Julie Patrick

Minutes for 4/18/05

            It is the first day of reports and we are reminded that the information presented to us today will be on the final and we should pay attention.

            The first report is a comparison of the French film Le Retour de Martin Guerre and the Hollywood version, Sommersby.  Le Retour de Martin Guerre is originally a novel and took place in the Middle Ages.  It is about a young couple that is in a bad marriage.  The husband is lazy and impotent and disappears all of a sudden.  When he finally returns, he is the perfect husband and even gets his wife pregnant.  He and his uncle argue about money and his uncle accuses him of being somebody else.  This case was taken to court.  The wife defends her supposed husband until her real husband shows up in court. 

            The plot of Sommersby is similar but has a few differences.  It took place during the Civil War.  In this film, the husband leaves for the war and while he is gone, his wife starts a relationship with another man.  Six or seven years later, the husband returns, which angers the new boyfriend.  The boyfriend is upset and accuses the husband as being a fake and not really being the husband.  The husband ends up saving the town, while trying to prove himself to everyone.  We find out that the husband is wanted for murder and even if he is not the real husband, the other man that he could possibly be is wanted for scandal.  The wife claims that he is not her husband but he would not agree and ended up dying for the good of his wife and town.  The major themes of the two movies are:

Bad marriages

What is a marriage?

Can a person really change?: In Le Retour de Martin Guerre the husband can’t change and the movie didn’t deal with the issue of change very much.  In Somersby, even though the husband really is someone else he still had a bad past and proved that he was able to change.

Duty and honor in society: In Le Retour de Martin Guerre the wife was trying to live honorably while in Somersby it is the husband that ended up dying for honor.

            The major differences of the films were the time periods in which the films took place, what was on trial, and who the husband is versus who he was.  The husband character in each film is also slightly different.  In Sommersby he is played by Richard Gere and has more of a hero image.  In Le Retour de Martin Guerre the husband is more rustic and common.  It is pointed out to us that Martin Guerre wears a red cap throughout the entire movie to help the audience keep track of the real Martin Guerre.

            The next report was a comparison between the French Film Little Indian Big City and the Disney version Jungle 2 Jungle.  The thesis of the paper was as follows: Culture influenced decisions of the film directors.

            The films were about a young workaholic husband who neglects his young and lonely wife.  The wife eventually left him but did not divorce him.  The couple did not have any contact for twelve years until the husband wants to marry someone else but is not able to do so without finding his wife and divorcing her.  He finds her in Venezuela and discovers that he has a son.  The couple ends up reuniting and becoming a happy family.  The husband’s business goes well and they are also rich.

            Through the presentation, we learn that themes can be impacted by culture.  Some examples of this are that the husband’s excessive working was portrayed as a negative thing while the wife being a medical missionary is shown as a positive thing.  The son was also made to be a very polite, kind, honest, and obedient character to show the important characteristics in that culture. 

            There was also a contrast in the characters that was selected for the films.  The fiancé in the French film was space and into the new age.  She had no career and was dependent.  The Hollywood fiancé was bright, articulate, successful, and independent.  The film also did not mention anything about her religion.  In the French version, the partner verbally abuses his son and even smacks him often.  Of course this is going to change in the Disney version which shows family respect instead.  The Russian mobster was made to look stupid and a bit crazy in the French film.  He was even given a small, dingy apartment.  However, in the Hollywood film, he was clever and had a thriving business.

            Both films seemed to be careful about the actors that they used.  They were all popular domestic comedy actors that had nothing culturally negative about them. 

            Venezuela was used in both versions of film as one location.  As the other location, Jungle 2 Jungle filmed in New York and Little Indian Big City filmed in Paris.  New York was probably used because of its association with business and Paris was probably used because of the limited budget and convenience but it is also the center of France so naturally it would be picked as the big city.

            In theaters, The French version played mostly in France; however, the Hollywood version did almost as well in Europe as it did in the United States. 

            The next report compared Purple Noon to The Talented Mr. Ripley.  Although The Talented Mr. Ripley was filmed 39 years later and had a much bigger budget, both films were based on a novel.  Unlike the original film, the more recent film explored sexuality and Mr. Ripley was openly gay. 

            The presentation was based mostly on video clips and we were shown the murder scene from both films.  The scene in The Talented Mr. Ripley shows Mr. Ripley and Dickie breaking up with each other in a canoe because Dickie is getting married.  Mr. Ripley kills Dickie out of anger and did not plan it out ahead of time.  The scene was extremely bloody and emotional. 

            The murder scene in Purple Noon took place in a bigger boat in Italy.  The boat was named Marge (Dickie’s fiancé).  The two men were actually discussing the murder while playing poker and were a lot less emotional.  Mr. Ripley stabbed and killed Dickie but it was not bloody.

            The last report of the day covered Jakob the Liar and Life is Beautiful.  A very helpful handout was distributed to go along with the video clips that we were shown.  The thesis of the paper was: The role of humor in both films is both appropriate and pertinent to the films’ aims of understanding and condemning the Holocaust.

            The opening scene of Jakob the Liar began with a joke but was also gray and dark.  The jokes showed how humor can be used to help people through even something as horrible as the Holocaust.  Another contrast was shown when a man was chasing a newspaper throughout the town until he was abruptly stopped by people hanging.  The opening scene tells us to try and enjoy life even in terrible situations.

            The opening scene in Life is Beautiful was very bright, happy, and carefree.  Two men were driving around in a car and talking. 

            In the developing dilemma scene in Jakob the Liar, Jakob told a bunch of hungry people that he has a radio and can listen to some of the news.  This was funny but depressing since they actually believed him and gave them false hope since he is really lying. 

            The father in Life is Beautiful made up a game and explained it to his son.  The son was the only one laughing about the game and it was made up just to distract the boy from all the terrible things going on.

            In the Closing scene of Jakob the Liar, Jakob was sent away to a concentration camp where he died.  A brightly colored jazz band was playing in contrast and it has a happy and sad tone. 

            The father died at the end of Life is Beautiful but the prizes of winning the pretend game actually were coming true for the son.  He was able to see his mom again and even though his father died, he still thought he won the game.