The Self and the Selfless

Critically acclaimed South Korean director, Kim Ki-duk, directs, writes, and edits this stunning film, which the explores the religious, philosophical, and generational underpinnings of desire and suffering. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is a breath-taking film that visually immerses us within the religious principles of Mahayana Buddhism and a monk’s journey of self-discovery, see image#0 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring; IMDb). The film’s quest to illustrate the tumultuous journey towards enlightenment is clearly encapsulated in the director’s intention for the film. “I intended to portray the joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure of our lives through four seasons and through the life of a monk who lives in a temple on Jusan Pond surrounded only by nature” (Sony Pictures Classics). Rather than analyzing the film through its religious meaning, this review will instead focus on how the film’s cinematography, musical score, and sound convey those religious meanings through images and sound.

As the film’s title may suggest, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is told through the five seasons in the life of an old monk and his younger pupil. By constructing the narrative of the story along five disjointed sequences, Kim Ki-duk is able to contrast the selflessness and selfishness of both monks. Overall, the non-linear narrative clearly highlights the generational gaps through the religious serenity of one monk and the religious torment of the other. The young monk’s conflict throughout each season is conveyed through several reoccurring motifs and the intrusion of an outsider: the girl. In addition to the generational contrast, the non-linear narrative creates a parallel between the cyclical seasons, and the young monk’s growth from selfish desires to selfless isolation. This parallel follows the young monk genesis during spring, the boy monk’s desires and exodus during the summer, the young adult monk’s violations during the fall, and the adult monk’s rebirth during winter and spring again. Besides the film’s sophisticated narrative, the film’s plot succeeds through brilliant the performances given by the film’s cast. The old monk is portrayed by Oh Young-Soo, and the girl is portrayed by Ha Yeo-Jin, see image 1.1 (Sony Pictures Classics). The generational shifts of the young monk are portrayed by Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, and the film’s directors, Kim Ki-Duk, see image#1.2 (Sony Pictures Classics).

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, when Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring was released in Korea on September 19, 2003, the film only attracted an audience of about 100,000 people, but this was not rare for a low budget film (KTO). Once distributed worldwide in 2004, the film exceeded the seven million dollar mark by appealing to the audiences in Germany, the United States, and Argentina to name a few (KTO). With a run-time of one hour and forty three minutes, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring was produced by Korea Pictures and LJ Films among five other production companies. Each production company plays a vital function in realizing the director’s vision of taking the viewer through the cyclical passages of desire, enlightenment, and suffering, see image#2 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring).

 One of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring most effective tools in telling the story of birth, death, and rebirth is the use of ambient sounds and images to portray the story. Through the ambient sounds of Jusan Pond in Korea, Ji Bark’s brilliant musical score, and the film’s cinematography, the film exposes the journey of two monks to transcend suffering by eliminating and isolating desire (Sony Pictures Classics). But, as the film beautifully portrays in the final spring, the quest to transcend suffering through the cycle of life and death is futile. Through the seasons of spring, the film ponders on two intriguing questions: can we truly transcend suffering through isolation, or must we transcend suffering by being isolated and immersed in the world simultaneously.  

An example of how sound and image combine to tell the story is clearly seen in the beginning of the film. In the beginning, the film relies on diegetic sounds that depict the actual reality of the hermitage, the master, and the pupil (Raj). For example, inside the floating hermitage, the camera jumps to a shot of the statue of the seated Buddha’s on a lotus flower floating within a round large bowl of water. Subsequently, the camera tilts up towards a profile of the sitting Buddha, and cuts to a medium shot of the old monk making sounds with a wooden instrument, see image#3 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). The monk’s use of the wooden instrument is an example of diegetic sound, which originates from the actual reality of the scene (Raj). The wooden instrument clearly illustrates how the sound from the instrument deepens the monk’s state of concentration, which also highlighting the Buddha’s contraction and tranquility. In this sequence, the statue of the Buddha and the monk appear to become one person, through how the camera centers an almost exact profile medium shot of both man and statue, see image#3 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). Overall, this scene illustrates how the composition of objects and characters in a scene, otherwise known as mise-en-scene, and the strategic use of sound can delve deeply in the meaning of the story.  

Image#3 
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

While diegetic sound can immerse us within the actual reality of the film, non-diegetic, sound created outside the reality of the film, can temporally detach from the film. This tension between diegetic and non-diegetic sound can intensify our appreciation of film’s cinematography. As non-diegetic sound, Ji Bark’s musical score at times appears to be an artificial sound, but at other times, the score appears to mimic the natural sounds of Jusan Pond. This tension between natural and artificial sounds also parallels the generational gap between the old and young monk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). This tension is also conveyed by the film’s cinematography. During the first spring, the “child monk” is walking through the forest looking for medicine, but towards the end of his quest he finds a massive statute of a sitting Buddha, see image#4 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring; Sony Classic Pictures). While this scene presents one of the crises of the film (i.e.: the snake), this scene also illustrates the importance of cinematography and sound to hint to the young monk’s” future dilemma.  While exploring the giant statute of the seated Buddha, the camera places the young monk in a low angle long shot in relation to the Buddha’s massive head, see image#4 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). The camera then cuts to a bird’s eye view of Jusan Pond, and once again cuts to a zoomed in long shot of the child monk within a close-up of the Buddha’s head, see image#4 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). As the child monk stands next to Buddha’s head, Ji Bark’s musical score slowly fills the scene. This scene clearly shows the paradox of the Buddha: a figure seamlessly integrated and yet isolated from its environment. Through relative size and the white color of his robe, the child monk stands as an impotent figure in high contrast to the Buddha’s control and tranquility. As a reoccurring motif, the statute of the seated Buddha stands as a reminder that the cycle of suffering and enlightenment is universal, cyclical, and even persistent.

Image#4
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Overall, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is capable of disseminating years of Buddhist teachings within a simple arrangement of actors and objects in a scene. Known as mise-en-scene, the composition of objects within a specific camera shot helps to cement the film’s themes through cinematography (Raj). With an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on thirty-five millimeter film, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring captures the visual dominance of Jusan Pond, the floating hermitage, and the seated Buddha (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring, IMDb). As a disseminator of ideas, the film also conveys the importance of symbols to tell the story. The symbolization of water also becomes a reoccurring motif that highlights the significance of the story. It may be argued that water is a manifestation of the young monk’s carnal desires, and his inability to control said desires. This is clearly illustrated through how the pond parallels the interior configuration of the floating hermitage. In image#5, notice how in a long shot, in the composition, mirrors the placement of the isolated door of the pond and isolated door of the hermitage within the same spaces of the composition. (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). Overall, this sequence conveys how isolation destroys physical and psychological divisions, and how certain elements, more specifically water, can triggers a path to immersion.

Image#5
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

In the first season, spring, the camera tracks through a portal or door, which frames the hermitage floating on the Jusan Pond, see image#6 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). Throughout the film, the door becomes a visual frame, which marks not only the passage of time, but the growth of the specific characters. One of the film’s most important characters is actually an inanimate object, which symbolizes the serenity of the old monk and the instability of the other. The seated Buddha on the lotus flower becomes alive through specific camera angles and lighting. Image#6.1 depicts the sequence when the sick girl is interacting with the seated Buddha. In this sequence, the camera’s high angle shot of the girl on the floors reinforces her suffering, while a low angle shot of the seated Buddha highlights its dominance and power, see image#6 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). As the old monk says to the girl’s mother, “I believe that her soul is suffering” (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). The girl’s suffering, which stems from a lack of desire, a desire which later overwhelms the souls of the young girl and monk.

Image#6
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Image#6.1
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Kim Ki-Duk’s film, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring, beautifully conveys the idea that conflict between the self and the selfless is one that generates both enlightenment and suffering. Through the beauty of the South Korean forest, this struggle unfolds in a place that mirrors the Buddha's quest for enlightenment on the tranquil surface of Jusan Pond, see image#7 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter..and Spring). While watching the film, I strongly urge you to ask yourself the following questions: does the old monk succeeds in reaching enlighten, will the younger monk also reach enlighten, and will they break the cycle of suffering to become the Buddha? These are questions will only have answers at the end of the film, so I strongly recommend this film whenever you are contemplating the meaning of life. Through the five seasons, Kim Ki-duk explores the realities of joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure, and how they all fuel suffering and enlightenment (Sony Pictures).

Image#7
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Works Cited

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, nd, Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots.

The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, 2009, Web. 13 Feb. 2014

Sony Pictures Classics. “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…And Summer, 2004. Web. http://www.sonyclassics.com/spring/shell.html

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). . N.p.. Web. 18 Feb 2014. <http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_2_6.jsp>.

Hide and Seek

With the sounds of squeaking tires, police sirens, and gun fire, Billy Wilder’s 1959 film, Some Like It Hot, quickly immerses you into the crime infested streets of 1929 Chicago (Some Like It Hot). On the surface, Some Like It Hot appears to be a simple romantic comedy set within the background of organized crime and prohibition, but its latent satire deepens its meaning. Through the film’s examination of gender roles as represented by Tony Curtis’s portrayal of Joe and Jack Lemmon’s portrayal of Jerry, the film is effective in portraying the growth and dimension of said characters (Some Like It Hot). By embracing their feminine avatars, Joe becomes a more emotionally aware through Josephine, and Jerry extends his suppressed feminine traits through Dauphine. While objects of desire, Marlene Monroe’s characterization of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk and Joe E. Brown’s portrayal of Osgood Fielding III also experience their own growth, even though their growth is dependent on Jack and Jerry. Overall, this review will explore how the manipulation of sound becomes an indispensable part of the story, while also highlighting the characteristics of some of the main characters.

 After fleeing the police, Spats Colombo’s associates savage the few reminding bottles of illegal beer that were not hit by police gun fire to sell illegally in a Speakeasy posing as a funeral home (Some Like It Hot). As one of Chicago’s most ruthless gangsters, Spats Colombo sets the tone of the tone of the film in a deceptive funeral Parlour (Some Like It Hot). In this funeral bar, we are introduced a saxophone player named Joe and a bass player named Jerry, who will soon be unemployed and indebted to almost every in Chicago (Some Like It Hot). After not meeting the necessary biological requirements to fill the two reminding saxophone and bass positions in Sweet Sue’s Society Syncopates, Joe and Jerry must join an  all-girl band in order to survive (Some Like It Hot). As an incentive to flee from Spats Colombo, Joe transforms into the proper and strict saxophone player named Josephine and later into an asexual oil millionaire named Junior, and Jerry becomes the adventurous and fearless bass player, Dauphine, see image#1 (Some Like It Hot). Sweet Sue’s Society Syncopates and the talented Sugar Kane Kowalczyk travel to Miami Florida to entertain the wealthy and single men of industry (Some Like It Hot). From the climax of the story, Josephine and Dauphine and even Junior allow Joe, Sugar Kane, Jerry, and Osgood to grow into more three dimensional characters, with the exception for Sugar Kane and Osgood.

Image#1.1: Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as Joe/Josephine and Jerry/Dauphine  
Some Like It Hot. Dir. Billy Wider. Perf. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joan Shawlee, Dave Barry. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD Screenshots.

With the opening credits, the music score, Runnin’ Wild, quickly ushers you into the jazz driven film. The brassy and grainy sound of the trumpet sets the mood of anticipation, while the fast pacing of the saxophone elevates the excitement and anticipation for the beginning of the film (Some Like It Hot). After one minute and thirty seconds of the jazz rendition of Runnin’ Will, the film’s sound transitions you into the ambient sound of Chicago, and the faint sound of motors roaring in the background of the scene (Some Like It Hot; Raj). However, the almost silent mood of the film abruptly changes to the high sounds of sirens, gun fire, and broken beer bottles in a coffin (Some Like It Hot). The constant oscillation between high pitch sounds to low ambient sounds is an effective tool in creating not only the mood of the sequence, but of the overall film. By implementing a jazz musical score that is relevant to the film’s narrative, and manipulating specific sound effects, the film heightens our awareness of an important period in U.S history.

After the opening credits introduce the frantic musical tone of the film, the camera’s angles visually introduce the accelerated pace of the film’s musical score. The opening scenes of Some Like It Hot document the authorities’ efforts to unveil criminal activities that occur behind acceptable business sponsored by Spats Colombo (Some Like It Hot).  With the ambient sounds of the streets, the camera cuts to a frontal medium close up of what appears to be funeral assistants, but the gradual fade in of police sirens quickly dismisses that assumption, see image#2 (Some Like It Hot). Later, the loud sounds of sirens and gun fire create the “sonic texture” of the film through its ability to create a dark and grainy tone of anticipation and suspense (Raj). The anticipation and suspense created by the “sonic texture” of the film clearly translate to the shot when Spats Colombo’s crew crowds tightly against the back window of their car to identify the sound of the sirens behind them, see image#2.2 (Some Like It Hot).

Image#2.2: Police Chase Sequence Some Like It Hot. Dir. Billy Wider. Perf. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joan Shawlee, Dave Barry. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD Screenshots.

Ironically, during the police chase scenes, the film purposefully omits any sounds foreign to the narrative of the film or non-diegetic, and embraces the diegetic sound that depicts the actual reality of the story of the film (Raj). In Some Like It Hot, it may be argued that Eve Newman and Fred Lau, the music editor and the sound engineer, attempted to use non-diegetic sound to foreshadowing future events (IMDb). While the music editor and sound engineer manipulate and use artificial or non-diegetic sound to foreshadow events, the film’s director also uses camera shots to mask the music effects as natural or diegetic to the film. At the end the opening police sequence, the music score introduces us to Mozzarella's Funeral Parlour before ever seeing the building (Some Like It Hot). Once the camera cuts to the interior of the funeral parlor, the visual representation of a man playing the Liebesträume on the organ leads the viewer to equate the score as a non-diegetic sound (Some Like It Hot). By embracing non-diegetic sound, it may be argued that the filmmakers were attempting to inspire reflection not only about dangers of crime, but the over-reliance on force to solve social issued.

In addition to the strategic move of the camera and sound to further the narrative of the Some Like It Hot, the synchronous exchange between editing and sound also play a significant role in the film. For example, the use of dissolves helps to intensify the rising action as Joe and Jerry attempt to escape from the barrel of Spats Colombo’s gun (Some Like It Hot). So much of this film happens in the in-between or liminal moments when Joe and Jerry are either looking for work, or fleeing from a ruthless Spats Colombo (Some Like It Hot). Whether it is in the snowy sidewalks of Chicago, a dark alleyway, or in the corridors of a talent agency, these moments are usually accompanied by a dissolve, see image#3 (Some Like It Hot). These transitions aid in mechanically blending the uncertainty of being in-between jobs, life, and death with the anticipation and promise of a successful future where both characters live (Some Like It Hot). In other words, this editing technique sustains the tension of the film.

Image#3: Examples of key transitions in the film.  
Some Like It Hot. Dir. Billy Wider. Perf. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joan Shawlee, Dave Barry. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD Screenshot.

In order to not spoil the film’s ending, I will focus instead on a part of the script that highlights one of the film’s most prevalent themes. In order to seduce Sugar, as so many saxophone players have in the past, Josephine/Joe becomes Junior, a Shell oil millionaire (Some Like It Hot). As Junior, Joe asks Sugar an insightful question: “Syncopators. Does that mean you play that very fast music…jazz” (Some Like It Hot)? Responding to Junior’s question, Sugar says, “Yeah. Real Hot” (Some Like It Hot) After affirming her preference for jazz, Junior condescendingly says, “I guess some like it hot. I prefer classical music,” see image#4.1 (Some Like It Hot). Because the title of the film is so ambiguous, one is lead to believe that the “it” is Sugar and not jazz (Some Like It Hot). This observation leads me to what I perceive as one of the film’s major flaws (Some Like It Hot).

While I appreciate the film cinematic techniques, the characterization of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk may be perceived as sexist, because of the way she is objectified in the film. While Sugar grows as a character towards the end of the film, her growth is completely dependent on Joe’s personal growth and development. As a result, Sugar is a passive character, who does not project her own desires independent of her beauty and men. However, twenty three years after the release of Some Like It Hot, Sydney Pollack, Larry Gelbart, and Murray Schisgal direct and write a a film that succeeds where Some Like It Hot fails (IMDb). Tootsie, released in 1982, not only explores the realities of gender as an artificial construct, but Julie, the female lead of the film, portrayed by Jessica Lange, is the opposite of Sugar (IMDb). Even though Julie and Sugar both grow through a man’s gender transformation through a feminine avatar, Julie exerts her personality as a single mother and career woman by rejecting the man once he drops his feminine avatar (IMDb). Overall, I strongly urge you to watch a three minute and ten second interview, where Dustin Hoffman talks about his personal relationship with Dorothy Michaels. The link to the interview is below the trailer for Some Like it Hot.

Through all the laughs, the police sirens, gun fire, and broken alcohol bottles, Some Like It Hot reveals the fluidity of the construct of gender, while also revealing the pitfalls of the objectification of women as sex objects. By performing as women, Joe and Jerry are able to immediately understand how women are conditioned to value themselves solely through their sexuality and not through their intellect. Unfortunately, Sugar Kane Kowalczyk does not take the opportunity to grow independently from men, but instead desires to be dependent on a man's wealth, sensibility, and strength. Another film that attempts to provide this opportunity is Donald Petrie’s 1996 film, the Associate, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Dianne Wiest (IMDb). While this film is not as critically acclaimed as Tootsie, the Associate inverts and blurs the gender roles. Overall, I would recommend Some Like It Hot, with the caveat of how the film examines gender roles through the objectification of women (Some Like It Hot).

Works Cited

Raj, Sony. “How to Analyze a Film.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 16 January 2014. Lecture.

Raj, Sony. “Music & Sound in Film.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 30 January 2014. Lecture.

Some Like It Hot. Dir. Billy Wider. Perf. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joan Shawlee, Dave Barry. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD.

Some Like It Hot. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, nd, Web. 27 Jan. 2014. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053291/

The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, 2009. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. www.imdb.com

Time and Distraction

As a poignant homage to cinema, Giuseppe Tornatore’s dramatic 1988 film, Cinema Paradiso, explores the alluring effect of cinema to create meaning and purpose through a state immersion and distraction (Cinema Paradiso). Through this state of being, the story is told through the point of view of Salvatore Di Vita, an Italian filmmaker, who remembers his first appreciation of the cinema and his first love (Cinema Paradiso). In many ways, Salvatore, better known as Toto, owes his appreciation and love of film to a veteran film projectionist named Alfredo (Cinema Paradiso). Through the loss of innocence in his past, Salvatore is conflicted between the distracting and protective qualities of cinema, and the immersive qualities of love to expose the full range of human emotions and sensations. This review will focus on how cinematography reflects how cinema acts as a shield of distraction for Salvatore, and love as an immersive stimulus for the precarious feelings of love.

After hours on the phone trying to reach her son, now an accomplished filmmaker, Maria Di Vita says to her daughter, “He’ll remember, I am sure he’ll remember, I know him better than you” (Cinema Paradiso) Maria’s certainty in her son’s response to the past not only sets the tone of the film, but also foreshadows Salvatore’s reaction to the news of Alfredo’s death. Alfredo’s death forces Salvatore to reconnect to his past after thirty years, and break his promise to never return to his hometown of Giancaldo (Cinema Paradiso). In essence, the film is a long flashback which reflects Salvatore’s memories, but throughout the film the continuous flashback is interrupted by his reaction to the memories (Cinema Paradiso). As a boy, Toto’s responsibilities as a good altar boy and son are in direct conflict with his love for movies. As a teenager, Toto’s infatuation with Elena threatens his overwhelming infatuation with film (Cinema Paradiso). After losing his father in a war, Alfredo becomes Salvatore’s surrogate father, and Alfredo mentors Salvatore through the illusions that will protect him from difficulty realities of life (Cinema Paradiso).

Image#1 Cinema Paradiso. Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore. Perf. Philippe Noiret, Agnese Nano, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD. Screenshots.

Almost anticipating the news of Alfredo’s death in the beginning of the film, Salvatore peeks out his apartment as a thunder storm begins to descend upon Rome (Cinema Paradiso). The camera quickly cuts to an interior view of a stranger’s apartment facing Salvatore’s window, but a wind chime hangs in the foreground of the shot, see image1 (Cinema Paradiso). Later in the scene, the camera holds a “medium close up” of Salvatore’s face with the sound of the wind chime, thunder, and wind slowly increasing in intensity (Raj). While focusing on the entire composition, the camera's depth of field shifts from a deep focus to a shallow focus to identify the symbolic significance of the wind chime (Raj, Cinematography). Tormented by his past, thunder casts a frontal shadow of wind chimes upon Salvatore’s face, see image#1(Cinema Paradiso). With the sounds of wind chimes in the foreground, the scenes transport Salvatore to his earliest memory as an altar boy in a dark church interior, (Cinema Paradiso).

As the arrangement of actors and objects in a scene, the Mise-en-scene of Cinema Paradise is not only effective in furthering the plot (Raj), but also in reflecting the tone of the film, and Salvatore’s tension over the things he has lost. In addition, the camera is also able to incorporate important asymmetrical elements within the shot by using an aspect ratio of 1:66:1 (Spurlin). The wider shot allows the director to highlight specific objects by manipulating the depth of field to create a shallow focus. For instances, a long shot with a strange figure out of focus, and   people in a balcony of Cinema Paradiso in focus (Raj, Cinematography ); the camera reverses the shallow focus to highlight the ceramic figurine in the foreground, see image#2 (Cinema Paradiso). As a symbol of the Catholic Church and Father Adelfio, the placement of the figure in front of the projector's cone of vision and adjacent to Father Adelfio visually reinforces his role in what is seen and what is hidden, see image#2 (Cinema Paradiso).  With the high contrast of the shot and the grainy aspect of the film (Spurlin), the praying figurine leaves you with an unsettling and dreadful feeling of what is to come.

Image#2 Cinema Paradiso. Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore. Perf. Philippe Noiret, Agnese Nano, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD. Screenshots.

Sometimes, what the camera omits is more powerful than what the camera shows. Because we are saturated with low angle shots of the side of the church, the camera manipulates us to perceive the church more as a symbol and less as a space. Conversely, the camera usually frames Cinema Paradiso in a frontal shot to highlight the commercial appeal of the cinema (Cinema Paradiso). In the film, notice how the camera tracks through the church’s bell tower to incrementally frame the town square with Cinema Paradiso to the left of the shot (Cinema Paradiso). Because of the large amount of shot that present the façade of the church, we may place a higher value on the few shots that portray the interior of the church. An interior aerial shot of the church (Raj), we see Father Adelfio performing mass with a younger Salvatore causally sleeping through it (Cinema Paradiso). The high contrast between light and darkness in shot, and Father Adelfio and Salvatore being bathed under a bright spot light; the rest of the church is left in darkness (Cinema Paradiso). This shot creates a vivid comparison between the sparse interior of the church, and the crowded interior of Cinema Paradiso.

As a signal of continuity, the bell becomes an invisible extension of the Catholic Church, and its power to sustain moral traditions through censorship. The character that perpetuates this power the most is Father Adelfio, who rings the bell to signal which kissing scene to omit from the negative reel of the film (Cinema Paradiso). The close-up of Father Adelfio's hand ringing the bell of censorship acts as a transition for the shot represented in image#4 (Cinema Paradiso).

Image#3 Cinema Paradiso. Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore. Perf. Philippe Noiret, Agnese Nano, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD. Screenshots.

With Alfredo in the projection booth synchronizing the sound of the bell to the omitted scene, and Toto hiding behind the a red curtain; the camera places Father Adelfio in low angle shot to project his power and dominance over the city of Giancaldo, see image#3 (Cinema Paradiso). The church’s power over mass entertainment is also expressed in the dialogue between some of the patrons of Cinema Paradiso, “Twenty years, I’ve gone to movies, and never saw a kiss,” while another patron responds with a sagacious question, “And when will we” (Cinema Paradiso)? This response is significant because it alludes to the potential for a new cinematic experience not controlled by the church but by the citizens of Giancaldo. Sadly, in order to create a new cinematic experience, the old one must first fade into the past, see image (Cinema Paradiso).

While the camera connotes Father Adelfio’s power, it also foreshadows the precarious exchange of power from the church to the collective hands of people, see image (Cinema Paradiso). For example, while the camera frames Father Adelfio in a “medium close up,” the camera’s low angle also places the light of the projection at the top of the shot, see image#3 (Cinema Paradiso). The fact that the light of the projection dominates the shot may reflect the power of the projector to cast a spell of distraction over its viewers. The church and Father Adelfio want to guard the masses against the illusive and immerse distraction of the cinema, while the people want to experience the full immerse qualities of film.

After the climax of the film, Salvatore, now a teenager, is intensely infatuated with a girl named Elena Mendola, who is also the daughter of a prominent banker of Sicily (Cinema Paradiso). Similarly to his struggles to express his love for cinema, Salvatore also has to struggle to obtain the affection of Elena (Cinema Paradiso). Salvatore’s struggle and his ultimate failure to stay with Elena are immediately reflected by the shot of Salvatore and Elena being visually separated by Mr. Mendola, see image#8 (Cinema Paradiso). Focus on how the camera reflects the power and size of Mr. Mendola by placing him within an "eye ranking level" shot, while using Salvatore and Elena to frame Mr. Mendola (Raj, Cinematography). 

Through Salvatore’s memories of Alfredo, we can appreciate the immerse quality of film to temporarily distract the audience, which is reinforced by what Alfredo said to Salvatore, “It’s no kind of job for you. You’re like a slave and always alone. You see a film 100 times. You’ve nothing else to do” (Cinema Paradiso). However, through an immerse distraction; film can also over saturate the viewer with information. After cautioning Salvatore about the dangers of unprotected film catching fire (Cinema Paradiso), the camera frames Alfredo and Salvatore inside the tight space of the projection booth (Raj). In this scene, focus on how the camera’s depth of field stays in a deep focus to allow the photos and film receipts on the wall to occupy the composition equally with both actors, see image#9 (Cinema Paradiso). Also focus on how after sustaining a profile of the actors within the projection booth, the camera cuts to “straight on close up” view of the black and white photos from the history of Hollywood, see image#10 (Raj). While viewing this scene, consider why the camera places so much emphasis on these photos?

As Salvatore learns, Alfredo can quote every movie star like “John Wayne” and “Spencer Tracey,” but Alfredo’s most significant quote is the one that was never written or rehearsed: “life isn’t like in the movies. Life is much harder” (Cinema Paradiso). Alfredo’s fateful words highlight the cinema’s affect to distract the viewer from difficulties of life, but his words also caution us from not becoming consumed by the distraction of the cinema or the emotional tension created by love. Through Alfredo and Maria Di Vita, the film also warns us to be caution of the power of nostalgia, because in order for us to grow, we must also lose from time to time. Mrs. Di Vita reinforces his sentiment by saying the following words, “…but your life is there [Rome], Here there are only ghosts. Let go, Toto” (Cinema Paradiso). Ironically, Cinema Paradiso ends with a fascinating ending that does not offer a resolution for Salvatore’s future, but instead offers closure for the past that has always tormented him. As the two main protagonist of film, Alfredo and Salvatore is essentially the same person with the same characteristics, who are separated by ideological constructs of their time. Overall, Salvatore becomes an interior reflection of everything Alfredo wanted to be but could not become.

 

 

Works Cited

Cinema Paradiso. Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore. Perf. Philippe Noiret, Agnese Nano, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD.

Cinema Paradiso. Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore. Perf. Philippe Noiret, Agnese Nano, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin. HBO Home Video, 1988. DVD. Screenshots.

Cinema Paradiso. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, nd, Web. 27 Jan. 2014. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095765/

ICEM. “Camera Angle-Reading.” St. Thomas University, Institute for Communication, Entertainment & Media. 2013. Web. 16 January 2014.

Raj, Sony. “Cinematography.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 20 January 2014. Lecture.

Raj, Sony. “How to Analyze a Film.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 16 January 2014. Lecture.

Spurlin, Thomas. “Cinema Paradiso (Theatrical Cut) (Blu-ray).” DVDTalk, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/51194/cinema-paradiso/

"Cinema Paradiso: Official Trailer." Youtube.com. 03 Feb. 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2-GX0Tltgw