'City of God' (2002) Represents Violence and Poverty as 'Spectacle'.

The film techniques used in this film changes the entire landscape and changes the mood during the scene. The colour reflects on a charters feelings and the camera angles and

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.

The working class in this film are forced to endure agonising labour in extremely dangerous environments whilst the upper class, the ‘sons’ are free to live at their will. The dystopic setting of the ‘depths’ becomes evident through Lang’s use of symbolism when the dictator’s son, Freder, journeys to the depths and starts to see the workers being eaten up by the machines in the scene ‘Slaves of the Means of Production” (14.58-17.52). This symbolises the dystopic society in which workers do not have the right to be safe. This idea forms a contextual connection to the 1920’s Weimar Republic where there were two distinct classes, the conservative elite, who were free to live at their will, and the workers who were forced to endure labour with no guarantee for safety. Through the contextual connections of political reform and the shared perspectives of dystopian societies the quote “the object of power is power” is strongly supported by George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’.

Early cinema is often referred to as a progression to narrative cinema, Tom Gunning would argue that it was not a progression but had its own purpose and coined the term The Cinema of Attractions in his essay ‘Now you see it, Now you don’t’. This is the concept that a large quantity of the first film makers produced films that were more about the spectacle, most of the films leading up to 1900 reflected the fascination with technology and how things happened rather than why. Gunning noted that there were three assumptions of film; the general ideas that people had about the timeline of film and where it would end up. There is the cinematic assumption, the idea that film was ‘restricted to the technological reproduction of theatre’ (Gunning T.1993) early cinema was primitive and only a practice for what was to come. The narrative assumption is that film is ‘only important as it is a predecessor to a more engaging and effective form of film,’ (Gunning T. 1993) this suggests that narrative cinema is the natural form of film. The final assumption is the idea that ‘cinema only truly appeared when it discovered its mission of telling stories.’ (Metz C. 1974) These assumptions all encompass the idea that narrative is the end form of film. In this essay I am going to discuss Tom Gunning’s theory of The Cinema of Attractions and the differences between them and narratively driven films.

In conclusion the movie “City of God” was an excellent example of the many sociological theories discussed in class. The movie demonstrated the functionalist theory, the interactionist theory, the conflict theory and even the control theory. It provided a prime example of the work of many sociologists, such as Emil Durkheim, Robert Merton, Edwin Sutherland, Edwin Lemert, Karl Marx and many others. Each of these sociological theories was helpful in understanding the crime and deviance in the movie.

First of all, before analysing the theme, it is necessary to clarify the notion of “dynamic of power”. In fact, this denotes the dialectic interaction between the subject possessing the power and the object which is influenced by this power. In literature, this liaison is expressed by the relations between a master and a slave. For instance, the Russian writers Dostoevsky and Tolstoy explored the theme of the relations between a master and a slave, an oppressor and an oppressed in their works. Since this theme has stirred the imagination of many writers, it is not surprising that the possibility to expose this type of relations has attracted the filmmakers for the decades.

By literally building Metropolis on inequality, Lang exposes his audience to the class system where, the poor live “deep below the earth’s surface [in] the workers’ city” and the rich live in the “Club of the Sons.” Lang immediately establishes the negative class differences that capitalism causes through his use of low key lighting in the worker’s city, which, when combined with the grey costuming of the workers, maximises the effect of dullness. Lang then extends this effect by suggesting the workers are machine like, through dissolving from images of machines to the workers, and then showing the workers moving in a slow, and synchronised fashion. Lang then contrasts these dreary images with high key lighting, and joyful music to emphasise the jubilant nature of the “Club of the Sons.” Lang’s presentation of class systems reflects his context of how wealthy industrialists held a lot of power, whilst the middle and working class suffered from hyperinflation and the economic impact of Versailles. Lang’s contrast thoroughly shows the unfavourable class inequalities that capitalism causes, and ‘Metropolis’, much like ‘1984’, serves as a warning against that

This sharp criticism of the capitalistic society may not be unique to this film, but it is poignant and powerful as ever, as we see the direct results of the company’s

Theorist Vsevolod Pudovkin claims that narrative films are mainly a “product of construction” and cautious compilations of “selections of images that have been shot” (Renée).

In this essay, I will explain why a documentary is always more realistic than a fiction film. I will show my thesis by exploring elements that influence how realistic a film is: film editing and format, genre, and transparency. I will use the documentary of Armadillo (2010), by Janus Pedersen, and the fiction film of The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968), by Danièle Huille as examples.

This is a controversial film and has the power to offend many people Catholic and non-Catholic. Going up against the Catholic Church will be an issue that will continue if they were to release this film. Presenting this film as a documentary based on a true story but contain fictional elements also presents a risk. This can result in obscuring the truth and addressing the problem from one perspective that will be displayed on to many others. On the other hand this film allows for a real issue to be addressed. In the film industry they have the right to display any form of artistic media through the 1st amendment. Making this aware in society will help address this matter greater than a news story, which only displays so much. This is a real account showing details of the life that some of these individuals live and the cover-up they may

“City of God ‘has nothing to do with the Rio you see in the postcards’. It is a 1960s-style housing project that, in tandem with increasing drug dealing, became, already by the 1980s, one of the most dangerous places in Rio. It is a place abandoned by God and justice, where police hardly ever come and where residents’ life expectancy does not considerably exceed the twenties”EXPAND (Diken 2).

It is important to realize how society works because it helps us to better understand how the film views the economic system that produces people like Travis. It also helps us to better understand what it is like to be like Travis who falls under the Proletariate category. For instance, the use of social structures and the idea of the lower class revolting. Taking this into account is important because it helps us to better understand how the film views the economic system that produces people like Travis. This paper argues that the film illustrates Marx's ideas in order to critique the capitalist

My project is to continue to live, so I cannot give up filming. However, O signo das tetas taught me that it is completely insane to make a film without funds. The film cost less than forty thousand reais and the whole crew was paid. This resulted in a truly minimal and independent production, which reflected in the final quality of the work. It is a film that presents its mistakes, fragments and noticeable difficulties at all times: in the structure, in rhythm. But I do not try to camouflage it. Instead, I try to reverse it for the sake of the film. My courage as a filmmaker is greater than the issue of accuracy and error within the film itself. Above all, I want my work to portray the truth, the risk. I expose myself a lot through the film. My anxieties are all in my work, and so are my faults. But that is the role I want my cinema to have in the world: to be an extension of my own being, to reflects to everybody who I am as a person and human

The 2009 feature film, Agora, which was directed by Alejandro Amenábar, depicts the religious, political, and intellectual events in the city of Alexandria during the life of Hypatia, a female philosopher. Since this film’s primary goal is the entertainment of the audience rather than accurate historical instruction, there are some fictitious or unproven details in the film that give an erroneous impression of history to the common viewer. The movie gives a fair representation of the turmoil within both pagan and Christian groups, but there is a slight bias towards the antagonization of Christians. One way this prejudice takes shape is the film’s failure to fairly represent the role of St. Cyril of Alexandria amidst these chaotic times as it relates to his views on women in education, his involvement in the death of Hypatia, and the expulsion of the Jews.