While watching the Battle of Algiers, I knew that the events surrounding the movie were based on real life events, but I had no idea that some of the characters were actually real life people. Ali, for example, actually was a real life FLN guerrilla and was known as the hero of Casbah. General Mathieu was also based on the French general Jacques Massu. In the movie, the Algerian women who dressed up in Western clothing and bombed the french establishments also actually happened. I found this out from an interesting article about the movie. The article also explains some of the things that the movie had left out such as insurrection that was taking place in the rest of Algeria. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2003/08/the_pentagons_film_festival.html

This was by far my favorite of the movies we’ve seen thus far. The director’s conscious decision not to have a “good” or “bad side” made me  constantly thing about this film for the couple of days preceding the viewing. I want to label one side as the bad guy, but I can’t. The Algerian quarter was equally as brutal as the European quarter, and similarly, both sides killed many innocent people for their cause. But my desire for the Algerians to gain independence out weighed my hope that the French would maintain colonial control.

When we were talking in class a few days ago about how over the many years that American cinema has existed,  a certain “vocabulary” for watching film has slowly materialized, I began to wonder if there were any films I knew of that ever purposely attempted to deviate from using this traditional “American cinema vocabulary”. After thinking for a bit I started coming up with a few movies that, in my opinion, would fit this mold. Right off the bat I was able to think of three, intrinsically different, but equally wonderful movies. The first, which is perhaps one of my favorite movies, is Upstream Color ( Carruth, 2013), a movie that requires you to think and analyze each individual scene in order to truly understand what is going on in the film. The second is one of Terrence Mallick’s more recent releases from 2011, Tree of Life, which is a visually stunning masterpiece. While the third is an eerie science fiction film, Under The Skin (Glazer, 2013), in which Scarlett Johansson plays an alien disguised as a human that preys on men.

So when going through each aspect of these movies that I thought might set them apart from more traditional American cinema, I began to understand why many may be put off by these films. Unlike in the majority of American movies where dialogue is abundant and frequently used to keep the audience up to date on what is happening in the plot, these films rely greatly on subtle visual cues and scene sequencing to keep the viewer up to date. Now, it is not surprising that this proves distasteful and bland to the average moviegoer, why wouldn’t it? It’s always frustrating to learn a new language, even more so to try and effectively follow a story in one. In many ways, watching a new style of cinema is very similar to this.

When I first watched The Tree of Life, I had a very difficult time understanding the ideas each shot was attempting to convey. The first 50 minutes of the movie felt more like a chore than entertainment. However, about a little more than halfway through the movie I began picking up on more subtle suggestions that certain scenes would make, rather than trying to look to what the characters were saying for guidance. This is perhaps when I first started learning a “cinematic language” unlike the one I was used to, and just like learning a new language, it was very rewarding.

Sadly, like some of my friends, many people never give these movies enough of a chance, and thus miss out on a fantastic experience. This is usually due to them thinking the film is too boring, or has no point, when in reality it is frequently the opposite. That is why I personally think it is always necessary to be open-minded anytime you watch a movie and exceedingly hesitant to dismiss one just because its style is different than what you may be accustomed to.

I strongly implore you guys to check out these movies, especially Upstream Color and Tree of Life.

Just to note: Carruth was the director, writer, cinematographer, composer, lead actor, producer, and editor of Upstream Color, which means he’s a boss.

After viewing the film I can definitely see how earlier audiences could have believed that this was a documentary and that what they were seeing was truly real. Besides the fact that the camera crew was operating with news reel for filming, everything about the movie looked very real. The fact that they did not concentrate so hard on a single character and rather on a group of people made it seem more realistic because that kept putting the audience in a place where they did not have all the information. There were also many scenes through out the film that were wide general shots and did not focus on a single place but rather a group of people which could easily be mistaken for a camera crew filming regular life in Algiers and not something that was scripted. Most the meetings that Colonel Mathieu held with the rest of his paratroopers looked like a camera placed in the back and filmed the meeting as if the soldiers were being documented, and not a scripted scene. The scene that really must have thrown the audience was surely the entire final scene. In the grand ending, Pontecorvo used actual citizens of Algiers in the riot scenes to reach the maximum realism that could have occurred in the event of an actual riot. The spirit of Algiers that these people portrayed could only be achieved with the effort of actual citizens that have experienced the real event.

We’ve been discussing the importance of media as a form of accessible communication that transcends linguistic and cultural barriers. I wanted to address the topic of media being used as a form of terrorism. In the past few months ISIS has been releasing a slew of videos showing the killing of captured American, British and Japanese citizens. These videos have become increasingly professional in the way that they are edited and produced. In a recent video release from ISIS, where they light a captured pilot on fire inside of a cage, the editing shown is of noteworthy sophistication. There are multiple fades and cuts that correspond to the sound track, along with subtitles and captions and other filming techniques. This illustrates the readily accessible nature of modern media, as well as the ease with which this kind of viral terrorist video can be spread.

We like to think that people willing to commit such disgusting, inhuman acts are primitive and unintelligent. It helps us come to terms with the fact that humans can carry out such atrocities on one another. Surely ISIS and similar organizations are blinded by their misguided efforts to follow their religion, as well as the inherently hateful nature of what they believe is a correct interpretation of Islam. However, these recent video releases suggest the opposite. They appear much more sophisticated than the average youtube video made on iMovie. I’m sure that with practice this kind of filming is accessible to anyone who is sufficiently motivated. At the same time, however, the more recent videos have been reminiscent of popular action movies in their somewhat sophisticated filming and editing techniques. Now that we are in a world that is connected by the internet, acts of terrorism such as these are likely to become more prevalent. Nations attempting to extinguish organizations like ISIS will have to create new strategies to combat a generation of terrorists who are using Facebook and YouTube alongside their violent acts of terrorism and radicalized political agendas.

This post is mainly concerned with the color and music in the movie the Battle of Algiers. First off, I want to pose a question: What effect does the black and white have on the movie in general? Does it add to the emotional experience? Does it add drama? I believe that the two colors (black and white) do something very interesting: it doesn’t cause distraction. In some movies, the mix of colors can be distracting to the scenes. I think the fact that this movie is only black and white makes the audience really focus in on what is happening. Second, I want to comment on the music in the movie. I think the music was my favorite aspect throughout the entire movie. There were several scenes where the music added an element, like suspense. In a movie where there are limited things occurring, suspense really gave the movie a “kick” it needed.

Ride Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cUJbbB4kOk

Ride Visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFsd4xJKLEQ

I know that this doesn’t really apply to the films we’ve been watching, but this week’s chapter in The Age of the Image “What is Literacy” really reminded me of Spaceship Earth while I was reading it.

The chapter was essentially an interesting history lesson on the evolution of communication, from cave paintings and monosyllables to modern technology and complex languages. It touched on a variety of world cultures, from Rome and Ancient Egypt, to the Renaissance and even the 20th century. The whole time though I kept thinking of Spaceship Earth, the giant globe ride in Epcot Disney World, which basically covers the same information (albeit with more animatronics and Disney magic).

Both are enormous testaments to the power of communication and truly solidify the view that we humans are very much “storytelling animals.” If we weren’t, then this blog (and the books we read and the movies we watch) wouldn’t exist.

I thought the music added special emotion to a few scenes, especially because it is a black and white film. Throughout the film, the music helped to add to each scene, conveying great sadness, as is the case for the scene after the bomb set by the police went off and you saw the children’s bodies. Or when the women were doing their makeup and the fast paced battle march set your teeth on edge and got your heart pumping faster. The effect of these various musical scores added to the movie in a very potent manner, and played a large role in the films emotional takeaway. Think of how you felt when the carefree dance music was playing in the parlor, all the while knowing the happiness in the scene was going to come to a grinding halt at any moment.