The Little Foxes

The Little Foxes does for depth of field what Birth of a Nation did for cross-cutting.

I suppose this was supposed to be a liberal film. Lillian Hellman wrote the screenplay from her own play, and there’s no doubt that it’s a bitter satire of rapacious industrial capitalism. The new class of merchants, personified by the Giddens clan (L to R below: Oscar, Regina, Ben) is accused of exploiting the poor (and black) for their own depraved ends. So far so good. But what alternative does the film offer? The late lamented southern aristocracy, represented here by Aunt Birdie (that’s her in the background, drunk and ignored.) That’s right, we’re supposed to believe that industrial capitalism is more exploitative than SLAVERY. If this weren’t racist enough, the portrayal of blacks in the film is, well, let’s just say problematic.

But no one watches The Little Foxes for its insights into the shift from agricultural to industrial capitalism. We watch it to see Bette Davis be eeevil, and for cinematographer Greg Tolland’s depth of field. In this shot you have the whole movie, basically: Aunt Birdie gets pushed to the background, Bette Davis sits in the middle, scheming with/against her brothers, and this is all conveyed through staging in depth. And the stairs in the background, which I’ll come back to in a bit.

André Bazin’s big point about staging in depth was that it is more democratic because the audience, when given the opportunity to scan the image at its own leisure, was more involved in constructing the meaning of each shot for itself. Compare this to continuity editing, where the audience is led step by step to the only possible reading of each scene. Ideally, for Bazin, you’d have a lot of shots like the following, where Xan and her father Horace enter the hotel in the background while David scans the newspaper in the foreground. This is one of the more natural looking, least choreographed stagings in the film, and it gives a sense that these characters inhabit a more complex but freer social space.

Compared to this, the schemers are often squeezed tightly into the frame, even though the house is certainly large enough to give them some space.

This works very well to convey information about character and story--their world is menacing and claustrophobic. One other nice example: here various characters are gathered around Horace on his deathbed. We get a shot of (L to R) the doctor, Xan, and the nanny Addie. (Yeah, Addie is shoved to the back. See what I mean by problematic?) The three are united in the frame, just as they are united in their concern for Horace.














Then the camera pans to the left to reveal Regina, isolated and uncaring.














The lesson from this is that depth of staging is what you make of it. It’s not necessarily democratic, and it’s not even necessarily less theatrical. Apart from Bette Davis, the most important character in the film is the stairway. It’s a good way to show the hierarchical nature of southern society, and it makes for some dramatic framings.

But compared to the way Renoir can use the camera to show social relations between characters in any setting, inside or out, it seems like a weakness that Wyler has to rely so much on such a heavy-handed symbol. But I guess that fits the film's fuzzy-headed politics.

The Face of Garbo

In Mythologies, Roland Barthes says that Garbo in Queen Christina "represents this fragile moment when cinema is about to draw an existential from an essential beauty, when the archetype leans towards the fascination of mortal faces."














That may be. But the film feels more like a defense of the star system as monarchy.

"The people follow blindly the generals who lead them to destruction. Will they not follow us, who lead them beyond themselves where there is grace and beauty, gaiety and freedom?"

"Europe is an armed camp, your majesty."














Well yes, in 1933 it was headed in that direction. But I hardly think monarchy was the solution.














"Must I smile for the masses, chancellor?"

No, Greta, you can just sit there and look gauzy and ethereal.














Perfect.














Yeah, we get it--she's an icon.

But uh oh! She falls in love with the Spanish ambassador. Forbidden fruit, y'know.














And because the Swedish people love her too much to allow her to pollute her pure Aryan blood by marrying a filthy spick, they storm the palace.














This is the part that I think is interesting. She stops them with the power of her gaze, in extreme close-up. This is the tightest shot in the film.














"No petition? No speech? You come then just for a glimpse at me?" Well actually, that's what monarchs are for. It's all a performance.

Her argument here is this: "I don't come down to the smithy to tell you how to be a blacksmith, so don't come here to the palace to tell me how to rule. My father was good at it, so therefore I'm good at it too." And they accept this. No matter that it's already been established that the peasants don't particularly LIKE being sent off to Germany to fight in a pointless war, all for the glory of the monarchy and the church. They are a mob, and so they have no political will. They are ultimately insubstantial and indistinguishable, just like their shadows:














Crisis averted! Whew, that was a close one. Good thing they don't know about democracy. Don't question your rightful leaders! And don't stop worshiping your movie stars! Only problem is it turns out she doesn't actually WANT to be queen.














"I'm tired of being a symbol, chancellor. I long to be a human being."

See, stars deserve their privacy too. She abdicates.














And rides off into the sunset.














But does that look like a "mortal face?" Not really--the director had to create a special filter to get the most flattering shot possible.

One interesting note: the famous scene when she walks around the room in which she's trysted (as they say) with the Spanish ambassador--the scene Bertolucci quotes in The Dreamers--was so strictly planned that she did it to a metronome. (This is according to IMDB.) So at precisely the point when the character has escaped most thoroughly and feels most free, the actress is most strictly controlled.

Two thoughts on Knocked Up

1. At first he didn't even remember that they had sex, but then eight weeks later he remembered the whole condom disaster in great detail. This is a minor quibble, but it seems like a stupid inconsistency just for the sake of a couple jokes that weren't even funny.

2. More importantly, the not-so-sub-text of the movie was that women are just better than men (prettier, smarter, better-adjusted) and that this gives them the right to nag improve their husbands/boyfriends, or to at least try. The only thing that the guys have is that they're funnier, which is always either a defense against the nagging improvement or a way to entertain the women, since they've got nothing else. This really bothers me, because it's exactly the same formula as half the sitcoms on TV, starring a fat comedian and his hot wife. And it's not an excuse that Judd Apatow (the director) is married to Leslie Mann (the sister.)* This is a significant step down from Freaks and Geeks, where the Geek actually realized he was too good for the cheerleader, and the Freak couple had the most interesting relationship on the show.

This is a return to the idea of the domestic goddess, updated for the world of career women. Oscar Wilde tore this to shreds at the end of An Ideal Husband, by bringing the wife down to size. This is probably why the Knocked Up birth scene is so graphic--probably the most graphic I've seen in a movie: it symbolically brings her down to size. But that just implies that female biology is secretly ugly, so the original idea that women are better than men is proven wrong in the end.




















It's a very anti-feminist movie.

* Judd Apatow is not fat, but he's less attractive than Leslie Mann. Leslie Mann is funny, but she's probably not as funny as Judd Apatow.

Each day seems like a natural fact.

Not sure what's going on here. Mannequins can now do theory? Are theory people being mocked for their anti-humanism?

Theory is apparently a popular label. "[T]his is one-stop shopping for the sleek." I suppose on the practical level, such a no-frills line needs a justification for charging over $100 for a pair of shorts, and they way to get that is to emphasize that they are selling nothing more than signification. The commodity fetishism that was formerly denied is now proof of quality. Is that new?

Bipolar world?

So if the EU gets credit for the lack of major wars in Europe since its inception--Bosnia excepted, but of course it's not part of the EU--what accounts for the lack of major wars in Asia during roughly the same period? There are obviously too many variables to offer a clear comparison, but no major Asian power has been involved in a war since Korea.

I'm a fan of the EU, but I am always annoyed when people defend it by saying that Germany and France have not gone to war again, as if they are natural and implacable enemies. They are not. The post-war European peace, and to a lesser degree the post-war Asian peace, stem from 1.) the reshuffling of populations that occured at the end of the war, which lessened ethnic tensions and 2.) the patience and realism the post-war reconstruction efforts. Part of that reconstruction was the vision of a united Europe, but not the only part.

Short stroll off Long Wharf

Google maps is apparently unfamiliar with the idea of air travel, because a trip to Europe following their directions would get a little uncomfortable.

xkcd

xkcd.com is an internet comic updated three times a week. For something drawn entirely with stick figures, it's often surprisingly poignant, but almost always also funny.

Not today, though. Today's is just nerdy. In fact it's the nerdiest thing I've ever seen, and I'm ashamed to say I got the joke.

Attack of the Mooninites

Over/under on when real Err grafitti shows up in Boston? I give it two days.

Fun with amazon

I went to Amazon to explore the wonders of Jewface (via Joshua Glenn at the Boston Globe Ideas section).




















Pretty good stuff, but I also found this list of the Greatest Albums of All Time. Guy has a sense of humor.

Best name ever

How does a balding, average looking guy get to marry the most famous film star of his generation?
















His name is Urban Gad.

Yesterday's purchases

Fela Kuti, Confusion/Gentleman If you'd told me even three years ago that I'd be listening to, let alone buying, world music, I'd have called you crazy. And MPAA take note: this would not have happened without illegal downloading.

Francoise Hardy, The Vogue Years All the ye-ye you'll ever need.

Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth Everyone loves it, so I'll give it a try.

George Herriman, Krazy and Ignatz, 1927-1928, Love Letters in Ancient Brick No one has yet explained to me why this is such a work of genius, so for now I'm still a bit skeptical.

Alberto Manguel, A (not THE) History of Reading When he was a teenager, Manguel read to the blind Jorge Luis Borges. That's enough for me.

R.R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of the Modern World This is probably unnecessary considering the number of history textbooks I own, but I wanted the best. Not the latest edition, but it was relatively cheap.

The Landmark Thucydides which is in no way "by" Victor Davis Hanson, as Amazon says. Neo-con conspiracy? In any case, I expect that this, like the Manguel, will remain unread for a few years. But like than man says, it's a "possession for all time."

W.G. Sebald, Austerlitz Hardcover, because everyone should have a first edition copy of their favorite book. (Madame Bovary and Gravity's Rainbow will be tough, so let's just pretend this is it.)

Alain de Botton, How Proust Can Change Your Life Also not strictly necessary in any sense of the word. Probably fun, though.

Margaret McMillan, Paris 1919 I've skimmed this and didn't find it great, but enough people I trust like it enough that I should give it another chance. Underlining might help. Finally, something that might help me write my dissertation. (Oh yeah, that.)

Total: $130. Comics are new paperbacks, the rest are used hardcover. Not too bad, I don't think. Let's hope it tides me over for a good while.

Café Lumière vs. Early Summer

Since I discovered Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming-Liang a few weeks ago, I've been on an Asian film bender. Latest was Café Lumière, which is an explicit homage to Yasujiro Ozu. There are a lot of superficial similarities between Ozu and Hou, and also a lot of people eager to debunk them. Let's look at some shots side by side, shall we?

Here's the beginning of early summer. It shows most of the extended family, and even tells us what their roles are: father going off to work, sister watching the kids, grandfather and kids with few responsabilities. Low camera, as always in Ozu.













Here's the introduction of the family in Café Lumière. Very similar shot, with the low camera and the use of the doors to frame the action and divide the space. Also shows the roles of the characters: mother in kitchen, father relaxing at the table, daughter somewhere in between. I'm sure the similarities are planned, but so are the differences: this is a more modern family, smaller and with more clutter.













Clearly both directors are concerned with social interactions within the family. Here is another pair of shots whose similarity is obvious. Both come at relatively dramatic moments of the film, and for both the face of the young woman is hidden. Here's Early Summer:













And here's Café Lumière:













The point here is similar: the movie is less about the dramatic revelation itself and more about the way the family deals with it. Later scenes in both movies make it clear visually that these announcements cause some consternation. Noriko's parents turn their backs on her in frustration:













and Yoko's parents react strangely too. Her father says nothing, pushed to the corner of the frame. Her mother is more busy, running in and out of the frame (that's her on the right):













My point is not that Ozu and Hou are that similar. Like I said, this was planned as an homage to Ozu, so similarities in story and mise-en-scène are greater here than in other Hou movies. Their concerns as filmmakers are different, too. Hou is a much more modern director than Ozu, and is more comfortable with movement. There are trains in both movies, lots of them, but they're used differently. Ozu uses his as a contrast with the satisfactions of a slower way of life:













That's the grandfather sitting behind the train, watching the clouds.

Hou's trains provide a more complex, even livable space. Here's Hajime on the train, seen from another moving train, in a shot that was understandably a bitch to get right. The speed is still there, but the movement of one train relative to the other is fairly slow. The speed of the modern city is something we've learned to deal with. In Hajime's case, something we can even find beauty in--here he's recording the sound of trains.













Oh, and one more thing. Usually when you subtitle a movie, you also translate the dialogue. But not always:

Little girls crying

Also check out Team Zizou.

So happy I could oblige

Teaching evaluations came back today. Funniest one:

What are the strengths of this instructor?

a. Can be funny at times
b. Knows the material
c. his incredible awkwardness made the class at least a little interesting

Blanche Neige

Action Française loved Snow White (May 13, 1938). Of course they did: imagine seeing this in a period when every other film was black and white, when people were just getting used to sound film.

It's my job to figure out what this means, though. The Snow White story seems to have gone through various versions, but it was written down by the Grimms. (There's no Prince to kiss her, that's stolen from Sleeping Beauty. The dwarves drop her glass coffin and she wakes up.) So it's German, and obviously so, considering the similarities between the dwarves and the Nibelungen. This is not a connection an educated Frenchman at the time would be likely to miss, and we're talking about a rabidly anti-German paper. But there's nothing in the review about that. OK then, are the dwarves the oppressed working class? I guess not: there's no mention of economic questions, also strange since Socialism was the AF's other bête noire.

No, they just loved it because it suggested what "pure" cinema could do. They compare it to Caligari, another German film that can be read politically. The idea of "pure" cinema is interesting in itself. "Animation is the richest, freest form not only of cinema, but of all spectacle: it's the spectacle of which everything is permitted." What is "pure" cinema? Is there a connection between the desire for "pure" art and xenophobic politics? I'm guessing yes.

Go here for more Socialist dwarves, and other French language detournement.

Excuses

I'm trying to spend as much of my time as possible here:















and pay absolutely no attention to current events. Which will probably make for boring blog posts. But since no one comes here anyway, screw it! Posts about 1930's French movie reviews!! Ever wonder what the French right wing would think of Disney movies? Stay tuned!

Crooning vs. Bosa Nova

For a second it looks like Sinatra is in love with Jobim. It's irony vs. sincerity, and I'm pretty sure Sinatra comes out looking like an asshole.

Isaiah Berlin Version

The Fox is the poor man's Hedgehog.




























I mention this only because I just decided I was a fox. Oh well, what are you gonna do?

Japxploitation

Delinquint Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess is pretty much a must see for anyone reading this. It has everything you need from a movie.

Naked girls with kick-ass tattoos:










Very strange insults:










Random lesbianism:










Ramen:










Crazy butterfly go-go dancers:










Then the Yakuza show up (of course) and start making ridiculous demands:










What!? Sever ties with Midori? That's the last straw. Time for an all-out sword fight, girls against boys.










But even in the middle of the fight, there's still time for more lesbianism:










The girls win, of course, but then they all get shipped off to prison (for more girl-on-girl, no doubt.)

They really don't make 'em like they used to.

Too bad

It's kind of hard to find May '68 posters online, I recently discovered. Some are here, but not all the ones I wanted.