Film

An Introduction To The American Horror Film Robin Wood

1. Repression, The Other, The Monster
Most significant development in film criticism has been the increasing influence of Marx and Freud. o Recognition that social revolution and sexual revolution are linked and necessary to each other. o From Marx, we become aware of the dominant ideology (bourgeoisie capitalism) as an insidious force capable of concealment behind the most wholesome disguise and the urgency to expose it whenever possible. sychoanalytic theory has provided the most effective ways to see how ideology is transmitted, mostly through the patriarch of the family. !attle for liberation becomes more important as patriarchy is far older than capitalism and demands more respect. o "hus, Feminism and #ay $iberation %oin forces with Marxism to overthrow patriarchal ideological society and the structures and institutions it has. sychoanalytical theory provides various models. o Marcuse&s model' (llows us to connect theory closely with the ways we actually think and feel and conduct our lives. )istinction between basic and surplus repression, which impact both our culture and political militancy. !asic repression * universal, necessary and inescapable+ makes our development from animal to human possible+ helps us to develop our thought and memory processes, self, control and our recognition and consideration for other people. o Makes us free and human, capable of directing our own lives. -urplus repression * specific to a particular culture+ process in which people are conditioned to assume predestined roles in society. o Makes us monogamous, heterosexual, bourgeois, patriarchal capitalists. o .ere, we have no choice or freedom. o /f it does not work, this leads to the individual becoming a neurotic (big portion of population) or a revolutionary (small portion of population). (ll societies are surplus,repressive to some degree * Freud recogni0es that our civili0ation has reached a point where repression has become insupportable. o "ies in to Marx&s theory of alienated labour. o 1ur characteristics of life (frustration, dissatisfaction, anxiety, greed, %ealousy) all stem from patriarchal capitalism.

)isintegration of the patriarchal capitalism system will lead to perceptions and recognition of what challenges the system * while the system retained credibility and could suppress them, it is believed in by the people. o "he struggle for liberation is a necessity. 1ppression versus repression' o /n psychoanalytical terms, what is repressed is not accessible to the conscious mind except in analysis or dreams. o 2e are oppressed by something 3out there45unknown. o For example' -ociety demands the repression of bisexuality, which is the natural heritage of every human, and the oppression of homosexuals. o "he two are closely linked * what escapes repression has to be dealt with by oppression. Repression in our culture' o 6. Sexual energy and its ties to non-sexual creativity * sexuality is the source of creative energy5the muse. /deal being of our society is someone who can find creativity in the monogamous heterosexual union necessary for reproduction * an automaton whose sexual and intellectual energy are reduces to a minimum. "his leads to the frustration, anxiety and neuroticism of our culture. o 7. Bisexuality * the most obvious and direct affront to the principle of monogamy and the idea of 3the one right one4. .omosexual impulse in men and women represents the threat to the norm of sexuality. "hreatens the emphasis on biological differences between men and women and the social norms attached to both. !isexuality affords women the freedom to be active, aggressive, self,assertive and creative (like men) which is another reason for why it must be repressed. o 8. Female sexuality/ creativity ' -ociety norm is passivity, subordination and dependence on the men of the society. o 9. Sexuality of children' ( process from repression to oppression * infancy to latency to puberty and adolescence, starting with the denial of sex before marriage to the infant&s nature as a sexual being. :one of the repressions are necessary to our civili0ation or dependant to our development as human beings * they impose limitations and restrictions on human development instead and stunt potential. "he concept of 3the 1ther4 is linked closely to repression' o !ourgeoisie cannot recogni0e this and must either' Re%ect it and annihilate it. !reak it, thus making it safe and ;normal&, and assimilate into society. o Functions as both something external, removed from culture and self, and something that stems from the self itself through repression. <xample' the uritans re%ected all ideas that the /ndians had a culture and perceived them as savages and devils, which they saw as sexually promiscuous. o

o o o

ro%ects what is repressed in the -elf. Repression of the other makes it impossible for the 1ther to be recogni0ed and accepted. Figures of 1thers within society' 6. Other people * under capitalism, humans are possessive, powerful, dominant and manipulative and this is the basis of all their relations, especially the male5female relationship. Marriage becomes coloni0ation or imperialism * the trading of different forms of possession and independence. #ay relationships stand more chance of avoiding an imperialistic marriage, which is why they are seen as deviant * the autonomy of the partner is a threat to the social possession5dependence norm and must be repressed. 7. Women * very significant as our culture is male,dominated, where power, money, law and social institutions are controlled by patriarchs. <ven the dominant images of women in our culture are created by men. Men reflect their own repressed femininity onto women in order to show it as inferior. 8. Proletariat/working class * against the bourgeoisie sexual repression and obsession with cleanliness (the two are linked) as working class is often freer in sexuality and perceived not to be as clean. 9. Other cultures * if they are remote, it is not a problem as their true character can be changed to suit society&s needs. /f they are close, society must either exterminate or dominate the different culture. =. thnic groups within society * similar to above, they can either keep to their own locations (ghettos) or conform and behave as we do. /f they are a good bourgeoisie, skin colour is irrelevant. >. !lternative ideologies/political systems * Marxism is an example as, although it laid the foundations for 7? th century thinking, it is repressed almost universally and exists in our society as a general myth. /t is also often amalgamated with -talinism. @. "eviation from ideological sexual norms #$isexuality/homosexuality% * the clearest example of repression5pro%ection mechanisms is homophobia (irrational fear and hatred of homosexuals) which is only an outcome of an unsuccessful repression of bisexual tendencies. 2hat is hated in others is what is re%ected. A. &hildren * the most oppressed section of the population and cannot be liberated until we are liberated. Freudian theories of infantile sexuality' o "hree sexual stages in a child&s life * oral, anal and genital. o /t is then followed by the oedipal complex, the attraction to the parent with the opposite gender+ the re%ection of polymorphus sexuality and the insistence to pick either one sexuality or the other causes the child envy and anxiety.

Byclical * what the previous generation repressed in us is what we repress in our children.

/n film' o "he 1ther is the Monster. :ot %ust a means of access but a categori0ation of horror films in social and political terms. 6. Female sexuality * panther,women from /sland of $ost -ouls+ heroine of Bat eople+ )e alma&s -isters which is also the definitive analysis of the oppression of women. 7. Proletariat * Frankenstein&s titular monster wore labourer&s clothes+ "he "exas Bhainsaw Massacre had retired slaughterhouse workers+ Race with the )evil and its underprivileged devil workers+ (ssault on recinct 68&s revolutionary army. 8. Other cultures * in the 8?s, the monster was always foreign+ animal humans from /sland of $ost -ouls+ "he Manitou&s (merican, /ndian monster+ rophecy links problems to urban blacks.

2. Return of the Repressed Evolution of Horror

!' Popularity and disreputa$ility( o .orror remains one of the most popular and disreputable of .ollywood genre. o opularity categori0ed by aficionados and re%ection+ people either see horror films obsessively or they don&t, critici0ed with contempt or ignored. "his has changed since sycho which provided some dignity to the horror genre, but not by much. (lso interesting is that many aficionados claim they go there to laugh and ridicule the movies, which is found in no other genre. o :o serious accounts of horror movies like "he .ills .ave <yes. B' "reams and nightmares( o FreCuently used. o $inked to experience of the audience * the spectator sits in darkess and switches off the consciousness, losing himself in the movie. o Dseful from the point of view of the filmmakers as ;dreams& are what our conscious mind re%ects (desire, tensions, fears) and become possible when we sleep though under a guise of seeming innocence or meaninglessness. o <ntertainment is to act as a sleep of consciousness * ergo, for film maker and audience, full awareness hides in the plot, action and character without being noticed. "his is why seemingly innocent movies can be far more radical and fundamentally undermining to social criticism o )reams become escapes from the unresolved tensions of our lives to fantasies * though the fantasies are not meaningless. opular films are left to interpret and show the dreams of their makers and audiences, which is made possible through a common ideology * on that same note, horror films become our collective nightmares, which is' ( repressed wish considered so terrible that it must be avoided. -trong and powerful enough to be a serious threat. "his also makes the disreputability work for the genre.

&' )he Surrealists( o 2riters, painters and filmmakers of the -urrealist movement took horror films very seriously. o $uis !uEuel, filmmaker of "he <xterminating (ngel, says that "he !east 2ith Five Fingers is one of his favourite films. o #eorges Fran%u, heir of the -urrealists, says "he Fly is his. o "he -urrealists& commitment rest with Freud, the unconscious, dreams and the overthrow of repression, which make horror movies a perfect genre for them. "' Basic Formula( o For the horror film, the basic formula is' normality is threatened $y the monster. :ormality * conformity to the dominant social norms. -implicity of the formula has numerous advantages' i. Bovers the entire range of horror films, making them easy to link ii. -uggests the possibility of extension to other genre * ex' substitute the word ;monster& for ;/ndian& and the film becomes a 2estern. /ii. rovide three variables * normality, the Monster and the relationship between the two. o :ormality * heterosexual monogamous couple, the family and social institutions (police, church, armed forces) that protect them. o Monster * changes form from period to period according to social fears. o Relationship * the essential component of the horror film+ changes and develops+ has one privileged form as the figure of a doppelganger, alterego or double that has been seen a lot in 2estern culture, populari0ed by )r. Fekyll and Mister .yde+ vampire, protagonist mirror in :osferatu+ tales of oe+ Moby )ick&s (hab and the white whale+ <than and -car in "he -earchers+ the westerns of (nthony Mann especially Man of the 2est+ monster and creator in Frankenstein which is made all the more important in -on of Frankenstein * the town is called Frankenstein due to influence of monster and creator over the environment and also, in the Fames 2hale original, the %uxtaposition of deciding to create the monster with the character&s rage. "his shows very clearly, through the doppelganger motif, that the Monster is normality&s shadow. <. !m$ivalence' o (ngel with .orns, (. . Rossiter&s book on -hakespeare, is a prime example of ambivalence using the example of Richard /// * the titular character both horrifies us with his evil and delights us with his art, his audacity. 2hile we are against his cruel ways, some part of us identifies with his. o Few horror films ever have truly unsympathetic monsters.

"he Monster is the emotional centre and more ;normal& than the humanity portrayed in the films. /n Frankenstein the monster suffers, weeps and responds to music+ the human characters, by contrast, are very cardboard. /n -on of Frankenstein the monster&s emotional commitment to Ggor and his grief at Ggor&s death carries greater weight than the rest of the film. o (lso extends to our attitude on normality * it fulfils our nightmare wish to break the norms that oppress us. F' Freudian )heses( o .orror films are based on two Freudian theses' 6. ( society based on monogamy and family will have a surpless of repressed sexual energy. 7. 2hat is repressed will always strive to return. Murders in the Rue Morgue is a classic example although its images suggest -urrealism and <xpressionism and it links two movies easily. "he expressionist lights and sets link back to "he Babinet of )r. Baligari. "he sleepwalker from "he Babinet of )r. Baligari can be linked forwards to Hing Hong when the gorilla falls in love with the heroine, abducts her at night and get shot off the rooftop. 1n Murders in the Rue Morgue' i. :ormality * the film is obsessed with the heterosexual couple+ crucial moment is when ierre serenades Bamille with a love,speech which puts heavy emphasis on the fact that she is a ;flower& and ;pure&. o Bamille is also an example of the oppressed woman in society as she is told not to be curious about what goes on in the houses around them and prohibited from obtaining information about ierre&s doings. o "he gay character is pressed into a relationship with a girl to proceed with the ;normal& heterosexual coupling. .e also lives with ierre, reflecting the sexless nature of the bourgeoisie marriage. ii. "he Monster * divided in the film into )r. Mirakle, his assistant,servant and <rik (3beast with a human soul4). "he servant&s half,human, half,animal appearance bridges the gap between )r. Mirakle and <rik, though the scientist,ape connection is also evident in the fact that )r. Mirakle lusts after Bamille, and the instrument through which he can fulfil that lust is shown in <rik. "hus, they combine both intellectuality and eroticism. iii. "he Relationship * the film&s apparent aim is to insist that purity,normality can be separated from eroticism, degradation+ however, its actual goal is to demonstrate how they cannot be separated. o /n the opening, the couples view a series of fairground attractions (the stage seems to act as a buffer

between normality and eroticism) which consist of an erotic dance by 3(rabian4 girls, a 2ild Red /ndian show and <rik the ape. $ink of the three shows a strong link to the 2estern genre * the link of .orror, /ndians and released libido. -eparation of show and audience is feeble * ierre&s sidekick asks his girl if she can dance like an (rabian girl, two spectators use ;(pache& to refer to the savages of aris and the audience enters the third booth between the legs of an enormous painted ape. o )r. Mirakle uses the theory of evolution to deny the separation of the two' he calls <rik the ;darkness at the dawn of man& and uses women, in his blood, mixing experiments, to show how his blood can be mixed with man&s. "he ;double& motif pervades throughout the movie' o ierre&s effeminate friend says that ierre is becoming ;like that )r. Mirakle&. o ierre and )r. Mirakle are paralleled repeatedly * after the balcony speech scene, it cuts to )r. Mirakle and <rik watching from their carriage. o /t is inverse * Mirakle,<rik lurking to ierre,Bamille embracing. o Mirakle sends Bamille a bonnet * she assumes it is from ierre. o 2hen ierre leaves her for the night, and someone knocks, Bamille opens the door to find Mirakle. o ierre and "he Monster are paralleled as rival mates for Bamille. o ierre and <rik confront each other on a roof, and ierre is shot down * the hero&s obsession with smiting the doppelganger that embodies his repressed self. Dnresolved self,contradiction' o Mirakle is denounced as a heretic in the name of the !iblical and Bhristian norm of #od&s creation of man yet the )arwinian theories are meant to be correct * <rik and the ape cannot be separated+ the morgue is not separable from the home. 1bsession with the purity5normality * carefully lit crucifix above Bamille&s bed. Five recurrent themes in horror films from the sixties onwards' o 6. )he *onster as a human psychotic or schi+ophrenic ' sycho+ .omicidal+ Repulsion+ -isters+ -chi0o. o 7. )he revenge of nature' "he !irds+ "he Fog+ :ight of the $epus+ )ays of the (nimals+ -Cuirm. o 8. Satanism, dia$olical possession and the !ntichrist ' Rosemary&s !aby+ "he <xorcist+ "he 1men+ "he ossession of Foel )elaney+ "he Bar+

#od "old Me "o ()emon)+ Race with the )evil and .igh lains )rifter connect the genre with the 2estern. o 9. )he )erri$le &hild #often linked with the a$ove%( :ight of the $iving )ead+ .ands of the Ripper+ /t&s (live+ Bathy&s Burse+ Barrie+ "he Fury+ Rosemary&s !aby+ "he <xorcist+ "he 1men. o =. &anni$alism' :ight of the $iving )ead+ Raw Meat+ Frightmare+ "he "exas Bhainsaw Massacre+ "he .ills .ave <yes. (ll of the above are linked with one other theme * the Family. o /n the 3revenge of :ature4 films, attacks are shown to be sexually or familially motivated. o "he psychotic5schi0ophrenic, the (ntichrist and the child,monster are all products of the family. o Bannibalism * either the family devours one another (:ight of the $iving )ead+ sycho) or it becomes the main way in which a family sustains itself ("he "exas Bhainsaw Massacre+ "he .ills .ave <yes). Frightmare is a notable example as the sweet woman character of the film cannot survive without cannibali0ing human flesh, a craving which is indulged by her husband. <volution of the horror film' o 6. "he family5marital comedy (8?s,9?s) turn sour in the =?s (Father of the !ride+ "he $ong, $ong "railer) and lead to the family horror film with sycho (6I>?), Rosemary&s !aby and :ight of the $iving )ead. o 7. !oth the horror film and the 2estern enter into an apocalyptic phase * .igh lains )rifter fused their basic elements in a 2estern in which the .ero turns out to be the )evil and burns the town to the ground after he reali0es it is fundamentally corrupt. o 8. Family comedies in the 8?s seem less so in retrospect from the @?s * Meet me in -t. $ouis ("errible Bhild) has Margaret 1&!rein symbolically kill the parent figures, first on .alloween and then with snow people). -ymbolism in 6I99 becomes actuality in :ight of the $iving )ead where the little girl kills and devours her parents and in /t&s (live where the monster is actually a product of the family. o 9. "he progress of horror becoming linked with the family is apparent when more and more films start moving geographically towards (merica' 8?s * horror is always foreign, films are set in aris, Middle <urope or uncharged islands, and thus becomes external to (mericans. (lthough they may be affected by them, they are uncontaminated by it morally. "his stands to reason even when the normal characters are <uropeans. /n Murder in the Rue Morgue although the characters have French names, they are (mericans and part of the horror of )r. Mirakle is that he has an accent and nobody knows where he comes from. Ban be interpreted in two ways' o 6. .orror exists, but it is un,(merican. o 7. (s a means of locating horror as a country of the mind or a psychological state, particularly in those films set on uncharted islands. 9?s * Jal $ewton films show signs of what will become the modern horror film such as the repression of sexuality in Bat eople, where the Monster is seen as phallic and invariably male+ "he -eventh

Jictim has strong undertones of sibling envy and sexual %ealousy+ they are also set in (merica+ / 2alked 2ith a Kombie locates horror at the heart of the family and identifies it with sexual repressiveness with the aim of preserving the family unity. (lthough the horror in $ewton&s films is still predominantly foreign, they are concerned with the undermining of the idea that no one escapes contamination. "he Monster also become diffused throughout the film, becoming more than one figure. Kombie is built on a set of clear,cut structural oppositions' Banada,2est /ndies, white,black, light,dark, life,death, science,black magic, Bhristianity,Joodoo, etc and proceeds to blur all of them' Mrs. Rand mixes medicine, Bhristianity and Joodoo and the figureheads are both a saint and a black slave, while the black,white opposition is interlaced in a complex patterning of dresses and voodoo patches and the motivation of all characters are called into Cuestion. =?s * science fiction cycles make horror the result of extraterrestrial invaders or mutations from insects, though they are not usually set in (merica. (lthough seemingly simplistic, they are difficult to analyse and have several layers of topical, contemporary issues. o "hemL * layer 6' fear of nuclear energy and atomic experiment (ants are mutants produced through radioactivity). $ayer 7' fear of Bommunism (emphasis on ants as a subversive, subterranean army). $ayer 8' Freudian implications of all horror films (the ants rise up from the underground Mthe unconsciousnessN and kill by holding their victims and in%ecting into them huge MexcessiveN amounts of formic acid Mphallic implications in the method of killingN+ the final climax of the film centred on the destruction of family groups). -ince sycho, .ollywood cinema has accepted ;horror& as being both (merican and familial.

The Omen versus The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

)he Omen !ig budget. #lossy production values. -tars. !ourgeois entertainment. #ood taste. 3good4 family. "he Monster imported from <urope. Bhild destroys parents. )he )exas &hainsaw *assacre $ow budget. Raw, unpolished. Dnknown actors. :on,bourgeois 3exploitation4. !ad taste. 3bad4 family. "he Monster indigenously (merican. arent figures destroy child.

"raditional values confirmed.

"raditional values negated.

Massacre&s visual themes are far more intelligent and sophisticated than "he 1men&s. "he 1men is old,fashioned, traditional and reactionary. o )evil,child and its female guardian * child and women liberation. o #oodness of the family unit is not Cuestioned+ the horror comes from adopting a devil,child from the 1ld 2orld into a respectable (merican family. o (bout the end of the world, though the world pictured is bourgeois, capitalist and patriarchal. :ormality is totally annihilated by the monster. o #ives satisfaction to its audiences by finding traditional values reaffirmed, ruthless logic and the revelation that the devil,child has been adopted by the First $ady and resident of the Dnited -tates. o "he monster is the implicit hero, whose systematic destruction of the bourgeois world the audience watches with en%oyment. "he only thing the two films have in common is the central premise' humanity is powerless, annihilation is impossible and there is no,one who can stop it. o "he 1men * ancient prophecy fulfilling itself despite intervention. o Massacre * emphasis on uncontrol (the five victims have no control over their destiny+ the killers keep losing control of themselves). "his gives it an authentic, nightmarish feel. "he plot follows a nightmare,type pattern, as well * on the run, the victims flee to a house for safety only to find that the occupants also wish them harm or are the people they are running from (-ally escapes from $eatherface and first goes to his own home, then to the gas station run by his father). "he "exas Bhainsaw Massacre' o )efinitions of normality and monster are partly reversed * the Cuasi, liberated, permissive young are the normal ones while the family is the monster. o (uthentic art. o rofoundly disturbing. o ersonal and far more so * it is a 3collective nightmare4 that brings out a spirit of negativity and destruction that seems to lie not far below the surface of modern collective consciousness. o <mphasi0es an important aspect that the horror film has come to signify * the sense of a civili0ation condemning itself, through popular culture, to ultimate disintegration and ambivalently (through the horror5wish, fulfilment of the nightmare) celebrating this fact. o -everal important aspects in the film' 6. -mage of the .)erri$le /ouse0 ' a long,standing tradition in (merica and 2estern capitalist culture, it represents an extension of the personality of the inhabitants * in the film, the first house is imposing, but decaying (where something terrible happening is expected and waited for) and the second house is the more modern, modest, though inwardly macabre, villa of the cra0ed family. /n the second house, there is no border between slaughterhouse and home * the slaughterhouse has become the home, and humanity has literally started to eat itself.

(lso signifies the dead weight of the past crushing the future (seen in the shot where the opening image is the decaying Franklyn house, and then of Hirk and am). 7. "ifference $etween rich and poor ' contrast between houses is the least of the distinctions between the affluent youngsters and the worker family (which represent the exploited and degraded proletariat). 8. !ll-male family' another long,standing (merican tradition, seen especially in 2esterns * the absence of 2oman (representative of a humani0ing, civili0ing influence) deprives the family of social sense and social meaning though without touching upon kinship loyalty. 2oman becomes, in the film, the ultimate ob%ect of the characters& focus. 9. 1elease of sexuality' sexuality is perverted from its functions and turns into sadism, violence and cannibalism, although there is no evidence of sexuality+ while -ally is perfectly at liberty to be tormented, killed, dismembered and even eaten, she is not raped. Repressed energies are made more obvious by the silent character of $eatherface and his phallic, whirring chainsaw. Bannibalism also stands for the future being devoured by the past * young eaten by old. o "he ultimate in possessiveness * the logical end of human relations under capitalism. o /mplies that 3liberation4 and 3permissiveness4 are at once powerless and inadeCuate to withstand a legacy of long repression * ergo, they cannot change anything in society. =. 1ecurrence of the .dou$le0 motif ' the young people are uncharacteri0ed and undifferentiated while the focus is mainly on the monsters, but in the middle of the young people is the character of Franklyn, -ally&s brother, who is as grotesCue and psychotic as $eatherface himself. -everal times throughout the movie, he wonders if he can slice open his own hand, tries to imitate the actions of the hitchhiker, $eatherface&s brother, and toys with the idea of slicing open his own hand. "his is commented upon by Hirk, who goes' 3Gou&re as cra0y as he is.4 "he other characters also torment one another' Hirk teases am by dropping a human tooth into her hand, Ferry torments Franklyn with thoughts that the hitchhiker will chase them. Franklyn resents being neglected by the others while -ally neglects being burdened with him. 2ith all these negative traits, they are the pale, less cruel, reflection of the slaughterhouse family * they, who are the normality, reflect the monsters. >. )he monster family' there is a degree of ambivalence in the response the family gets * although they are monsters, they are tied together by familial bonds and act the way a family does+ thus, we cannot disassociate ourselves completely from them because we understand what a family is.

(lso a sense that they are the victims of capitalism, and relatable to us. ossess an incredible, though macabre, creativity * their sofa out of human and animal skulls, hanging lamp made out of a shrunken human head, etc * are considered works of art. "hey also waste nothing, a childhood lesson. @. 2rotes3ue comedy' intensifying the horror * $eatherface chasing -ally around like a cartoon character+ the father&s response to $eatherface&s devastations (including four murders) is 3$ook what your brother did to that door4+ $eatherface dressed up in a suit and tie and black wig for formal dinner with #randpa+ #randpa&s repeated failure to kill -ally with the hammer. .orror allied with absurdity. (ll the family does is carry out the capitalist tenet ;people have the right to live off other people&. /n twentieth century art, despair and art are closely linked.

3. The Reactionary Win

"heory of repression offers us a means towards a political categori0ation of horror films, though this is never clear,cut * the genre has a way of reactionary inflection. )ifference between the reactionary horror film and the 3apocalyptic4 horror film' in 3apocalyptic4 films, the despair, negativity and negation can be claimed as progressive and reinterpreted in social5political terms, i.e. the end of the patriarchal bourgeois world. 6. "esignation of monster as simple evil' as horror films are typically manifestations of our culture, the dominant designation of the monster is always ;evil& as what is repressed must come be seen as ugly, terrible, obscene. .orror films are so progressive that they finds ways to subvert this * the monster, though by definition destructive, can be explained and %ustified. o /dentifying 3evil incarnate4 with repression is to suggest that there is nothing to be done but keep it repressed * this is especially seen in films with demonic forces involved, though even the devil can be presented in a sympathetic light. 7. )he presence of &hristianity' as long as it is presented in a positive way, it brings out a reaction in the audience * this has more to do with the significance it has in .ollywood as a dominant ideology. o !est seen in "he <xorcist its validity is in direct proportion to its failure to impose the theology. 8. )he presentation of monsters as totally non-human ' progressiveness of horror films depends on the monster&s ability to arouse sympathy from the viewers. o olitical level of =?s science fiction films, i.e. Bommunism as total dehumani0ation accounts for the prevalence of inhuman monsters in that period. 9. )he distinction $etween repressed sexuality and sexuality ' can never be clear,cut in a culture with a fear of sex and a negative attitude towards sexuality though one can still isolate some movies where the sense of horror is motivated by sexual disgust.

( common pattern is played on the monster as the 3return of the repressed4 and the monster as punishment for sexual promiscuity. Faws * beach,party interrupted by monster. 3Reactionary4 horror films of the @?s' o 6. -hivers by )avid Bronenberg (bout sexual liberation. !ased on and motivated by sexual disgust. Release of sexuality is linked inseparably with the spreading of venereal disease * the scientist includes a J) component in his aphrodisiac parasite. arasite is inspired by phalluses but with strong excremental overtones. ( special loathing for female sexuality. o arasites are spread by a young girl. o -exually aroused women are treated with an air of disgust and horror. -ystematically breaks all the sexual,social taboos, but each step is merely presented as an accumulation of horror. -hows no regard for human relations. o 7. "he !rood by )avid Bronenberg "ransmission of neurosis through a family structure. "he -cientist attempts to promote social progress but results only in promoting disaster. DnCualified horror at releasing what has been repressed. .orror and evil pro%ected onto women because of their sexuality. "he ultimate terror of women usurping control from men and assuming their aggressive roles. Dses the Freud theory that the child becomes the woman&s ;penis substitute& * -amantha <ggar&s latest offspring represents a monstrous phallus. Bhildren as the physical embodiment of women&s rage, which is always the fault of the mother+ the men are never blamed in the movie. o 8. .alloween by Fohn Barpenter $ack of real thinking. (malgamates other horror movies within itself, like sycho, "he "exas Bhainsaw Massacre, "he <xorcist and !lack Bhristmas. "he killer&s point,of,view tracking,shot establishes the first murder as sexual repression' the girl is killed because she arouses feelings in the killer he has to deny and enact in the form of violent assault. -econd shot is the murderer as the victim&s bewildered six, year,old brother. "he previous two shots unite the implications of the family horror film * the child,monster product of the nuclear family and small, town environment, sexual repression of children, the incest taboo that denies sexual feeling where the family proximity most encourage it. /dentifies the killer as the 3bogey,man4 which cannot be understood, and with the )evil by his own psychotherapist ()onald o

leasance) * a clear,cut example of .ollywood&s perversion of psychoanalysis into an instrument of repression. "he killer&s victims are all sexually promiscuous, with the one survivor being a virgin * through this method, the killer becomes the instrument of uritan vengeance and repression rather than a symbol of repression itself. !asic action is that $aurie is the real target, while the other girls are %ust distractions, because she reminds him of the sister he murdered as a child * this compulsion to repeat the crime keeps Michael tied to the possibility of psychoanalytical explanation. .owever, how Michael learned to drive a car goes unsolved * either leasance is correct, and he is the devil, or he has not spent nine years staring at the wall and doing nothing. "his point is actually raised in dialogue, though it is not resolved. Ban also change the way the film is read * perhaps leasance has been pro%ecting 3evil4 on Michael all along. 9. (lien by Ridley -cott -imilar to .alloween. Blearly wants to be taken on a simple level, especially in its depiction of women * pop feminism reduces the whole Cuestion and thousands of years of patriarchal repression into the suggestion that a woman can almost do anything a man can do. -hares a lot of themes with "he "hing. <nclosed space. But off from outside help. Monster is both non,and,super human and feeds on human beings. Monster is an indestructible force. Relationship of (sh to the alien O rofessor Barrington to the "hing. -cience regards the alien as a superior form of life to which human life must therefore be subordinate. -cience is responsible for bringing the monster into the community and putting humanity in danger. 2hat distinguishes (lien from other films is its total absence of sexuality. :o 3love,interest4 in the movie. :o sexual baner. :o recognition of sexual difference. 1nly when all the men have been killed is sexuality allowed to become a presence * Ripley undresses, not knowing that the alien is still alive and in the compartment. "he film constructs a new normality where sexual difference ceases to have effective existence * on condition that sexuality is obliterated. "he term ;son of a bitch& is applied both to Ripley and the alien. -he is a 3safe threat4 against the real threat of the alien. Ripley becomes the film&s myth of the 3emancipated4 woman and adopts masculine traits * aggressive, self,

assertive, taking control of the ship, rebelling and winning against the two controllers (3Mother4, the computer, and (sh, the robot). o (lso has feminine traits * her Cuasi,maternal care for Fones and the cat+ reactionary position in being against letting the alien on board, even to saving Hane&s life, which confirms the ideologically, reactionary nature of the film in its attitude to the 1ther. "he (lien' Fuses both masculine and feminine traits. -exuality very grossly evident in the monster * comes from an egg from a womb, attaches itself to the most ;feminine& man of the crew and enters him through the mouth. hallic identity mixed with vagina dentate * long, reptile neck and expandable mouth filled with sharp teeth. (lien and the cat are constantly %uxtaposed. "he film uses Ripley&s emancipation only to terrori0e her and enlist her in the battle for patriarchal repression. "he reactionary horror film that dominates the genre "he "exas Bhainsaw Massacre reflects ideological disintegration and lay bare the possibility of social revolution while .alloween and (lien, while terrifying, variously seal it over again.

Them or Us Science Fiction and Horror

"radition of science fiction and horror criticism is based on a Freudian dogma * the repression of our fears and desires. 2hen science fiction is criticised, it is criticised in terms of the horror genre. -olomon' 3Science fiction films differ from true horror films, though they are oth fre!uently em"loy monsters, in that the im"licit danger in the former is su""osed to originate in the other world and to e dealt with accordingly, whereas the dangers in the world of the horror film are sym ols of our nightmares, "ro#ections of our own inner reality even though the necessity of the cinematic form re!uires, in most cases, some overtly cor"oreal menace$ The horror film aims at "sychological effects, the science fiction film at logical "ossi ilities$% <mphasis is on Freud&s theory of libidinal anxiety. o (nxiety5fear is the foundation on which both the horror film and the science fiction film are based. o "hus, one must not separate science fiction from horror but see them as eCual pro%ections of fear. "he horror film relies on' o resentation of irrational symbols that can be interpreted in a Freudian manner that define the psychological workings of repressed fears. o <xpressionistic designs and exaggerated characteri0ations of "he Babinet of )r. Baligari and "he !lack Bat have become a metaphor for material within the /d. "he science fiction film relies on'

:aturalistic images in a recogni0able setting to define the psychological working of repressed fears. o Realistic designs and natural characteri0ations become similes for our material within the /d. .orror exists in an alternate world while science fiction exists in a continuous world. o

)he /orror Film

<mphasis on alternate reality. <xotic, often <uropean setting with exotic characters. Monster represents an incarnation of the devil. .ero5protagonist represents absolute good * represents Bhrist or an angel, sent to battle evil through an apocalyptic confrontation. -etting and characters encourage a sense of estrangement from the real world * the use of one without the other does not produce a horror film. "ransylvania the Cuintessential horror film location' o (lthough a real place, the "ransylvania of horror films has been created from the isolated environments of literature and painting * it is not real. o <li0abeth Mac(ndrew (The !othic Tradition in "iction) notes that it is a &dream landsca"e of a closed world se"arated from that of everyday' a sym olic landsca"e within the ordinary (world) whose "ur"ose is to convey mood, tone and emotions$% o Representational idea, not a naturalistic reproduction of an actual location. o Most obvious and appealing fact of films from the 8?s and 9?s. o "od !rowning&s )racula, $ambert .illyer&s )racula&s )aughter, Robert -iodmak&s -on of )racula and $ew $anders&s "he Return of the Jampire provide the imaginative and exotic setting of "ransylvania * twisted trees with moss hanging ominously from their bare branches, chiaroscuro lighting, mist, forgotten graveyards and %agged rocks. "he modern horror film has similar landscape designs. o exemplified by Roger Borman&s horror adaptations of stories by oe and .ammer Film&s colour remakes of classical horror films such as .orror of )racula, "he Mummy and "he hantom of the 1pera. o !ernard Robinson and )aniel .aller, both art directors, replaced the black and white chiaroscuro lighting with red, blue and green colour filters to fit the highly styli0ed settings. o -trange and eerie landscapes are accentuated by old, dark houses and medieval castles. Mac(ndrews' &The omni"resent old house or castle is one of the most sta le characteristics of the *othic$ + dire and threatening "lace, it remains more than a dwelling$ ,t starts out as a stone re"resentation of the dar-, tortured windings in the mind of those eminently civili.ed and, therefore, &unnatural% vices, am ition and cruelty' it ears the whole weight of the ages of man)s drift away from an ideal state' and it ecomes a lasting re"resentation of the torments of the su conscious "ressing down u"on the conscious mind and ma-ing a "rison of the Self$% )epiction of exotic characters is key to the horror film'

1ffers two extremities * the embodiment of pure good and the embodiment of pure evil, ex' )r. Jan .ellsing and )racula. o .eroes are not youthful heroes of myth * they are men of knowledge and experience. o .eroes and enemies will approach the conflict as eCuals. "he confrontation becomes one of ;wills& * the will of good versus the will of evil * but does not lead to development of the villain so the hero always emerges as the opposite of the villain. Fischer&s "he !rides of )racula * the villain (!aron Meinster, a vampire) is set against his )r. Jan .ellsing, a doctor of hilosophy, )octor of "heology and rofessor of Metaphysics, who does not show fear when he is confronted by vampires, though he claims that 3only #od has no fear.4 o "his is not the only example * )r. Muller vs /m,.o,"ep ("he Mummy)+ )r. #arth vs -andor ()racula&s )aughter)+ $ady Fane (insley vs (rmand "essla ("he Return of the Jampire). "he one thing these characters have in common is the blatant unreality that surrounds them * they are more like representations of humanity than actual individual human beings. "hey simply exist * there is never an attempt to Cuestion the existence of the villain as, to the inhabitants of these worlds, vampires, ghosts and werewolves are commonplace and accepted inhabitants of the world. 3Flat4 characters * intriguing and striking but lacking in depth * represent ideas+ they are merely there to be used in answering the Cuestions of good and evil. (lso why emphasis is placed on the monster. -ense of the alternate world must be preserved * the exotic settings and characters must blend to form the spirit of the horror film. o Jampires in locali0ed settings * like $os (ngeles or modern $ondon * strain the willing suspension of disbelief that is crucial to the horror story. o "he sense of parody is painfully evident in the film Bount Gorga,Jampire. (lain -ilver and Fames Drsini note' &this vacillation etween seriousness and satire $$$reduces its integrity oth as drama and as genre "iece to the "oint where it loses its interior reality$% "he depiction of an alternate world preserves the integrity of the horror film, and the exaggerated characteri0ations and setting coalesce to form it' o Maurice !eebe, on oe' &the initial unity of singleness $$$ the unity of mutual relationshi" $$$ where, li-e the universe, everything is related and nothing is irrelevant$% "he artificial design is very thing that gives the film meaning and value. o )eparture from the real world implies examination of its highly symbolic settings. o 2orlds not governed by 3realistic4 rules, so one must interpret the movie on its own terms. o 2e will discover the true meaning and value by examining the symbolism. !y presenting the effect of horror in terms of an alternate reality, a world with an inner logic, the entire tale becomes symbolic and meaningful. o

"he horror film offers a supernatural force grounded in a theological, closed world.

)he Science Fiction Film

Ma%or characteristic is on a depiction of a continuous5historical world. )oes not bother with good vs evil but their physical world only exists as a setting in which to present events that could happen. Jivian -obchack on the distinction between horror and science fiction' &how much we -now a out the "rocess and the "roduct, how much we are told a out the cause and effect$% Monsters in science fiction' o Bome from the outer world either through scientific experimentation or invasion from a 3real4 alien planet. o :ot magical. o resented as living beings from a separate world. o )racula vs Frankenstein' )racula is the manifestation of an absolute, omnipresent evil. Frankenstein is the result of a scientific experiment rooted in the manipulation of physical reality. "he science fiction film offers a natural force grounded in a physical, historical context. "he manipulation of physical reality in science fiction can be a manifestation of absolute evil but that depends on the character&s intent in the two types of film. o /f the scientist conducts his experiments to gain power and evil, the film is in the horror genre. Mad doctor5scientist * the scientist is driven by his urge to enslave the world, control mankind or seek revenge. )r. raetorius, "he !ride of Frankenstein, is motivated by the desire to 3usurp the rights of #od4 by creating a living being * he was also thrown out of university for unorthodox experiments. Fuxtaposition of scenes in the film implies that )r. raetorius is more than %ust a doctor * throughout the film, the devil imagery and themes are used for him. o /f the scientist does it out of an innocent, intellectual curiosity, it is science fiction. .eavy on plot' o Fohn !axter' &characters have no function exce"t as sym ols in the writer)s chess oard develo"ment of his "remise$% o "he ;hero& is often the plot itself. o Boncerned with man&s inherent sense of wonder * this echoes Fung&s perception of the human condition. <xplored5explained by putting the emphasis on plot rather than character expositions. o "he narrative action investigates and explains a scientific notion, often becoming a thesis within a fictional work. #eorge al&s pseudo,documentaries like )estination Moon and BonCuest of -pace bas their speculative narratives on state,of,the, art scientific knowledge to formulate a working 3hypothesis4. o <schew characteri0ation for development of strong, cohesive narrative action.

o o

-hown in the titles, which emphasi0e no personality' )estination Moon+ BonCuest of -pace+ Flight to Mars+ "he )ay the 2orld <nded+ <arth vs. "he Flying -aucers. <mphasis on narrative action gives meaning and value to the scientific film, like the setting gives meaning to horror films. "o understand, it is not Freud we look to, but Fung and analytical psychology. 6. <verything is made up of opposites. 7. "he psyche is there to reconcile these opposites and reach a higher state of consciousness * individuali0ation. "he films function in a Fungian aspect as a teleological gradient , it avoids Cuestions of good and evil and inspires wonder, hope, aspirations and ideals towards a path of 3spiritual birth4 for the individual view&s true ;self&. (ffirms human potential and aspiration. Bonnection between wonder and mystery is most pronounced in films that go to other worlds * 7??6' ( -pace 1dyssey has the depiction of rebirth as literal. !owman passes through the star gate to confront his maturing self, only to return as a star child. -tar 2ars centres its action on the mystical, pseudo,religious Force and concludes with the figurative rebirth of $uke -kywalker from a youth to a man. (lso found in alien invasion films' Rich with insights into the human condition * it is a subgenre of science fiction, not considered as horror. )epicts humanity at the mercy of malevolent or benign forces, who are either terrestrial (essence in earthly origin whose reason for being is explained in rational terms) or extra,terrestrial (a force whose origins is unknown yet rationally understood). o (lien marauders in 2ar of the 2orlds remain mysterious to humanity though they are scientifically explained away in the narration. o "errestrial monster * in "arantula, the titular spider has grown to enormous si0e. 2hile the spider is recogni0able to humans, nobody knows what is causing its huge si0e, and it is rationali0ed through scientific means. Marked by an emphasis on its reason for being. Dsually due to a manipulation of physical reality that went awry' #enesis * monster is a new creature made by science (mental vampires, Fiend without a Face+ silicates, /sland of "error). Mutation * creature changed into prowling monster (spider, "arantula+ most insect films).

o o

Metamorphosis * a creature changes its form and structure ((ndre )elambre changes into an insect in "he Fly) Ressurection * extinct creature is revived through atomic bomb testing (rhedosoar, "he !east from 7?,??? Fathoms). "errestrial films * monster movies. <xtraterrestial films * alien movies5science fiction movies. "his is why alien invasion movies are considered a subgenre of science fiction+ it is rooted in the manipulation of physical reality as a way of presenting insights into the human condition, though it does not indicate underlying evil.

Murnau)s /osferatu
:osferatu, "abu and -unrise are the three films that can be most easily compared to one another. Binema&s finest and most suggestive embodiments of the 3)escent4 myth' o "he 3)escent4 myth is when characters existing in a state of innocence are led to discover a terrible underlying reality of the supernatural, and are either destroyed by the experience or emerge changed from it. o "he myth is fundamental to all civili0ed existence * it suggests darker depths beneath our civili0ed appearance and links back to the #arden of <den myth, ersephone (#reek mythology) and 1rpheus. o Mostly found in 2estern culture' <nglish literature * The #ncient Mariner+ Heart of $ar%ness. Binema * sycho+ ersonal+ Face to Face. Bommon in fairytales. o Jampire myth easily coalesces with the )escent myth. Murnau does not seek to explain the myth, but to show it * thus, the characters never develop much more than as archtypes. "hrough suggestive allusions, Murnau seems to feel his material' o "o #reek mythology * when ersephone was carried off to the underworld, she was gathering flowers. :osferatu starts with Fonathan gathering flowers for his wife. Fonathan and :ina are Cuickly established as the ;ideal&, too sweet couple * :ina leans over a flower,filled window to play with a kitten, Fonathan gives her flowers * though there lies a distinction between them' Fonathan is complacent and over,confident+ :ina, sad and tender. "he derelict castle, symboli0ing decay and desolation, is seen opposite Fonathan and :ina&s house like a mirror. o :ature is the real sub%ect of the film * it is suggested through :ina&s flowers and sunlight is referred to at several points as the film continues i.e., in the horses moving across a hillside in early morning sunshine, shots of the sea in the sun. "he night is never too far behind * it is evident in the underworld that Fonathan visits and subseCuently releases on the small town.

:osferatu himself is identified with nature' his castle is seen in such a way that it can be mistaken for a natural piece of rock+ he is identified with the %ackal that scares the horses in the night+ his first appearance is like a nocturnal animal emerging from the lair, and the way he moves is not human. <ven his appearance is animalistic. /dentified with the rats that spread the plague on the village and with the teeth marks in the victims& necks. (lso evidenced in rofessor von .elsing&s lecture that utili0es a carnivorous Jenus flytrap and a common polyp * :osferatu and ourselves symboli0ed. Renfield watches the spiders in his cells and moves like an animal. )uality of nature * horses belong to the sunlight, yet the hooded horses that draw :osferatu&s carriage are not of the light. Repression imagery' o :osferatu emerges from the ground. o Fonathan walks beneath oppressive stone archways to reach the crypt of :osferatu. o (rch shapes are used to show how :osferatu, the repressed, keeps emerging from beneath them and their struggle to hold him down. o (rches link Fonathan and :osferatu * during their first meaning, :osferatu emerges from one arch and Fonathan from another, like a mirror image+ the bed Fonathan sleeps in has an arch over it+ :osferatu leads Fonathan down (the 3descent4 myth pictured) into his arched vault+ Fonathan&s walk beneath the arches as he writes a letter to :ina is mirrored in :osferatu&s hunting. "hese suggestive images can be seen as the product of a number of cultural or traditional elements fused together by Murnau himself. Fonathan and :osferatu are mirrored in several ways , :osferatu serves as an alternate, albeit demonic, husband for :ina. o "he supernaturally opening door to Fonathan&s room * no catch and lock * resembles a coffin lid. <diting' o "he intercutting of Fonathan and :osferatu&s %ourneys, and :ina&s ambiguous expectations, is crucial to the film&s meaning * they are both travelling towards her, Fonathan by land and :osferatu by sea, and yet she looks out to the sea all the time and is seen against a background pattern of Bhristian crosses (redemption and death) which become associated with her+ thus, she becomes the symbol of redemption and death for the two creatures. o :ina sleepwalking across the parapet( 3.e&s coming, / must go meet him4) ends with a shot of :osferatu rather than Fonathan. Fonathan&s impotence provides :osferatu the strength he needs to leave the environment he was trapped in. 1nly after :osferatu starts to attack the villagers does Fonathan sum up the courage to try and confront him, though he does nothing effective against him. <mphasis of :osferatu&s power is evident in' o "he ship is photographed in ways that evoke power and it sweeps all over the screen in such a way that it seems to burst out of the image. (lthough at first controlled by a human force, with the death of the crew, the ship is supernaturally controlled by :osferatu&s power.

"he sea should be a barrier, protection, purity and the suggestion of :osferatu spreading across it lends the film a feeling of our world being contaminated. "he plague&s ambiguity * nobody knows whether its spread by rats or :osferatu * allows hte audience to see the plague both as the eruption of natural forces and the repression of energies in the individual. o Dniversali0es the whole film * :osferatu is not only in Fonathan, but in :ina, in the marriage, in civili0ation+ he becomes the plague. Renfield * extension of :osferatu * was present in the town. "he baffled attempts of the villagers to try and attack the forces attacking them in the destruction of a scarcecrow that has been mistaken for Renfield. :ina as :osferatu&s opponent' o .as a supernatural power * %ust as :osferatu is able to telepathically control Renfield, she is able to telepathically save Fonathan. o "he sexual overtones in the vampire myth become explicit later on * :osferatu watches the window that shows their bedroom, and :ina becomes the one he wants. o /ntercutting of %ourney back to the town and :ina&s ambiguous expectations shows that the struggle is really for her * the race is for her. o #iving herself to save Fonathan carries Bhristian overtones * the typical weapons used against vampires. "he only way to defeat the vampire is to distract him with her beauty and allow him to kill her at the end. o :ina embodies the civili0ed humans for which the animal nature (:osferatu) has been repressed. -exual meaning in the film' o :osferatu * neurosis from repressed sexuality5nature * is exorcised when he is revealed by the light of day, but it takes with it the positive life (:ina). o /f Fonathan is :osferatu, :ina must accept what Fonathan can&t control or confront within her husband. o -uggestions that :ina desires the vampire. -ince it is a myth, there is no one ;right& answer * evil is destroyed alongside good and tragic pessimism prevails. :osferatu at the end' o .e has been built up to be a figure of impressive power and strength * at the end he becomes a pathetic, weak figure and at :ina&s mercy. o "he strength of his helplessness and destruction gives us a feeling that he is a part of ourselves. 1ur attitudes to :ina, Bhristian sacrifice and Bhristian repressions are changed. )... $awrence&s The &na%e has similarities to :osferatu' o "he snake (:osferatu) comes out of a dark hole to become a symbol of all that civili0ed society re%ects. /t is driven back to the darkness, though the poet considers it 3beautiful4 and is ashamed of his actions (i.e. driving it back) due to his 3accursed human education4. :osferatu becomes the symbol of all that civili0ation has repressed while :ina is the bloodless, cold society. <xpressionism in the film'

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&hado' and &u(stance

$ittle in the film corresponds to the distortion of reality that <xpressionist cinema has. Reality, however, is given to the horror,fantasy through the use of real locations. "he first shot of the vampire&s castle. -trange geometrical archway patterns. 3unnatural4 camera angles. "he trick effects. Dse of copious shadows. "he atmosphere * doom, repressed sexuality. :ina, bloodless and white, resembles a death&s head * she is sexless, while the repressed :osferatu is sensual.

Made in #ermany in 6I77 and indulges the period&s taste for horror * the image of the vampire is simultaneously that of a skeleton and a rat. o Bontext not that of oppressive and murky artificial sets * the settings are authentic. o "ricks in the photography are few and far between. Dse of natural settings' o -tory cannot be imagined in a fantastical setting * the setting becomes a part of the overall story and the film&s riches (the impassioned poetry, mystery and opaCueness) would have been lost. "he natural world is the protagonist of the film. Binema can impose two views on an ob%ect * an impassioned view on everything and a single view on a single important ob%ect (close,up or long shot). o Blose,up * in <isenstein&s film, they isolate the ob%ect from its surroundings and show off its shape and si0e from many different angles. o $ong,shot * in Murnau&s films, it supports the unity of the visual field. 2hen the visual field is no longer visible, the ob%ect has lost its importance. Murnau&s cinema does not follow the <xpressionist cinema conventions (i.e. ob%ects, mist, filled space) but it is a cinema of empty space. o "here are superficial signs of expressionism in Murnau&s film. o /n his best works, space becomes the centre of attention * ex' in "abu, the space between the lovers& huts is charged with hostility+ in -unrise, the space expressed during the trolley ride is the most expressive seCuence in the whole film. o $ooks the foreground to the background * deep,focus photography was an essential part of his earlier career. o (ttention is not strictly placed on one ob%ect, but on throughout the whole space * and space, like in nature, flows and extends all around the frame of the films with a certain imbalance and incompleteness that relates perfectly to the world around them. o Fundamentally unstable shots * as the world encroaches on them, the charged images reflect both the world and the strangeness within it. "abu * the ship entering the frame interrupts the dance of celebration, physically marking the beginning of the sustained assault on the world which makes the young lovers retreat further and further into their own. o Finds himself at odds with the world.

"abu and :osferatu are alike in some aspects' o -et chiefly in natural settings. o roduced outside #erman and (merican studios. o Restrained * the mode that day was for overt gestures to make up for silence. o !oth begin in settings that are very different from normal experiences * one is set in the haunting landscape of :osferatu&s castle while the other is on a utopian island in the -outh -eas. )espite their different worlds, both of the worlds have a menace to them which later breaks out into the normal, ordinary world. "he differences, however, are Cuite significant' o /n "abu and -unrise both the characters and the environments exist in a polarity that defines both of them while in :osferatu the physical world dominates our focus and takes centre,stage. <ven the vampire is filmed at a distance, involving the surrounding world in his shots insomuch that he is merged within the physical world itself. o "he analogy of the couples in "abu and :osferatu is obvious, though that is where the similarities end' /n :osferatu, the characters have less of a physical presence * they have no sub%ective point of view, which makes them come across rather weakly so that they stand out all the more in the oppressive world Murnau builds. o /n "abu, the island has an underlying menace to its natural beauty, though Reri and Mahati still want to attain a harmony with nature and feel its indifference later+ in :osferatu, there is no such attempt as nature is hostile, cold and out of reach and there is no ambivalence in the settings. "here is no attempt at resisting the inescapable hostility of the outside world. :osferatu starts out with a prelude set in a !altic town * the real,estate agent underneath :osferatu&s influence assigns his young, recently,married clerk to go do some business in the distant castle. (lthough recently married, the clerk is happy to go. o "he story properly starts with the introduction to the Barpathian landscape * the use of trick photography and angle shots make the world sinister, fragmented, bringing to mind the classical nightmare plot of a young man being drawn into unspeakable horrors. Bamera tricks * critici0ed, the tricks serve to unsettle reality, the crude way that the doors %erk and moved are blended with the natural surroundings. "rick photography * uses deliberately to distance the audience so it becomes less prominent as they move away from the Barpathian castle to the !altic town. (s the clerk makes his way to the town, his %ourney is cut parallel with the %ourney of the ship carrying :osferatu and the earth,filled coffins. "he two images are bound together, with the structure of the recurring ship dominating the details of the !altic town. "he clerk&s %ourney is also made secondary to the %ourney of :osferatu and the coffins * his wife turns towards the ship, when it arrives, rather than towards him.

o o o

"he cross,cutting has an impressive rhythm, though it is considered nonsensical and meaningless * through this rhythm, Murnau succeeds in invoking a sense of the supernatural in the ship, the waves and the wind which prepares the audience for the uncanniness of the town seCuence. "he plague scenes in the movie (i.e. the ship&s landing is thought to hold a plague by the people) attain a directness to them that the entire movie has been working towards * the way the :ordic houses are photographed shows both the boredom of its past and the horror of its present. )espite the direness of the camera, the supernatural feeling still lasts in the idea that there is something beyond the camera that cannot be captured * the physical world remains distant. "he fact that they are in long,shots is what gives them their ghostly Cuality * although long,shots have everything in detail, it is not proper detail and leaves many things imprecise. "he destruction of the little town, although a supernatural horror, seems to have been its fate all along * the horror seems natural, rather than extraneous. o "his tone is set from the start * the way that :osferatu tiptoes so as not to disturb the sleeping villagers shows how deeply the supernatural has become almost a way of life. o "he ensuing plague is seen as a perfectly natural phenomena. o "he figure of the vampire, especially when photographed in the early morning, seems to blend with the natural so well as to completely dissolve into them. o "ownspeople lack of awareness that something sinister is in their depths * death is accepted and treated with solemnity instead of panic, with the funerals going by orderly and someone from the town painting crosses on the doors. "he town itself is also strange * :osferatu&s coffin is repeated in the coffins of the villagers and the town streets remain deserted as they are on the night of :osferatu&s arrival+ first, :osferatu yielded to the town and now the town yields to him. .orror and solemnity overlap well and often * horror is becoming identifiable with the commonplace. )eath, not the monster, is the sub%ect of the film. (lthough the vampire dies at the end, it is still death that triumps for it has claimed the vampire and the young wife as its victims. <ven in death, it is impossible to align :osferatu with the death he brings about * it is difficult to associate disaster with that one individual. "he true nature of the vampire isn&t revealed until the end where, in the bedroom of the young woman, he is unable to possess her the way a man would and stays by her side until daylight rises and kills him * he is a phantom, where she is real.

<ven at the end, although the voiceover says that the town&s happiness prospected again, panning the camera over the streets show the implausibility of the fact * all that has gone from the world is the shadow of :osferatu. "he real hostility, the hostility of the world, remains intact.

Soviet Montage
Focused on understanding and creating cinema through editing. From 6I7=,6I8?. Fewer than 8? films in the style, but they were very influential films. Bhose to film strikes and clashes from history. (lways filmed on location. (lthough pioneered by -oviet film makers such as udovkin, <isenstein and Jertov, many of the directors disagreed about what it meant. Bhanges between shots are obvious, less fluid and non,seamless. )ynamic angles rather than the straight on, chest view. "hrough its use, time seems to slow or Cuicken accordingly. :ot concerned with continuity. )ownplaying of individual characters * single characters represent a social class or general type. o /n -trike, by <isenstein, there is only one named character throughout the entire film. "wo types of editing' o 1verlapping editing * the shot repeats all5some of the action from the previous shot. o <lliptical editing * the action being filmed takes less time than it should as the action is cut. <mphasis on diegetic and non,diegetic elements of film' o )iegetic * anything that is part of the film story world, i.e. filmed scenes. o :on,diegetic * anything that is not part of the film story world, i.e. assumptions, implications. <x' /n -trike, <isenstein cuts from a police officer to a butcher who kills animals. .ere, the butcher is the non,diegetic element, and implies that the workers were killed like animals. "he above is an example of intellectual montage, which created its effects through conflict, i.e. the %uxtaposition of shots with no real connection to one another. $ev Huleshov and the Huleshov experiment' o <diting as a manipulation of the audience, as well as a manipulation of film. o Fuxtaposition to change audience&s feelings about a certain actor. o !est known for the Huleshov experiments, where he intercut pictures of an actor with the same expressionless face with pictures of a girl, a bowl of soup, a casket. "he audience praised the actor&s way to subtly change his expression though it was the same shot, and the same expression, throughout. o -howed -oviet filmmakers that film needed to be shown in fragments that altered the audience&s mood.

Final editing of the film was as important, if not more so, than the shot itself. udovkin' o ( student of Huleshov. o -aid' &The foundation of film art is editing$% o Focused not on editing only, but on the placement of items in the mise,en, scene (what is seen in the scene+ actors, set, etc.) o -aw actors as ob%ects onstage rather than as working actors. o Montage as the key to revealing emotion on the set. o udovkin and <isenstein&s views of montage clashed especially * <isenstein insisted on conflict, while udovkin would not intentionally cut together shots of his film to disrupt the flow of the story. o Dsed montage to build up powerful emotion that he could build up with narrative and story. Jertov' o Breated plot through the editing of shots. o )id not think montage was specific to editing. o <very decision made by the director Cualified as montage. <isenstein' o 2rote the essay Word and )*a e on the five types of montage. 6. Metric * the editing follows a specific number of frames and cut after them no matter what is happening on screen. For example, it cuts to a different shot after three frames. "his was used in 1ctober, by <isenstein. 7. Rhythmic * cutting based on continuity, creating a link between the edits. Movement factors in greatly here, as difference is born between the things that should move and are not, or the things that move, and should not. "he 1dessa steps seCuence is an example of rhythmic montage. 8. "onal * meaning through light and shadow and music, often emotional meaning. "he !attleship otemkin scene where Jakulinchuk dies is an example of tonal montage. 9. 1vertonal * uses all the three other forms of montage to create a series of ;themes& present throughout the film. "hey are seen over the course of the film and culminate in a particular moment. "he seCuence where the men march towards the factory in Mother, by udovkin, an emphasis is made on the ice. $ater on, one of the characters uses ice to escape. =. /ntellectual * meaning through the %uxtaposition of shots and the way they are edited together as a whole. /n 1ctober and -trike, shots of workers being attacked are cut with a shot of a bull being slaughtered, suggesting that the workers are being treated like cattle. o (rgued that you could not have %ust one type of montage, but that all the types of montage must be used in a film so as to create the effect and meaning. o

Notes on Film Noir Paul Schrader

6I9>' French critics saw the (merican movies they had seen during the war and noticed the new mood of cynicism, pessimism and darkness which had crept into the (merican cinema. o "his was only the beginning * as the years went past, .ollywood lighting became darker, characters became more corrupt, themes more fatalistic and the tone more hopeless. 6I9I' films take a harsh look at (merican lifestyle. /nteresting to critics. o <very critic has a different definition of film noir. 2hile popular, it is the least known. :ot a genre, but defined by tone and mood. o ( specific period of film history * .ollywood films of the forties and early fifties. o .arks back to different periods, amongst them the gangster films of the "hirties and #erman <xpressionist crime films. o Most every dramatic film in .ollywood from 6I96 to 6I=8 has elements of film noir. Four conditions in .ollywood that brought about film noir' o 6. War and post-war disillusionments' ( delayed reaction to the "hirties hit the D-( after the -econd 2orld 2ar * all through the )epression, films had been used to keep peoples& spirits up, which led to crime films and socially, conscious films. /t was only towards the end of the "hirties that film noir began to appear. :eed to produce (llied propaganda abroad and promote patriotism crippled the effects of film noir. "he first film noir during the war was "he Maltese Falcon. Films produced during the war did not have the artistic film noir feel. 2hen the war ended, darker films began production * crime films had a boom, and audiences, disillusioned from the war, were eager to see a film that portrayed society in a less than brilliant light. /mmediate disillusionments were felt in films like Bornered, "he !lue )ahlia, )ead Reckoning and Ride a ink .orse * all these films had soldiers returning to find sweethearts dead, or business partners cheating him or society not worth fighting for. (lthough the war still continued, antagonism shifted to (merican society itself. o 7. Post-war realism' 2hen the war ended, all film,making countries had a resurgence of realism. Films were filmed on the actual location. Realism suited (merica&s post,war mood * the public&s desire for a harsher look at (merican life would not be sated by looking over the same sets and streets they had seen during and before the war. -ucceeded in breaking film away from the domain of high,class melodrama and placed it in the streets with everyday people.

-tudio looks of films such as "he !ig -leep and "he Mask of )imitrios are far tamer and more polite than their realistic counterparts. o 8. )he 2erman -nfluence' (n influx of #erman expatriates during the "wenties and "hirties ended up working in .ollywood and integrating into the film scene. Bame in useful during the Forties as the #erman <xpressionist lighting proved to be a staple of film noir. ( large number of #ermans and <ast <uropeans ended up working in film noir. (lthough #erman <xpressionism and its reliance on artificial studio lighting is incongruous with post,war realism, film noir is about blending bits of previous styles into a whole. "he best noir filmmakers used artificial lighting to add drama to real sets. o -ee Dnion -tation, "hey $ive !y :ight and "he Hillers. Fohn (lton was the best expressionist cinematographer who could adapt old expressionist techniCues to the new style of realism * his films also incorporated black and white photography. ",Men, Raw )eal, "he !ig Bombo. o 9. )he /ard-Boiled )radition' (uthors whom had, in the "hirties, created the ;tough& and cynical way of acting and thinking * thus separating one from the world of everyday emotion * had their protagonists live out a narcissistic, defeatist code. "he hard,boiled hero was a great deal stronger than anything (merican fiction had seen. 2hen the movies of the Forties turned to the (merican ;tough& moral understanding, the hard,boiled characters of "hirties fiction influenced noir screenwriting. Raymond Bhandler was the most hard,boiled of .ollywood&s writers. )ouble /ndemnity is the most characteristically noir of all the films. .owever, eventually, film noir bypassed the hard,boiled tradition completely. -tylistics' o "he ma%ority of the scenes are lit for night. #angsters sit in the offices at midday * the shades are pulled and the lights are off. Beiling lights are low. Floor lamps seldom higher than five feet. Bharacters avoid the light. o 1bliCue and vertical lines preferred. 1bliCuity adheres to city lines, splintering a screen and making it unstable. $ight enters the room in odd shapes. o (ctors and settings given eCual lighting emphasis. (ctors often hidden in the city at night, with a face blacked out by shadow * the central character is often standing in shadow

"he environment is given eCual5greater weight than the actor, it creates a fatalistic, hopeless mood. "here is nothing the protagonist can do as the city will outlast and negate his best efforts. o Bompositional tension preferred to physical action. "he scene moves around the actor rather than the other way around * the actor does not control the scene through physical action. Measured pacing. Restrained anger and oppressive composition. o (ttachment to water. -treets are almost always rainy and wet. Rainfall increases in direct proportion with the drama. )ocks and piers second to alleys in popular rende0vous points. o $ove of romantic narration. Breates a mood of te*ps perdu. (n irretrievable past. <ncompassing hopelessness. redetermined fate. Relating the past with such obvious relish that it is clear that there is no hope for the future. o Bomplex chronological order. Dsed to reinforce the feelings of hopelessness and lost time. "ime,disoriented but styli0ed world. Manipulation of time is often used to reinforce a noir principle' how is more important than the what. "hemes' o Frontierism of the "hirties has turned to paranoia and claustrophobia. o -mall,time gangster has made it big and now controls the city, the private eye has Cuit the police force and the young heroine is leading others on a ride. o ( passion for the past and present but a fear for the future. :oir hero dreads to look ahead, but tries to survive by the day. /f he cannot, he retreats into the past. o "echniCues emphasi0e loss, nostalgia, lack of clear priorities, insecurities and self,doubt. o -tyle is paramount * all that separates from meaningless. o Bhandler' &,t is not a very frafrant world, ut it is the world you live in, and certain writers with tough minds and a cool s"irit of detachment can ma-e very interesting "atterns out of it$% Ban be divided into three phases' o 6. 2artime period (6I96,6I9>) rivate eye and lone wolf. Bhandler, .ammet, #reene. !ogard, !acall, $add, $ake. )irectors * Burti0 and #arnett. More talk than action. "he Maltese Falcon, Basablanca, #aslight, "his #un for .ire, Mildred ierce, "he 2oman in the 2indow, Fallen (ngel. 2ilder5Bhandler )ouble /ndemnity provided a bridge to the post, war phase * it came as a shock in 6I99.

7. ost,war period (6I9=,6I9I) More about the problem of crime in the streets, political corruption and police routine. $ess romantic heroes * Richard Bonte, !urt $ancaster, Bharles Mc#raw. roletarian directors * .athaway, )assin, Ha0an. Realistic ;urban& look. "he .ouse on I7nd -treet, "he Hillers, Raw )eal, (ct of Jiolence, ink .orse, )ark assage, Bry of the Bity, "he -et,Dp, Ball :orthside @@@. o 8. Final phase (6I9I,6I=8) sychotic action and suicidal impulse. :oir hero stars going cra0y. sychotic killer goes from a sub%ect of study ("he )ark Mirror) to a fringe threat (Hiss of )eath) and now becomes an active protagonist, like Fames Bagney in Hiss "omorrow #oodbye. :o explanation given for psychosis. :euroticism and instability. !est of all three phases * most aesthetically and sociologically piercing. <xplained the root causes of the period * loss of public honour, heroic conventions, personal integrity and psychic instability. -elf,aware * understood that they were films based on despair, disintegration and showed it in full. Filled with end,of,the,line noir heroes * "he !ig .eat shows the end of the line for the urban cop+ (ce in the .ole is the end of the newspaper man+ Jictor -aville,produced -pillane series (/& the Fury, "he $ong 2ait, Hiss Me )eadly) is the end of the private eye+ -unset !oulevard is the end of the !lack 2idow+ 2hite .eat and Hiss "omorrow #oodbye are the ends for the gangsters and ).1.(. for the Fohn )oe (merican. #un Bra0y, 2hite .eat, 1ut of the ast, Hiss "omorrow #oodbye, ).1. (, "hey $ive !y :ight, "he !ig .eat. !y the middle Fifties, film noir had ground to a halt. 2ith the rise of McBarthy and <isenhower, (mericans were eager to see a more bourgeois view of themselves and crime had to move to the suburbs. (ny criticism of (merican life had to be camouflaged in double the affirmations of the (merican way of life. o "elevision gradually undercut the #erman influence. o Bolour cinematography destroyed the ;noir& look. robably the most creative period in .ollywood, it achieved a high level of artistry. !rought out the best in everyone * film noirs are usually the high point of both an actor&s career and a director&s. o Breative release * artists could work with previously forbidden themes. o Binematographers allowed to hone their style. 2ith such creativity, the fact that it was neglected is baffling. For a long time, critics and moviegoers avoided film noir because its bleak depiction of society was considered an aberration of (merican characters * in other words it was not considered ;(merican enough&, like the values of the 2estern or gangster films. o

re%udice thickened as film noir were often ;!& films * economic snobbery in critic circles led to many critics avoiding these kinds of films as they were %ust ;low budget& trash. o Britical revival in the last ten years, focusing on how directors are different, also did not give film noir the recognition it deserved * while this focused on why directors are different, film noir focused on why they are all the same. o )epends more on choreography than sociology, which isolated a lot of (merican critics who were more interested in theme than in style (it was the other way around with film noir' style first, then theme). (merican film critics' film relates to large masses and if it goes wrong, the theme has been violated by the film. Film noir' theme is hidden in the style and bogus themes haunt and contradict the style. Film noirs were far more difficult to analyse than 2esterns or gangster films, and they were pushed aside. 2arshow, an (merican critic, often praised and analy0ed gangster films rather than film noir, but gangster films are stylistically inferior to film noir. o #angster films * reflect what is happening in society at the time. o Film noir * try to teach (mericans to accept a moral vision of their life based on style. romoted style over themes. (ttacked and twisted sociological conditions. Breated a new artistic world * a nightmare view of the (merican life. 2orked out its conflicts visually rather than thematically. (ble to create artistic solutions to sociological problems. o

Gangster Films
( product of the thirties. 1n the rise and fall of criminals * in no gangster film does the criminal come out on top. !y the end, he is either arrested or killed. Dsually set in large cities, in the dark underbelly of the light world of those that live normally and without risk. -taples of the gangster film genre' o Fast cars * symboli0ed success and power. o 2omen. o "ommy guns. o :ice suits * violent potential as it gave them an air of inscrutability (hats, sCuare shoulders, coats) o -idekicks. o "elephones. o Mothers were often prevalent in these films. o :ewspapers. o #angsters end up dead in the street. o Rivalry with other gangs or other gang members. 2riters dreamed up a different %argon for the criminal underbelly to further add separation between them and the normal society. .eroes'

Dsually materialistic. -treet,smart. Megalomaniac. -elf,destructive. Dsually come from poor families, with a thirst for more * for power and money and success. Morality tale * following the morality play pattern established by Bhristopher Marlowe, the gangster film has a predictable cycle' the gangster sins to reach a higher place, and once he has attained his position, the inevitable decline will begin, culminating in his eventual death. )id not have a literary alternative * gangster films were directly inspired by contemporary newspaper headlines and the gangsters of the day. Binema audiences liked seeing' o "he gangster defying the system that had oppressed them * the hypocritical society that had brought about )epression and the rohibition. o "he gangster getting his comeuppance at the end, and being stopped by the law * regardless of what he symboli0ed, the gangster was cast as the ;root of all evil&. #angsters of the "hirties are characteri0ed by their normality * they had nothing wrong with them, they do not skulk in the shadows. "hey are ordinary, if poor, men who aspire to get to a higher status of life by any means necessary. o Bollides with and replicates society * he is a hard worker, a tough character, who does not conform to society. o -ymboli0e a rebellion that ordinary citi0ens could not enact. o .eroes of dynamic, expressive gestures * they snarled, pouted, shouted, had great passions and lots of wild gestures, with an anarchistic appeal. o #rand, even in death. o "he criminal big,shot is a parody of the (merican dream+ he succeeds in what he does through illegal means. o /nevitable fall creates a sense of entrapment in an economic reality * the victim of a society in which everyone is corrupt. Romanticising the gangster with the flamboyant nature of the violence in the films. 1ften results in a ;split identity& with the gangsters as they reach for legitimacy and recognition * in their search to be ;somebody&, they lose who they are, which leads to a destabili0ing of their own identity. o -een in $ittle Baesar and -carface. $ittle Baesar ushered in the period where the point of view of the criminal became that which the audience saw. /n previous films, the criminal was %ust a bad guy who eventually was struck down by %ustice * in gangster films, he has a personality, name, Cuirks+ he becomes the character the audience is left to sympathi0e with. .istorically inspired by (l Bapone who symboli0ed (merican gangsterism * Bapone became a force that the (merican government could not control, much less stop. o o o o o

+"es and 0ssences1 Some Sources of Significance in the +merican *angster Film 0dward Mitchell
atterns emerging in gangster films' o 6. -eculari0ed uritanism * although nowadays it means a narrow sexual morality, there was a time where it was a statement on #od and the nature of good and evil, and the relationship between them and a human being. "he belief was that people were born in sin and without hope of redemption unless #od elected to save them, utili0ing signs such as increased material prosperity. "hey were saved, not by virtue, but by the 3grace of #od4. For gangster films, there are three aspects which frames the relationship between humans, good and evil' 6. Bondemnation * we are guilty, we can do nothing about this. 7. .elplessness * election is an act initiated by #od which we cannot control. 8. /nescapably moral agents * we are born in sin and so there is no neutrality. "here is no choice. o 7. -deas and attitudes of social "awinism * .uman beings are a product of evolution and by a process of 3natural selection4 (survival of the fittest) and they are sub%ugated to their environment. "he attempt to change either was absurd as to try and influence the process of evolution was to try and change a natural law. laced the individual in a passive role though survival of the fittest laid an emphasis on adaptability to the environment and could be interpreted to mean that nature favoured the more dynamic, aggressive and intelligent of the species. -erved as a rationali0ation for economic and geographic greed while numbing moral %udgement with the assurance of a slow climb up the evolutionary ladder. o 8. /oratio !lger myth * the hero is a young lad who loses his family and is deprived of his rightful inheritance, either through misfortune or the machinations of evil relatives. .is main goal is to win back his inheritance for his family and his aging mother, or to rise from his impoverished status to a position of monetary security and respectability * although, since the outcome is never in doubt, it could merely be to wait until the inevitable %ustification is resolved. .as no weapons other than fortitude and traditional virtues like 3pluck4. ( continuous stream of fortuitous circumstances which provide the opportunity to utili0e his skills and fortitude. (ll of his novels play upon the theme of disinheritance * security means being confident of one&s identity and of one&s position in the world. "hus, having a home or a middle,class %ob is a metaphor for the respectable, orderly life. (lways the rightful hero so the outcome is not in doubt * the dispossession will eventually be replaced. o "he three mixed together'

uritan worth became linked with material well,being, the result of hard work, perseverance and ingenuity, and the Cuestion of damnation became pushed back to the future. -ociological )arwinism accounted for the complex, urbani0ed society that came into being at the crest of the /ndustrial Revolution * the individual guilt that could be found in the uritan mind became less so as the mind insisted that evolution was merely a part of life, self,%ustifying. Reopened the door of ambivalence and ambiguity in human conduct with the concept of survival of the fittest. Bonflict between inevitability of acceptance and the demand for adaptive strategies produced anxiety, which were relieved in the .oratio (lger stories. (lger keeps the surface of his plot action, packed, making it appear that the hero is struggling and changing throughout the story, but at the end it is clear that the hero has always been himself and simply patient enough to wait out adversity until his things are restored. (lger, therefore, manages to link ;will& and makes it appear that the hero is succeeding on will alone, when really the story moves forward on ;luck& that the hero is prepared for, but not responsible. -alvation becomes the secure, middle,class life, evil is the greed relatives and punishment becomes a pay cut. 2ith the above three points in mind, we adapt them to gangster films * gangster films are the home of the conflict between good and evil. o "here is no escape from taint, corruption and their conseCuences in gangster films. o redictable * somehow, the gangster will fall. (lthough he is pursued by the law, death to the gangster doesn&t come because he has broken the law, but because he has sinned * while it is not related necessarily to #od, %ustice, in the form of a violent death at a young age, waits for the gangster. o (dmired * he survives in a violent, hostile environment, against heavy odds, using simple strategies. "ony Bamonte, to $ittle !oy * &2o it first, do it yourself and -ee" doing it$% Roy <arle&s refusal to adapt to a changing environment of unprofessional punks, self,serving cops and shallow ;nice& girls. /van Martin flamboyantly defies rural ignorance, the cops and exploitive capitalism (every oppressive element in his environment). (lthough the environment may mold and motivate the gangster, it never determines him. "he environment cannot explain the gangster. ervasive corruption defines the environment but it becomes irrelevant. 1n the surface, Michael Borleone appears to be the strongest adaptor+ he has risen against the five families and survived, though the parting shot shows him sitting alone in his manner, the sole person in a world depopulated by his orders.

erverted .oratio (lger pattern, especially in early gangster films. -teady rise of Rico in $ittle Baesar. "he neon sign flashing ;"he 2orld is Gours& to "ony Bamonte in -carface. Body Farrett screaming 3"op of the world, MaL4 as he is consumed by the fireball of the exploding gas tank in 2hite .eat. o .owever, the .oratio (lger myth has always been undercut in gangster films and seems uneasily employed in gangster films, especially when confronted with the facts of the )epression and "hird 2orld exploitation. /n "he .arder "hey Bome, the opening shows Fimmy Bliff singing 3Gou Ban #et /t /f Gou Really 2ant4 and the falsity of that claim becomes evident as the film progresses. /van&s will, sagacity, courage and style is futile * he is a man without a home in country or city and he is ultimately taken down by 3the system4 and 3the man4. .owever, /van is defeated by his own illusions * the harder they come, the harder they fall. o )espite the fact that the gangster is both powerful and rich, he finally succeeds in holding onto nothing but calamity. o "he only similarities between gangster films and the .oratio (lger myth is this' the gangster is disinherited, though he is disinherited permanently. .e takes, instead, from others. "hough he might think he is restoring himself to a ;rightful& status, that is far from the truth. (lienation and impending doom awaits the gangster. /n modern films, this is being put to the wayside. -corese&s Mean -treets has Bharlie, who is motivated by the need to aid the damaged people he meets, and the environment is almost claustrophobic, though not the reason for Bharlie&s acts. uritanism, -ocial )arwinism and the .oratio (lger myth are hopelessly contradictory, and it is precisely these contradictions that make the gangster film what it is, which provides the imbalances in the gangster films because they are never fully resolved. o

Film Pioneers
/nvented during the 6AI?s, after the /ndustrial Revolution, along with the telephone, the phonograph and the automobile. ( new form of entertainment and a new artistic medium. 6A87' !elgian physicist Foseph lateau and (ustrian geometry professor -imon -tampfer created the henakistoscope. /t was a spinning disc of figures which the viewer saw through a slot to perceive the illusion of movement. 6A88' "he Koetrope is invented. /t contained a series of drawings on a narrow strip of paper inside a revolving drum, and it was widely sold after 6A>@. 6A@A' photographer <adward Muybridge is asked by $eland -tanform to find a way of photographing horses running so as to note every movement that they made. <adward set up a row of twelve cameras, each with an exposure of one, thousandth of a second. "he photographs recorded one,half,second intervals of movement. "hrough his multiple,camera setup, he made a contribution to anatomical science.

6AA7' /nspired by Muybridge&s work, French physiologist Ptienne Fules Marey studied the flight of birds using a photographic gun. -haped like a rifle, it exposed twelve images around the edge of a circular glass plate that made a single revolution in one second. o 6AAA' Marey built a box,type camera that used an intermittent mechanism to exposed a series of photographs on a strip of paper film at a speed of 67? frames per second. !ecame the first to combine flexible film stock and an intermittent mechanism in photographing motion. 6A@@' Pmile Reynaud built an optical toy, the ro%ecting raxinoscope, which showed the viewers moving images in a series of windows. .e gave public exhibitions of them from 6AI7 onwards. o /n 6AI=, Reynaud started using a camera to make his raxinoscope films and by the 6I??, he was out of business due to competition from other, simpler motion,picture pro%ection systems. Bopies have since been reconstructed. 6AAA' (ugistin $e rince was able to make brief films of sixteen frames per second using Hodak&s recently introduced paper film roll. .owever, he lacked the flexible celluloid needed to be used in their pro%ection. 6AAA' "homas <dison decided to design machines for making and showing moving photographs. .e had already invented the electric light bulb and the phonograph, though his work on this pro%ect was mostly done by his assistant 2. H. $ )ickinson. o "ried to make rows of tiny photographs around cylinders similar to those in a phonograph, though they failed. o /n 6AAI, <dison went to aris and saw Marey&s camera, which used strips of flexible film. .is assistant then obtained some <astman Hodak film stock and began working on a new type of machine. o 6AI6' "he Hinetograph camera and Hinetoscope viewing box were ready to be patented and demonstrated. )ickinson cut the <astman film into strips 6 inch wide and punched four holes on either side so that gears could pull the film through the camera and Hinetoscope. /nitially, films were shown at 9> frames per second, which was too fast. "he 8=mm film stock with four perforations has remained the norm. o :eeded films for their machines, so they built a small studio called the ;!lack Maria& on the grounds of <dison&s :ew Fersey laboratory. o roduction ready by Fanuary 6AI8. Films only lasted 7? seconds, which was the length that the Hinetoscope could hold. Most were brief extracts from vaudeville and sports performances, like (nnie 1akley&s shooting skills, a bodybuilder and brief comedy skits. $eased the phonograph to special parlours * it was available for home use in 6AI=. o (pril 69, 6AI9' the first Hinetoscope parlour is opened in :ew Gork. /t was highly profitable for two years, then it was eclipsed by other inventions. Max and <mil -kladanowsky built the !ioscop, which held two strips of film running side by side. "hey showed a fifteen minute program at a theatre in !erlin on :ovember 6, 6AI=.

-ystem was too cumbersome and they eventually adopted the standard single,strip, 8=mm film. o )id not establish a production company. "he $umiQre brothers, $ouis and (ugust, invented a pro%ection system that helped make the cinema a commercially viable enterprise internationally and they were the biggest <uropean manufacturer of photographic plates. o 6AI9' a local Hinetoscope exhibitor asked them to make films cheaper than the <dison ones. "hey devised the BinRmatographe (modelled on the sewing machine) to do so. Bould be used as a printer when the positive copies were made. Formed part of the pro%ector as well. o )ecided to shoot their films at 6> frames per second, which became the internation standard film speed for 7= years. First film' 2orkers $eaving "he Factory, March 6AI=. o )ecember 7A, 6AI=' "he #rand BafR, aris had one of the most important film screenings. 7= films shown at one minute each. (uguste $umiQre and wife feeding their baby. (rroseur (rrosR a comic skit where a boy stepped on a hose and caused the pu00led garden to sCuirt himself in the face with water. R.2. aul is asked to make some extra Hinetoscopes, which were not patented outside of the Dnited -tates, and had to invent a camera and make films to go along with the Hinetoscope. o March 6IA=' aul and !irt (cres had a functional camera basd on the one Marey had made earlier. o "hirteen films shot. o artnership broke up * aul improved the camera for the Hinetoscope market while (cres worked on creating a pro%ector. o Fanuary 69, 6AI>' (cres showed some of his films to the Royal hotographic -ociety. Rough -ea at )over * popular early film. ro%ected films became popular in <ngland, and the $umiQre brothers sent a representative who opened up a BinRmatographe in $ondon (February 7?, 6AI>), aul went on improving his camera. o /nvented a pro%ector to use in several theatres to show (cre&s films o -old his machines rather than leasing them, speeding up the spread of the industry in !ritain. 6AI9' /n the Dnited -tates, 2oodville $atham and sons, 1tway and #ray, began work on a camera and pro%ector during 6AI9 and showed one film to reporters in 6AI=. o 1pened a theatre. o )id not attract much people * the pro%ector showed only a dim image. o Breated the $atham loop * before, most cameras and pro%ectors could only use a short stretch of film, as the tension by a heavier roll would break the film. "hey added a loop, allowing much longer films to be made. 1ctober 6AI=' B. Francis Fenkins and "homas (rmat exhibit their hantoscope pro%ector in (tlanta, showing Hinetoscope films. o (ttracted skimpy audiences. o

"he partnership dissolved * (rmat went on developing the pro%ector, renaming it the Jitascope, and obtained backing from :orman Raff and Frank #ammon. o <dison agreed to manufacture the pro%ector and supply films for it * it was marketed as ;<dison&s Jitascope&. o (pril 78, 6AI>' "he Jitascope&s public premiere at Hoster and !ial&s Music .all. > films shown+ = were originally for the Hinetoscope, and (cre&s Rough -ea at )over. Marked the beginning of pro%ected movies as an industry there. 6AI9' .erman Basler patented the Mutoscope, a flip,card device. .e needed a camera so he turned to his friend, 2. H. $ )ickinson, and they formed the (merican Mutoscope Bompany. o <arly 6AI>' Basler and )ickinson had their camera, though the peepshow movie industry was dying, and they decided to focus instead on pro%ection. "hey began playing theatres around the company, using several films made then, and toured with vaudeville shows. o Bamera and pro%ector used @?mm film that gave clearer, brighter images. o !y 6AI@, they were the most popular film company in the country. Film moved swiftly into popular entertainment. o <arly films were non,fiction (actualities) which might be short travelogues (scenics) or current news (topical). o Filmmakers recreated news events in the studio * both to save money and to make up for the fact that the cameraman had not been on scene. /n 6AIA, both (merican and <uropean produces used toy battleships to recreate the sinking of the battleship ;Maine& and other occurrences in the -panish,(merican war. (udiences accepted these as representations of the incident. o Fiction films also important * (rroseur arose was one of the earliest fiction films. o (ppeal for contemporary audiences is evident * scenics showed audiences far away lands, glimpses of news events are comparable to today&s short clips on news programs, variety shows can be compared to contemporary travel programs. Fiction became the most popular genre. o Most films had one shot * the camera was kept in one position and the action took place in a continuous take. /n some cases, filmmakers did a series of shots of the same ob%ect which were later treated as a series of separate films. <xhibitors had the choice of buying the whole film or separate shots, though this would die out by 6AII, when producers began making longer films consisting of multiple shots. .ad experience running lantern,slide programs and many strove for variety, mixing scenics, topical and fiction films in one program, which were sometimes accompanied by a pianist or house orchestra. "he exhibitor would also announce the titles as the films were silent. "he audience&s response depended on the skill the exhibitor showed in organi0ing and presenting the program. Filmmaking was principally done in France, <ngland the Dnited -tates. o

France
"he $umiQre brothers thought that film would %ust be a temporary fad and moved to exploit the BinRmatographe. o (voided selling their machines, but sent operators to tour abroad and show films in rented theatres. o roduced many stage films. o /nnovative * <ugQne romio, an operator, is usually credited with originating the moving camera. "he earliest cameras were supported by tripods that did not allow movement, but in 6AI>, romio introduced movement into a film about Jenice by placing the camera in a gondola. "his started the fad of placing cameras on vehicles and moving ob%ects to introduce movement. "ravelling shots. anning movements. -cenics and topicals got most use out of it. o -tarted the history of cinema in many countries in many countries, though they avoided the smaller ones. o /n 6AI@, they began selling their BinRmatographes. o May 9, 6AI@' a curtain was ignited by the ether used to fuel the lamp of a pro%ector and the fire killed 67= people, mostly for the upper class. "he cinema lost some of its attraction for fashionable city dwellers * in France, especially, they were relegated to travelling fairground shows. o Firm stopped production in 6I?= as more innovative rivals made their films seem old,fashioned. Bharles athR was a phonograph and exhibitor in the 6AI?s. /n 6AI=, he purchased an imitation Hinetoscope and formed athR FrQres, which made most of its money on phonographs. o 6I?6' athR concentrated more on film production and managed to expand his company. o 6I?7' built a glass,sided studio and began selling the athR camera, which became the world&s most widely used camera. o roduction was derivative, borrowing from MRliQs and (merican and <nglish films. 6I?6' Ferdinand Kecca made -cenes From My !alcony which picked up on the vogue that had started in <ngland of showing things as though through telescopes or microscopes. o Films extremely well,liked * actual sales of films were 8=? prints. o athR expanded abroad, opening sales offices in $ondon, :ew Gork, Moscow, !erlin and -t. etersburg and started to encourage people to get into the exhibition business, thus creating more demand for his films. o Main rival was a smaller firm owned by $Ron #aumont, who began producing films made by female filmmaker (lice #uy. .is production remained limited in this era, but in 6I?=, the building of a studio led #aumont to achieve prominence through the work of director $ouis Feuillade. #eorges MRliQs was a magician who owned the "hRStre Robert,.oudin, named for the French con%urer. (fter seeing the $umiQre BinRmatographe in 6AI=, he wanted to add films to his programs but the $umiQre brothers were not yet selling films. (fter obtaining a pro%ector from R. 2. aul in 6AI>, he studied it and

produced his own camera, and soon began to produce films at the Robert, .oudin. o Bamera tricks and painted scenery. o Mostly remembered for fantasy movies, though he made films of all genres. o @A films during his first year of production. o First trick film' "he Janishing $ady. MRliQs appears as a magician who transforms a woman into a skeleton. -topped the camera and substituted the skeleton for a woman. o Dsed stop,motion and other special effects to create more complex magic and fantasy scenes which were accomplished in the camera during filming. o MRliQs acted in many of his films. o "o control the mise,en,scene and cinematography, MRliQs built a glass, enclosed studio, which permitted him to design and construct sets painted on canvas flats. o 6AIA' )ivers at 2ork on the 2reck of the 3Maine4 was a reconstructed topical. o 6AII' "he )reyfus (ffair told the story of the Fewish officer convicted for treason on the basis of false evidence put forward through anti,-emitic motives. Released each of ten shots as a separate film which, when combined, became a complex work of cinema. o Binderella' began %oining multiple shots and selling them as one film. o Films were extremely popular in France and widely imitated abroad. (lso freCuently pirated. MRliQs had to open a sales office in the Dnited -tates to protect his interests. o ( "rip to the Moon is one of his most celebrated films. /t is a comic,science fiction story of a group of scientists travelling to the moon in a space capsule and escaping after being taken captive by a race of subterranean creatures. <nhances his elaborately designed mise,en,scene by using hand, applied tinting. o Many of his films involved sophisticated stop,motion effects. .istorians critici0ed MRliQs for depending on static theatrical sets instead of editing yet recent research has shown that in fact his stop,motion effects utili0ed editing as well. 2ould cut the film in order to match the movement of one ob%ect perfectly with that of the thing into which it was transformed * the cuts were designed to be unnoticeable. o (fter 6I?=, his films started to decline as his firm could not put up with the demand for films, especially in the face of competition from bigger companies. (lthough he continued to produce Cuality films, but eventually they became old fashioned. o $ast film was BonCuest of the ole. o /n debt, MRliQs stopped producing and died in 6I8A.

0ngland
Film pro%ection spread Cuickly in <ngland mostly because R. 2. aul was willing to sell pro%ectors. (t first, most films were grouped together to be shown as a single act at a music hall, but in 6AI@, short, cheap films were also widely seen in fairgrounds, which made them appealing to fairground audiences. 6AI>' aul made "wins& "ea arty. eople concentrated on important news events * the annual )erby, Tueen Jictoria&s Fubilee, the !oer 2ar in -outh (frica. o -ome of these early newsreels included more than one shot as the operator might simply stop and start to capture only highlights or he might splice the film together to hurry the action along. o -ome scenics were influenced by the $umiQre films& placement of the camera on moving vehicles * they became known as 3phantom rides4. <arly <nglish films became famous for their imaginative special effects cinematography. Becil .epworth most influential !ritish producer from 6I?=,6I69. Most notable producers became known as the 3!righton -chool4 because they worked around or in that resort town. o #. (. -mith. 6I?8' grotesCue comedy Mary Fane&s Mishap. Dses editing in a remarkably sophisticated way * one distant framing of a slovenly maid in a kitchen is interrupted by several cut,ins to medium shots that show her facial expressions. o (lthough the actor&s position is usually not matched well, there is an attempt to create a continuous action while using closer shots to guide our attention. "his principle would become one basis for the dominant continuity style of film,making. o Fames 2illiamson. 6I??' "he !ig -wallow shows the ingenuity of !righton filmmakers. !egins with a view of a man, against a blank background, gesturing angrily. .e walks forward until his wide,open mouth blots out the screen and then an imperceptible cut substitutes a black background for his mouth and we see the camera and the cinematographer fall into the darkness. (nother cut returns us to the open mouth, and the man walks away laughing and chewing. opular for years, but it would eventually weaken in the face of French, /talian, (merican and )anish competition.

United States
"he largest market for motion pictures * it had more theatres per capita than any other country. Jigorous competition between (merican and foreign film firms * although (merican films were sold abroad, D.-. firms concentrated more on the domestic market.

"his allowed the French and /talian firms to dominate the international market. (fter the exhibition of <dison&s Jitascope in 6AI>, film exhibition spread rapidly. /ndividual entrepreneurs bought the rights to exploit the Jitascope, though many small companies marketed their own pro%ectors instead. o Films were not yet copyrighted, it was difficult to control the circulation of films. 6AI=,6AI@' novelty period of the cinema * the primary appeal was the astonishment of seeing movement and unusual sights reproduced onscreen. 6AIA' the film&s novelty had worn off, but the -panish,(merican 2ar helped the flagging industry back to its feet. atriotic fervour made audiences eager to see anything relating to the conflict and companies in the D- and abroad profited by making staged and authentic films. "he assion lay helped revive the industry also * since 6AI@, filmmakers made a series of single,shot scenes from Fesus& life. o February 6AIA' "he assion lay of 1berammergau is released. 6AIA,onwards' the (merican film industry en%oyed stability with most films being shown in vaudeville theatres. "he (merican Mutoscope Bompany did well during the 6AI?s due to its clearer @?mm images, displayed in vaudeville houses. o 6AI@' (merican Mutoscope Bompany is the most popular film company in (merica. o -tarts to film in a rooftop studio. o 6AII' Bhanges its name to (merican Mutoscope and !iograph, reflecting a double speciali0ation in peepshow Mutoscope reels and pro%ected films. o (MU! involved in a lawsuit by <dison, who took it to court for infringing patents and copyrights, but it won the suit. o 6I?8' made and sold films in 8=mm rather than @?mm. o 6I?A' employed ). 2. #riffith. -haped the film industry to what it is today. "he (merican Jitagraph Bompany, founded in 6AI@ by F. -tuart !lackton and (lbert <. -mith, got its start in production by making films relating to the -panish,(merican war, which proved popular. o "hreatened with patent,and,copyright,infringement lawsuits by <dison, who wanted to control the (merican market. -urvived by agreeing to cooperate with <dison by making films for the <dison firm and dealing with <dison films. (fter 6I?7, with the win of (MU!&s lawsuit, Jitograph expanded production. o 2ould end up making some of the earliest animated films. o -tylistically innovative films. 2ith the rise of production at (MU! and Jitograph, <dison&s company wanted to make more films to counter the competition. "hey opted to make long films shot in their study and employed <dwin - orter to help. o orter was a pro%ectionist who was an expert at making photographic eCuipment. .e had worked for the <dison company since 6I??, and was assigned to improve the firm&s camera and pro%ection. $ed to a new glass,enclosed rooftop studio that could have the typical painted stage scenery. o

o o

6I?6' orter begins operating a camera there and becomes popular for most of the company&s popular films. 1ften has been credited with the innovations of the pre,6I?A period. "he first story film, $ife of an (merican Fireman. /nvented editing. )rew on techniCues used by MRliQs, -mith and 2illiamson. )eveloped his models and introduced some original techniCues. "hrough his influence, the company grew popular and influential. 6I?7' "he Fack and the !eanstalk made. .ad access to the foreign films that <dison was copying, so he could study the latest innovations, such as MRliQs& ( "rip to the Moon, from which he took the manner of telling a story in a series of shots and mating time and space across cuts. $ife of an (merican Fireman is an attempt at storytelling. -tarts with a long shot of a do0ing fireman dreaming of a woman and a child threatened by fire * the dream is in a ;thought balloon&. But to a close,up * a hand pulls a public fire alarm. -everal shots, mixing studio and location filming, show the fireman racing to the scene. <nds with two long shots that show the same action at two vantage points * the first shows a fireman coming in through the bedroom window to rescue the mother and child, and in the second, we see the action again through the point of view of the camera outside. 6I?8' several important films made, among them an adaptation of the novel Dncle "om&s Babin. ( series of one,shot scenes of episodes from the novel linked by printed intertitles, which he developed from a #. (. -mith film. "he #reat "rain Robbery was his most important film and used 66 shots to tell the story of a gang of bandits who hold up a train. ( telegraph operator whom they tie up at the beginning alerts authorities and a posse ambushes the thieves as they divide the loot. <dits together the shots depicting the telegraph office, the robbery and the local townspeople at a dance. )oes not cut back and forth to show simultaneous action, but a few years later ;intercutting& (alternating shots set in different places) would become popular. #ripping, due to its violent content * it had an extra shot showing one of the robbers in close view firing a gun towards the audience, and it was up to exhibitioner to decide whether to put the shot at the beginning or at the end. 6I?=' directed "he Hleptomaniac, a social critiCue that contrasted the situations of two women who commit theft. "he first part * a rich kleptomaniac steals goods from a department store. ( poor woman impulsively takes a loaf of bread. Final scene shows the poor woman being sentenced while the rich one gets off.

6I?>' "he )ream of a Rarebit Fiend superimposition and a rocking camera shows the drunkard&s di00iness, while special effects taken from MRliQs show his dream of flying above a city. o 6I?I' orter leaves <dison to become an independent producer but he is soon outshone who were %ust entering the field. 6I?7,6I?=' filmmakers concentrate on fictional filmmaking * they could be carefully planned in advance and were cheaper to produce as they did not reCuire travelling, like scenics, and audiences seemed to prefer storylines. 6I?9' Ma%or changes taking place. o Fiction films the industry&s main product. o Movies were rented to exhibitors, which expanded the film industry. o <xhibition spreading internationally so films would be seen in most countries. o -mall,scale production occurring in other countries. o

Western
#lorify the <uropean coloni0ation of the (merican wilderness. $aw and order is the only thing that stands between civili0ation and chaos. Jillains are often :ative (mericans who are threatening the white settlers& communities. 6I?8' "he #reat "rain Robbery was the first silent 2estern film. o Made by <dwin -. orter, a former "homas <dison worker. o 6? minutes long, 69 scenes. o Filmed in :ovember 6I?8. o !ased on an 6AI> story by -cott Marble. o /nspired by a true event * when !utch Hassidy&s ;.ole in the 2all& gang halted the :o. 8 train on the Dnion acific Railroad and made off with V=,??? in cash. o Dsed a number of innovative techniCues' arallel editing5cross cutting * alternating two scenes that happen in different locations simultaneously. Minor camera movement. $ocation shooting. $ess stage,bound camera placement. an shots. <llipses. o First time a gun was used to make someone dance * this later became a clichR in other 2esterns. o :arrative plotline * multiple stories were told, parts of which later became recreated in other 2esterns, such as the steam locomotive and chases on horseback. 6I69' "he -Cuaw Man by Becil !. )e Mille. o First .ollywood feature,length film. o .igh Cuality compositions. o Bonstructed a set near the railroad so that scenes filmed in the supposed department store would be emphasi0ed and dramati0ed by the sound of the railroad nearby. o (dapted from a successful stage play. 6I6@' -traight -hooting "he "ornado by Fohn Ford.

o Fohn Ford directed 7= 2esterns for Dniversal. 2esterns came of age as a specific genre in the 7?s due to recent urbani0ation and industrialisation. "hey became the first 3epics4. Fohn Ford' o 6AI=,6I>7, born -ean (loysius 1&Feeney. o (dmired by <isenstein, udovkin and Hurosawa. o $ike #riffith, Ford believed that history is the embodiment of moral truth. .ence, vision of the past may not always conform to fact. Films, thus, sustain traditional5conservative views of community life' honour, loyalty, discipline and courage. &This is the west, sir$ 3hen the legend ecomes fact, "rint the legend$% o 2ith the advent of sound, 2esterns were avoided, and Ford made non, 2esterns. o /n 6I7@, he watches Murnau&s -unrise and is so impressed that he begins to make films in the same impressionistic vein' 6I7A' Mother Machree First onscreen song. 6I7I' "he !lack 2atch First sound feature. 6I87' (irmail Filmed by Harl Freund. 6I8=' "he /nformer First critical success. o .e returns to the 2estern after 6I8=' 6I8I' -tagecoach <levated Fohn 2ayne to stardom. )angerous coachride through #eronimo&s territory carried misfits of all levels of society. 1perated on the classical Ford theme of convolutions of the human character under extreme stress. Filmed in Monument Jalley in the -outhwest, the first of seven filmed in the same location. <levated 2esterns from cheaply,made, Cuickly,shot inferior movies to a serious adult genre. o -howed that 2estern, like other genres, was capable of complexity, characteri0ation and deeper meaning. .ad characters of clashing social classes, morality and values involved in the survival of each other as a group. "hey are all placed in a position of danger, wherein their true personalities are revealed. Formal structure. 6I8I' Goung Mr. $incoln 6I8I' )rums (long "he Mohawk First colour film for Ford. o 6I97,6I98' Ford goes to war and films documentaries on the front line. /s wounded and gets urple .eart. 6I9>' My )arling Blementine

"he story of 2yatt <arp * there was a gunfight at the 1H Borrall. o Bivili0es the town of "ombstone and civili0es himself from a scruffy cowpoke to a respectable Marshall. "heme * the coming of civili0ation to the 2est. -avage forces and civili0ed forces meet. Foreshadows more complex 2esterns that Ford would later film. Bavalry "rilogy' 6I9A' Fort (pache 6I9I' -he 2ore ( Gellow Ribbon 6I=?' Rio #rande Bareer peak, later followed by aesthetic death' 6I=>' "he -earchers o <than as the embodiment of the prairie spirit. 6I>6' "wo Rode "ogether o essimistic ;inversion& of the plot of "he -earchers 6I>7' "he Man 2ho -hot $iberty Jalance o !lack and white movie. o -wansong. 6I>9' Bheyenne (utumn o -hows great sympathy with the Bheyenne /ndians from "he -urvivors. .is last great film. (dult5psychological western' o -tart of the anti,hero. !uscombe' &Men who have outlived their time$ Men who, used to deciding issues y sim"le tests of strength, now find the conce"ts of law and order too com"licated to follow$% o Boncentrated on the psychological and moral conflicts of individual protagonists in relation to society. "his was not the Fohn Ford method, who preferred to create poetic archtypes of order. o rototype films such as "he #unfighter (6I=?) by .enry Hing and .igh :oon (6I=7) by Fred Kinnerman. o (nthony Mann * austere visual style, reminiscent of Michelangelo (ntonioni. 6I=?' 2inchester &@8 6I=7' !end of the River 6I=8' "he :aked -pur 6I==' "he Far Bountry 6I=@' "he "in -tar 6I=A' Man of the 2est o !udd !oetticher * elemental and allegorical dramas+ ethical heroism by men who are facd with moral choices in a moral vacuum. 6I=>' -even Men From :ow 6I=@' )ecision at -undown 6I=@' "he "all " 6I=A' !uchanan Rides (lone

6I=I' Ride $onesome 6I>?' Bomanche -tation o #eorge -tevens * Cuintessential ;loner& 2esterns. 6I=8' -hane o .oward .awks * films about loners in society. 6I=I' Rio !ravo o "he Mann,!oetticher style became the norm by the end of the =?s and inspires -am ekinpah' &,)ve never made a 3estern$ ,)ve made a lot of films a out men on horse ac-$% 6I>6' "he )eadly Bompanions 6I>7' Ride the .igh Bountry Race between horse and camel * the camel wins. 6I>=' Ma%or )undee 6I>I' "he 2ild !unch 1utdated men overstaying their welcome. 6I@?' "he !allad of Bable .ogue Bable .ogue run over, and killed, by a car. $ate adult5psychological 2estern' o -hare much of the iconography and plots of traditional 2esterns, but present a different attitude due to changing attitudes of society. o )evelopment of the anti,hero. o Bhange in attitude towards /ndians * although once they were considered savages, they are now presented as a race of gentle, intelligent people upon whom the D- military had committed genocide. #raphic depictions of defenceless /ndians by the D- Bavalry troops draw similarities to the My $ai massacre, which had happened earlier. 6I@?' -oldier !lue by Ralph :elson. 6I@?' $ittle !ig Man by (rthur enn. o More direct reflection of the times' 6I@6' McBabe and Mrs Miller by Robert (ltman rotagonists set,up a brothel in a frontier town still in its infancy. Rich deposits in the area attract a mining conglomerate which tries to buy them out. McBabe refuses and the mining company sends people to kill him. o McBabe lies dead in the snow and the camera slowly 0ooms in on Mrs Miller&s constricted pupil as she is stoned on opium, suggesting the only way out of the contemporary economic situation for most (mericans. "he 2estern and the Fidai,#eki' o Fohn Ford greatly inspired (kira Hurosawa, who later inspired other 2esterns' 6I=9' "he -even -amurai by (kira Hurosawa. /nspired "he Magnificent -even by Fohn -turges (6I>?) 6I>6' Go%imbo /nspired ( Fistful of )ollars by -ergio $eone (6I>9)

Genre and Genre Theor

(s audiences become used to genres, they expect certain stereotypes from them and come to acCuaint certain themes with that particular genre, ex' wet streets in film noir+ cowboys in 2esterns. #enres typically have a ;life cycle& * they start out as a new, unfamiliar territory, grow into a genre, and later decline into figures of parody. Fim Hitses on genre' structuring oppositions, ex' wildness,civili0ation in 2esterns. ostmodern mutation of genres towards hybridity and reflexivity.