Today, I watched the Danish film titled "Mifune" from 1999. It is a film that is very realistic and down to earth. It utilizes the constraints of the Dogme 95 manifesto, and while doing so, it does not, in my opinion, stray away from these.  The story within the movie definitely centers around the topic of love, whether it be in the context of a marriage or during a one night stand. The film has scenes that compares these two kinds of love. For example, the viewer can take notice of how Kresten, the husband and main male character in the movie, marries Claire, who is his boss's daughter. All is well until she finds out that Kresten was hiding secrets from her- that he has family alive and his origins. He tells her about the family he has and where his parent's home is located. This information was disclosed to her the day after their marriage. The topic of family came about when Kresten received news of his father passing and was needed at home to tend to the funeral arrangement and his mentally ill brother. At first, Claire accepts the fact that her newly wed Kresten has to leave; however, when he has been gone for more than the two days he promised her he would be gone, she pays Kresten a surprise visit. Claire is appalled and horrified by the looks of the farm and the house from which her husband grew up in. She quickly decides, based on her observations, that she will not be associated with a "redneck" and demands a divorce. To Claire, her riches, fame and title are more important than the love Kresten has for her.

Kresten and Liva

Kresten Pretending to be "Mifune" 

Kresten, of course, is deeply saddened by her reaction and abrupt decision to end their marriage. Regardless, he moves on and not too long after Claire's separation does he find someone else to love. The next woman comes along by responding to the ad that Kresten places in the local paper asking for a housekeeper. Liva, who is a prostitute but desires to escape the torments it brings, shows up to Kresten's farmhouse. She cooks, cleans, paints and straightens up his neglected home. She also looks after Rud who is Kresten's brother. Despite the adversaries they face, Liva and Kresten happily dance and kiss one another in the living room, which is the closing scene.
 Even though this film is rated R, I looked over the sex scenes and vulgar language in order to enjoy the film. One important message the movie portrays throughout is the fact that true love cannot be bought or packaged in a certain way and it will not last if . True love is as real as humans are. It has its ups and downs, but in the end, it will never be shaken nor broken. Both Liva and Kresten grew to love one another because of who they are not what they have done or where they live.

-Heather :)

http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf14_16/pdf/2000/nrp/20mar00/2879563.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=2879563&S=R&D=a9h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHX8kSeqa84y9fwOLCmr0qep7NSr6a4SbGWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGusk%2B1q7NKuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA

The above link is an excellent read. Just skip to the section about "Mifune." It gives great background information about this film. (NOTE: One must be logged into EBSCOHost Database to view).

-Heather :)

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D02E1D71130F936A15751C0A9669C8B63

The link above will take you to a movie review about the film "Mifune." It gives the reader a clear picture of what the film is about and what to expect. After I read this article, I now know what to anticipate before watching this film. I personally have never been partial to movies that contain sex scenes because I have the strong belief that intimacy is a private matter and cannot truly be recreated to express what true love really is. We, the viewers, cannot know what the couple is feeling when love is made. The couple only knows what this "close moment " feels like. The viewer can only imagine what they may be feeling, and making these assumptions destroys the secretiveness of sex. Regardless, the film does have a good message behind it- material things come and go but true love and relationships sustain us and last a lot longer.

-Heather :)

The next film I will soon be watching is titled "Mifune." Here is the link to the trailer for the movie, but beware there are some suggestive scenes in it. Do not watch it if you may find it offensive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6PsTbD8tZQ

The link below will take you to another trailer for this film that uses an English speaking narrator who better explains the movie than does the trailer above. Again, it has rated R scenes in it; therefore, do not view it if you care not to see them.

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/176580/Mifune/trailers

-Heather :)

The King is Alive-- A film by Kristian Levring 


The following is a link to a theatrical trailer of the film, The King is Alive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1y2Ue5Vd98


The King is Alive is a film about a group of people who find themselves stranded in a desert after their bus takes a wrong turn and runs out of gas. Whilst trying to survive, the stranded group of people decide to put on a reproduction of William Shakespeare's King Lear in hopes of taking their minds off of their situation. The film focuses a great deal on dark human emotions. It seems as though every character has a "skeleton in the closet," if you will. Each character begins to change as they slowly become more aware that the possibility of never being rescued is a great one.

The film opens with the dogma 95 certificate/manifesto letting the viewer know that the film will abide by the rules set up by the framers of the dogma 95 movement. As with the previous film that I had posted about (Kira's Reason), the camera was often shaky, the film was clearly 35 mm, and so on. That which I appreciate the most about dogma films is that they are incredibly raw and basic. The framers of the dogma 95 movement recognized that mainstream film sought to "buy" their audience with over-the-top special effects and dramatic, non-diagetic musical scores. I often find myself asking, "Do I like this movie because it is aesthetically good, or am I more captivated by the music and the effects?" This could be something that the framers of the dogma movement thought themselves. Anyone can make a film that will sell if they have enough money in their budget (I use the term "anyone" loosely). Dogme seeks to break down film into it's purest forms; adjusting its focus away from flashy effects and moving towards camera work, cinematography, and storytelling. When this is done, the audience receives a better, more in-depth insight into the story and the characters.

This is why we are able to get such a deep, emotional image of the characters in this film. Not only are we seeing these films at their simplest, most basic form, but we are also seeing humanity in a basic form. We are gaining an awareness of what makes a character who they are and what makes them behave the way that they behave. The King is Alive captures this idea beautifully. We are introduced to characters, who we follow throughout the film, who we watch struggle for survival, and who we can relate to.

Aesthetically, there are a few choices that the director made that I would like to shed some light on. Throughout the film the camera was shaky. Normally, I would write this off as just being a convention of dogma films (tripods are not allowed; rule 3). For this film however, I feel as though the camera was shaky for a reason, which I will explain below. Something else that I noticed was that the director chose to use a lot of jump-cuts; quickly jumping sporadically from shot to shot. Often, these shots were unfocused during the quick jumps. I think both of the things that I noticed signified the same emotion. When I thought about what they could mean I just kept thinking about how chaotic the shots were and how confusing they were. Perhaps that's how the filmmaker wanted the movie to feel; chaotic and confusing. This could be because this was how the characters felt in the film.

Overall, I enjoyed The King is Alive. It was a very dark film about survival and coping with tragedy. It is a great representation of the goal that the creators of the dogme movement wanted to strive towards. 

A late introduction...

My name is Robbie Vacik. I am a junior history major at Malone. I will be posting on Dogme95 films and readings that concern the movement

Alex Hulisz's Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Alex Hulisz. I'm a senior exercise science major with a concentration in pre-physical therapy. I'm looking forward to posting exciting reviews about the movies we are watching about dogme95. Hope you enjoy reading our reviews and ideas that are portrayed on our blog.

-Alex