European cinema

June 10th MINUTES

            Class began promptly at 1:15 with the discussion of the homework and the Carmen

questions. The class then broke into small groups and we discussed the questions amongst

ourselves.

            Around 30 minutes later we began a class discussion as a whole.

            Reimer tells us that Carmen is one of his favorite films and this is why he continues to use

it in his classes. The discussion of fantasy and reality blending begins. What is real? Saura plays on

this well in this particular film. All the world is a stage. EX. Shakespeare MacBeth we are dealing

with the fact that we are players and we create a story. Interpretations of this film will vary from

person to person.

            Question #1 Describe as closely as you can the music and visuals from the opening credits

until after Antonio finishes talking with the musicians and singer (about five minutes). The stage

and opera music sets the scene very rhythmic what is Saura setting up for us? 2 types of music They are juxtaposed fight one another for dominance. Association with Antonio and troop.  Antonio has a romantic image of opera as a ballet. A rehearsal is taking place. Antonio has his own image of Carmen.

            Question #2 Discuss the relationship between the following scenes: (a) Antonio is telling

Carmen not to let Christina dominate her and tries to get her to be more forceful by counting out

the rhythm. (b) Antonio is dancing for Carmen when she comes on-stage and counts out the 

rhythm for him. (c) Carmen introduces her husband to Antonio. (d) Carmen’s husband and

Antonio are playing cards.   It is a role reversal. Scenes that reprise earlier scenes. Reprises normally occur at the end of a film and change or comment on earlier usage of the motif, song, visual etc.. The mirrors are used as help to hammer home this point. The language used also helps the reflection of this film. The rivalry of the 2 men.

Reality vs. The fiction. Antonio the director vs. The real life husband.  Antonio the actor vs.

Carmen’s husband the fictional character. The scene draws us into Saura’s fantasy.

            Question #3 Directors often reprise images found early in a film with those appearing

later. Can you locate other examples? Another way to look at this question would be to ask

yourself if later images seem to be reflections of earlier ones? Seduction. Carmen tells lies in the

script and in real life Carmen is a liar but he still believes her just like the script says. This does not

matter toAntonio because he is in love.

            Question #4 Spanish literature often revolves around two metaphors; All the world is a

stage and the shifting line between reality and fantasy. Discuss how Saura develops these ideas in

the movie. Everyone is on stage ; being trained to sword fight; Antonio stands above the crowd

and tells them to make him believe. Even if it is a play make it reality. When Christina is cut with

the knife in the factory scene, the audience for just a split second believes maybe something went

terribly wrong, but then we realize it is only the play. This is trying to blend reality and fantasy.

            Question #5 Carmen can be seen as a documentary of the rehearsals for a stage ballet of

the story of Carmen and as a cinematic fiction of the same story. How does Saura keep

documentation separate from fictional narrative? How does he blend them? At what exact

moment does fiction merge with documentation? People who are aware of Spanish dance will

have different views rather than people without that background. The scene where we see

Antonio and Paco playing themselves and we see Carmen walk in as the character Carmen (where the real life actor is Laura del Sol) this is where we see fiction.

            Question #6 What is your understanding of how the movie ends. There is no wrong

answer. You just have to be prepared to cite evidence from the film for you conclusion. Imagination can be used to justify your answer. His obsession of the character and the

person he has chosen for the part allow for the blending of the characters. The music in the end is

Antonio's music. So which ever way you look at it he is killing either the character or the person.

            Next we talked about our midterm. Reimer told us to keep up with the reading in the

syllabus. Be able to discuss in a systematic way. Class discussion will be used on the test. Open

notes and open book;

            The class then moved into the other half of the room to view some short clips.

            We watched another Saura film in which he used a death dance to end the comedy. A

social and political message was being sent by using this in the film.

            Bunuel - director  Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

            Group of people trying to eat, but are always falling into an obstacle before than can actually enjoy a meal. This is another example of the world being a stage.

 Then we watched four films using the song Amazing grace. The 1st film used it in funeral scene.

 The second scene was used with a community gathering and then a shooting, the third film was

 Star Trek and Spock’s funeral very ironic usage of the song. The last film was Silkwood it is used

in serious context here.

             After this the teacher handed back our freewrites and we were dismissed.