Class Minutes for June 13, 2002

Class began with the review of the questions for the movie Run Lola Run.

1a)Which elements of the story are exactly the same each time, if any?  There is always a black and white spiral on the store, Manni's starting position is always the phone booth, each retelling begins with

Lola dropping the phone, sprinting out of the apartment, and her mom calling after her, and in each retelling Lola screams,etc.

1b)Which elements change?  The people who Lola bumps into or meet during her run change their actions and their background stories, Lola's has a different incident each time on the stairs, Manni's reaction at 12:00, each ending of the retellings are different,

how the money is obtained, etc.

1c)Which elements are found in only one or two of the versions? The scene of Lola and Manni in bed, the truck breaking the glass, Lola goes inside the bank twice, etc.

2)What are the themes of this movie?  That is, what is the film about?  The theme of the film is time; urgency.

3)Describe the music.  How does it change during the film.  Each retelling has a pulsating techno rhythm where gradually Lola's voice grows stronger during each tale.  The lyrics of each song conveys Lola's feelings and thoughts.  The first retelling has a jazz

song playing during Lola's death scene making it surreal. 

4)Pivotal scenes and importance:  Lola's and Manni's death scenes-sets up for the next retelling. The introduction-explains how the story begins. Manni receiving the money from homeless man-gives a

solution Gambling scene-Lola obtaining the money legally

5)Why is introducing a soccer match an appropriate way to begin the film?  It goes with the theme and feeling of the movie: Fast paced action and going around in circles.  Also, the game has rules but they can be used to your advantage if you want.  Finally,all games have same conditions but outcomes are different.

     Next the class watched Black Orpheus, set in Brazil during a carnival, by Marcel Camus which is based on the myth "Orpheus and Eurydice". It is about a girl, Eurydice who comes to stay with her

cousin,Serafina, because a man,who is death, is trying to kill her. While she is in Brazil, she meets Orpheus,who is engaged to Mira. Orpheus and Eurydice fall in love and keep their romance a secret from Mira who is extremely possessive of Orpheus. Meanwhile, death has been chasing Eurydice off and on.    The day of the carnival Mira discovers the romance of Orpheus and Eurydice and threatens to kill Eurydice

if she comes near Orpheus again. Eurydice takes Serafina's place for the carnival and hides her face with a veil. Mira discovers the truth and attempts to kill Eurydice but is stopped by death who chases

Eurydice into an abandoned building. Eurydice grabs an electric powerline and is killed when Orpheus, looking for her, flips the switch.

   Orpheus unable to accept her death looks for her soul at a church service. A women is taken over by a spirit and Eurydice talks through another ladie's body to Orpheus. She tells Eurydice not to look back or he will loose her but he does and he looses Eurydice forever. Orpheus then collects Eurydice's body from the morgue and carries it home but is stopped at the top of the cliff by rocks being thrown at him by Mira.     She hits him in the head with a rock and he loses his balance and falls off the cliff holding Eurydice's body leaving Mira screaming. Two boys and a girl then play Orpheus’s guitar believing that his guitar would make the sun rise.  The sun rises, the children are convinced that the boy now has the gift to make the sun rise, and the kids dance along the cliff.

Questions for Black Orpheus:

1) How does Marcel Camus transfer the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to film?

2) What role does carnival play in the film?

3) Describe Camus's use of colors?

4) Describe Camus's use of music?

5) Compare Camus's film with Jean Cocteau's Orfee. What are the similarities and differences in the story? What are the similarities and differences in the way the story is told? 

6)  Are you familiar with any other versions of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice or with films that have a similar theme of coming back from the dead?

7)  Why do you think this myth holds such power over the imagination?