The Seventh Seal: Contrast and Conflict

Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 movie, The Seventh Seal, is a striking film that boldly brings some of life’s most basic question to center stage. Throughout the film, opposing details are at work to demonstrate the conflicting possibilities of reality. The juxtaposition of light and dark, black and white, sinister and comedic, holy and evil, joy and agony, and, most notably life and death, are major elements in the films development. The main character, Antonius Block, a knight who has return from 10 years of crusading, is tortured by his uncertainty about the divine powers and is plagued with the looming possibilities of an empty eternity. When death comes for him, he postpones his ultimate destiny by challenging death to a chess match. Meanwhile Antonius looks for answers to the torturing questions of life. His search for a black and white answer is reflected throughout the film with numerous images that illustrate this conflict.

In the opening images of the movie, contrast is introduced to the audience overtly. The opening shot captures only a shot of white clouds in the sky. With a fade, the audience is introduced to the strong image of a single black bird hovering up above. The black silhouette of the bird against the white clouds immediately introduces the struggle between white and black that will continue throughout the film.

Antonius’s conflict is also introduced early with revealing images that combining light and dark. The first close up we see of the conflicted protagonist on the beach, is marked by a contrast created with lighting. He kneels on the beech looking up to the heavens. While once side of his face is brightly lit, the other is plagued by a dark shadow. This further illustrates the struggle between the belief in God and the suspicion of his absence, which Antonius Block later accidently articulates to Death.

               

 The opposition of black and white is even noted verbally when death and Block begin their game of Chess. Death chances to use the black pieces and notes “Black is becoming for me.” The black at white chess pieces in a sense become a representation of life and death. As long as Antonius Block’s white pieces prevail, so does life. Should the black pieces defeated the white pieces, death will have his way.

               

 Because the film is in black and white, the lights and darks of the film become central to the theme of the story. Black and white are in constant opposition to each other; one representing life and light and the other representing death and darkness. The examples of the opposition are nearly endless.  Ingmar Bergman recognized the power of opposites and utilized the light and dark symbols to articulate Antonius Block’s struggle with the truth and destiny.

Nights of Cabiria Post

Fellini tells the story of a “hooker with a heart of gold” in Nights of Cabiria without the stereotypical happy ending. It begins with her being thrown in the river and ends with her almost meeting the same fate. Both incidents are at the hands of her would-be saviors from a life of prostitution, and in both incidents they prove to be cads out to steal her money. As an Italian film, the gestures of the actors and dialogue are emotion filled. Much of the story is shown through Cabiria’s expressive face in close-up shots of her emotional journey. One could almost follow the story-line even without subtitles. Guilietta Masina gives life to Cabiria through her face and her physicality. The viewer knows who and what she is without having to be explicit about it. She is approaching the end of her days as a party girl and wants nothing more than to find the man of her dreams and have a “normal” life and we are led to believe that it is going to happen for her; unfortunately, it is not to be and her pain is very visible in her face as she realizes that. At first glance the ending seems to be very sad but it can be said that it is a testament to Cabiria’s resilience that she gets up, dusts herself off, and begins to walk back to the world she left.

The story is told within the confines of one small area on the outskirts of Rome, as if to signify Cabiria’s small world.  Her days and nights are shown to consist of her small house, group of friends, and her profession is alluded to without being expressly shown. She only ventures out to attend the mass and when she meets the famous actor, both events end in disappointment so she returns to the little house she holds so dearly. It is a source of pride for her that she does in fact, own a home, and has not found herself living among the people of the caves. Though it is perhaps, foreshadowing that she happens upon the man taking supplies to those that are, as if to show that is where she is headed.  As viewers we want a happy ending to this type of story, we have become invested in her as she has shown her emotion so eloquently throughout the film. Sadly, Fellini does not allow her that, though it is telling that she does not die at the conclusion of the film.

Cabiria wants her life to end when she realizes Oscar is just another unscrupulous thief and as she gives him the sum total of her net worth she begs for him to end her misery. She cannot face going back to the life of street hustling, now homeless, and humiliated. Had Fellini ended the film that way though, I believe it would not have stood the test of time. Cabiria rising among the ashes of her dreams to face her future and looking at the young people celebrating with a wiser eye, reminds us that as long as there is life there is hope.

Jessica Davis, Group 2

The Searchers: Eathan Edwards Identity

The complexities of a human’s attitudes and behaviors can never be accurately explained or predicted.  In John Ford’s 1956 film, The Searcher’s, this reality is explored through the primary protagonist, Ethan Edwards, played by John Wayne.  Wayne’s character exemplifies the complexities of the human spirit. Ethan Edwards is a character that displays significant complexities that enable the audience to identify with his character. Edwards, like humanity, is caught in an intricate tangle between honesty and deceit, violence and compassion, and respect and rebellion.

Ethan Edwards, character from the start, raises question of his credibility. He refuses to disclose to his brother where he was the past few years, after the war. Additionally when Ethan pays is brother in “fresh from the mint” coinage. The audience is asked to question his reliability and honesty.  After finding Lucy dead in the canyon, Ethan hides the fact from the boys. Despite his tendency to hide the truth, he displays admirable habits of honesty and forthrightness. As the film begins, his decision to honor his oaths to the Confederate army shows his honesty.  Edwards told Marty that he would search for Debbie longer than the Indians would run and that they would get Debbie back. He did just this. Though Ethan conceals much of the truth from the audience and other characters, he maintains a respectable honesty that the audience can admire.

 The inconsistencies between Ethan’s respect for authority and his rebellion are another complexity explored. Many times thought the film Ethan is speaks against the Reverend and refuses to be commanded.  Upon being given an order by the Reverend, Ethan says: “Ok, but if you’re wrong, don’t you ever give me another [order].”He also outright refuses to take an oath for the reverend when he confronts him. As the film nears the climax, the reverend asks Ethan to hand in his gun, and he does. Ethan also shows respect for his promises. As previously discussed. Ethan respects his oaths to the Confederate Army and his promise to bring Debbie home.

Finally Ethan Edwards, simultaneously, shows incredible displays of compassion and violence. Edwards shoots irrationally into a herd of bison just out of spite for the Indians who would eat them later. He shoots the eyes out of a dead Indians head to keep his spirit wandering in the spirit world. Eventually he scalps Scare, the Chief who kidnapped Debbie. However, Edwards is an extremely compassionate man. We see his tender love for his brother’s wife and daughters. He gently places a Kiss on Martha’s head and later gives his jacket to bury Lucy in the canyon. He holds the rescued Debbie in his arms and says: “Let’s go home, Debbie.” Eventually we see his compassion for the family friend, Marty, who he seemed at first to despise. His violence and compassion are exemplary of his complex character.

Ethan Edwards’s character cannot be defined by any one characteristic. He is honest and dishonest, violent and compassionate, defiant and respectful. His complexities make him an appealing character. The audience can not only admire Ethan Edwards, but can empathize with him as well.

               

Singin' in the Rain: What makes it great

When people think of Singin’ in the Rain two things automatically come to mind: the famous song that inspired the movie and the extravagant song and dance numbers. There is no question that the choreography Gene Kelly put together, while also directing and taking the lead role, is part of the reason that this is known as one of, if not the, greatest musical of all time. However these are not the only aspects that make this a great and notable movie in film history. One aspect that adds to the effect of this movie is the façade that builds the fame and fortune of Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood, and the overall plot of the movie being the transition from silent movies to talkies.

The façade of fame and fortune

This starts in the opening scene of the movie when Don Lockwood is begged to tell the story of his success from the very beginning. During his story he mentions multiple times that his motto through his success was always “dignity, always dignity.” The irony of this statement seeps through his whole story; as he is telling a grand tale of success starting from his childhood, what we see played out is a much different story. Don and his friend Cosmo actually took a rather long, weary, and pathetic path to get to where they were at the point of the premier they find themselves at. Starting with “performing for Mum and Dad’s society friends,” who would “make such a fuss over me”; while they were actually performing in front of a group of people and getting dragged away. They finally got to California where they were “stranded”, which seemed to be the only true part of the story; and while we are seeing the two of them leaned up against a wall in the pouring rain, he is telling everyone how offers were pouring in.

Also, we have the start of “fan magazines” talking about and making rumors of celebrity relationships. While the couple was very famous for the individual acting careers they carried, the theory of “wedding bells ringing” added to the fame and desire of these two in the movies, especially together. This is an aspect of celebrity life today that has not only continued but gotten much worse and more personal. But, it is a way to generate talk which is the way to fame and fortune.

Transitioning from silent to talkies

This actually made for a great plot in itself. This changed not only what we expect to see in movies but what we expect out of actors themselves. This posed an especially difficult change for Lina Lamont and many others. While Lina was not the best actress around, she also had a voice that made everyone laugh at her and not take her the least bit seriously. The film they were creating also struggled because they had to create real dialogue and say every word of it. The Jazz Singer caused a lot of problems for The Fighting Cavalier so they had to play to their own strengths which caused further problems for Lina Lamont. The façade of her own success was furthered with the dubbing of her regular voice and singing voice by Kathy Selden. The narrative of one crew struggling to make this ever important transition was very symbolic of how the whole industry had to do the same thing.

Conclusion

The singing and dancing certainly make this movie one of the greatest of its genre. However we have to look past the superficial effects to recognize what exactly makes this movie as great as it is. The façade of fame and fortune and the narrative of transition make this movie stick out. 

-Wyatt Butler

The Magic of Sunset Boulevard

The 1950 black and white film, Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, is a classic old-time Hollywood film that tells the story of Norma Descent. Sunset Boulevard is one of the most famous films for the reasons that it has unbelievable cinematography, unforgettable characters, and an appreciation of magic found in film.

The narrator starts this movie in a fascinating way-he’s already dead; eyes wide open and full of surprise, face down in a swimming pool. This is one of the many factors of the film that people find magical. During the film it’s hard to grasp the concept that the narrator is dead, yet he his telling this story of multiple scripts inside one main script. As an audience, we surrender to the story and believe that anything is possible, which is magic. It allows us to see the entire movie connected to the movie process. When the narrator, Joe Gillis, stumbles into the mansion of Norma Descent he is taken by surprise. Although Norma is your typical movie star who is obsessed with the idea of fame and everything that comes with being famous, her mansion is dreamlike. She has everything; she has the movies. Throughout the story, it is made clear that Norma has no limits and she will get whatever she wants because of her ego and imagination. We learn just how big her ego is early on when Joe refers to her as, “Norma Descent, you used to be big” and her response being, “ I AM big, it’s the PICTURES that got small.” 

Throughout the entire storyline, it is apparent that Norma has been brainwashed by the fame machine. Norma lives for the magic of movies. She wants to be ageless and as American’s, we expect them to be timeless. This is what Norma is struggling with the entire film because of the image that fame created in her mind. Our culture wants women to be ageless, which is impossible. But for Norma, she still see’s herself as the 17-year-old silent film actress. She’s built a world where everywhere she looks in her house, she is 17. Norma cannot understand why if she is so famous, why she can’t get any more movies. This is also Max’s fault because he is the one that writes her fan mail because she has suffered from a complete break with reality. 

Norma’s reality became the story that we the audience were watching. Her reality left her, and in a sense, it was a magical experience. Norma’s life was like a death sentence from her life of fame. The worst thing that can happen to a famous person is to not be famous anymore. At the point where she realizes Joe isn’t come back for her, she follows him outside shoots him. At the end of this scene, Max is at Norma’s side and she oh so beautifully says, “the stars are ageless, aren’t they?” Norma is not only fighting her age, but time.

Sunset Boulevard seems ageless, even if Norma Descent tragically is not. The films final minutes are the most memorable of the entire film. The crazed and deluded women is convinced to go quietly down the stairs to her awaiting car-to surrender, only by being made to think that she is experiencing her come back to the film industry. In the memorable conclusion of her grand entrance down her staircase, she believes that she is playing her most important role of her life, the role of Salome, from her very own script. As she is overwhelmed with joy, she stops to take in the moment and says the most famous line that is used in countless movies today, “I’m ready for my close up,” and she slips backward in time to her glory days- a time that has passed forever. 

Rashomon Post

Rashomon, Kurosawa

After sitting in the pouring rain under Rashomon, a commoner joins the priest and woodcutter. The priest and woodcutter looks pretty shaken up and the only worlds coming out of there mouths are “I can’t believe this; I don’t understand.” Since it is the beginning of the movie, the audience is left with a blank emotion onto what exactly they are talking about or not understanding in such a way. After a few moments the commoner sees the two and wonder the same thing as the audience (what are you all talking about)?

After words are spoken, the woodcutter tells his story on what exactly happen and all the other stories that were told. As discussed in English 281 this is no other than a murder movie or in other opinions a mystery murder. In every story that was told, all concluded that the bandit killed the samurai, but none of the stories correlated to why he was killed.

The woman played the sincere role as she told her story there were tears in her eyes and signs of unbalance in her heart. She did not exactly tell a clear story on what happen, but you could tell that she went against both men.  She insisted that she was raped and after seeing how her husband looked at her with a longing stare, she faint and accidently killed him with a dagger in her hand. In her story, she took all blame for killing the Samurai her husband, but why would she take the blame for killing a man that another said they killed.

The bandit told his story first, he explained how he did not intend on killing the Samurai. When it came down to it they fought and of course he won, but was surprised that the Samurai crossed swords with him 23 times. Why were there two different stories of who killed the Samurai, but both of the story tellers admitted that they both killed him. Is it that they are hiding something more in depth or what exactly is  going on?

At the end, all stories were told, but something was left out of one of the stories. The woodcutter told his story on how he seen the fight with the Samurai and the Bandit, but never mentioned what was used to kill the Samurai. When the commoner mentioned the dagger the woodcutter was kind of puzzled and tried to push past that part of the story and say he sold it in town. This film never really tells the truth, there were all lies told in each story or at least that is what we make out for it to be.

At the end of the film there was weeping coming from the back of the Rashomon. All three men seemed confused as they rushed to the back of the Rashomon. As they came upon the object that was making a weeping noise, what came upon their eyes was a baby, but where did it come from?

Calvin D. Brent Jr.