1. Sulieman is not interested in the whole idea of zionism seeing as how he is Palestinian and is threatened by Israelis. He does, however, state that his humor is more towards an Israilie perspective.

2. Sulieman uses personal experiences and a constant set of notebooks to help him write a script. He is also very concerned about not censoring his own work. He states that his tastes don't have much to do with palestinian films but he is interested in Hou Hsia-Chen Antonioni in a self reflexive way. He says that he's not into the palestinian films by Youssef Chahine and Michel Khleifi because of the exotic representation though he does call himself a Palenstinian filmmaker.

** I couldn't get reserves to work for the second article, it's spotty sometimes. I'll try again soon.

Bov 16

1. Gideon Levy's problem with the politics lies in the portrayal of the war that the film presents. He feels it is to stylish and self-absored; not to mention about 20 years too late. He feels that this is a just a boo-hoo-look-at-me film since the jews weren't even the ones who perpetrated the massacre. Basically he doesn't like the idea that someone has other ways of showing a war that obviously had some impact on him. Nor does it address the anti-arab sentiments that existed during the massacre.

2. Hillels problem with the film is that it doesn't take into account many of the other things going on during this time. Not only was this war being fought on mulitple fronts, but there are also multiple groups of people involved for varying reasons. Because of this he also states that the film is one sided, especially in the comments about how the PLO was never mentioned and "palestinian" was rarely used.

3. I think it's pretty clear why each side is fighting against the others. Everyone wants to call that land their home and don't think that the other religions should share it. Add to that the bitterness that arises from conflicts past and you end up with a many thousand year conflict. The only thing I'm not sure if is what the christians were doing there and why no one else is louder about them being the ones who massacred those people (if i'm understanding it right.)
This whole war is bologna to me either way since they are pretty much only fighting over land and ideas (misguided ideas).

1. Nationalism has changed since the cold war because the globe just finished dealing with two world wars that were caused primarily by nationalism. The "imagined community" is what comes about when nationalism creates a nation that not only exists within geographical borders but exists in it's historical practices as well as the citizens visions of themselves. The new sense of nationalism is a good thing because it allows cultures to resist the influence of other cultures as opposed to the old sense of nationalism whose culture would be the one being forced.

2. -The continuous feeling of Exile and a need to return to the homelands
-To escape antisemitism and form a save haven
-The idea of modern nationalism which includes a feeling of self identification
It fits in with Andersons definition because Zionism was a movement to create not only national identity but also a geographical homeland.

3. Jewish identity and culture were expressed through diasporic experiences and the "men of letters" who were in charge of reviving the hebrew language and expressing their need for a homeland by creating symbolic texts of their culture (ie myths).

4. The assimilationists and the orthodox Jews were the other competing ideologies. Zionism had at its backbone the idea of the "new jew" that valued hard agricultural labor, a collective lifestyle as well as struggle with past hardships.

5. The films were made with government subsidies. Since these filmmakers were free from having to depend on the audience they were able to produce films that were more politically critical. In the 90s there was a movement towards personal, internal worlds that step away from the nationalist drama.

6. High culture began to shun nationalism while popular culture and nationalism became synonymous. The "art" films that won academy awards in America drew small crowds in Israel.

1. Gitai doesn't believe in objective images because he feels we see the world solely in subject imagery. Camper believes that switching from objective shots to point of view action shots in a single take aligns the viewer so they take the characters as the truth of war rather than just being a part of one. (Instead of seeing it as a war with soldiers we see them as soldiers in a war)

2. Camper uses the long take in the helicopter when we are shown the wreckage that cuts when the helicopter is hit by a missile.

1. Cultural Hegemony is when one social class rules over an entire society under the false pretense of mutual benefit. After the war Israel saw an influx of Jews from around the world while there was an overall movement towards industrialization. Along with this the Maipai party used their power to idealogically align the education system and the military to them.

2. Zionism is the overall movement towards the reestablishment of a homeland for Jewish people while a Sabra is a jewish person who was born in Israel. The woman represents the future of the state because she stays true to her values but isn't afraid to progress forward socially. She is shown as a harmonious balance between tradition and modernity.

3. The use of diaspora and Sabra characters in the film allows the Sabra to replace the negative stereotypes of the anti-semite eastern-euro jews with the positive idea of furthering Israel by fighting for it.

4. Instead of ceasefire agreements Egypt started a war of attrition against Israel that lasted with sporadic military conflicts until the next major war in '73.

5. The film Seige is about a widower who must break from from the social bounds that society put on her in marriage. Instead of becoming part of a group to fight a problem she must fight a society for her individuality.

1. The first obvious parallel is stated in the text that Hou likes to stage key plot points during meals. Granted we wouldn't realize the weight of the first scene given that the information takes a while to come back and bite the smart guy in the butt. The two scenes also take place in the same setting with the staging of the characters directing the viewers eye and mind to the key players in the scene. The difference lies in the first scene when the window is opened and we are allowed a view into the outside world versus the second scene whose composition is tight and cramped to highlight weng-leungs capitulation to the gangsters.

2. In Flowers Of Shanghai Hous style was influenced by the novel from which the film was adapted. Since the novel was written as journal entries from a prostitute he uses long one-takes that are separated by fade in/outs. This speaks to the idea of the story of events being told by a single persons point of view in real time.

1. The reviews are trying to formulate a way to instruct people on how to watch them. It's natural human curiosity to want to explain things and that's exactly what the reviews are attempting to do. Since nothing like Hou had ever existed before they want to explain why it works so that inevitably someone can take the idea and modify and create an entirely new style.

2. Vitali states that the reviews of Hou's films tend to focus on characters and are usually treated as political allegories or representational of some historical even though the reviewers never give the historical context any explanation. The reviews also rely on the idea that Hou embodies stylistic continuity throughout his career works.

3. I get that Vitali is saying that film critics, especially in Britain and France, try to use Taiwanese films as a jumping off point to discuss whats happening in their current film industrys. What I don't understand is how that quote mentions anything about France or it's film industry.

5. The instruction manuals are the same because both film industry's use specific stylistic choices and ideas to convey whatever meaning or story they are telling. If one has no understanding of this language they will be lost. The reason these manuals exist is for people who grew up with one type of film language to not only understand a different language but also understand what about their learned film language makes it work.

1. Willehem doesn't like Hous films because of their complexity because he believes that complex films can still be bad films. If you had a pocket knife that had 30,000 uses but you can't figure the damn thing out then it's not a very good pocket knife.

Oct 19th

1. The February 28th incident was the day that martial law was declared over the newly freed Taiwanese people. The government did so when an anti-nationalist sentiment developed over the selection of an alternate national language as well as corrupt officials. The government began shooting and killing anyone who seemed capable of leading a rebellion.

2. The controversy around the treatment of the February 28th incident comes from the fact that the film actually discusses it. During this time no one would be mentioning it but this film caused a discussion to start about the incident.

3. That quote was a good description of what I experience in most movies but in A Time to Live and A Time To Die the idea is much more prominent. When we are hit with a scene and a space you instantly start asking questions (who, where, what are they doing/saying) and then you slowly get the details from that. At the end of the scene you get the idea and move on but in this film that could usually take longer.

1. The two dimensions of symbolic violence that Teo are symbolic violence of ritual and the violence of male domination. The first manifests itself in the use of swords as well as the baton that everyone wants. The swords harken back to the Chinese ritual of sword use especially in Triads. The second manifests itself in the way that each man is indoctrinated into the Triad to follow their rules and treat others a certain way. The men eat at a table and discuss business as the women play mai jong and the children play.

2. Teo states that Tos depiction of the Triads is more localized because he shows them as more progressive and logical compared to their Italian counterparts. In real life, however, triads do not elect their leaders as much as there is a ruthless free for all and who ever is left standing is the winner. It was just recently that Government officials became democratically elected as pointed out by the police officers quote in the film. In both senses the elections were started to modernize the organization (HK and the Triads).

3. Teo argues that Election 2 is more political of a film because in the end the actual government of China is involved in perpetuating the violent ideals of the triads. This reflects the socio-economical issues of the time in the way that China refuses democracy in HK under the pretexts of peace and order just as the Triads refuse democracy amongst themselves.

4. I think the Tos depiction of violence without guns is violence in service to a greater cause; whether it be respect or in search of peace. I think that in election this is taking it a step further by being shown in an urban environment (where guns are easily available) to show the higher meaning. Anyone can pick up a gun and shoot someone but to stab someone is to get close to them and physically cause the act of death.

5. This question is tough, im gonna come back to it before monday

2. Teo claims that To is an active agent in genre evolution because he is taking an auteur approach to genre films. On one hand To examines social values such as heroism and a criticism of it but he also experiments with his films in terms of style too. So even though the characters may not seem as warm and inviting the gunfight sequence in the mall is a perfect example of his style as an auteur within genre films.

4. I think what Teo means by that statement is that throughout Tos films there are moments that fall into the idea of genre film and then there are moments that stick out at “Jhonnie To” moments. These “Johnnie To” moments are the ones that we associate with To being an auteur. However, these moments are varied throughout all of his films in terms of where they appear and the subject matter they cover and thus create the “inconsistencies” that Teo speaks of. Teo considers these a value rather than a fault because if they were consistent they would become a part of the genre as a whole rather than be attributed to To as a director.

5. A. One method To uses in overcoming the constraints of genre film structure is the idea of plurality. Instead of having the film stay in one genre in films like “Running on Karma” he explores various different genres. He also shakes up the genre in films like “Throwdown” where Judo replaces gunplay as the standard means of settling dispute. This plurality carries over into the overall messages of the film where one film will cover Christian ideals where the other will cover Buddhist ideals.

B. During the time these films were made was a time when the market and the entire area were in constant flux. Since auteurs generally start making films during a certain time period that then go on to define director, To hasn’t really had that chance because there have been numerous changes in “time-period” since To started making films. Also, since filmmakers generally try to capture what’s going on at that time in their films this “flux” will definitely show through in each film.
C. Since Tos films are generally inconsistent there is going to be some thing’s that hit and some thing’s that miss. Since post-modernism is an idea that celebrates the bad with the good it also implies that we should embrace the flawed films if they show signs of auteurship from the director.
D. Since the time-period that all these films came out in was a period of constant change and ups and downs the audience receptiveness will change as often as the economic and political status does. The directors would also have to respond to these changes not only as people experiencing them (just as the audience) but also they would have to respond to the changing audience ideals. This broad church comes from the widening of the genre over time due to the constant re-tooling from directors like To.

2. Jianghu is a world in which the criminals and police officers all answer to a higher code. It is this code that determines the action of the film. This term applies to martial arts films as well as the films that To has made that don’t fit all the criteria for an “Urban Western”; the ones that are still based on the concept of loyalty.

3. To feels that the gun is the key element of the Western/Urban western and is supported by Robert Warsow who says that the two most successful types of film involve men with guns. The gun is important in the physical sense as it represents violence but also in it’s use. This “infrastructure of violence” is also supported by Tos gun-slinging cast who operate in the city which is an area known for its propensity towards violence. The relationships that are involved in the gunfire also denote the nature of the violence.

4. Mythical Violence is the idea that all that is going on in the film is controlled by Jianghu, a mythical element. This violence isn’t about petty crimes but about honor and duty. While people are dieing and there is blood being shed it’s all happening for a higher reason which makes it more acceptable and also carry more weight. In To films this comes out in the stylization of the violence as the characters do not act as if in a real gunfight but rather in a choreographed sword fight.

5. To feels that auteurship should be looked at in terms of narrative intelligence rather than genre. That is to say: The way a story is told is more important (and thus where To gets his autership) rather than the genre of a story. Steve Neale believes that autership can only exist in a group of films from one director that seem to stand alone regardless of genre.

6. Kowloon noir (named after Kowloon city) is an idea that dark forces always seem to be at work. This dark force, the destiny machine, seems to constantly be bearing down on the characters influencing their decisions and actions.

Gabbeh

For some reason I felt like I had seen this film before but I think that is because of the colors of the costumes (I think Im confusing it with that film about Afghanistan whose name escapes me). This film was difficult to follow in a fun way. When the film first begins to transition between the story being told in the film and those who are telling/watching it there isn't much warning and it is quite jarring. After that one gets an idea of how we are being shown everything but it still maintains a surreal quality when switching back and forth. The old mans performance was really good, he pulled the "sad old man" thing off perfectly.
Watching films from far away places, in both the cultural and legitimate sense, puts a lot of our social practices in perspective. With this film it focused around marriage and how different generations were treating it. I realize that there is some artistic input but the basic principles of how it is viewed by the characters remains the same.
The costumes clash against the background is also something that I noticed throughout the films. It's not that the location wasn't colorful, it was gorgeous, it's just that the colors on their outfits are so vivid it mutes the background colors by comparison.

Response part dos

2. In A Moment of Innocence the "rule of modesty" is obvious in that fact that we very rarely see any women at all, much less in close up or unveiled. We are shown the mother of the actress only in long shot. It's something that's supposed to be respectful of women but it only seems to make them look like sheep.
The problem that would arise is that women in the home can act and be relatively normal. Having the woman veiled and distant inside the home would make it tough for the audience to see love between the two; if love is the idea of course.

3. In the quote he talks about how the overall meaning of a film is spoken through various parts of the image, whether it be in the subject matter, mis en scene etc. What he says after that is that sometimes the way that a filmmaker chooses to speak this language is sometimes lost on the viewer because they don't bring enough knowledge to the table. In the quote he doesn't state outright that he is speaking about his own particular film style but I feel that it has something to do with it. Mottadeh says that the filmmakers must learn to change the language of the cinema to have a universal meaning.

A Moment of innocence

This was the second time that I've seen the film and I will admit I was pretty excited to see it again. I was anticipating the parts that I remembered but I was surprised numerous times about the funny bits I'd forgotten.
I had forgotten about the parts where it seems to switch back and forth between the film we are actually watching and the one that's being made in the film. That 2-film element is also part of the films overall appeal to me. It keeps the audience guessing through the blurring of realities as well as adds many awkward opportunities.
Makhmalbalf has a wonderful sense of humor: it's family friendly but not so much to where it still draws good laughs. The nervous guy with the unibrow had a face that was comical even though the timing of a lot of the jokes is off because of the reading-the-subtitle delay. Most of the memorable gags were visual and much easier to absorb quickly.
Knowing that the story of the police man is actually true gave the movie a much more emotional feel. I like knowing that a movie is based on something that happened in the filmmakers life since I feel they would have a much deeper vision in this over any other subject.

1. By stating that spaces and places are both real and imaginedvBranford is saying that in his films, Kiarostami tries to show a realistic portrayal of people in a certain place/space while also making a commentary on the social interactions and happenings of said space/place. He furthers this also buy exploring different ways of expressing these spaces/places in physical terms.
2. The importance of repetition in Kiarostamis film is to get the viewer to grasp a sense of the area as a physical. Using the cemetery example from “The Wind Will Carry Us” we are shown Behzab making numerous trips to the cemetery. Each time he does this the visits are under a slightly different context because of what has happened in the film up to that point. Thus the site gains importance by the 4th trip because of its repetition in the film. When numerous spaces are repeated each one gains important through context of the others and thus encourages the viewer to view them as Kiarostami intended.
The visual-rhymes are images that don’t necessarily fit into the story of the film but also guide the viewers perception of the area.
3. Kiarostamis films are staged mostly outdoors because it is too difficult to avoid the censors of the female/male gaze rule. Rather than focus on the “interior life” filmmakers choose to focus on the exterior social goings-on. He also uses staging outdoors as a narrative device. By staying outside mostly he forces the viewer to make conclusions about what is going inside.
7. Though Dabashi says that Makhmalbafs early films were “religiously charged, ideologically loaded, and politically frightening” he also states that because of his upbringing and background his films had the ability to unite all those who came from circumstances like his.
8. In the second phase of Makhmalbafs career (86-88) he takes a lot of the politics out of his films and begins to focus more on the social problems that come from the politics he vehemently distresses. Instead of dwelling on the “why” he turns his eye towards “what is this causing.”

Number 1!

1. What are the 5 areas in which art cinema generally distinguishes itself from Hollywood Cinema?

According to Tytti Soila, art cinema distinguishes itself from Hollywood Cinema by addressing issues of cinematic aesthetics and practices, displaying formal innovations, including social and psychological realism, affirming certain directors as auteurs, disturbing classic realist narrative codes as well as temporal and special constructions.


2. How does Tay suggest that Kiarostami’s reception in the West relates to these 5 areas?

Through Kiarostamis blatant self-reflexivity he places himself as a moderator between the subject and the audience so that an “authorial dialogue” can take place. Rather than presenting something as a text he brings the film out and the audience in. In doing so he creates new meanings both aesthetically and politically which gives him not only the authority to comment on contemporary Iranian culture but also gains him recognition in doing so.


3. What was Ayatollah Khomeini’s attitude towards the cinema?

He felt that the cinema is a useful tool for educating young people and advancing society but he feared that at the time it was a “center of vice” and dragging young people back into the time’s of barbarianism. He also felt that this stemmed from a misuse of the medium by their rulers.



4. Name two significant policy changes after the appointment of Mohammed Khatami as the head of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Orientation.

The first was the banning of all commercial distribution of videocassettes and the closing of all video clubs. The Farabi Cinema Foundation was also created to oversee these reforms. Reporting to the Deputy Minister for Film Affairs the FCF was put in charge of regulating the importation and releasing of foreign films (as well as pre-revolution films) so that only European and Japanese directed films would be the only alternative to recent domestic releases.


5. Briefly explain why domestic audiences for Iranian films rose from one million in 1983 to 7.6 million in 1985.

The FCF lowered the tax on showing domestically made films and raised the tax on foreign films. They also relaxed the strict censorship standards that existed prior to the revolution, which kept most films from being banned.


6. What was the significance of cutting the soundtrack during the school prayer in Homework?

To save the audience from having to listen to a prayer recited in such an automatic and less-than-devout way. It was also a subversive attack on the way the school is attempting to control the children through various means and obviously not succeeding.

11. The part that I kept coming back too in the clip of Homework was the center framing of the interviews and the lack of depth. It remained very claustrophobic even with the reverse shots of Kiarostami. I think this added to the attitude and mannerisms of the children since most of them seemed nervous and “put on the spot.”
I liked how he took the sound out of the prayer scene and then guised in under the terms “out of respect.” It’s funny that even the censors understand its intent and removed it from the domestic showings.