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Toni Erdmann Film Analysis

Decent Essays

In the film Toni Erdmann by the German director Maren Ade, there are many interesting techniques which help the viewer gain a better understanding of what’s going on. In using these techniques, Ade is attempting to display something to the viewer that they may not have otherwise caught or understood, such as facial reactions which contain useful information as to what is happening in a given scene. In addition to this, Ade brings back and somewhat recreates the genre known as the screwball comedy, which was very popular in the 1940’s. In Toni Erdmann, Ade alters the genre a bit from what it originally was to recreate a new, updated and modern version of the genre. In watching the film during Harpur Cinema, I was more naturally able to notice different film techniques and the updated genre due to our discussions regarding the topics in class. One of the major techniques used throughout the film is the shot and reverse shot. In this type of comedy, which contains a lot of its comedy through dialogue, the viewer is required to see and know the reactions of each character in a conversation in addition to being able to see their facial expressions. The shot and reverse shot technique accomplishes this by resembling an actual conversation, in which the camera is always facing the person that is talking and cuts back and forth between characters. Furthermore, Ade uses the 180-degree system of shooting, which is used in scenes which have several characters and assists in cutting

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