World Film History II

1. World Film History II From Neorealism to the New Wave

2. Felix A. Morlion, “The philosophical basis of Italian cinematic neorealism” • Neo-realism's thesis is that the screen is a magic window which opens out on to the "real"; that cinematic art is the art of recreating, through the exercise of free choice upon the material world, the most intense vision possible of the invisible reality inherent in the movements of the mind. The basis of every good work of art is not what people think about reality, but what reality actually is. Through a shared vision of existence, both artists and audiences forget with pleasure those artistic inventions which merely served as means for the creation of that new-born thing ... The neo-realist school has taken a great step forward. It has forsworn vanity to reach the true aim of cinema: to express reality.

3. Luigi Chiarini: ”Neorealism betrayed” (1955) • People derived from the audiences' own reality replaced the pre-conceived characters in conventional narratives of the past • The chronicle (if we can call it that), events and facts culled from the daily existence of men, replaced the prefabricated adventures of novels and comedies • The throbbing photographic document replaced pictorial and figurative virtuosity • The cities and countryside, with people effectively living there, replaced the papier-maché scenery of the past

4. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith’s criteria for neorealism (1968) • Realistic treatment of subject matter • Popular environments • Social content • Historical accuracy • Political commitment

5. Neorealism: major directros and their films • LUCHINO VISCONTI: Ossessione (1942), La Terra trema (1948) • ROBERTO ROSSELLINI: Roma, citta aperta (1945), Paisa (1946), Germania anno zero (1947) • VITTORIO DE SICA: Sciuscià (1946) Ladri di biciclette (1948), Umberto D (1952) • ALBERTO LATTUDA: Senza pietà (1948) • PIETRO GERMI: In nome delle legge (1949) • GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS: Riso amaro (1948)

6. ”Neorealismo rosa” • ROBERTO CASTELLANI: Sotto il sole di Roma (1948), Due soldi di speranza (1952) • LUIGI COMENCINI: Pane, amore e fantasia (1953), Pane, amore e gelosia (1954) • DINO RISI: Pane, amore e ... (1955), Poveri ma belli (1954)

7. Toward existential cinema • Lighter camera equipment, more rapid film • More freewheeling, ’natural’ style of shooting • Episodic, lingering, minimalistic storytelling • Problematizing the relationship between the characters and their environment • The question of the ’human condition’ • Character motivation often obscure

8. Toward new cinema • ROBERTO ROSSELLINI: Stromboli (1949), Viaggio in Italia (1953) • MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI: Le Amiche (1955), Il Grido (1957) • FEDERICO FELLINI: Lo Sceicco bianco (1952), I Vitelloni (1953), La Strada (1954), Il Bidone (1955)

9. The staggering rise of Italian cinema • The economic miracle and the crisis of American cinema • Cultural life ideologically polarized by cold war antagonisms • Social change further acerbated the cultural battle • Films taking a social stand could reach mass audiences • Commedia all’italiana, italowesterns • The growth of volume: from the 1958 production of 141 feature films to 246 films in 1968 • The proportion of domestic films in terms of box-office receipt rose from 30.8% in 1958 to 62.3 % in 1972

10. The golden era of Italian cinema • PIETRO GERMI: Divorzo all'italiana (1961) • LUCHINO VISCONTI: Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960), Il Gattopardo (1963) • FEDERICO FELLINI: La Dolce vita (1960), Otto e mezzo (1963), Satyricon (1970), Roma (1972) • MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI: L’Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), L’Eclisse (1962), Il Deserto rosso (1964) • ERMANO OLMI: Il posto (1961) • PIER PAOLO PASOLINI: Accattone (1959), Il Vangelosecondo Matteo (1964), Ucellacci e ucellini (1966), Edipo re (1967), Teorema (1968) • BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI: Prima della rivoluzione (1964), Strategia del ragno (1970), Il Conformista (1970) • FRANSCESCO ROSI: Salvatore Giuliano (1962), Le Mani sulla citta (1963)

11. Characteristic features of Italian political films in the 60s and 70s • Emphasis on subjectivity and individual responsibility • Open plot, relative fragmentarity • The structure of the film as a part of its message • Revolutionary political and social content • Basic themes: corruption, colonialism, exploitation, revolution

12. Institutions created during the occupation • Comité d'Organisation de l'industrie Cinématographique (C.O.I.C.) founded in 1940 under former UFA producer Rouil Ploquin • Grand Prix de Film D'Art Francais • Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques (I.D.H.E.C.) under Marcel L'Herbier • Cinémathèque Francaise, founded byHenri Langlois together with Georges Franju strenghtens its position • Major producer: Continental Films led by Alfred Greven

13. Films and directors during the occupation • CHRISTIAN-JACQUES: La symphonie fantastique (1942) • MARCEL PAGNOL: La fille du puisatier (1940) • MARCEL CARNÉ: Les visiteurs du soir (1942), Les enfants du paradis (1945) • HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT: Le corbeau (1943) • JEAN GRÉMILLON: Le ciel est a vous (1944) Other artists working in the industry: Jacques Prévert, Pierre Laroche, Alexander Trauner, Joseph Kosma, Pierre Fresnay, Arletty

14. French ”cinema of quality” • Part of a national cultural project – although based on institutions created during the occupation • Big budgets and shining stars – often international co-productions • Adaptations of major literary works • Production values: elegant and glamorous sets and costumes • Carefully articulated dialogue • Spiritual and moral issues foregrounded but seldom problematized • Historical rather than contemporary topics

15. Quality films • JACQUES DELANNOY: La Symphonie pastorale (1946) • ANDRÉ CAYATTE: Justice est faite (1950), Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952) • CLAUDE AUTANT-LARA: Le Diable au corps (1947), L’Auberge rouge (1954), Le Rouge et le noir (1954) • RENÉ CLÉMENT: La Bataille du rail (1946) Jeux interdits (1952)

16. French 50s masters • MAX OPHULS: La Ronde (1950), Le Plaisir (1952), Lola Montès (1955) • JACQUES BECKER: Casque d'or (1952), Le Trou (1960) • ROBERT BRESSON: Le Journal d'un curé de campagne (1950), Un condamné a mort s'est échappé (1956), Pickpocket (1959) Jean d'Arch (1961) • JACQUES, TATI: Jour de fête (1949), Les Vacances de monsieur Hulot (1953), Mon Oncle (1958), Playtime (1967)

17. Anticipations of the New Wave in writing • ALEXANDER ASTRUC: ” Naissance d’une nouvelle avant-garde” – caméra-stylo • ANDRÉ BAZIN & JACQUES DONIOL-VALCROZE: Les Cahiers du Cinéma (periodical founded in 1951) • FRANÇOISE TRUFFAUT: "Une certaine tendance du cinema francais" (1954)

18. Social and cultural background • Big generations reached adolescence • Rapid urbanization, quickly constructed suburbs • American way of making business and industrial production replace small scale enterprises • National income more than doubled from the post war period → consumer society • American popular culture • The rise of existentialism, structuralism, semiotics, Neo-Marxism, Lacanian psychoanalysis

19. Rive gauche • AGNES VARDA: Cléo de cinq à sept (1958) • JACQUES DEMY: Lola (1961), Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) • ALAIN RESNAIS: Hiroshima mon amour (1959), L’Année dernière à Marienbad (1961), La Guerre est finie (1966) • ALAIN ROBBE-GRILLET: Trans-Europ-Express (1966), L'Eden et après (1970) • CHRIS MARKER: Lettre de Sibérie (1958), La Jétée (1962), Le Jolie mai (1962)

20. Nouvelle vague • CLAUDE CHABROL: Le Beau Serge (1958),Les Cousins (1959), Les Bonnes femmes (1960) • ERIC ROHMER: Le Signe du lion (1959), La Collectionneuse (1967), Ma nuit Chez Maud (1969), La Femme de l’aviateur (1981) • JACQUES RIVETTE: Paris nous appartient (1960), Suzanne Simonin, la religieuse de Diderot (1965), L’amour fou (1968), Out One (1970) • FRANÇOISE TRUFFAUT Les Quatre cent coups (1959), Jules et Jim (1962) • JEAN-LUC GODARD: A bout de souffle (1959), Pierrot le fou (1965), Le Gai savoir (1968)

21. 400 what? • « Faire les quatre cent coups » - to get into a lot of trouble, be a real troublemaker. • The title, Les quatre cent coups is literally translated as The 400 Blows; however, since it's an idiom, a direct translation is imperfect. The phrase loosely means "Raising Hell", and, while that's not an English interpretation, it's a reasonable approximation. The 400 Blows sounds like a movie about violence and abuse, or (if you're thinking in sexual terms) something salacious. When the film opened in the late '50s, more than a few viewers were treated to an entirely different experience from what they expected. (A widely circulated, possibly apocryphal story says that the Weinstein brothers attended this movie expecting a sex flick. They were so astounded by what they saw that their entire perspective on cinema changed, eventually leading them to found Miramax.)

22. Godard’s philosophical starting points • Philosophical basis: Sartre and Merleau-Ponty - Hegel • Continuity from writing to filmmaking – philosophy by means of film • Detachment from surface realism in order to gain a more intimate relationship with reality • What do images hide as they reveal? • Continuity between documentary and fiction, actuality and abstraction, visual and narrative • Counterpoint between a variety of materials • Collage rather than unity as an aesthetic ideal • ”Intertextual terror” (Rivette) • Deconstruction of all forms of representation

23. Some of Godard’s major films • A Bout de souffle (1960) • Vivre sa vie (1962) • Banded a part (1964) • Pierrot le fou (1965) • Weekend (1967) • Gaie savoir (1968) • Tout va bien (1972) • Histoir(es) du cinema (1989)

24. Few other French filmmakers • ROGER VADIM: Et dieu créa la fémme (1956) • LOUIS MALLE: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958), Les Amants (1958), Le Feu follet (1963) • JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE: Le Silence de la mer (1963), Le Samourai (1967), L’Armée des ombres (1969), Le Cercle rouge (1970)

25. England after the war • The country was significantly impoverished and had lost its empire • Monarchy and class society survived • Restoration of traditional values; fair play and decency • Extolling the nation, its unity, history and traditions: "Small is beautiful, old is good." • 1952 coronation was thought to begin a new ’Elizabethan’ era • Arts Council founded to promote fine arts - exclusively • Arthur Rank’s monopoly thwarted competition but was able to compete with Hollywood in the domestic market

26. England after the war: films • LESLIE ARLISS: The Wicked Lady 1945 • LAURENCE OLIVIER: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) ja Richard III (1955) • DAVID LEAN: Brief Encounter (1945), Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1947) • ALBERTO CAVALCANTI: They Made Me a Fugitive (1947) • CAROL REED: Odd Man Out (1947), The Third Man (1949), The Man Between (1953) • JOHN and ROY BOULTING: Brighton Rock (1947), The Magic Box (1951), Lucky Jim (1956), I'm All Right, Jack (1959) • LEWIS GILBERT: Emergency Call (1952) • BASIL DEARDEN: The Blue Lamp (1950), The Victim (1961)

27. Ealing-studios • CHARLES CRICHTON: The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) • ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK: Whisky Galore (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Lady Killers (1955) • HENRY CORNELIUS: Passport to Pimlico (1948) • ROBERT HAMER: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Father Brown (1954)

28. Other popular films • GERALD THOMAS Carry on Sergeant (1958), Carry on Nurse (1959) ... Carry on Doctor (1968) … • RALPH THOMAS Doctor in the House (1954), Doctor at Sea (1955), Doctor at Large (1957) • TERENCE FISHER The Curse of Frankenstein (1956), Dracula (1958) , The Hound of Baskervilles (1959) The Mummy (1959). • VAL GUEST The Quartemass Experiment (1955), Quartemass II – the enemy from space (1957)

29. Cultural pressures • Free cinema movement changed the tradition of documentary filmmaking • Working class theatrical plays • John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger (1956) followed by a wave of works by ’angry young men’ • The breakthrough of the French New wave at Cannes Film Festival • American youth culture

30. New Cinema – stylistic features • Shot in dreary Midlands industrial milieus • Domestic settings and problems, ´Kitchen sink drama’ • Characters genuinely working class, unheroic and deglamorized • Language of the streets • Unknown young actors • Black and white cinematography • Jazzy music

31. New Cinema films and directors • JACK CLAYTON: Room at the Top (1959), Look Back in Anger (1959) • TONY RICHARDSON: The Entertainer (1960), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) • KAREL REISZ: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) • JOHN SCHLESINGER: A Kind of Loving (1962), Billy Liar (1963)

32. Swinging sixties • Labour returns to power in 1964 after a 13 year period of Conservative administration • It is ’pop’ to be young, working class, fashion conscious, dress colourfully, go to discos … • The spirit of the age is crystallized in the ecstatic reception of the Beatles • In serious filmmaking there is a shift from social issues into depicting internal conflicts • British film industry is flooded by American money and independents face tough competition

33. Majior swinging sixties films • JOHN SCHLESINGER: Darling (1965) • RICHARD LESTER: A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Help (1965) • TONY RICHARDSON: Tom Jones (1963), Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) • LINDSAY ANDERSON: If ... (1968), O Lucky Man!

34. Foreign directors in Britain • JOSEPH LOSEY: The Servant (1963), Accident (1967) • MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI: Blowup (1966) • ROMAN POLANSKI: Repulsion (1965), Cul de sac (1966) • STANLEY KUBRICK: A Clockwork Orange (1971)

35. John Schlesinger: Billy Liar (1963) • Based on a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse • Adapted also into a play, musical and a TC sitcom – and inspired a few popular songs • Total Film has ranked it as the 12th in a list of the greatest British Films of all time • Protagonist is a Yorkshire lad who dreams about success and obsessively fools around with women • Schlesinger’s fundamental theme: the need to accept what appears second best because the best is not attainable – or, how to cope between your desires and the real world

36. The staggering rise of Italian cinema • The economic miracle and the crisis of American cinema • Cultural life ideologically polarized by cold war antagonisms • Social change further acerbated the cultural battle • Films taking a social stand could reach mass audiences • Commedia all’italiana, italowesterns • The growth of volume: from the 1958 production of 141 feature films to 246 films in 1968 • The proportion of domestic films in terms of box-office receipt rose from 30.8% in 1958 to 62.3 % in 1972

37. The golden era of Italian cinema • PIETRO GERMI: Divorzo all'italiana (1961) • LUCHINO VISCONTI: Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960), Il Gattopardo (1963) • FEDERICO FELLINI: La Dolce vita (1960), Otto e mezzo (1963), Satyricon (1970), Roma (1972) • MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI: L’Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), L’Eclisse (1962), Il Deserto rosso (1964) • ERMANO OLMI: Il posto (1961) • PIER PAOLO PASOLINI: Accattone (1959), Il Vangelosecondo Matteo (1964), Ucellacci e ucellini (1966), Edipo re (1967), Teorema (1968) • BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI: Prima della rivoluzione (1964), Strategia del ragno (1970), Il Conformista (1970) • FRANSCESCO ROSI: Salvatore Giuliano (1962), Le Mani sulla citta (1963)

38. Characteristic features of Italian political films in the 60s and 70s • Emphasis on subjectivity and individual responsibility • Open plot, relative fragmentarity • The structure of the film as a part of its message • Revolutionary political and social content • Basic themes: corruption, colonialism, exploitation, revolution

39. Cinema in East Germany • Nationalization of the film industry: Deutsche Film Aktiengeschellshaft (DEFA) • Socialist realism, struggle against American imperialism • Production hindered by endless debates about ideological purity; no toleration of ”formalist” experiments • Thaw period only lasted from 1953 to1958 • Back to depicting ”the ideal conditions of the workers and peasants state” and the historical struggle of the working class • Also fantasy, westerns and espionage films • Children’s films sold even to the West

40. Cinema in the West Germany • De-nazification imposed by the Allied forces • Necessity and need to come to terms with the past • Commercialization of the film industry – Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle, but also state control • Dubbing made even American war films palatable • ”Unpolitical humanism”, Heimatfilme • Victim mentality in war and return from the war films • The rehabilitation of the German main – soldiers included • The ideal of the modern, non threatening woman

41. Post-war film in Germany • HANS BURGER: Die Todesmühlen (1945) • WOLFGANG STAUDTE: Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946) • ALFRED WEIDENMANN: Canaris (1954) • HELMUT KÄUTNER: In jenen Tagen (1947), Des Teufels General (1955), Ludwig II (1954) • BERNHARDT WICKI: Die Brücke (1959)

42. The Oberhausen manifesto 1962 • 26 screenwriters and directors sign a manifesto in which they proclaim the death of the old production system and call for a new young German cinema • Severe criticism of popular culture following Adorno and other Frankfurt school thinkers • A social and political rather than aesthetic programme • Earned the subsidies both from the Federal and state governments • Film schools established in Munich and Berlin as well as a film archive in Berlin • Some twenty films made in 1965-68 on this funding • Stylistic features: breaking of diegetic illusion, non-psychological acting, documentary effect

43. Young German Cinema • ALEXANDER KLUGE: Abschield von Gestern (1966), Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: ratlos (1968) • VOLKER SCHLÖNDORF: Der junge Tröless (1966) • JEAN-MARIE STRAUB & DANIELLE HUILLET: Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach (1968).

44. Germany in the 1970-80s • Subsidies often end up in the production of commercial farce and soft-core pornography • Conflict between terrorism and authoritarian control • Still undigestured past • Feminism, gay movement and counter culture • Filmverlag der Autoren co-operative • Formal beauty and abstraction • Non-explicit argumentation • Sensuality, colours, emotions – to the point of morbidity • Vulnerability of the individual • Heavy symbolism and satirical realism

45. German films in the 70s and 80s • VOLKER SCHLÖNDORF: Der Fangschuss (1976), Die Blechtrommel (1980) • MARGARETHA VON TROTTA: Die verlorene Ehre der Katarina Blum (1975), Die bleierne Zeit (1981), Rosa Luxemburg (1986). • RAINER WERNER FASSIBINDER: Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte,Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (1971), Die Ehe der Maria Braun, Die dritte Generation, In einem Jahre mit 13 Monen (1979), Berliner Alexanderplatz (1980), Lili Marlene, Lola (1981) • WERNER HERZOG Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit (1971), Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972), Jeden für sich und Gott gegen alle (1974), Herz aus Glas (1977), Fitzcaraldo (1982) • WIM WENDERS: Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1971) Alice in der Städten (1974), Paris, Texas (1982), Der Himmel über Berlin (1987) • HANS-JÜRGEN SYBERBERG: Ludwig, Requiem für einen jungfraulichen König (1972), Hitler - ein Film aus Deutschland(1977)