Saturday, April 14, 2012
Using Jack Stevenson's Dogme Uncut to gain a better understanding of Festen, by Robbie Vacik
A cold viewing of Festen offered a good amount of material upon which to reflect, but Dogme Uncut was an important source for gaining a deeper understanding of the film.
The intimate nature of Festen led me to get involved in the story, which caused me not to think outside of it and consider the broader context. Jack Stevenson's section on Festen offered context and details that greatly deepened my understanding and appreciation of the film.
An interesting piece of information is how the film's story came about. Vinterberg was made aware of a radio show where a man called in and confessed that he and his twin sister had been molested by their father as children. The man, who went by the name of Allan, claimed that he had revealed the abuse at his father's 60th birthday party. In case you are unfamiliar with Festen's story, the film's narrative mirrored that of the radio confession. Festen, it seemed, had a basis in reality. The interesting part of the story comes about when Allan was tracked down. Interviews revealed that the man who called into the radio had fabricated the story. His confession was a fiction, which in turn was used as the basis for yet another fiction in film form.
Beyond providing interesting facts, Stevenson's writing on Festen also contributes to a more sophisticated reading of the film's message. The characters are interesting in their own right, but the also serve as a critique of Danish society. In fact, the entire family is supposed to be a microcosm of Danish society. The conflict in the film represents the class struggle and stubborn tradition that Vinterberg identified in his homeland. His script also was a critique of Danish complacency with Nazi policies, an idea I would not have considered given the chronological separation between World War II and Festen. The film has a black character who is dating the protagonist's sister. This creates tension in the family because of deep racism. The character is not only used to show the families intolerance, but also represents the immigrant in Denmark. This points to globalization in the midst of an intimate family drama.
Dogme Uncut provided a great deal of context and analysis that helped me gain a much deeper understanding of Feston and the messages which it was used to convey.
Stevenson, Jack. Dogme Uncut: Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, and the Gang That Took on Hollywood. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press LLC, 2003.
Festen, a reaction by Robbie Vacik
Thomas Vinterberg took the first step in applying the ideas of Dogme95 to a large audience. His film about a family gathering where a man reveals his father's transgressions not only employs the technical elements of Dogme, but also the psychological tone that other films would model. There is a great deal to think about when considering the film. The film's decadent environment is interesting in that is captured through a simple hand-held camera. The acting is well-executed, but is raw and real at the same time.
What I found to be the most striking moment of the film comes when the central character, Christian, stands up at his father's 60th birthday party to expose his father's secret: that he had molested Christian and his twin sister, who had recently committed suicide because of her childhood trauma. While this kind of incendiary statement should cause a great stir and outrage among those present at the party, it does not. There is a muted moment, but it seems that the guests are more concerned with figuring out how to sustain the party's vibrance in the midst of such a heavy revelation. I was waiting for the scene to explode. When would the guests stand up in outrage, feeling ashamed they had been gathered for the sake of a man who had abused his own children and concealed it for so long?
It is only through several more efforts by Christian that the party begins to descend into a state of disruption. At first it seemed unusual to me, but then I had to reconsider. Is the behavior of the dinner guests that inconsistent with what we witness everyday? Are humans as quick to have their complacency disrupted as we would like to think? These were questions that the movie forced me to confront. Perhaps we have all had that moment where our concern is with restoring a level of comfort, rather than facing difficult truths that are laid bare before us. Festen takes that moment and makes it a launching point for a severe drama that challenges the viewers comfort level in profound ways.
Thomas Vinterberg took the first step in applying the ideas of Dogme95 to a large audience. His film about a family gathering where a man reveals his father's transgressions not only employs the technical elements of Dogme, but also the psychological tone that other films would model. There is a great deal to think about when considering the film. The film's decadent environment is interesting in that is captured through a simple hand-held camera. The acting is well-executed, but is raw and real at the same time.
What I found to be the most striking moment of the film comes when the central character, Christian, stands up at his father's 60th birthday party to expose his father's secret: that he had molested Christian and his twin sister, who had recently committed suicide because of her childhood trauma. While this kind of incendiary statement should cause a great stir and outrage among those present at the party, it does not. There is a muted moment, but it seems that the guests are more concerned with figuring out how to sustain the party's vibrance in the midst of such a heavy revelation. I was waiting for the scene to explode. When would the guests stand up in outrage, feeling ashamed they had been gathered for the sake of a man who had abused his own children and concealed it for so long?
It is only through several more efforts by Christian that the party begins to descend into a state of disruption. At first it seemed unusual to me, but then I had to reconsider. Is the behavior of the dinner guests that inconsistent with what we witness everyday? Are humans as quick to have their complacency disrupted as we would like to think? These were questions that the movie forced me to confront. Perhaps we have all had that moment where our concern is with restoring a level of comfort, rather than facing difficult truths that are laid bare before us. Festen takes that moment and makes it a launching point for a severe drama that challenges the viewers comfort level in profound ways.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Sources of Conflict in Dogme Films by Robbie Vacik
Given the rule prohibiting superfluous action in Dogme95 films, tension cannot come from overtly violent encounters. Since elements in the film have to be real, murder and the like cannot be portrayed for obvious reasons. As an American viewer, this is contrary to what I am accustomed to. Growing up, my parents would help me process violent films by helping me understand that the things I was seeing were not real. Dogme95 films do the exact opposite. They do not want the viewer to find comfort in what is unreal-they want the viewer to confront what is real. Therefore graphic sex scenes and intense depictions of emotional struggle are the medium for showing extreme action. No bullets, no explosions, no epic war scenes. Only the conflicts that are born from the human experience that we all take part in. It can be disconcerting seeing people used to generate action and conflict. I think we are all so accustomed to witnessing numbing violence, but to see humans placed in situations where their suffering drives a movie is a different matter that I was not accustomed to. I am not talking about Saw suffering. I'm talking about an abusive father and incest (Julien Donkey Boy). Or a man who is trying to expose his molestation at his father's hands amidst a scene of bourgeoise revelry (Feston). These are the types of things that Western audiences are accustomed to seeing. Robots rampaging through a city are easier to stomach than raw human emotion born out of damaged relationships. I believe Dogme95 tries to lay bare this truth, and build films around it that restore that focus on what we can really know.
Given the rule prohibiting superfluous action in Dogme95 films, tension cannot come from overtly violent encounters. Since elements in the film have to be real, murder and the like cannot be portrayed for obvious reasons. As an American viewer, this is contrary to what I am accustomed to. Growing up, my parents would help me process violent films by helping me understand that the things I was seeing were not real. Dogme95 films do the exact opposite. They do not want the viewer to find comfort in what is unreal-they want the viewer to confront what is real. Therefore graphic sex scenes and intense depictions of emotional struggle are the medium for showing extreme action. No bullets, no explosions, no epic war scenes. Only the conflicts that are born from the human experience that we all take part in. It can be disconcerting seeing people used to generate action and conflict. I think we are all so accustomed to witnessing numbing violence, but to see humans placed in situations where their suffering drives a movie is a different matter that I was not accustomed to. I am not talking about Saw suffering. I'm talking about an abusive father and incest (Julien Donkey Boy). Or a man who is trying to expose his molestation at his father's hands amidst a scene of bourgeoise revelry (Feston). These are the types of things that Western audiences are accustomed to seeing. Robots rampaging through a city are easier to stomach than raw human emotion born out of damaged relationships. I believe Dogme95 tries to lay bare this truth, and build films around it that restore that focus on what we can really know.
Dias de Boda
Dias de Boda (Dogme #30)
Directed by Juan Pinzas, Dias de Boda is a Spanish stab at Dogme, with the films drama centered around the wedding of an aspiring, upwardly mobile young couple. Having seen my share of American Wedding films, where the conflict typically centers around madcap events that threaten to soil an idealized marriage ceremony, I was eager to see what the Dogme approach to a wedding would be. I certainly was not expecting a gazebo being burned down, or bridesmaids suffering from food poisoning. My expectations were not off the mark.
The film becomes an examination of the complex nature of human relationships. While the focus should be on the bride and groom, family enters into the scenario in an all to prominent way. The viewer is keenly aware that the real dilema lies in the fact fact that a wedding does not just bring together two lives, but two worlds.
Sonia, the bride, is caught between her manipulative and controlling mother and her adoring father who has always sought the best for his daughter-or so it seems. It turns out that the father of the bride is a cocaine addict who has a sexual relationship with his daughter's soon-to-be husband. This creates a mire into which all characters are drawn.
Dias de Boda takes the idea of the happy wedding story and completely strips it to a nightmare of human anxiety. While many Americans see weddings as happy occasions to celebrate the union of two individuals, Dias de Boda makes the wedding a communal event, dragging in all the baggage that comes with many flawed humans. It is hard to stomach the tension in the film, as the viewer wants so badly to see the happy couple that is seen at the beginning, and end of the movie escape all the turmoil. A slight note on that last sentence: Dias de Boda appears to break the here-and-now rule that was laid out as a guiding principle. The movie concludes with a scene of the couple enjoying a walk on a beach, a blissful scene that is a reprise of an earlier visual. Given the events that occur, it seems unlikely that this is a chronological development. Rather, it is an allusion to an earlier time. I found it odd that the film chose to end with this scene, despite the crushing suffering that is developed throughout the rest of Dia de Boda.
Robbie
Directed by Juan Pinzas, Dias de Boda is a Spanish stab at Dogme, with the films drama centered around the wedding of an aspiring, upwardly mobile young couple. Having seen my share of American Wedding films, where the conflict typically centers around madcap events that threaten to soil an idealized marriage ceremony, I was eager to see what the Dogme approach to a wedding would be. I certainly was not expecting a gazebo being burned down, or bridesmaids suffering from food poisoning. My expectations were not off the mark.
The film becomes an examination of the complex nature of human relationships. While the focus should be on the bride and groom, family enters into the scenario in an all to prominent way. The viewer is keenly aware that the real dilema lies in the fact fact that a wedding does not just bring together two lives, but two worlds.
Sonia, the bride, is caught between her manipulative and controlling mother and her adoring father who has always sought the best for his daughter-or so it seems. It turns out that the father of the bride is a cocaine addict who has a sexual relationship with his daughter's soon-to-be husband. This creates a mire into which all characters are drawn.
Dias de Boda takes the idea of the happy wedding story and completely strips it to a nightmare of human anxiety. While many Americans see weddings as happy occasions to celebrate the union of two individuals, Dias de Boda makes the wedding a communal event, dragging in all the baggage that comes with many flawed humans. It is hard to stomach the tension in the film, as the viewer wants so badly to see the happy couple that is seen at the beginning, and end of the movie escape all the turmoil. A slight note on that last sentence: Dias de Boda appears to break the here-and-now rule that was laid out as a guiding principle. The movie concludes with a scene of the couple enjoying a walk on a beach, a blissful scene that is a reprise of an earlier visual. Given the events that occur, it seems unlikely that this is a chronological development. Rather, it is an allusion to an earlier time. I found it odd that the film chose to end with this scene, despite the crushing suffering that is developed throughout the rest of Dia de Boda.
Robbie
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Gypo review by Alex Hulisz
I chose to watch the first British Dogme 95 film called “Gypo”. This film followed all the Dogme 95 rules that you have read. This film centers on a working class British family that is struggling with various issues. The teenage daughter Kelly is trying to raise a baby, there is a very distant relationship between the parents, and Kelly is struggling to find work in order to support her child. Things turn for a change when a Czech refugee named Tasha enters their lives.
The purpose of this film was to show the story of how Helen befriended a Czech refugee, Tasha, through the eyes of three different characters, and the drama that unfolded at the end. I would describe this narrative pattern as a three-in-one type story. In Helen’s perspective, she would argue with Kelly about not being a responsible parent. She is tired of her monotonous life, and takes sculpture classes at night. This is where we first meet Tasha, and this relationship causes conflict in the family. At the end of her perspective, the director left the audience to interpret what happened to Tasha because she boarded a ferry and left without explanation. I thought this was an interesting way to end Helen’s perspective because it seemed that Tasha and Helen had a great relationship. Paul’s perspective was very depressing because of his melancholic and cynical character. The first time he meets Tasha, he explains why he hates refugees and throughout his perspective he constantly calls Tasha a “gypo”. At his job, he hires people off the street to help him roll carpets, and pays them cheap. He also sees a hooker, and this shows his disinterest towards his wife Helen. Tasha’s perspective fills in the missing parts of the story that were ambiguous in Helen and Paul’s perspective. Her perspective focuses on her daily struggles of harassment and her anxiety about her husband and father coming back to capture Tasha and her mother. She reveals the story of how she and Helen engaged in a lesbian romantic relationship. I suggest you watch “Gypo” to see how these three perspectives come together and how they unfold because it is unpredictable, interesting, and emotionally impacting.
"Gypo" is a great example of how Dogme 95 incorporates powerful movies without the use of special effects and non-diegetic sound. The over-the-top special effects can often tune out the meaning purpose behind a movie because people often get distracted my fancy graphics. This helped me focus on the characters’ body language and facial expressions. I thought all the actors/actresses put on great performances because I felt their anguish during specific scenes. I thought the constant banter between Helen and her daughter Kelly depicted an accurate portrayal of how teenage girls rely too heavily on their mothers to take care of their babies. She wanted to live her typical high school life of hanging out with friends, but we never say Kelly pay much attention to the baby.
There are elements of globalization in this film. The main element of globalization stems from the large amount of refugees in England. They are taking a lot of jobs away from people and taxes are increasing because of them. Globalization causes animosity between Tasha and Paul at the dinner table because he can’t stand the “gypos”. One particular scene that I find fascinating about globalization is when Tasha and her mother buy fish and chips. This shows that they are willing to adapt to the British culture because they know they would rather live here than be persecuted in their home country.
Overall, I feel that Dogme 95 movies are endearing to watch because the film displayed realism and I felt that I was a by-stander watching the events of this movie unfold. This was the first Dogme 95 film I have ever seen, so at first I had difficulty getting used to the style of filming. Once I became used to the style of film, I really enjoyed it because I could focus on each of the main characters’ habits, personalities, and how each of their stories related to each other. The first 15-20 minutes of the film I was bored because there wasn’t a developing plot, but once Tasha entered, the drama started to heighten. There are elements of this movie that might make you feel uncomfortable, but they add emotional intensity to the film.
The purpose of this film was to show the story of how Helen befriended a Czech refugee, Tasha, through the eyes of three different characters, and the drama that unfolded at the end. I would describe this narrative pattern as a three-in-one type story. In Helen’s perspective, she would argue with Kelly about not being a responsible parent. She is tired of her monotonous life, and takes sculpture classes at night. This is where we first meet Tasha, and this relationship causes conflict in the family. At the end of her perspective, the director left the audience to interpret what happened to Tasha because she boarded a ferry and left without explanation. I thought this was an interesting way to end Helen’s perspective because it seemed that Tasha and Helen had a great relationship. Paul’s perspective was very depressing because of his melancholic and cynical character. The first time he meets Tasha, he explains why he hates refugees and throughout his perspective he constantly calls Tasha a “gypo”. At his job, he hires people off the street to help him roll carpets, and pays them cheap. He also sees a hooker, and this shows his disinterest towards his wife Helen. Tasha’s perspective fills in the missing parts of the story that were ambiguous in Helen and Paul’s perspective. Her perspective focuses on her daily struggles of harassment and her anxiety about her husband and father coming back to capture Tasha and her mother. She reveals the story of how she and Helen engaged in a lesbian romantic relationship. I suggest you watch “Gypo” to see how these three perspectives come together and how they unfold because it is unpredictable, interesting, and emotionally impacting.
There are elements of globalization in this film. The main element of globalization stems from the large amount of refugees in England. They are taking a lot of jobs away from people and taxes are increasing because of them. Globalization causes animosity between Tasha and Paul at the dinner table because he can’t stand the “gypos”. One particular scene that I find fascinating about globalization is when Tasha and her mother buy fish and chips. This shows that they are willing to adapt to the British culture because they know they would rather live here than be persecuted in their home country.
Overall, I feel that Dogme 95 movies are endearing to watch because the film displayed realism and I felt that I was a by-stander watching the events of this movie unfold. This was the first Dogme 95 film I have ever seen, so at first I had difficulty getting used to the style of filming. Once I became used to the style of film, I really enjoyed it because I could focus on each of the main characters’ habits, personalities, and how each of their stories related to each other. The first 15-20 minutes of the film I was bored because there wasn’t a developing plot, but once Tasha entered, the drama started to heighten. There are elements of this movie that might make you feel uncomfortable, but they add emotional intensity to the film.
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