the still frame
allude to the fact that Hitler is mysterious with his intensions and the crowd is
clearly unaware of it. Regardless, they still worship and praise him like a god.
Unit 6: The Great Dictator
Chaplins The Great Dictator is a classic satirical film. I believe it was Chaplins first
all talking film and he definitely used satire as his greatest weapon in his
commentary about Hitler and the Nazi regime. Chaplin is almost mostly known for
his silent-comedy that at some parts is very reminiscent in The Great Dictator, but
this film also shows is ability to evolve from silent to sound comedy. The film itself is
very comical, beginning with the note ANY RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN HYNKEL
THE DICTATOR AND THE JEWISH BARBER IS PURELY CO-INCIDENTAL, as Chaplin
himself plays both characters. And the unintentional resemblance between the
two characters actually is a large part of the narrative later on in the film.
The film begins with a series of visual gags, these things that Chaplin is a master atthe audio is really not even necessary because the visuals are strong enough. Where
the missile follows Barber is a great beginning as it sort of creates an underlying
feeling of danger because of the active bomb thats been lingering for too long and
has yet to go off. This feeling of danger sets the tone for the film.
One of the verbal gags, Hynkels speech, everything he says is nonsense and
incoherent and but he does successfully have the presence of Hitler with his very
strong and exaggerated gestures. Here, the gibberish is significant of the
unimportance of speech and how his presence and aura is powerful enough to
entice and captivate the viewers, never mind what he says. Little visual gags also
help emphasize this point: with the microphones standing straight back up after he
knocks them down and the other microphone bending as he approached it shows
that you dont really need to know nor understand what hes talking about but if he
says it with enough confidence, people will follow and believe whatever he says.
This is also clear in another verbal gag where Hynkel speaks passionately about
something but it isnt fully translated in English, the translator simply says, His
excellency has just referred to the Jewish people. Even to the viewer of this film,
what exactly Hynkel is saying does not matter, just his presence and passion in his
actions establishes his role of power to the viewer.
Unit 7: Citizen Kane
The scene I decided to choose was the post-election scene where Kane has just lost
the election for Governor of New York. Although the whole scene is not a complete
single shot, it is a sequence of three long shots but it is shot in the same place and
from the same perspective. Each of these, the perspective of the camera is like shot
from the floor-worms eye view. Normally when scenes are shot from below, they

give the person a more powerful authority, mise-en-scne wise. But here, with
Kanes grim expression, it feels like the ground is just waiting for Kane to topple
over. The use of the low angle shot is very clever since it also gives the viewer more
information of the environment, his campaign office. You can see the same poster
that was used when he gave his speech at Madison Square Garden. The difference is
that this poster is just placed on the ground, for no one to see and is of much smaller
scale. This signifies Kanes fall from grace, as he is no longer regarded as an
important figure but only as a character of a public scandal. This shot really gives a
fresh perspective on the low angle shot. The slow progression of the camera really
emphasizes with the crushed atmosphere of Kanes office, letting the viewer really
take in the ruins of the office. Also the dialogue and interaction between Jedediah
and Kane shows that there is no longer a power struggle nor dominant figure in
their association. A toast, Jedediah, to love on my terms. Those are the only terms
anybody ever knows his own, Kane says this to Jedediah as a reflection to his
inability to love, as a byproduct of his mothers actions. This also inadvertently
reflects his defeated desire for power over everything, not understanding the wants
and needs of others-also a byproduct of his mother sending him off to be raised by a
banker.
Informational- Post-election defeated Kane in his campaign office, talking to
Jedediah, slow camera panning shows the office as a mess.
Symbolic- The mess of the office and perspective is symbolic of the downfall of Kane.
His toast to Jedediah represents his self-realization of his greed and inability to
empathize with others as a result of his upbringing.
Obtuse- The perspective in which this is shot is very symbolic of how Kane is no
longer any more powerful nor important than Jedediah, who he used to scrutinizing.
Here in this scene, they stand as equals.
Unit 11: Weekend
According to Jameson, postmodernism can be characterized by its use and emphasis
on fragmentation. The alienation of a subject, which was essentially the token of
modernism, is now replaced by the fragmentation of a subject. Key characteristics of
postmodernist films are: self-referentiality, irony, pastiche, and parody. Also
postmodern films generally attempt to stray from the traditional narrative structure
and basically create a very unexpected viewing experience for the audience since
they purposely try to subvert the mainstream conventions of cinema. Jameson also
explains how postmodern culture in general is a direct critique of capitalism.
Baudrillard views the development of postmodernism as the humanitys death
knell, a rather pessimistic viewpoint on the movement. He describes
postmodernism as the replacement of the mirror and scene by the screen and
network. A mirror reflects and enables the construction of an identity. We take this
reality and live in a scene, face to face, in three dimensions. As we become a
crumb in the web of a network we lose our sense of depth; we see our world as flat.
As the scene shifts into a screen we are left with a nonreflecting surface, an
immanent surface where operations unfoldthe smooth operational surface of

communication. Life and reality, once associated with scenes and narrative, now
manifest as simulations of those ideas and experiences. Simulation thus becomes
reality itself and we lose a sense of empathy. His key ideas with postmodernism
regard Simulation and Hyperrealitywhich are a byproduct of this new screen and
network.
Godards film, Weekend, is exemplary of the transition from modernist and
postmodernist cinematic narrative. Both postmodernist and modernist values are
evident throughout the film. Though it does seem that Godard strives to embrace
postmodernism. You can see his use of experimental montage to stray away from
the conventional narrative structure of a film. In doing this he is making the
narrative less linear thus skewing the audiences perception of time and how much
time has elapsed. Going off the postmodern principle that its culture is essentially a
critique to multinational capitalism and present day consumerism, Weekend is
speaks out harshly against bourgeois values and more specifically the role of cars in
postmodern society in the 8 minute long scene following the chaotic road filled with
accidents.
Associating it to Baudrillards views on postmodernity, Godard creates a hyperreal
setting with the 8 minute long scene filled with vehicles and chaos. Hyperreality is
seen as a condition in which what is real and what is fiction are seamlessly blended
together so that there is no clear distinction between where one ends and the other
begins. The scene begins very mundane, cars passing each other on the road leading
to road congestion. Afterwards when the camera starts to follow the road, the
situation becomes so absurd that the audience is unsure whether to believe if it is
actually happening or not.
The aesthetic of Weekend is very postmodern, with the non-linear narrative told in
short vignettes. This makes the audience pay attention to the random and seemingly
unfruitful narrative and attempt to make connections and advance the plot in their
mind. Godard once remarked, "I agree that a film should have a beginning, a middle
and an end but not necessarily in that order" and he evidently stands by that in his
own filmmaking.