Holy Motors: So Which Parts Made Sense?

Image result for holy motors After a quick break from the confusing and unusual movies that we watched in the course through Goodbye Lenin!, we are back to the strange and challenging movies but on a whole other level through Leos Carax’s Holy Motors. Looking at the film itself, it was very hard to comprehend. It was different and frustrating, but it was not boring at all because of how it is animated and constructed. Instead of the usual reaction to a movie wherein you ask questions about what you do not understand after watching it, I found myself focusing on the few things that I understood and made sense of. Although confusing, I quickly realized that the film’s focus was not about understanding the movie. It did not have a classical narrative and instead, it focused on the experience and the reactions of watching the movie.

Focusing on the character of Oscar, who goes through different appointments throughout the day, portraying different roles that really showed his commitment to what he was doing. I found myself intrigued after each role and portrayal as it seemed like a completely different person every time he went out of the limousine. As his job was to completely replicate the character depicted in the envelopes for his appointments, it was amusing to see how he was so passionate but at the same time, it seemed as though he was also getting tired from the different roles that he had to play. At the end of the movie, it seemed as though his real identity was never shown since the scenes that seemed realistic such as when he picked up his daughter from the party, was also part of his acting.

One of the interesting things that I the structure of the film was somehow operatic. The use of music was also intriguing for me such as when Kylie Minogue’s character suddenly sang and when Oscar played the accordion with a bunch of random people that appeared out of nowhere in a church. These sequences did not seem to have a connection but it still worked. After the film, I also had a lot of questions because of the inconsistencies that were presented. One of the things that the film portrayed was how death seemed reversible in how Oscar was suddenly cured whenever the scene cuts back to the limousine. However, Kylie Minogue’s character who also had the same job as him seemed to be dead when she jumped off the building—so was she really dead?

There were a lot of things that I completely do not understand about the movie—why the limousines were talking at the end of the movie, why the family that he went home to at the end of the film were chimpanzees, what his actual job was and why some of the characters that he interacted with were also doing the same job, and a lot more. This made me reflect on what the movie was really intended for and that it was simply for the pure sense of gesture. Despite the movie not being clear and coherent, I still found myself appreciating Holy Motors for how it was. As a fan of videography and cinematography, I appreciated how the movie was shot and it was definitely visually appealing. The film tackles the different roles that we have to play as a part of our life and how we present ourselves vary depending on the different situations that we find ourselves in. Watching Holy Motors was a completely different viewing experience to say the least, but it really shows the complexity of cinema, art, and creativity.

Good Bye, Lenin!: Lies Out of Love

Given the first few films that we watched in this course, Good Bye, Lenin! was the movie that I enjoyed watching the most because it was so much easier to follow and it was more relatable. Having studied the context of history when the film was set, the events were already familiar with how the situation was in Germany at that time and the film was able to incorporate different elements, being a tragicomedy film, to make it even more interesting to watch.

Just by watching the opening sequence, I could already tell that the movie will be about family as the montage of Alex’s family was shown that set the mood and expectations of the viewers. It provided the basic information needed to give a background of the story, which was something that was lacking in the previous films that we watched in the course. After seeing Alex being arrested during a no violence protest, Christiane, Alex’s mother, collapses and falls into a coma. She slept through the different events that happened in Germany such as the fall of the Berlin wall and the transition to a capitalist society. Being an activist herself, she wakes up still fatally ill as any form of excitement or heightened emotions can be dangerous for her. Alex goes as far as watching old news to hide what was actually happening and it was touching for me to see the extents that Alex was willing to go to just to keep her mother safe. Despite trying hard to hide the truth, Christiane finds out about the truth and even reveals the truth about their father.

The film revolves around Alex’s love for her mother, making sure that from her mother’s perspective, nothing has changed. The plot itself was very interesting for me as it shows the situation in Germany from the perspective of Alex’s family given their mother’s situation. It speaks of the untold stories that might happen in times of crisis that is not usually tackled in films since most give importance to the events themselves. It also showcases a part of their culture of still giving importance to family given everything that was happening in their country. The film tackles a lot of aspects and also showcases the development and the struggles that the characters went through. For instance, Ariane, Alex’s sister, always longed to see her father, who abandoned them. Her conflict is somehow resolved as Christiane reveals the truth about the father, which was ironic as she reveals the truth after she figures out what was actually happening in Germany.

What I also liked about the film was the comedic aspect that was incorporated—from Alex’s search for the pickle jars and the fake telecasts made by Alex’s friend. These details also reflect the reality of capitalism in Germany and how even Alex was longing for things to go back to how they were before. Overall, the film was very enjoyable and touching, unlike the confusion and frustration that the previous films made viewers feel.

The Five Obstructions: Film as a Form of Art

Movies usually work in different ways, each having their own structures, narratives, and variations from the usual practices. This can be seen in the first three movies that we watched, as each film had something new to bring despite being released in a span of just a few years. Our latest film, The Five Obstructions, by Lars von Trier, was also completely different as it deviates from the usual film structure.

The Five Obstructions was sort of like a documentary, with how the shots were filmed and how it was constructed but it was also sort of like an anthology in the sense that different variations of the same film were shown, each having a different twist to it. It serves as a post script for Jørgen Leth’s “The Perfect Human,” released in 1967, as the film revolves around the challenges given by Jørgen Leth to Lars von Trier in reconstructing what he deemed as a masterpiece and a perfect film.

The film was a bit confusing for me because of how the shots were made and how the transitions were done. It was made of different variations of the same film and behind the scenes shots, which included the thoughts of the directors, the discussions about the film, and processes that they went through. The Five Obstructions allowed the viewers to see the process of the film-making to the end product through the perspective of the directors. It included the exchange of thoughts and arguments that unwinded how the finished versions came about.

After watching the movie, I appreciated the love that they showed for what they do and how Lars von Trier was willing to step out of his comfort zone just to give respect and recreate The Perfect Human, despite the difficulties that he encountered. One of the things that I think could have made the viewing experience better was highlighting The Perfect Human first, since it was the basis of the recreations and I personally have never heard of it before. I also think that the film could have been more enjoyable if we watched The Perfect Human prior to it without the thoughts of the directors. There were also parts that were too slow and dragging, especially some of the conversations that were shown.

The visuals used in the movie definitely caught my attention and left me intrigued as to why Lars Von Trier kept going despite the difficulties that he had to endure. One of the things that I realized was how the film focuses on their love for film-making. Given the challenges proposed by Jørgen Leth, it allowed him and the viewers to see the different perspectives of how the film could have been made. In this way, they are able to portray film as a form of art. When it comes to art, there are no limitations, given the limitless ways that The Perfect Human could have been remade. There are also different interpretations to art, represented by the recreations of Lars von Trier, which also give viewers a better appreciation of the film.

A Look on Plot, Cinematography: The Experience that is the L’Avventura

220px-L'avventuraSmall.jpg Looking at merely the first arc of the film—from the introduction of the characters, the wealthy upbringing, the passion shared by the characters, to the unexpected and mysterious loss of the seemingly primed major character Anna—it was beginning to look like any other film, since creating a conflict which would presumably be the center of the story. It is not the case in L’Avventura, however. The film is not about the search for a mysteriously missing woman. It is about the adventure.

The film does not follow the typical or the norm with a well-made and seamless flow of scenes in a plot. Somehow, I am also compelled to say that the film does not even feel like the normal films. Looking at how the Michaelangelo Antonioni picked the angles of the scenes and the noticeably zoomed-in frames, hearing the obvious candid sounds, realizing the obvious unsystematic plot, and noticing the blatant vibe that everything seems to be fake, the film was really less about the story, maybe a little bit about the character, but it is mostly about the experience of watching. Because only through experiencing the film on a deeper level would I be able to make sense of the characters and the unconventional plot.

I can vividly remember one of the first scenes where the camera was angled at the back of the car, as if I—the viewer, the spectator—was there along with them, on a journey. After the more than 2-hour ride of watching the film, I was drained and empty.

The experience allowed us to be in the awareness of the characters and their struggles, thus tiring. The dialogue and the different frames and actions in the film showcased how the characters seem to be problematic in a lot of different ways. They were not convincing in a sense that they could not embrace their full characters, showing hints of conflict brewing up internally.

Sandro, for example, faces the conflict of being Anna’s lover but he had troubles satisfying his sexual needs at the time when Anna was missing. His persona, being the missing woman’s lover, was challenged in the process. Eventually, somehow he has managed to lose the side of his character being Anna’s lover in a certain sense, confirming that his character shows no insistence or strength to fully embrace the character. In the case of Claudia, she faces an identity crisis throughout the film. From the beginning, she has always stayed by the side of Anna. And, this was somehow challenged when Anna was gone. There was struggle as to who she would be, and she manages to lose her own and mirror Anna instead. This is seen in numerous instances—the clothes and all. They were unconvincing, as if they themselves want to leave their own characters, which is a possibility given their backgrounds. This could explain how they sort of want an escape from a seemingly socio-political structure that they are boxed in.

Ultimately, L’Avventura shows manifestations of a truly innovative and visionary film. It was not like any film that I have seen. Sometimes though I feel as if there is a misalignment of what the intent of some scenes are to their overall effect. There was not a story being developed in the story, instead the film dug deeper into characters and into the setting through the unusual, blatant, somehow candid sounds and through the angles showcasing the landscapes and the zoomed-in faces of the characters.

L’Avventura is indeed tiring, probably to most or to a lot of spectators. It is exhausting for the mind, for the typical viewer who tries to think, who tries to connect the different scenes into one cohesive story arc that makes sense. But, it is not the intent of the film to narrate a typical storyboard that followed the normal paradigm. The film is designed to catch your attention, to capture your senses—your sight, your hearing, so that somehow you would feel and you would be part of, as the title of the film goes, the adventure. Though tiring and exhausting, it was indeed an adventure that was one of a kind.

Persona: An Unpleasurable Art Cinema Classic

Most movies are usually created to satisfy people and for them to have a pleasurable experience while watching. However, some movies are intended to make the viewers feel uncomfortable, which is how Bergman’s film Persona was. After watching the film, I honestly felt bothered, confused, and disturbed as I left the room because I could not comprehend what I watched at first, and even when there were moments wherein I thought I was following the movie, I ended up being more and more confused as it went on.

The beginning of the film showed disturbing images that set the mood of the film from the very start as it is a psychological drama. Accompanied by a musical score which was haunting that contributed to the overall experience of the movie, images such as an impaled hand and the killing of a lamb were shown before the film started to focus on the two main characters, Elisabet and Alma. Elisabet is an actress who decided to stop talking despite being perfectly healthy, and Alma was her nurse. Since Elisabet could not speak, the film focused on showing her facial expressions, body gestures, and how she was really attentive in listening to the stories Alma shared about her life. This became ironic as Elisabet became the one comforting Alma because of her troubled past that she cannot seem to let go of. The series of disturbing videos were repeated as transitions again in the film that did not really make sense for me but then it signified that something was about to happen. This was used when Alma confronted Elisabet about the letter that she wrote, which included the stories that Alma shared. This was an important scene in the film as when Alma was about to pour boiling water at Elisabet, she finally breaks her silence saying, “No, don’t.” This was not actually the first time that she spoke but it was the only time that Alma was certain since she also whispered to her before.

The confusion continues as the characters seem to have had similar experiences and as the film went on, they seem to become more and more identical. They both experienced trying to abort their babies but Elisabet failed and this resulted to her hating her son. There was also a scene where Elisabet’s husband appears and sees Alma as his wife and they end up making love to each other while showing how Elizabet reacted. This shows how the film’s plot can be confusing because it did not really explain everything and left it to the viewers on how to interpret what was happening. There is also a sense of uncertainty whether some of the scenes actually happened and if not, whose imagination was being shown? Another instance of this is when Alma confronts Elisabet about her child was repeated, which I interpreted as giving emphasis on the importance of this scene to the movie. In this scene, Alma rattles on about how Elisabet just played the part of a happy mother and how she looks at his child with disgust since she really did not want to have the child. The ending was very puzzling for me as Alma proclaims that she is nothing like Elisabet but it also includes showing previous shots of them together and their faces overlapping, as if they are the same person.

Persona was a very complex film despite its supposedly simple plot, but the different elements along with the fitting musical score and uneasy feeling that were inflicted on the viewers did not really make the viewing experience a pleasurable one. Despite the complexity and confusion, I got how this movie is considered as an art cinema classic.

A Woman is a Woman: Different, Yet Intriguing

Coming into this course, I expected to watch films that are different and unique compared to those that I usually watch. To start the course, A Woman is a Woman was the perfect movie to set the mood and my expectations for the rest of the films that we will be watching throughout the semester. It was visually playful, weirdly different, and entertaining. It was visually playful despite being released in 1961 since I initially expected it to look like the usual old films. I would consider this film to be weirdly different because it was not the typical story that I see in movies. The use of music, the unusual way that the movie was shot, the dialogues, and the times that the characters acknowledged the presence of the camera were some of the things that made the film different. One of the things that was quite disturbing for me at the start was the bursts of music that also stopped abruptly, which was a bit confusing for me since I did not see the point in it. For instance, one of the scenes that highlighted the play on music was when the soundtrack stopped whenever the character sings, which was very contradictory but somehow, it works when you look at the entirety of the film. In addition, Godard was able to add a comedic element to the movie to keep the viewers engaged and intrigued by whatever was happening.

The plot was also very different, portraying some of the qualities and cultural differences in European countries. Focusing on three main characters, Angela’s portrayal showed how she was desperate to have a child with Emile, her partner, who refused to have one. This led to her frustration throughout the movie which ends up with her sleeping with Alfred, Emile’s best friend, who liked her back. In the end, Emile realizes that he wanted to be the father if she bears a child so he also gives in. The ending perfectly showcased the title of a woman is a woman in terms of knowing what she wants and knowing how to get it regardless of whatever she has to do to get it. In my opinion, one of the problematic things in the film is a lack of the back story or the background of the characters to show how the story came about and why they act the way they do. It did not allow for the audience to really connect with the characters in the movie and sometimes drifted from its plot causing confusion and even unanswered questions for the viewers.

Godard portrays neo realism in this film as he focuses on the natural and realistic portrayal of things. This can be seen in the subtle mistakes that the director allows to be part of the film which added to the qualities that made it unusual in certain ways, but it works. Some scenes come out of nowhere and did not really explain why it became that way that was really confusing for me, but it surely left me intrigued. This also brought a funny aspect to the film that was enjoyable for the viewers despite its non-conventional methods, especially for me who loves movies and who wants to explore more types of films.

Despite being different, the movie was overall entertaining with the visual display and playfulness of the characters that brought life to the film. It was a great movie to start off the semester with and to give us a tease of what to expect in this film class.