Class Minutes- August 3, 2004

 

 

I.  After handing back the Respiro assignment, Professor Reimer went over his expectations for the oral presentations. The oral presentation should be viewed as a means to present the written paper to the class.  The speaker should appear organized and prepared.  The use of visual props was suggested; power point is not a requirement.  Next, the class discussed good writing rules.  Dr. Reimer pointed out some common mistakes, such as the overuse of the passive voice and the use of dangling modifiers and incorrect verb tenses. 

 

II.  We then discussed the movie Carmen, directed by Carlos Saura: 

 

  • Kiersten felt that a cultural clash was made evident by the competing music in the first scene.  As the Spanish band played flamenco music, Antonio listened to opera music.  The different types of music battle each other while cultural perceptions battle each other.
  • Jason pointed out that Saura’s movie was an adaptation of the French opera Carmen.
  • The illustrations behind the opening credits depicted Spanish gypsy dancers as the French would have seen them in the 19th century.  The French romanticized Spanish gypsies; they were viewed as exotic, dark beauties.  Gypsies were thought to be talented dancers and musicians.  By contrast people stereotyped gypsies as thieves and pickpockets in the 17th and 20th centuries.
  • Saura uses mirroring as a structural device throughout the film.  He often reprised images found early in the film with those that appeared later.  Some examples:
    1. Upon being introduced to Carmen’s husband, Antonio feels as though he has lost Carmen.  Later Carmen reassures him that she loves him.  A later scene mirrors this one.  During the card game between Antonio and Carmen’s husband, Antonio loses the game.  Upon the loss, the two men have a “dance off” where Antonio comes out on top. 
    2. The relationship between Carmen and her husband mirrors the relationship between the fictional characters in the opera Carmen.
  • Antonio’s fantasies allow Saura to shift the line between reality and fantasy.  When Antonio tells the dancers to make him believe their characters, he actually begins to live the story of Carmen.
  • The movie shifts from documentary to film the moment that Carmen’s character enters.  All actors but Carmen are cast under their own names.
  • The class had varying opinions on the ending of the movie.  Some believed that Antonio killed Carmen, while others believed that it was just a part of the act.

 

III.  We viewed the opening and ending of Breathless starring Richard Gere.

 

  • The movie opens with Gere reading a comic book.  After getting a few laughs out of the comic, he flippantly decides to steal a Porsche.  Once he is behind the wheel, a woman characterized as a blonde bimbo leans into the car, asking him to take her with him.  He refuses and heads down the road to the sound of Jerry Lee Lewis on the radio.  His reckless driving soon catches the attention of a state trooper.  A police chase ensues.  When Gere is cornered, he reaches for the gun he had found earlier in the glove compartment.  The gun goes off and by chance hits the cop. 

 

  • The movie ends with Monica confessing to Jesse that she turned him in after seeing their pictures in the newspaper.  He urges her to deny her love for him.  She is barely able to do so.  She decides to stay with him as he flees from the cops.  In the end, the cops corner him.  In the final scene, the camera flips back and forth between Jesse, Monica, the cops, and the gun on the ground near Jesse.  Jesse breaks into song and dance as he stands between Monica and the cops.  The movie ends with a freeze frame of Jesse.

 

IV.  Next we discuss the differences between McBride’s Breathless and Godard’s Breathless.

 

Jesse vs. Michel:

  • Mark points out that Jesse is less of a scoundrel than Godard’s Michel.  Not only does Jesse veer off the road to avoid hitting a rabbit, but also he puts his jacket under the dying cop’s head.
  • Jesse is established as childish in the opening scene where he is shown laughing over a comic book.  Michel is presented to be dim and without substance, but from a more existential viewpoint.  Michel is a criminal with some redeeming qualities: like most French, he loves his country.

 

Setting:

  • Jesse steals the car at night.  Michele steals cars in broad daylight.  By filming during the day, Godard was trying to defy the film noir genre. 

 

Patricia vs. Monica:

  • In the French version of Breathless, Patricia is an American studying art in Paris.  She is objective and calculating.  She turns Michel in because it might ruin her career if she doesn’t. 
  • Jesse’s girlfriend, Monica, is a French woman studying architecture in America.  She is more sentimental than Patricia.  She doesn’t want to turn Jesse in, but when she sees their pictures in the newspaper, she feels that she must.