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Oh well, even though I already wrote my essay, I still think it would be useful to take it apart and see what it’s like after finishing it.
Let’s begin with the fact that there was no concrete plan on what structure I want to have. And it shows. And yet, I’m satisfied with the way I managed to tackle the participatory and voyeuristic nature of cinema, and how Peeping Tom challenges it.
I wasn’t expecting to mention David Fincher and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that many times, but I couldn’t help but go back to all of those quotes. Might be my favourite BTS footage ever.
Overall, it was really interesting to analyse this 1960’s gem. Was genuinely surprised how many thoughts it provoked in my mind.
“You can make a wonderful film about nothing. Look at Fellini”
– Orson Welles
Harsh, but sweet, but also harsh, Mr. Welles.
Eight and a Half is a perfect example of therapeutic art making. How can one turn a personal and artistic turmoil into film? Be honest. Painfully honest.
The opening sequence perfectly illustrates the difference between Eight and a Half and all the previous films we watched in class.
Stuck in the traffic, Guido can’t move. He starts suffocating from the smoke that appeared in the car. No one helps him. He proceeds to fly away, in peace. He escapes his anxiety through dreams and creative process. He sees the final stage of the film. He can almost reach it, and yet he’s being pulled down. Back to square one.
Compared to previous films we’ve seen, Fellini goes into more personal experience, rather than trying to define industry as a whole. It is definitely noted, that the way film business works often stands in the way of creating. But he also goes beyond those ideas. Fellini’s past and present are being studied by Fellini himself. Auto-ethnographical research in the form of 2 hour film, that seeks to find the truth. Both artistic and personal.
All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability.
– Susan Sontag ‘On Photography’
Can you die more than once?
We think of murder as something horrific. We think of filming as capturing the moment. If one combines those two, it would create a high-contrast scene, where one would capture someone’s demise, and would allow others to relive it. Time after time after time.
What is interesting about this film, is how it’s giving away its biggest secret in the first 5 minutes. We see the death of a woman, and yet we wonder, “What is she afraid of?”. “What is that glare?”
She’s scared of the reflection of her last moments. The ones that we see ourselves, but don’t process them as such.
To point a camera at someone, is somewhat similar to pointing a gun at a person. We put them in an awkward position, the one in which they have to perform/act a certain way. In case of Mark’s murders, they are performing both to the camera and to themselves. They have to face their own vulnerability, which leaves them powerless. They don’t struggle. They just wait for it to be over.
The end scene depicts Mark willingly put himself in that position. He knows the ending of his film and his life. They coexist. And yet, when he faces the end, his reflection, and the camera, he is nothing but afraid. It is coming to an end. And he’s the one who has to act in this tragedy.
P.S I have way more thoughts, and I think I will focus on this film for my essay. So much to unpack here.
Film directors have this drape of mystery all over them. Every single one projects different ideas on their sets and films, which inadvertently changes other’s perception of them as people.
In this Billy Wilder’s picture, we see two quite drastically different depictions of a film director profession. One movie director is still a successful creative locomotive (DeMille), whilst the other is a has been that never adjusted to the new realities of filmmaking (Mayerling), and sinked on the bottom along his main silent film star – Norma Desmond.
The fact that Mayerling is Desmond’s butler is a perfect parallel to Desmond’s own predicament. She refused to jump on the train of progress, and Mayerling would only indulge her in her stubbornness.
And yet, DeMille is not much better in that matter. He would rather lie to Desmond, than tell her the harsh truth about her ability to come back to filmmaking.
That whole charade depicts that complicated relationship between a director and a star. And mainly, the risk assessment aspect of certain choices. Would you rather create a protected, cushion-like environment, or be willing to be upfront and honest with your actors?
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say that the film solely criticises film directors of that era. It actually portrays them as compassionate people, dedicated to their craft. DeMille would not sacrifice time and effort of his film crew on a project that is dead and buried from the very beginning. And Mayerling decides to pull off one last film directing gig, just to make his star feel desired again.
The mystery of directing hides in basic human flaws and strengths. And each and every director has to pick their own.
Hollywood depictions tend to lean towards one of these two extremes: glorification or demonisation.
Rarely we get to see a stoic, naturalistic depiction of the film industry. And I would argue that A Star is Born is quite pro-Hollywood. Yes, we see an example of Norman Maine, who was discarded by the industry, which led to his tragic demise, and yet, the ending of the film shows us an optimistic idea of the future of Hollywood led by devoted and hardworking actresses and actors.
I still think the film has quite a solid foundation for critical view on the film industry, and yet the tone of it, and the way a lot of problematic things are just swept under the rug, are tricking the audience into thinking that the good in the industry still wins at the end.
And even if it is the case sometimes, there is still a lot of things to fix. Even today, 87 years after the film’s release.
No piece of art deserves the sacrifice of one’s sanity in order to be created.
As we discussed in many other classes, you should always try your best to plan as much as possible during pre-production process. Inventiveness and improvisation are essential to the craft of filmmaking, but one should always make the shoot as comfortable as possible. To rewrite your script in the middle of production sounds like a big no-no to me. If you are unsure whether something works, spend more time on it before jumping into the action.
And even if something you created achieves cult status, it doesn’t justify all the questionable choices made along the way.
