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Film Presentations (12/03/03 Notes)
Nis Nicholaison (Music in Run Lola Run)- Techno music theme throughout the movie - Music is central to the film - Only interrupted by short blurbs of “classic” pieces of music - Tykwer known for “Wintersleepers” - Run Lola Run is a continuation of the theme of continual incidental run-ins between characters; used in: o Sliding Doors o Groundhog Day - Many of the tracks in the soundtracks are very similar - The “unanswered question” by Charles Ives, heard briefly in the middle of the film, examines a philosophical question of awareness - The narrator of the film, Hans Paetsch, is well known for narrating German fairy-tales, a fact that puts the absurdist story of Lola into perspective. - The movie centers around the idea of “what do we know, what are we aware of?” - The third part of the film contains a certain tribal feeling to the music - Tykwer seems to have spent a lot of time in pre and post production with editing and music scoring - Franka Potente (spelling?) sang most of the music for the film
Holly Ericson (Comparison of Deafness in Children of a Lesser God & Beyond Silence) - Both films broadly deal with deafness - Children of a Lesser God was directed by Randa Haines o An American film o John & Sarah (both deaf) seek to find common ground to build a relationship o Deaf students are isolated from hearing society at boarding school o John helps Sarah express herself o Themes: appearances, isolation, importance of talking - Beyond Silence was directed by Caroline Link o Originally a German film; English subtitles added o Lara grows up in a home with deaf parents o Parents interact with hearing society and Lara speaks for them o Lara wants to play the clarinet but has no parental support o Themes: family, deaf people’s struggles in a hearing world, appreciation of music o Lara says she doesn’t want to be handicapped just because they (her parents) are o Snow is also used a metaphor to silence/deafness - Both movies were award winners and displayed realistic obstacles deaf people might encounter - Recommend Children of a Lesser God if one wants to see a love story with a feel-good ending - Recommend Beyond Silence if one is looking for a more realistic portrayal of a deaf person’s life
Paige Smith (Different Styles in Europa, Europa & David) - Europa Europa (1990) Directed by: Agnieszka Holland o Dark style o Main character’s name is Zoli o Zoli was 13 years old when the Nazis smashed windows and Zoli hid in barrel naked o Neighbor finds boy in barrel and saves him o Zoli becomes separated from family and ends up at an orphanage o Orphanage bombed and Nazis discover he can speak Russian o Commander wants to adopt Zoli but send him to “Hitler Youth School” o Zoli seems to be happy through it all o When he runs away the Russians capture him, try to kill him but his brother saves him - David (1979) Directed by: Peter Lilenthal o More of a serious film o Very “cut and dry” in style o Rather obtuse directing o David is sent to a labor camp but allowed to return him at night o His family sent him to live with friends who were not devout Jews o Still a dark film even in comparison to Europa, Europa; perhaps even a bit boring o Actors were not as convincing as in Europa, Europa
Heidi Peters (Comparison of Stalingrad & Enemy At The Gates) - Vilsmaier directed Stalingrad o Film presented from a German viewpoint o Looks at how the Russians and Germans survived against the odds o Very realistic as to how the war actually happened - Enemy At The Gates (2001) Jean-Jacques Annaud o Set around Zaitsev who is a Russian sharp-shooter o Danilov is a writer who tells about Zaitsev’s daily kills o The director uses Zaitsev and Koenig as a portrayal of the final outcome of the war o High entertainment value but prefer Stalingrad because it is more accurate and less “Hollywood” - Background information o Hitler went to war with Russia because he knew he couldn’t fight America directly o Stalin wanted to get “the people” to fight and not retreat to the east o Stalin had a “not one step back” policy where if anyone retreated they would be kill on site - Enemy At The Gates is less accurate as it is too Hollywood - Vilsmaier shows a more accurate portrayal of Germany (almost helpless) not dissimilar from the Russians - Both movies highly recommended, particularly Stalingrad
Eujung Nam (Nowhere in Africa and its music) - Directed by Carolina Link (2001) - Themes are o Tolerance of other cultures o Understanding of family members o Understanding others and their ways of life o Love - Film uses a more classically styled orchestra score but also layers it with modern music as a segue to the score - All other information is contained in Eujung’s handout
Class is concluded with a heads up to those persons who are to present on Monday (12/8/03).
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