World Cinema Final Exam Study Guide PDF

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Study guide for world cinema final exam...

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6 exams: 15% each

1st exam: A Trip to the Moon (1902) by George Melies An Andalusian Dog (1929) by Luis Bunnuel and Salvador Dali The Birth of Cinema Cabiria (1914) by Giovanni Pastrone The Cabinent of Dr. Calligari (1919) by Robert Wiene Haxan (1922) by Benjamin Christensen The Golden Age of Europen Cinema 1. What is a “Ghost Ride”? a. Camera on a vehicle and a subgenre point of view 2. What king of editing is mentioned apart from the parallel editing? a. Continuous editing 3. Which technique is NOT mentioned in the documentary? a. Dutch angle 4. The documentary shows the subtle dangers of propaganda through images. Which one reveals a sad page of American social history? a. 5. What year did the Andalusian Dog come out? a. 1929 6. Where is the Andalusian Dog located? a. Paris, France 7. Which anatomical part of the body is razor cut to indicate, perhaps, a new way of seeing art? a. The eye 8. What do people commonly intend for world cinema(mind not in this course)? a. Movie that are art cinema only 9. How could one define the nature of an “art movie”? a. Its language is different from commercial movies, because it uses metaphors, hidden quotations, innuendos, slow acting, long takes etc. to induce the views to think through entertaining 10. Which is traditionally considered among scholars the opposite to an “art movie”? a. Commercial movies, Hollywood movies, and Bollywood movies 11. Which one among these features is important to an art movie? a. Details 12. Which expressive detail do we have in the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso? a. Chromatic palette of black, white and gray

13. Who directed Voyage to the Moon (1902)? a. George Melines 14. How is the moon treated in this silent era film? a. Injured 15. Who were the directors of the Andalusian Dog? a. Bunuel and Dali

2nd exam: Movies: The Battleship Potemkin (1925) by Sergey Eisenstein M (1931) by Fritz Lang Black Orpheus (1959) by Marcel Camus Orpheus (1950) by Jean Cocteau Reflections on Cinema, inspired by Deleuze (Kanopy) Synesthesia (Kanopy)

1. In which year did Cabiria come out a. 1914 2. Which major features allowed Cabiria to become a smash hit> a. Combination of various factors (technology, culture, macro and micro history, etc.) 3. Which role would a “diva” never accept to act? a. Unappealing, trivial, low-class women 4. Which scenes in Cabiria purport a political meaning related to the contemporary history of Italy? a. When the Carthaginians are featured as Bedouins, symbol of the recent Italian conquest of Libya (1912) 5. Which topics were used by the Roman consul to subdue Massinissa? a. Simply the authority of Rome, over the “savage” warrior, in tune with the racial arrogance of Europeans of the times 6. Who is the director of Haxan? a. Christensen 7. What is the scope of Haxan? a. To warn us against any form of superstition, totalitarian, lack of rationality, and ignorance 8. Among the movies we saw, where are dreams NOT present?

a. None of them 9. A hand covered with ants is a scene from: a. Chien Andalou 10. Which are was not represented that we have watched so far? a. Japan 11. Which movie is an adaption from old Roman historians? a. Cabiria 12. An Andalusian Dog is set in: a. Paris 13. Who among the following is the typical Diva? a. Sophonisba, the princess 14. According to what we said in class and posted on BB, which of these would you associate to Hollywood movies? a. Commercial Cinema 15. What is traditionally opposed to Hollywood cinema? (Mind this question required your attention in class, and the reading of what posted on Bb. It is about something repeated many times) a. European Art Cinema 16. In which cinematic tradition are you likely to see some explicit sexual images? (Although things are changing also in those traditions that are notorious for their prudish style) a. Art cinema 17. Which ideology is presented in Cabiria by Pastrone? a. Italian colonialism 18. What is the problematic features of the concept of “national cinema”? a. Interplay, connections and links among various identities and traditions 19. Which one among these movies can be defined as a pure “expressionist” art? a. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

3rd exam: Children of Paradise (1945) by Marcel Carne Night Mail (1936) by Harry Watt and Basil Wright Open City (1945) by Robert Rossellini European New Wave (Kanopy) Great Directors (Kanopy)

1. Who was Gilles Deleuze? a. A French writer who wrote exclusively on cinema as art in the 1950’s

2. In the documentary after Deleuze there is a long comic scene with two actors who are among the most famous of all time. Who are they? a. Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel 3. How is the action scene indicated in the documentary and defined in Hollywood? a. It’s a scene in which action prevails over dialogue with expressive faces and close ups 4. Which on of the documentaries we saw is British? a. The Night Mail 5. What is the documentary Night Mail about? a. The train that transports mail in the United Kingdom 6. Did you find any hazardous work condition to the workers in Night Mail? a. The way they tossed the mail out of the car 7. What is the general spirit of Night Mail? (In other words: what does the author of the documentary aim to communicate to viewers? a. The efficiency of the British system and dedication of the workers 8. The Documentary The Night Mail quotes a famous poet, who? a. W.H. Auden 9. What characterizes Russian technical conception of cinema at the end of the XIX century and during the Communists era, from the 1917 Revolution? a. Editing 10. Man With a Camera: who shot it? a. Dziga Vertov 11. What movie, viewed in class, was also mentioned in the Russian documentary? a. The Battleship Potemkin 12. Mention at least one movie, and two director that we have encountered so far, who are quoted in the German documentary? a. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Fritz Lang 13. How did Nazi Propaganda work? a. It spread the idea of evil enemies versus a pure, probe, honest German race. Loyalty to the German society. 14. What was the Nazi’s vision (societal expectations) for German woman? a. Mother or spouse, no career 15. List similarities between Hollywood and Nazi movies. a. Filled with illusions, bigger than life, exaggerate, and emotional 16. Who is the author of Children of Paradise? a. Marcel Carne 17. Why was it called Children of Paradise? a. The lower class sat on the top of the Gallery like in the “Heavens” which would be considered Paradise 18. When is Children of Paradise story set? a. 1828

19. Indicate at least three themes that are developed in Children of Paradise. a. Jealousy, Unrequited Love, Theater, Mimes, Social classes, masculinity, and art of conversation 20. Who directed Rome, Open City? a. Roberto Rossellini 21. To which national cinema does Rome, Open City belong? a. Italian 22. Why this title Rome, Open city? a. The title refers to Rome being declared an open city after August 14, 1943 23. Why is this movie deeply Christian - Christological? a. Pina says she believes in God, she talks about Free Will, asks God for forgiveness, symbolism include Pina and the Virgin Mary. 24. How did Pena die? a. Shot while trying to help Manfredi escape from the Nazi’s 25. Indicate at least three funny moments in Open City? a. When the priest almost drops the bomb, when he turns the statue away because it’s naked, and when the priest was ashamed to sing the popular song. 26. The image of the dead body of Pina in the arms of Don Pietro evokes which famous sculpture? a. “Pieta” by Michelangelo 27. Who says: “It is not difficult to die well, it is difficult to live well”? a. Don Pietro 28. What is the role of the children in the Open City? a. As people who observe the bad and hold the key to the future 29. How are the Germans portrayed in Open City? a. Controlling and evil 30. There are moments in the movie that show that the shooting is in the real city and not in a studio? Give one example. a. The child that waves at the camera, all realistic moments 31. What kind of Romans are represented in the movie? a. The Proletarian class 32. Who is Marina? a. A cabaret performer 33. What kind of political propaganda is present in Rome, Open City? a. Socialist/Communist 34. How are the Americans mentioned in Open City? a. As a synecdoche, through the building that was bombarded by them 35. Mention at least one iconic scenes of history of cinema from the movie that we saw so far: a. The cutting of the eye, the priest holding Pina’s body, the running and

shooting of Pina

4th exam: Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Goddard Black Girl (1966) by Sambene Faat-Kine (2001) by Sambene Yeelen (1987) Cisse’ New Boundaries:World Cinema in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Kanopy) Sambene:The Father of African Cinema (Kanopy) Movies that Wanted to Change the World (Kanopy)

Breathless (1960) by Jean-Luc Goddard Plot: Message: Black Girl (1966) by Sambene African Cinema Plot: Duoana leaves Senegal to work for a family in France. She feels as though she is a slave and trapped. The mistress treats her poorly. She works as a housemaid. In the end, she kills herself to escape the idea of being trapped with nothing to live for. This suicide seems exaggerated as a reaction. Indeed, it is symbolic. Douana represents that Africa that dreams of Europe, and by Europe will be dehumanized, humiliated, demoralized. Her killing herself can be interpreted in two major ways. Either as her ultimate stadium of abjection. Or - this is actually what the director himself declares in an interview- a moment of pride, the only way to gain liberty and impart a moral lesson to her insensitive employers.

Message: ● The emancipation of African through education and learning (the books the young men read) and the tradition (the mask, and the music) ● The system that allows the French employers to treat their “employees” in a way that is unacceptable ● The idea that going to Europe would be more free than where you come from...Self improvement and social elements are in Africa, for Africans, by

Africans

Faat-Kine (2001) by Sambene Plot: Message:

Yeelen (1987) by Cisse’ Legendary Africa Plot: Message: ● Narration of a myth, with inclusion of the tragic prophecy of slavery. ● Story of a rivalry father-son ● Sort of “magic neo-realism”: myth and imagination associated to semidocumentary ● Final cathartic death as original source of disgrace ● Adaption to modern time: the warriors are dressed. Usually they were naked. (See the images of Leni Riefenstahl and the Nubians. ) ● Cinematographically: use of fire to lit the faces. ● Curiosity: Sacrificial animals, Trick of the young woman to get rid of her old husband. Did the husband know and let her go?

1. When did Yeelen come out? a. 1987 2. Who is the director of Yeelen? a. Souleymane Cisse 3. In epoch is Yeelen set? a. The beginning of slavery, 13th century 4. Yeelen is a movie from: a. Mali, legendary Africa 5. There is a terrible prophecy in Yeelen a. Slavery 6. This a constant recurrent presence in Yeelen: a. Magic

7. How is fatherhood portrayed in the African movies we saw? a. There is a toxic sense of patriarchy and fatherhood portrayed in the African movies we watched 8. The choice of portraying an African myth in Yeelen means a. The director believes it is very important in defining the culture of the movie. It also forces the audience to use their imagination. “Magic NeoRealism” 9. Goddard tries new things to impress the viewer. What is very avant-garde in Breathless? a. The Jump-Cut 10. The main character breaks the so-called fourth wall in a. Breathless.. Jean Paul Belmondo tells the audience we are accomplices of the entanglement of the story 11. The filmic technique in Breathless accentuates the fast and nervous pace by a. Handheld cinematography, the frame is always unstable and shaky and filmed in the streets of Paris 12. Which movies present a pregnant woman among these we saw? a. Yeelen, Breathless, Faat Kine 13. Why does Michel’s friend give him a pistol when the police arrives? a. He gives him the pistol so he can run away, defend himself, and not to be put in jail, but he is shot on the street trying to escape 14. Who directed Black Girl and Faat Kine? a. Ousmane Sembene 15. What is the reflection on post-colonialism in Faat Kine? a. The patriarchal attitudes of the Islamic men who burned the women 16. Which is emotional difference between Black Girl and Faat Kine? a. In Black Girl, the overall concept was dark having the main character kill herself but still kept the idea that there was hope for the youth..while Faat Kine was funny and enjoyable to go around the fact that the youth presented as hopeful in Black Girl, failed to make Africa better.

Fifth exam: The Song of My Mother (2014) by Erol Mintas To Live (1994) by Zang Yimou Apur Sansar (1959) by Satyajit Ray Yojimbo (1960) by Akira Kurosawa Tokyo Story (1953) by Yasujiro Ozu Andrei Rublev (1969) by Andrei Tarkovsky

The Song of my Mother 2014, Turkish/French/German - Erol Mintas Plot: A Kurdish teacher in Istanbul finds himself torn between his pregnant, out of wedlock, girlfriend and his sick mother. He is trying to balance spending with his sick mother, his pregnant girlfriend, and his teaching job. His mother is consistently trying to go back to the village; he urges her to stay. They couldn’t go back to the village because it was destroyed. His mother ends up dying but they don’t show this scene to create less emotion. Overall message: The son and his mother’s frame of mind were so different along with His mother’s love is intense, but intrusive, and demanding. The mother has obvious jealousy toward sharing his son with his new girlfriend and never speaks to her son’s newfound fiance which is a sign in their culture of disapproval. “Things that are abdominal or cause pain are not spoken but are a constant reminder to the culprit. Along with the fact that Ali’s fiance is not Kurdish, but Turkish, their baby is the union between the Turkish and Kurdish people symbolizing a new Turkey. The two faces of Turkey include the traditional, rural, low class woman versus the educated, urban, independent, unveiled, and unmarried young woman A movie on exile and estrangement. Exile and nostalgia are common themes in Mediterranean literature.

To Live 1994, Chinese - Zang Yiamou Plot: Fugui’s obsessive gambling leads him to lose everything including his wife, Jiazhen and his home. He is then forced to live life as a peasant on the streets. He entertains himself by trying to join a theater troupe and then the Chinese army. Fuigi’s son, Youquig, dies because his father sent him to work in the city and was killed by the District Chief, Chunsheung, who was driving. Xu Fengxia, their daughter, is set up and marries an older man, Erxi, in the army. Fengxia, then dies during childbirth. Overall message: the Cultural revolution? … the paper art people In 1966, China’s Communist leader Mao Zedong launched what became known as the Cultural Revolution in order to reassert his authority over the Chinese government. Believing that current Communist leaders were taking the party, and China itself, in the

wrong direction, Mao called on the nation’s youth to purge the “impure” elements of Chinese society and revive the revolutionary spirit that had led to victory in the civil war 20 decades earlier and the formation of the People’s Republic of China. The Cultural Revolution continued in various phases until Mao’s death in 1976, and its tormented and violent legacy would resonate in Chinese politics and society for decades to come. Apur Sansar 1959, Indian - Satyajit Ray Plot: Apu is in his early twenties, just graduated college but can't find a job, wants to be a writer. Goes to a wedding but the groom gets mad and bails, Apu marries the bride named Aparna. They go back to Calcutta, where Aparna dies in childbirth. Apu goes crazy with grief for his wife, and runs away leaving his son Kajal with his dead wife’s parents (Apu blamed the kid for his wife's death) ● Set in a poor, but dignified India. ● Charming dialogue with the landlord, who reclaims his rents (6:03) ● Way of getting married ● Cinematically a great close-up, when she becomes wife (43.55) ● Like Orpheus and Eurydice. He is a poet (poetic prose) and a flute player. ● tragedy of a refused fatherhood – the Indian way: no alcohol, or drug, but wandering, spiritual quest in one’s self. ● The miracle of a regained son. ● Innuendo to Politics (the strike and strikebreakers; the rally) Details: Horseshoe, like in many Italian movies, to bring good-luck – the curtain in the room before and after the arrival of the wife - the wedding – the city - the countryside. Overall message: The Historical Context, India had just reached independence from the UK, and trying to create a “national cinema”. As in the recuperation of one’s own identity, an-appreciation of one’ own culture. Cultural Context, Indian directors used the same techniques as Italian Neo-Realism (conditions of the paupers; non-professional actors; very low budget; original premises rather than a cinema set; documentary-like scenes) The Director (Bengali, Born in Calcutta, 1921-1992) Last Representative of the so-called “Bengali Renaissance” that merges together Western and Indian cultures. He himself was a “Renaissance Man” (poet, painter, musician, screenwriter, and illustrator). He did not have a regular film schools. He was a self-taught in the field of cinema, but his vast culture allowed him to grasp the intensity of cinema and make movies that will never die. Crucial was the meeting with the French director, Renoir, and with the Italian Neorealist movie The Bicycle Thief by Vittorio De Sica.

Yojimbo 1960, Japanese - Akira Kurosawa Plot: A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town. Overall message: Tokyo Story 1953, Japanese - Yasujiro Ozu Plot: The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company. Overall message: New Directors, New Forms (Kanopy) https://vcu.kanopy.com/video/story-film-part-8 This is the story of the dazzling 1960s in cinema around the world. In Hollywood, legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler reveals how documentary influenced mainstream movies. Easy Rider and 2001: A Space Odyssey begin a new era in America cinema. And as the new wave in cinema sweeps around the world, we discover the films of Roman Polanski, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Nagisa Oshima. Black African cinema is born and we talk exclusively to the Indian master director Mani Kaul. Cinema as Political Protest: Fight the Power https://vcu.kanopy.com/video/story-film-part12 With Ronald Reagan in the White House and Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street, the 1980s were the years of protest in the movies. This is the story of how brave filmmakers spoke truth to power. American independent director John Sayles talks exclusively about these years. In Beijing we discover the blossoming of Chinese cinema before the Tiananmen crackdown. In the Soviet Union, the past wells up in astonishing films, and in Poland the master director Krzysztof Kieslowski emerges.

Gay Characters in British Cinema https://vcu.kanopy.com/video/bit-scarlet Any minority craves images of itself, and this compilation of clips from Britain's post-war cinema archives is a testament to the closeted appearances of gay characters and sentiments from filmmaking earliest days. Following gay characters as they go from being the butt of jokes to full-blown leading characters, Weiss has captured a playful,

occasionally melodramatic, insight into on-screen homosexual characterizations. With Ian McKellen as narrator and witty graphics to bridge the thematic sections, A Bit of Scarlet reveals to what lengths the film industry went to include and yet ridicule gay characters. Both well-known...