Monday, February 18th:

We discussed Carmen!, which we watched on Wed. 

-introduction by Reimer on the film; Handed out

assignment questions for Blue and Run Lola Run.

-Group work; we separated into groups and discussed

the questions dealing with Carmen.  Reimer came around

to the groups, while the groups stayed relatively

immobile, we were really into it, except for Ryan, who

hated the film.

-full discussion:  Each group went over specific

questions.

1)Opening Sequence(what occurred from start to

musicians)it was mentioned that the film begins on

stage, in a rehearsal/tryout for the role of Carmen;

then the opening credits role while images from the

opera  Carmen flashed on the screen and music from the

opera played on top of it; Then there was a sequence

with everyone practicing.  It was all one shot, and

went from the dancing girls to the musicians playing

and clapping.  Then it went over to Antonio, who was

playing the original music.  The musicians then went

over to him and played their version.

2)Similarity of scenes(Clapping out of rhythm-both;

Antonio meeting Carmen's Hubby, then having a card

game)1/AB-The similarities of the first two were that

they mirrored each other, Antonio counting out the

rhythm for Carmen, trying to build her confidence and

stature. The second was Carmen counting out the rhythm

for Antonio, trying to get him to really perform.  The

second seemed to be a breakdown of Antonio while the

first was a build-up of Carmen

2/AB-The similarities in this scene were of looks and

tension.  The tension from the first scene, where they

meet, built the tension in the second scene where they

gambled.

3)Other Mirror images- A)The fight between Carmen and

Christina in the Tabacalera, and the scene with

Antonio and the Toreador. They both had large group

movement backing the leaders of their respective

sides. B)The mirror scene of "Jose" and Carmen, after

the tabacalera fight was mirrored by the scene of

Antonio dancing post-coitus and the image of Carmen

appears, dressed in costume(figment)

4)All the World's a stage(and all the people in it

crazy)Saura blended the film so wonderfully, meshing

the real and the theatrical rather well.  There was a

sense of realistic, documentary style movement, but

that was transposed on to the movement of the

fictional story, and there was fusion of the two

planes.

5)When is reality first obstructed?

When Carmen comes on the camera: she is the only one

that is not using her real name.  Also, in the

Tabacalera, when Christine and Carmen fight, the real

is lost to the fiction, in that they are enemies in

real and perform the ritual in the fiction.  There are

many places, but the first one, as Reimer said, is

when Carmen enters.

6)The End?  I have no idea what was said, but I do

know that the end was a brilliant exposure of the

medium.  Saura takes off the final fig leaf, exposing

the film to the veiwers.  It rests neither in fiction

nor in reality but in both, and therefore makes the

audience angry, not knowing where to put their minds.

-we then took a look at the New German Cinema, but

didn't get too far.  It started in 1962, trying to

redefine the German cinema, which at the time was not of high quality.