Dear Canadian Movie Analysis

In chapter two of The Cultures of American Film, the main focus is the establishment of studios. As demand for films rose in the early 1900’s, production companies needed to expand; this lead to the creation of large scale studios.

In “A Century of Cinema”, Susan Sontag explains how cinema was cherished by those who enjoyed what cinema offered. Cinema was unlike anything else, it was entertainment that had the audience feeling apart of the film. However, as the years went by, the special feeling regarding cinema went away as those who admired cinema wanted to help expand the experience.

In surveying Australian film production over the last century, what visibly occurs is a general evasion of Aboriginal issues and an absence of any balanced representation of Australia’s notable Indigenous population. But I need to add, that things are changing. Several recent films seek to redress this imbalance and provide a substantial Indigenous storyline.

Movies that are based on a book are not always the same. In social studies class, we read a book called Our America. The book is about two boys named LeAlan jones and Lloyd Newman becoming reporters and interviewing people in their neighborhood to show people what it’s like in the ghetto life. The movie that went with the book was very different. In the movie and the book Our America, there were many differences such as Principal Williams momentarily becoming an antagonist, Davis Isay was more important, and Lloyd’s life was focused on more in the movie.

In Jean-Louis Comolli and Jean Narboni’s essay “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism,” they put forward the central argument that film is a commercial product in the capitalist system and therefore also the unconscious instrument of the dominant ideology which produces it. In opposition to the classic film theory that applauds camera as an impartial device to reproduce reality, they argue that what the camera reproduces is merely a refraction of the prevailing ideology. Therefore, the primary and political task for filmmakers is to disrupt this replication of the world as self-evident and the function of film criticism is to identify and evaluate that politics. Comolli and Narboni then suggest seven categories of films confronting ideology in different ways, among which the second category resists the prevailing ideology on two levels. Films of this group not only overtly deal with political contents in order to “attack their ideological assimilation” (Comolli and Narboni 483), but also achieve their goal through breaking down the conventional way of depicting reality.

This essay explores the popularity of Australian film, both locally and internationally and asks the question: Is there a crisis in the Australian Film Industry? This essay will go through the current issues the Australian Film Industry and will demonstrate examples of those problems.

Native Americans express their voice in films by incorporating their history, culture and traditions for Indigenous purpose. These independent cinema efforts are produced by filmmakers who want to tell a story about their tribes around the world and educate the younger generations. Zacharias Kunuk, filmmaker of Antantarjuat; The Fast Runner and Journals of Knud Rasmussen, “compels non-Inuit spectators to think differently, not only about what constitutes indigenous content in films and more conventional representations of Native Americans in cinematic history, but also about indigenous visual Aesthetics” (Raheji 1168).

To my understanding, the movie Home for the Holidays not only reveals a lot of potential family conflicts, but also reflects a lot of different communication approaches of the various family members. As a foreigner, I have never experienced Thanksgiving homecoming dinner before, so I may cannot understand some of the holiday customs in the movie, but I found out that their family interactions are interesting indeed.

South of the Border is a 2009 American documentary film about Oliver Stone’s trip to Venezuela to meet president, Hugo Chávez. Oliver Stone himself directed it. The documentary examines how United States free-market policies have affected Latin America’s income. It also displayed how Chávez took a turn towards left wing governments in Latin America’s democracy. And due to such financial catastrophes, it has lead to a socialist uprising. In addition, the documentary included critical interviews with the president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez and Tariq Ali. Ali, who is also the screenplay writer of the project, seems to finds this documentary film to be a political pathway for power. When Ali was interviewed, he explained the importance and

“The biggest mistake we have made is to consider that films are primarily a form of entertainment. The film is the greatest medium since the invention of movable type for exchanging ideas and information, and it is no more at its best in light entertainment than literature is at its best in the light novel.” - Orson Welles

Development and adaptation of the western genre has occurred throughout the twentieth century in relation to the shift in context, this is still relevant. Stereotypes of a western genre and the context are determined by the time in which the film is being produced. The time in which they were produced determine how social construction, gender ideas, values and attitudes, the setting and SWAT codes are demonstrated. I have chosen to present this speech by looking at the film studied in class, and a film of my choice and how the difference in context has changed in the tie of these two films.

    Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.

We have been all to a certain extent part of its global audience, as Warner Bros movies shaped greatly the performance of Hollywood cinematography. “Warner Bros Pictures makes and distributes a wide-ranging slate of some 18-22 films each year. 2015 marked the ninth consecutive year Warner Bros. Pictures crossed the $3 billion mark at the global box office with $3.71 billion in worldwide receipts” (Warnerbros.com, 2016). This international and domestic success, was powerful enough to make us all share the same ideas about the represented characters, regardless our different identities or what we know about stories of gangsters, Indian-Americans, and the western wildness. Even today, years after we have watched those movies.

Cinema, the production of movies by filmmakers, is a means of expressing ideas and telling stories on the visual side. Films have been imprinted into the history of entertainment and storytelling. Now in the 21st century, some filmmakers make movies for financial gain and some make movies for the art in it. Alanis Obomsawin’s artistic films show the cultures of indigenous peoples and send a message to change the negative view that the rest of the world has of First Nations. Alanis Obomsawin is an important indigenous Canadian, not just because she won awards, but because of how she developed as an artist, her inspirational films, and her artistry as a storyteller.

Beginning around the late 1990s, a transgressive cinematic movement by the name of The New French Extremity emerged and brought forth an “aggressive and abrasive [form] of cinema that [sought] a more confrontational experience.” (Palmer, 22). Among the numerous films within the movement, few films have maintained their initial notoriety, and far less have continued to be as provocative as Martyrs (2008). Like other films within the New French Extremity, Martyrs aims to be uncompromising and unpleasant through its implementation of avant garde filming techniques and its pushing of social boundaries.