Natural Born Killers

I had seen Natural Born Killers when I was 16 or so, so I didn't remember it in it's entirety. What I do remember very distinctly from my first viewing of it is how over the top violent it is, how completely insane it's two main characters are, and the scene in the grocery store that for some reason has only neon green lighting. The opening credits are impressive, there are some big names involved with this film that I was unaware of (Quentin Tarantino), and for a movie with such an all star cast and crew, I have to say, I expected more. Perhaps it's just a bit dated, or maybe my sensitivity to violence in film has considerably decreased, but I really didn't find anything particularly groundbreaking in this film. To me it just seemed like a campy, two hour long celebration of violence and rebellion. While this can be entertaining in it's own right, Natural Born Killers just didn't really do it for me. That's not to say that the movie isn't enjoyable to watch- it is- but I just didn't really get any sense of profound meaning or awe upon watching it.

The reading associated with this film is to a large extent concerned with the film and how it relates to portrayals and criticisms of pop culture. This is definitely a very central theme in the film, but one that I think it just as central, if not more prevalent, and a little more interesting, is the film's portrayal of the media. Robert Downey Jr.'s character, Wayne Gale, is a TV reporter, who primarily reports on violent or otherwise brutal and heinous crimes, crimes that he becomes obsessed with. We've all seen this, turn on any syndicated news channel and you'll see that the stories that pull in the most viewers are those of destruction, catastrophe, etc. Even in our pop culture violence sells, popular shows like CSI and Law and Order are based centrally around a violent crime occuring at the beginning of each episode, gangster rap music, death metal, all these things are rife with violence. Gale's character becomes increasingly more and more obsessed with interviewing Mickey and Mallory and recording many of their killings, much like the American media becomes obsessed with covering worldwide catastrophes. Furthermore, Gale takes it so far that he ultimately sacrifices his own life for the sake of covering the story of Mickey and Mallory, even going so far as to extend his arms as if he were on a cross, becoming, essentially, a Christlike figure.

One thing I particularly like about the reading is the statement that Natural Born Killers "effectively juxtaposes the competitive score-keeping of football and multiple murder". I love it whenever a movie or some other form of expression takes shots at the incredible amount of importance that many Americans place on professional sports in their lives. It has always seemed very bizarre to me that people can be so concerned with, and will spend copious amounts of money on seeing other people who are in turn very concerned with the position of a ball on a predetermined area of grass (these sports are also oftentimes quite violent). Billions of dollars go into watching the locations of balls on fields or courts of whatever. Strange. But, I digress...

Natural Born Killers is an interesting film, and I'm glad that I saw it again. It's probably not a film I would watch repeatedly for enjoyment, as it seems to me to be one of those "Okay, I get it" after the second or third time through kind of films. The dischordant pacing and psychedelic nature of the film can be a bit jarring at first, but if these two things were not in the film, I don't know that it'd even be worth watching.

Repo Man

I was pretty excited about watching Repo Man, as I had remembered seeing a couple scenes from it as a youngster, though admittedly I remembered nothing about the film other than Emilio Estevez being in it. So, when I heard the film contained a great deal of imagery related to the punk rock scene of the late seventies and early eighties (something I have a vested interest in), I perked my ears up. I actually took notes of several of my favorite punk songs that I noticed while watching the film..."Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies and "TV Party" by Black Flag being two examples (no Dead Kennedys!??!?). I think that the song "TV Party" in particular was a brilliant choice and the song suits this film perfectly. As we all noticed, Emilio Estevez's character is a bored, anti-establishment teenager with no sense of direction or purpose, and "TV Party" is a song that explores this type of American youth philosophy through the use of satire and irony, much as the film itself does ("TV Party" is a pretty visceral critique on this type of behavior). "We've got nothin' better to do, than watch TV and have a couple of brews" is the main line in the chorus from the song, and the music video features a bunch of young, bored punks (namely the members of the band) doing exactly that. Henry Rollins is the singer for Black Flag and has been noted for his use of extreme satire and often existentialist humor in his social commentaries about America, I was very fortunate to have seen him perform a spoken word routine a few months ago, and it was one of the best spoken word/comedy sets I've ever seen. Here's the video for "TV Party", note the similarities between it and Repo Man, the beer cans simply labeled "Beer", and the outlandish behavior, etc.




I'd never really thought of Repo Man as being a film of any widely-known cultural significance, or even as being a post-modern film, for that matter. After doing the reading, however, and especially with regards to the paragraphs containing short, unelaborate plot summaries of the film, I realized that Repo Man does in fact have what I consider to be some of the main aspects of post-modern expression, namely, a series of strange and loosely connected events, and a great deal of fragmentation. As a critic notes "What do a car repossession company, a smarmy TV evangelist, a handful of zoned out L.A. punks, a lobotomized nuclear physicist, a notorious pair of Hispanic car thieves and a Chevy Malibu with a trunkful of extraterrestrial aliens have in common? Not a whole hell of a lot, except that they're all key elements in Repo Man, a new comedy of staggering weirdness and originality." After reading this, the movie does seem to be exceedingly strange, but honestly, as I was watching it, it didn't really seem all that outlandish to me. The way the characters reacted to the situations they were placed in and the way the plot was structured seemed to be to be very engaging and reasonable. I'm not sure what this says about post-modern expression in Repo Man, but it was decidedly easier to follow than films like Mulholland Drive (which is one of Lynch's easiest to follow films) and Natural Born Killers.

One thing I noticed that I found kind of interesting was with regards to the blandness of the packaging of the various food products in the film, and the scenes that took place in the grocery store. The packaging of the food was all very standard, and the way things looked reminded me a lot of the scenes in Double Indemnity that took place in the grocery store. In Double Indemnity, the food and products in the grocery store were all meticulously arranged in grid-like or pyramid-shaped patterns, and the labels on all of these products were uniform, suggesting an oppressive atmosphere and a lack of expression or individuality. These devices were used in Repo Man in much the same way, and I believe that they very intentionally were intended to represent the oppression, uniformity, and lack of expression that many people felt they were subjected due to their suburban lifestyles. Interestingly, I did a bit of research on this, and it turns out that those food labels were actually used for generic product packaging at a grocery store chain in Los Angeles, and that grocery store chain donated many of the products in Repo Man for use in the film.

I know I probably sound repetitive, as I've said this before, but Repo Man is by far my favorite film that we've watched up to this point. The bizarre nature of the story, the wonderful, satirical, and oftentimes low-brow humor I found to be extremely effective and entertaining. And besides, who wouldn't want to fly all over Los Angeles in a glowing Chevy Malibu with a pyromaniac acid burnout?

Petey Wheatstraw

I was very excited to learn that we'd be watching a blaxploitation film for this class. I've been a pretty big fan of the exploitation genre for quite some time. I saw Blackcula quite some time ago and remember it being extremely bizarre, and bizarre films tend to suit my fancy perfectly. Exploitation films have everything the low brow film connoseiur wants- gratuitous gore and sex, very low budgets, forced acting with ridiculous dialogue, and absolutely outlandish and unbelievable plots are just some of those fine qualities. And I have to say, Petey Wheatstraw does not disappoint.

Petey Wheatstraw is very similar to some other films of the genre I've heard of or had experience with, films like The Mack and Dolemite come to mind. I have to say that some of the stereoptyes in Petey Wheatraw are so incredibly prominent and ridiculous I was almost surprised- I really appreciate it when actors and directors are willing to push the envelope with these kinds of things even if they may be deemed offensive by some. I think it's slightly absurd when people find exploitation films to be offensive- these types of film are basically low brow comedies, and people who take them seriously are missing something.

In terms of plot, it's a pretty standard cool pimp-like black guy with awesome martial arts skills beats up a lot of bad guys while being aloof with all the women who constantly fawn over him. When I see films like this, I wonder where all these stereotypes came from- sure there were and are some pimps out there behaving in ostentatious ways, but I'd venture to say they were, and are, a distinct minority. Additionally, blaxploitation films seem to very commonly feature people who use martial arts to defeat their foes, as opposed to the current day stereotype of urban violence being based around drugs and guns. Why is it, exactly, that all these incredibly ostentatious pimps or pimp-like characters learn or just happen to know kung fu?

One thing I wonder sometimes when watching exploitation films or blaxploitation films is with regards to the roles of the women in these films. It seems that the women, to a certain extent, are objectified or exploited in these films? Certainly that is the case with some of the films in these genres, however, in one sub-genre of exploitation film that I can think of, the rape-revenge film, the woman suffers a tragedy and ultimately becomes empowered as a result of it. This is very obviously seen in Kill Bill, and many of the inspirations for that film, Tarantino himself has said, come from exploitation films, many of which were from the rape-revenge sub-genre. It seems like in films such as Petey Wheatstraw, there are two types of women: the women who constantly fawn all over the main character but maintain a sense of decency, and the women who are very clearly looked down upon and objectified (someone was actually charged with playing the role of the ugliest woman in the world)! Now that's true objectification if I've ever seen it. (Please note that I am not condoning objectification of women, these are films, not made to be taken seriously, and I am merely exploring the intentions behind them)


Some plot related questions I have (they're not real questions I just love to examine the silliness in exploitation films)

1. Why were those guys stealing tires? Did they really think that would be the simplest and most lucrative way for them to make money? Seems pretty cumbersome to be fleeing from someone carrying those things. And who's buying?

2. Zebra print carpeting in the ambulance? (this was awesome)

3. Petey seems to be a jack of all trades. Demigod, stand-up comedian, ladies man, martial arts expert, philanthropist? What can't he do?

4. Why do the main characters in these types of film love to rhyme so much? I'm reminded to a certain extent of Jesse Jackson.

5. Is it possible not to enjoy the characters of Leroy and Skillet?

Interestingly enough there is a documentary called American Pimp about the lives of some famous and retired pimps who behave and dress in ways similar to films like Petey Wheatstraw, the entire film is available freely on youtube. It also contains clips from other blaxploitation films. Link here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y6oMsroBvU

High Plains Drifter

Another western, huh? A genre I'm somewhat hesitant to explore thoroughly, but I certainly do enjoy Clint Eastwood in these kinds of roles. In fact, one of my favorite films as a child was A Fistful of Dollars. I find that Clint Eastwood really makes the genre of the western much more enjoyable for me- his hard attitude, chiseled features, and just the general bad-assed-ness of his characters lend a nice cheesy element to these films. These types of westerns are totally unmistakable, and that's another reason I can appreciate them.

High Plains Drifter was of course, a treat. Eastwood's character was so over-the-top and stereotypical, it was hard not to enjoy watching, if even for reasons bordering on the cynical. I've always thought it interesting that many of the films sharing this genre, the Spaghetti western, are made in Italy. It seems that the Italians go through phases in their film making, from ridiculous exploitation films featuring gratuitous gore to spaghetti westerns to art films. It would seem the Italians are pretty diverse...but I digress.

In terms of analysing this film and how it relates to both American society at the time it was made, and how it relates to ideas of what the west and that time in American history in general was like. The first obvious comparison one can draw is with Stagecoach, which is an extremely over-romanticized vision of what the west was like, featuring various stereotypes of the time, from the haughty, rich artistocratic woman and the dashing man who comes to her rescue for no reason other than his apparent sense of honor to the chivalrous vagabond with the murky intentions. These are things that I find to be slightly annoying about some early westerns, and with regards to this, High Plains Drifter makes no attempt to romanticize the west in such ways. Our hero is by no means a good person- he is ruthless, and is almost ostentatious is his lack of interest in other people or other people's problems. Indeed, the hero nearly results in the demise of the entire town in the film due to the pursuits of his own selfish pleasures.

One image I really enjoyed during the film was near the end, when Clint Eastwood's character forced the town's resident to paint the town red. We've all heard the phrase "paint the town red" before, but I found it interesting to see a real, literal representation of that. Also, the type of red that was used was a very deep, blood-colored red, and the buildings stuck out from the drab surroundings in such a way that I found to be aesthetically pleasing, perhaps even artistic.

One thing I notice about westerns (this is not necessarily a critically relevant thing) is that all the characters seem to be drinking either beer or some unlabeled brown liquor, probably whiskey, at all times. These guys must have livers like steel, how are they functioning when everyone is drinking booze all day long? Even in Stagecoach I noticed it, and it wasn't just the doctor. These people never have hangovers and seem to be mentally capable more or less at all time. How's that for idyllic? Move to the wild west- drink all day long with no detriment to your health or mental state!

I really wanted to think of some ways to compare High Plains Drifter to the Vietnam war but was only able to come up with a couple of theories. The first theory is that Clint Eastwood's character can be said to be kind of like the United States' involvement in Vietnam. A country that was in serious civil unrest, the United States swept in on it's steed of liberty and attempted to act as some kind of big brother by protecting South Vietnam and defeating the Vietcong. Clint Eastwood's character's intentions were not so noble (not that I presume to know the true reason the United States got in Vietnam, but the whole stranger saves unfortunate city from destruction motif is there in both situations. Another theory is that during the Vietnam era the United States was in such internal turmoil it could be said that the country, like the town of Lago, was destroying itself. Protests, violence, and so on were common during the Vietnam era, and Lago itself was full of internal violence, condoning and turning a blind eye to a murder.

All in all High Plains Drifter was a fun film to watch. Spaghetti westerns are usually fun, at least for a while. And if you haven't seen any of them, check out some of the ones from Italy- Sergio Leone/Ennio Morricone, there are lots of classics there, and the music in those films is usually very good and very recognizable.

The Manchurian Candidate

I was looking forward, though somewhat timidly, to viewing this film. I've seen the remake with Denzel Washington and Liev Schrieber, and I enjoyed it. One of the questions I had going into the film was whether or not the film was going to contain the secret military base on an island where the soldiers were tortured and brainwashed (this was something I remember well from the remake). I really like that strange, 1950s mad scientist type imagery, and was hoping I'd get to see some of it, but alas, it was not included in the original version. I also had not known, prior to watching this film, that Frank Sinatra had an acting career, and I have to say, his performance was very well done, and I kept thinking of him singing one of his dramatic, slow paced love songs the entire time, which was slightly amusing.

One of the main things I noticed about this film was the incredible frequency of Abraham Lincoln imagery. It seemed as if nearly all of the scenes involving Shaw and the Iselins were rife with statues, paintings, etc, all containing images of Abraham Lincoln. I'd noticed this very early on in the film and was again confronted with this during the costume party, in which Mr. Iselin was dressed up as Abraham Lincoln, and acting in a buffoonish way. The sheer frequency of this imagery is indicative that it means something, though I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. I do have several theories, however. Abraham Lincoln was a president who was threatening to change the way of life for nearly half of the country, this could be said to relate to the fact that the widespread fear of communism in the film, and in the country at the time the film was made, was caused primarily because of the artocities it had lead to in many other nations, but also because Americans were starting to get white picket fences and Cadillacs, and were becoming, more or less comfortable with that way of life. One begins to see how people could fear Communism so vehemently, as it directly threatened the American way of life. Another reason I came up with for the inclusion of so much Abraham Lincoln imagery was that it was including to directly mock Mr. Iselin's selfish ways and desire for limitless power. Abraham Lincoln has been revered by many as a great man, one who loved this country dearly and made decisions to genuinely benefit it, and the fact that someone as ruthless and evil as Mr. Iselin chose to surround himself with images of what many people believe to be one of the most noble men ever to hold the seat of the US presidency is a direct mockery of Mr. Iselin's arrogance.

Interestingly, I found myself sympathising a great deal with Raymond Shaw. Though it is true that he was a bit curt and abrasive at the start of the film, it seemed to me that it was caused by his mother and his stepfather's behavior towards him. They ruined his relationship with the love of his live, and then brainwashed him and caused him to kill both his girlfriend and her father. Act every corner he was being victimized, to a certain extent even at the end of the film, when he murders the Iselins, and I genuinely felt bad for him.

The Manchurian Candidate is one of my favorite films we've watched so far, and I really enjoyed comparing it with the remade version of the film. For some reason I find that paranoia in American society can often be a great plot device for keeping one entertained, and then are many examples of this in drama and film, such as The Crucible, etc.

Orson Welles, huh?

I must admit that I was intrigued at the prospect of watching another Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil. I had heard from many sources, both reputable and not, that Citizen Kane was the best film of all time. Consequently, I decided to watch Citizen Kane, and, while I recognize the fact that at the time it was made it shattered multiple boundaries of film-making and accomplished things that, up to that time, had never been done- I don't even think Citizen Kane would, according to me, be in the top fifty films of all time. The DVD I watched contained a documentary about Orson Welles, which portrayed him as somewhat a victim (which he indeed was) and documented his descent into obesity and alcoholism, as well as discussing his career which after Citizen Kane was less than successful. I was also reminded of a party some friends and I had called an Orson Welles party, in which we bought many bottles of wine and champagne, started with the best, and ended with the worst...but I digress.

As I said before, I was looking forward to seeing another Orson Welles film and hoping that all of the things I had heard about his work after Citizen Kane would be debunked. Well, I have to say that, at least with Touch of Evil, it wasn't. I'm not sure what exactly about the film I disliked, but I can say that, for lack of a better term, I was thoroughly bored throughout. It could have been the fact that I found Orson Welles' character to be an absolutely disgusting, vile man (though I did feel sort of bad for him for some odd, unknown reason). I noticed that the way he talked seriously grated on my ears, and that any scene he was in I found to be utterly distasteful. I assume that this was an intentional part of Welles' character and his acting, and perhaps this indicates powerful film-making, but I must say, I found it to be somewhat annoying. Also, I was hoping for the typical film noir cheesyness, the silly dialogue riddled with metaphors, the over the top expressions on the faces of the characters, etc., and Touch of Evil did not, to me, contain these elements.

In terms of analysis and the relation of this film to American society there is much that Touch of Evil has to say. The most obvious of which would be American feelings and ideas towards and about Mexicans and Mexico. The portrayal of the Mexican gangster characters, I felt, was almost comical. I used to live in Arizona, and while I recognize it is a different time than it was during the filming of Touch of Evil, I went to more than one border town, and never did I see an overly well-groomed, leather jacket wearing, suave gangster type running around. Mostly what I saw was over-zealous street vendors and people who were in unfortunate economic situations. While I realize that it is a possibility that these kinds of people existed at or around the time the film was made, I find it hard to believe, considering what I saw. (One of these towns I went to, on more than one occasion, is called Nogales, and is the setting for part of the film Traffic).

One thing I found interesting about the film particularly after doing the readings associated with it, is the film's relation to sexuality with particular relationship on interracial couples. Interracial relationships carry a stigma, even to this day. I grew up in Georgia, and remember that as a young child my step-grandmother told me that I should never ever bring a little black girl home. I realized, even at the time, that this is a completely ridiculous thing for a person to say; however, there are still many people in America who believe this. Orson Welles was known for pushing the envelope, and producing a film that very openly showed multiple relationships between Mexicans and American would certainly have caused a stir at the time the film was made. Considering this, it doesn't seem as if Orson Welles was willing to compromise his personal artistic integrity in order to achieve a more widespread audience or greater acclaim, something I respect very much. Perhaps an interesting conclusion can be drawn between the fact that Orson Welles was so adamant about his film being produced as he saw fit- his integrity- and the complete lack thereof in detective Quinlan, a character whom he portrays directly.

Another interesting thing about this film is the selection of Charlton Heston to play the Mexican police officer. Charlton Heston is widely known as having been somewhat of an outspoken conservative, and for several years was the heard of the NRA. A funny thing is that I barely even recognized him, though I have seen several of his other films, Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green (which I believe is one of the greatest science fiction films of all time). In many cases I find Charlton Heston to be somewhat annoying (though admittedly I am probably a bit jaded because of his political views), but I think he pulled this role off fairly effectively. I cannot imagine, however, what was going through Orson Welles' head when he chose Charlton Heston for the role.

Ultimately, I can appreciate Touch of Evil, both for it's having brought to light some of the common taboos at the time in American society, and for Orson Welles' unflinching artistic integrity. I did not, however, find it to be a very engaging or entertaining film, and I'm not quite sure why. There was just something about it that bothered me, that actually made me not want to watch it. Rarely do I see films regarded with high esteem that have this effect on me, but Touch of Evil was definitely one of them.

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity is a pretty famous film, one I've heard the name of several times before, though I did not make an effort to see it or to determine what type of film it is. When I discovered it was film noir, I was pretty excited, I've always loved film noir, and was reminded of The Man Who Wasn't There, a Coen brothers film that was done strictly noir-style in 2001 (I've also come to the conclusion that this film was based on Camus's The Stranger). One of the most interesting things to me about film noir is how heavy-handed they can be; film noir, when done well, can really create a tangible atmosphere for the viewer, sometimes it's almost as if you can actually smell the cigarette smoke in the air. To me, film-making that elicits tactile responses have always been most interesting, and that's probably why I like film noir so much (well, that and the wonderful dialogue involved).

An interesting aside, Blade Runner was brought up in class- Blade Runner is one of my favorite films of all time, and I didn't realize EXACTLY why that was. Now I realize, after it having been mentioned in class, that that is because it combines two of my favorite genres, film noir and science fiction, and it does so impeccably. I can't think of anything that could have been added or taken away from Blade Runner that would perfect it any more. But, this isn't about Blade Runner- so on to Double Indemnity and my thoughts.

The most interesting part of the readings to me were with regards to the femme fatale character often included in film noir and her relationship to changing ideas involving the role of women in the American family. Admittedly, I've only seen a few true film noir films, but in those that I have see, the women always tend to be the cause of all the madness and problems in the film (this was most certainly the case in The Man Who Wasn't There). Furthermore, after reading No Place For A Woman: The Family In Film Noir, I've realized that the characteristics of film noir characters draw blatantly obvious comparisons to ideas of American family life. I was actually surprised I had taken these films at face value and not drawn appropriate conclusions while watching them.

Film Noir seems to me to have an almost consistently negative view of family life. The main male character is almost always a single male who has never been married and ends up in pursuit of a married or otherwise unachievable female character. Perhaps this can be said to be representative of the fragmented nature of American families in the 40s, the time when many of these films were made and set, due to World War II. While this is easy enough to comprehend, I'm not quite sure why the femme fatale characters are always so evil. The reading on this matter suggests that this is because they seek to manipulate others in order to escape the oppressive environments and marriages that they are subjected to, and while in the films this is most certainly true, I wonder how this relates to family life at the time these films were produced. Were women in the 40s feeling consistently abused and oppressed? Or were women starting to become more empowered, something that a partiarchal society could have seen as a threat, thus painting woman as evil in film?

Another this I found to be interesting about Double Indemnity is the bland, mechanical nature of the scenery and environments in which it takes place. Immediately at the start, the camera pans from above down to a series of desks in Walter's insurance office, all of which are arranged in a neat grid. I was reminded of pictures I had seen from the industrial revolution or from World War II of women (and men) working in large factories, systematically performing repititous tasks for their entire work day. I also noticed this in the grocery story, with the hyper-unrealistic organisation of the products and aisles in the store. Interesting that the grocery store, which is a place of seemingly non-compromising conformity and unrealistic organisation is where some of the most pivotal scenes take place.

In conclusion, Double Indemnity is most certainly my favorite film that we have watched thusfar in this class. The characters were believable, inspired a reasonable amount of sympathy and care on the part of the viewer, and the ridiculous dialogue and narration was too much for me not to watch.

Check out this trailer for The Man Who Wasn't There if you haven't seen it yet. It's a bit more artsy but you will see similarities with Double Indemnity. An interesting film for the Coen brothers, it shows a real versatility when compared with their other films.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3169845529/

White Zombie (More Human Than Human...)

(An aside) White Zombie isn't bad metal, honestly, they're pretty interesting!

Zombie movies have been a serious passion of mine for quite some time, so I was pretty excited at the prospect of seeing the first zombie movie ever made- though I knew it would not have many of the characteristics of the zombie movies I enjoy watching (campiness, humor, unnecessary over the-top violence, etc). I was also interested in the film upon learning that Bela Lugosi was in it- I have never seen the original Dracula, and White Zombie was the first film I've ever seen starring him. It was fun to see what people defined as horror or scary at the time this film was made; the effects used seemed to me to be primarily atmospheric, more subtle in their eerieness than most modern films which are typically full of loud unexpected noises, scantily clad woman, and over-the top scenes of blood and gore. Filmmakers had significantly less resources with which to create films that carried a great deal of horrific intensity, and I was interested to see how exactly that this would be pulled off.

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed by this film. I found it at best to be only slightly disturbing, and I think that the reason I feel this way about it is because of the nature of the zombies. The zombies, to me, were not scary at all, they seemed just like mindless, purposeless drones, under the control of an extremely creepy, strangely-motivated, tall European man. Typically, when I watch zombie movies, the things I appreciate the most are the overt sense of humor involved, and the outlandishness of many of the scenes in films in this genre. I understand, of course, that this movie was made close to eighty years ago, and the methods with which to deliver such cinematography were not in existence.

The reading and class discussion for this film were based largely around the idea that White Zombie was metaphorical for US imperialism in Haiti. While I can most certainly understand where this comes from, I think the film derived largely from the desire to entertain an audience with something exotic and until that point, relatively little known. Furthermore, I think the fact that it takes place in Haiti is based primarily on stereotypes and ignorance of that area, rather than the director trying to create something allegorical and politically relevant. White Zombie is, after all, a zombie movie.

There were a few problems I had with this film- the first of which is the fact that all the characters, though achieving the goals they were intended to achieve with diligence, were like cookie cutter characters one would imagine in any horror film. The ignorant, woman-obsessed rich estate owner, the incredibly naive woman he pines for, her chivalrous fiance, the doctor who can solve all the problems, and the creepy man who lives in a giant gothic castle and controls zombies to do his bidding. Perhaps this can be said to be due to the fact that this film was made at such an early point in American horror film, and many subsequent releases have perpetuated these stereotypes which at the time did not exist, but never the less, I found it to be somewhat annoying.

There was however, one scene in the film that I (and many others, it would seem) found to be particularly powerful. This was the scene when Beaumont first arrives at the zombie mill owned by the (unnamed in the film...why?) Legendre. The sight of those zombies methodically and mechanically pushing that mill around, combined with the creaking and cracking noises made during this scene was genuinely disturbing. I found that the sounds in this scene were the main function of causing it's disturbing nature, and I know of very few films I've seen that have used sound in such a way to truly affect the audience (Eraserhead being a prime example).

Ultimately, White Zombie was a film I felt more or less neutral about. While I found the sound in particular to be interesting, I found the plot itself and the acting to be a bit boring (with the exception of Bela Lugosi). And though I understand where all the connections are seen with regards to the film being metaphorical for American imperialism, I think that sometimes it's okay to just make a good old fashioned zombie film.

My Man Godfrey

Unfortunately I was quite ill for this class and subsequently had to download this film and watch it on my own time. What I found to be most interesting about this film is how similar it is to many popular, modern comedy/satire films and/or television series. As I watched this film I was constantly reminded of things like Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and even some written memoirs that have been receiving increased audiences and popularity in recent times, such as Augusten Burroughs' Dry and Running With Scissors. I found it particularly fascinating that a film that was made seventy-two years ago contains so much relevance and so many similarities to things being made in modern times. 2009 obviously is a radically different time, economically, socially, technologically, politically, etc., than 1936 was, and the fact that things being produced today bear likeness to things made in 1936 indicate that there are some ideas and methods of expression that remain universal to humans in a particular culture regardless of extraneous factors.

The only "screwball comedy" I had seen prior to My Man Godfrey was Bringing Up Baby. In fact, I had never even heard that there was such a genre as "screwball comedy", but now that I have been more properly acquainted with it, I realize that screwball comedy is indeed an apt name for such a genre. Both Bringing Up Baby and My Man Godfrey carry with them a great deal of absurdity, something I find to be very refreshing in most older films. Generally, and admittedly this is a stereotype I hold on erroneous grounds, I find many older films to be difficult to watch, though obviously, not all of them. It seems to me that the acting is usually extremely melodramatic and over the top, which I find hard to take, but, with My Man Godfrey, that melodrama and ridiculousness is intentional, and that fact is where I get the sense that the film is refreshing when compared to many other films of the time.

Something I found interesting in the reading accompanying My Man Godfrey is the fact that screwball comedies tend to be extremely fast paced- this is something that I had not thought of and at first thought to be perhaps a crude generalisation, but upon thinking of Bringing Up Baby in particular, I remembered how consistenly annoyed I was with Katharine Hepburn's incredibly fast-paced, annoying, and unceasing yapping (this is not meant to be pejorative, presumably the character was intended to be such a way). I realized that one element of the screwball comedy is indeed a speedy tempo, and upon further reading, noted the author's stating that My Man Godfrey does not rely so heavily on this device, instead focusing more on abruptness and non-sequiturs. While watching the film, I had not come to the conclusion that the film was riddled with non-sequiturs (I love using non-sequiturs, they are a signature part of my sense of humor) and thought that the lines the author mentioned were more like very sarcastic-abrupt jokes. Non-sequiturs, to me, are statements that tend to elicit awkward moments with little logical response, and many of the jokes in My Man Godfrey did not seem, to me, to fulfill those requirements, and consequently, I just took away from the film a sense of great satire.

I think that politically and socially My Man Godfrey's plot was, whether intentional or not, intended to provide an escape for those watching the film during the greatest economic crisis of our country's history, The Great Depression. The fact that the rich people in the film are typically portrayed as so scatterbrained, inept, and ridiculous could be said to perhaps act as an assuaging agent for the widespread poverty and economic crises that many American families faced at the time the film was made. After all, films, books, video games, and many other forms of media are typically used as methods of "escapism". If the country were in the worst economic situation it had even been in, who would want to go watch a film about a group of extremely depressed, poverty-stricken, somber homeless folks?

Ultimately, My Man Godfrey was, for me, an enjoyable film to watch. I appreciated (at least in the version I downloaded) the better production value than that of Stagecoach or White Zombie, and was surprised to find out that the budget for the film was actually relatively high for the time, around $656,000. Furthermore, I found it to be strikingly similar to many satires of the current film/television industry, and this has changed my opinions on the datedness of many older American films.

Stagecoach

I've been a fan of film for many many years, probably dating back to my early high school years, and those films that have always intrigued me the most are films that go against the norm, break boundaries, and cause me to actually analytically think about what I have just spent an hour and a half or so watching. Directors like David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Ingmar Bergman, just to name a few, have sparked a genuine interest in me for atypical film-making, and have ultimately led to my having discovered some of my favorite films that I otherwise would never have heard of. Subsequently, and perhaps this is an ignorant and stereotypical notion, I have as a general rule had little to no interest in the American Western film, because they seemed to me to all follow a set of rules or standards. Admittedly, I have only seen a handful of them, but of the ones I have seen, they seem to all have the rugged, rough around the edges frontier fugitive, the dashing aristocratic people he becomes involved with, the Indians making appearances at random times to cause chaos, the drunk, and the girl who is for some reason receiving copious amounts of over-chivalrous protection from nearly everyone who is on her side in the film.

I wasn't surprised to learn that the first film we were to watch in this class was a western, because it is widely known that westerns as a genre are one of the most important parts of American film. Furthermore, when I learned that this movie was a movie with John Wayne in it, I was even less interested in watching it, as I had seen some of his other films (though these were made at a decidedly later portion of his career) and found him to be rather bland, bordering on annoying.

Even with all these negative preconceptions of what the film Stagecoach was going to bring to the table, I found it to be reasonably entertaining, and I believe the reason that I found this to be the case is because, unlike most of the other westerns I've seen, Stagecoach contained what seemed to me to be an unusually high frequency of comedic situations. It could be that this is just because the film is somewhat dated: as an example, when Henry Gatewood said "Our national debt is something shocking. Over one billion dollars a year!" I had to force myself not to chuckle. Gatewood also mentions that "We should have a businessman as president". Clearly these, at the time, were not meant to be humorous, but taken with regards to the current state of out government and economy, one can extract a decent amount of mirth from these statements.

Something I also found interesting, and also slightly humorous about the film is with regards to the character of Doc Boone. Boone in the film is rarely sober, he is almost always drunk, and I found this to be interesting because though the people he was travelling with were at times a bit annoyed with him, they seemed more or less accepting of this fact. Perhaps this is because in the film they had no other choice but to accept it, or perhaps this is indicative of the fact that either people at the time the movie was set were more accepting of drunks. Thinking about such a happening in today's society, the events of the film would have been drastically different. What sane and rational woman would allow a drunken, incoherent doctor who's reputation is less than honorable deliver her baby?

Another thing about this film I thought was interesting was the character of Dallas being a prostitute. This is something about the film that I somehow did not pick up on until the class discussion following the screening of the film. I don't recall what exactly it was that gave the audience the impression that she was a prostitute, perhaps I just missed out on something? Regardless, when thinking about it as a plot device, it makes complete sense for her to be a prostitute, as she falls in love with the rule-breaking hard-lined outlaw Ringo, played by John Wayne. To have a woman such as Ms. Mallory, and upstanding Virginian aristocrat fall in love with a rough-around-the-edges outlaw like Ringo would have been silly.

We talked a bit in class about the use of the actors' eyes in the film to convey emotion. I couldn't help but notice this constantly throughout the film, at times their stares at each other seemed so intense and so prolonged to have been almost a bit obtrusive, and maybe even a little bit comical in their intensity. Another thing I noticed about these eye scenes is that whenever there was one between Ringo and Dallas, the camera seemed to get ever so slightly out of focus, to add a bit of softness to the scene- this is something I have seen with a fair deal of regularity in older American films, particularly in films like Casablanca and many of the early romance films. I wonder, since this film was made so early (1939) if it more or less started around this time or if Stagecoach was one of the first films to use such a technique.

In conclusion, Stagecoach proved to me to be an interesting film, and though it is a western, and contains many of the norms and stereotypes of the genre, I did not find it to be boring, as I do most westerns. It was also very interesting to see John Wayne at such a young age. He is much older in most of the films I've seen him in, and I was never able to understand why people found him to be so attractive, but now having seen him as a strapping young lad, I can understand where that comes from.

Stagecoach has been remade twice, once as a television series, and once as another movie.

Link to the second film is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061024/

Link to the television series is here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092003/

It would be interesting to watch both of these, particularly to see how the different eccentricities and aspects of each of the characters involved (particularly Dallas and Doc Boone) had been adapted to suit a new time period in American Film.