Montage

Sergei Eisenstein

Image against an image

Meaning together

Submitted by Michael Levy

Loneliness in "The Asphalt Jungle"

     John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) seems to have an underlying theme of loneliness. This is often shown through the narrative and the mise-en-scene. The most obvious example of this is Mrs. Emmerich (Dorothy Tree), given her desire to spend time with her husband and get out of the house. She is also only ever shown lying alone, lost in a bed that is intended for two people. However, this underlying theme of loneliness follows the other characters throughout the film as well.

     In the opening sequence of the film, Dix (Sterling Hayden) is shown running through a big, empty city alone. The angles of the shots used in this sequence, reminiscent of German Expressionism, further emphasize this feeling of loneliness by showing more of the landscape and how there is no one else around. These angles also help to create a subjective feeling of anxiety that Dix is feeling as he is running from the police.

(Shots from opening sequence)

     Dix’s loneliness follows him to the end of the film. Even when Doll (Jean Hagen) is with him, it is clear that Dix has no interest in her being around, but rather seems to take pity in her loneliness and lets her come with him. However, when Dix dies, he is shown alone in the shot. As he approaches the farmhouse and falls, Doll is not in the frame. As soon as she does enter the frame, she almost immediately runs out and leaves Dix with the horses, as if to signify that the only companionship Dix ever needed was that of a horse.

     Another depiction of loneliness comes with the conversation between Doc (Sam Jaffe) and Cobby (Marc Lawrence) after paying Louis. While Cobby and Doc are in the same room, they are shown sitting very far from each other. This shows that even though the characters in the film are interacting with each other, there are few personal connections being made.

     Perhaps the most interesting case of loneliness in the film is that of Mr. Emmerich (Louis Calhern). However, Emmerich seems to be unwilling to face this loneliness. With no romance left in his marriage, he has a relationship with Angela (Marilyn Monroe); however even that relationship seems to be unfulfilling. This is shown through the rather passionless kiss the two share before Angela goes to bed. Emmerich finally faces his loneliness near the end of the film with his suicide. The mere thought of going prison for any period of time, totally alone and surrounded by men unlike him, forces Emmerich to accept the fact that he seems to be destined to be alone.

     Doc seems to be the most accepting of his loneliness. After being in prison for as long as he was, he seems to long the presence of women, looking at the calendar in Cobby’s place, talking about chasing girls in Mexico, and watching the girl dance in the restaurant on the way to Cleveland. However, he does not seem to act on his desires, merely talking to a prostitute instead of doing anything else. While he does ask Dix to accompany him to Mexico, Doc seems to prefer to be alone, having always planned on traveling to Mexico alone.

Submitted by Michael Levy

Review: Rogue One

The latest entry in the Star Wars film franchise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards, 2016), gives the audience the story of the opening crawl to Star Wars (1977). This story gives us new characters as well as background on long-established characters, many of whom had Expanded Universe stories that have since been deemed "Legends" and are no longer part of the official Star Wars canon. The film also provides the audience with some tying up of loose ends and a small amount of fan-service that thankfully comes nowhere near the amount of fan-service J.J. Abrams gave us in The Force Awakens (2015).

The film brings back the characters of Red Leader, Garvin Dreis, (Drewe Henley) and Gold Leader, John "Dutch" Vander, (Angus McInnes). This is a logical move given that the events of the film take place roughly ten minutes before the beginning of Star Wars and it is unlikely that there would be many, if any, changes in rank amongst the Rebel fleet. The film is also notable for the appearance of Blue Squadron. The Red Squadron in Star Wars was originally written as Blue Squadron, however due to filming before a blue screen, the color was changed to red so the blue markings on the X-Wings would not appear as stars in the film. Also notable in Rogue One is the death of Red 5, which explains why Luke would later be known as Red 5 when there was a fleet already in existence. But what is one of the most interesting pieces of fan-service in this film is the display of death sticks[1] being stored in a Rebel soldier's helmet.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the special effects. The CGI in the film is often used to emulate the effects used in Star Wars during the production of the film in 1976. A striking example of this is can be seen when a Star Destroyer is destroyed. The entirely CGI ship appears as a plastic model breaking apart (the original Star Destroyers themselves were built from pieces of plastic model sets). However, the CGI in the film also serves as the most controversial aspect of the film. Rogue One uses CGI to resurrect Peter Cushing to reprise his role as Grand Moff Tarkin. The film also creates a young Carrie Fisher to reprise her role at the end of the film. The noticeable difference in appearance of these two characters, in part due to the level of CGI technology and the prior knowledge of the death of Peter Cushing and the appearance of Carrie Fisher at the time, brings the viewer out of the realism of the film. Similar to how Kracauer describes the juxtaposition of a real ocean and the fabricated set of Elsinore in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, the unnatural movements of Tarkin's mouth and facial expressions next to a living human serve as a reminder that the character is in fact CGI. [2]

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, aside from being a film created without the input of George Lucas, seems to detract from Lucas's original concept behind 1977's Star Wars. Originally, Lucas had intended to create a film that would come across as a foreign film. For example, if we watch a film by Akira Kurosawa, we see references to a rich culture that we may know little to nothing about, but they appear in the films and we are able to follow what is going on even though we may not know the specifics of a samurai. In Star Wars, Lucas added a lot of references to things such as the Clone Wars and the Kessel Run, but these are never explained in the film. By making a film that shows the sequences of the crawl, Rogue One detracts from the mystery of the story of the 1977 film. Granted, this same argument can be made about all of the Star Wars films, but there is the difference that Lucas himself detracted from the mystery, thus making an artistic choice of what to explain and what to keep mysterious, pre-existing culture.

All this aside, Rogue One is a promising start to the "Star Wars Story" films after what was generally a disappointment from The Force Awakens. With less pressure in continuing the Skywalker story, the "Star Wars Story" films should allow for different styles of films and stories to be set in the Star Wars universe, something that was originally explored through the Expanded Universe and the fan films that have been lovingly embraced by George Lucas himself. However, it is unclear as to how these new films will affect the original six films. For example, I have not watched Star Wars since I saw Rogue One, but I imagine there will be things that will be hard to not think of, such as how Captain Antilles knows that Vader knows that they were, in fact, not on a diplomatic mission since they were just seen leaving the Rebels', "first victory over the evil Galactic Empire," the battle of Scarif.

[1] Obi-Wan Kenobi was offered death sticks in a bar on Coruscant by Sleazbaggano in Attack of the Clones (Lucas, 2002)

[2] Kracauer, Siegfried, Theory of Film p. 36

Submitted by Michael Levy

Review: The Fifth Element

     The Fifth Element is, hands down, my favorite science fiction movie. Upon looking at IMDb, I'm disappointed to see that users have only given the film 7.7 out of 10 stars. That's downright heartbreaking (not bad for IMDb standards, but the equivalent of a C+, it deserves better!). The dialogue is creative, the costumes are imaginative, and the kitsch that the film exudes is an aspect that I adore.
     The movie takes place on Earth, very far into the future. New York City soars even higher into the sky; people drive flying cars above the "fog," underneath which is a forgotten NYC. Gary Oldman plays the villain of the film, named Zorg, sporting an impressive American accent. He works for some mysterious man, and conspires to retrieve four mystical stones, which have the power to destroy an evil force, floating somewhere in space. It's vague, and the villain doesn't seem to have much motivation, but it's enough of a problem (meaning, incipient apocalypse) to motivate Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) to come out of retirement for one last hoorah. Meanwhile, Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) is cloned from ancient DNA - this "supreme being" has been engineered to save Earth, and she knows where the stones are. Being the kitschy movie that it is, the movie ends happily - Korben and Leeloo save the planet, and fall in love.
     When I watch this movie, I'm not watching for the plot; I just about know it by heart. Instead, I'm taking in the zany costumes and hair colors, I'm relishing the chemistry between Willis and Jovovich, I'm enjoying the playful camera work and the mostly fluid representation of gender. I've seen this movie tons of times, and sure, there is comfort in familiarity, but I never seem to get sick of the kitsch. Leeloo has a moment of crisis as she begins to think saving humans isn't worth it, until Korben starts listing things that are worth saving. "Like love?" Leeloo asks. It's cheesy, but it's heartwarming to the romantic in me. Zorg's temper tantrums, too, are alluring in a way. Zorg is a dangerous man, but not dangerous in the way of Kylo Ren's bumbling, childish fits of rage; he's a cunning villain that knows how, when, and who to strike.
     I could go on for days about The Fifth Element. Sci-fi movies have always intrigued me; the successful combination of the genre with humor and romance only makes me love the movie even more.