A Maniac Grindhouse

The first cult film that we were exposed to this semester was the film “Maniac” directed by Dwain Esper. This work was written by Esper’s wife, Hildegard. I found this film to be quite entertaining, but one of the most interesting aspects of this film for me was the many “educational” interjections of white titles rolling on a black background that gave laughable information following mind boggling scenes.

As I scrambled to make sense of what I had just seen, I was then confronted with words such as “combat fear by replacing it with faith”, as I had just seen one bad actor shoot his louder counterpart. When you couple these aspects with the scenes where the cat was obviously thrown into the frame, the absence of a narrative within this film just seems right. Of course, I will always long for the tying of the loose ends, I have come to terms with this cult movie, and have gained a better understanding as to why it was created.

Dwain Esper, and many directors of this time, were only in this business to make money. Now I see nothing wrong with that because if it weren’t for shoe-string budgets, and money hungry directors, we would not have seen films like this. As Robert G. Weiner wrote, Esper did not care about the artfulness of his cinema, he was simply trying to milk profits from cheaply made films. Weiner also points out that Esper and many of his peers did not submit their movies to the motion picture board for approval. It was his disdain for the movie codes, and his drive to make money that left his mark on the cult Cinema world that we are studying this day.

I agree with Emma’s answer the question that was raised on Monday during the discussions of the readings. The question was along the lines of “do you think exploitation films would still have been made if it weren’t for directors like Esper?” We know that the major catalyst for the exploitation era was the Paramount decision, but even if that hadn’t have happened, men like Esper would still be directing, and showing their movies wherever they could. The Salesman of the world would stumble upon the film industry and use their talents to push through cost-effective media that was accepted by the public for lack of better things to do.

The documentary we watched on Wednesday titled “American Grindhouse”, reinforced a lot of things that I learned from the intro to film class that I took last year. Once I learned about what exploitations films were, I realized that I really like them. Its not necessarily always about what is on the screen though, but about what occurred to get the films to the year 2020. The amount of peddling and persistence that went on just to get a film into a “Grindhouse” has always impressed me.

Hearing John Landis talk about films is always funny, because he takes a no BS stance, and obviously knows his stuff as he directed “Animal House,” which is a movie that will no doubt live on forever. The only part of the exploitation era that always brings me down are the darker sides to these films. The genre “Roughies” was created because as George Muller said, “They couldn’t show sex, so they showed violence.” This just goes to show that no matter what, if there is money to be had, the films will be made, and later generations will study the masterpieces that result.

Run Lola, Run and my reflection on the semester

This week in class we had a screening of a 1998 German thriller film, “Run Lola, Run”. The film was written and directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend’s (Manni’s) life.

Through my own research and through an analytical article written about the film, I have gained an understanding of what I believe the director was trying to portray. From the article: “Tykwer belongs to a generation of Germans that embraces popular culture rather than criticizes it as a colonization of the mind and a form of cultural imperialism.” The director made this film with the pride of germany, adding in various parts of german culture as well as different themes throughout the movie that are seen in other german films and literature.

 

The film touches on themes such as the role of chance in people’s destiny, and obscure cause-effect relationships. Through brief flash-forward sequences of flashing images, Lola’s quick interactions with bystanders she encounters while she is running to Manni are revealed to have surprising and drastic effects on their future lives, serving as illustrations of a butterfly effect (However, another explanation is that Lola’s interactions with them didn’t really cause anything. It’s just that each person inherently has vastly different possibilities of ways that their lives could play out, and a different version of their lives is shown in the three different ways.) The film’s exploration of the relationship between chance and conscious intention is shown in the casino scene, where Lola appears to defy the laws of chance through sheer force of will, wishing with everything she had that she would win the money, and making the roulette ball land on her winning number with the help of her glass-shattering scream.

The thematic exploration of free will vs. determinism is made clear from the start. In the film’s brief prologue, a narrator asks a series of rhetorical questions that cause the audience to view the film through a metaphysical lens touching on philosophical questions. The theme is reinforced through the repeated appearance of a blind woman who briefly interacts with Manni in each alternative reality, and seems to have supernatural understandings of both the present and potential futures in those realities. By the final telephone booth scene in which the blind woman directs Manni’s attention to the man who stole his money in the beginning of the film, which allows him to finally retrieve his bag of money, saving his life.

Several moments in the film show what seems to be a supernatural awareness of the characters. For example, in the first twenty minute reality sequence, Manni shows Lola how to use a gun by removing the safety, while in the second timeline she removes the safety as though she remembers what to do. This suggests that she might have the memory of the events depicted in the previous reality sequence. Also, the bank’s guard says to Lola “you finally came” in the third sequence, as if he possibly remembered Lola’s appearances in the previous two. There are other themes that are more obvious throughout the film; love, as seen through Lola and Manni’s relationship, and the kinds of things that love will lead people to do, also seen in the relationship with Lola’s Father and his mistress. Also, a big one, time. Time is the most obvious theme in the film, as there are many flashing images of clocks and watches, and the film being split up into four 20-minute sections.

As for my reflection on this semester as a whole, I had a great semester with what content I learned from this class. Entering class, I was completely unaware of the kinds of things I would be learning about, and wasn’t all that interested, just took it because a friend told me I should. Throughout the course I found that the things we were talking about had an impact on my everyday life, being an artist and constantly creating work, I found myself influenced by and thinking more about the history of film while I was creating. I find that I am more interested in older films now, and I appreciate them much more than I previously did.

I found an almost immediate interest within the first half of the class, learning about old german horror films which I have always loved watching and learning about. Going through the different decades and learning but why filmmakers and production companies filmed what they did caused me to be more aware of things like that as I watch films now, as I never compared films that I like to other films of their time to realize those similarities that connected time frames and production companies to their films. One of my favorite weeks was the week that we learned about “midnight movies” and screened “the Rocky Horror Picture Show” which has been always been one of my all time favorites, but I never realized that in the 70’s there was such a cultural movement caused by films like this.

The Overall mood of class, seeing how interested and informed other students are in class, definitely made me intrigued to learn more about the films and the history of how and why they were made. I am registered for next semester to take  “intro to film”, and heard about a “Cult Film” class that is happening next spring semester that I also am looking into taking! I hope that through taking these classes and learning about film that my art work will continue to hold those influences and I can sway my artwork in that way. Also as I start to form my schedules more around photography, I think that learning about film and incorporating that will be a big help in ideas composition of my work!

 

Lola Rennt

This week we discussed New German Cinema and screened the film Run Lola Run, directed by Tom Tykwer. The film contained many underlying themes and used distinct visuals to reflect German pop culture. According to the article, “Tykwer belongs to a generation of Germans that embraces popular culture rather than criticizes it as a colonization of the mind and a form of cultural imperialism.” The film very well displays postmodern Germany during this time.

The film follows Lola (Franka Potente) who is trying to save her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) after he loses 100,000 marks he owes to an organized crime boss. Lola is seen running across Berlin, attempting to get an insane amount of money and to Manni before he tries something stupid, and she only has 20 minutes. Lola runs into different characters of the city, and we see each of their fates as she passes them. There are three different narratives that play out and each time leads to a different fate.

There are many ways you could look at this film to get a sense of what it means. The film has multiple themes including time, love, chance, life as a game, and fate (just to name a few). One of the most obvious themes of the film is time. Time is constantly being symbolized throughout the film. The movie starts with an image of a pendulum of a clock swinging back and forth and the sound of ticking noises in the background. There are many moments in the film where the main character, Lola, seems to be running out of time to find and save Manni. Tykwer represented time symbolically by showing images of clocks, incorporating energetic music into his scenes as well as ticking clock noises, and Lola is seen asking people for the time. The film clearly shows how time has this power over the characters. Lola is running in order to save her lover Manni which in itself is also a theme between these different timelines. Love could be looked at as being able to defy the boundaries of time and space.

The soundtrack does a really good job at emphasizing the symbolism and themes of the film. There are many different sounds used in the film other than the dialogue and music, for example, the sound of gunshots, telephones, clocks ticking, sirens, cars, people, and just the sound of the city in general. Some of the sounds used are exaggerated to show the importance of it, for instance, loud ticking noises to stress the impact of time.The electronic techno soundtrack gives the film a more thrilling, fast paced, energized effect and matches well with the connected flow of the editing. The music really helped build the momentum as we watch Lola’s running progress between 3 different alternate timelines. The upbeat rhythm of the film and exciting mood creates a more exhilarating experience for the audience.

Overall I  really enjoyed watching the film, even the second time around. It is still just as fun and exciting, and you may come across new details on each watch. I love the colors in this film and the animations. I also love Lola’s character and her loyalty to Manni throughout the entire film is pretty amazing. The ending of the last narrative was really the ending I was hoping for, if only they would show a little of what happened after they realize they have 100,000 marks for themselves.

I have taken a few film courses throughout my years here and I have loved each one! I always knew I was drawn to cinema but it wasn’t until taking these courses that I grew more of an appreciation and love for specific movements and films that I wouldn’t have even known about if I hadn’t taken them. The first film class I took was international film (which if offered again I highly recommend). Looking into international cinema, I was amazed at how many films open the doors to reveal the culture and history of that specific country. Just from watching those films I was able to learn more about how life was in those specific places during certain times. After taking that course, I wanted to further my knowledge on cinema so I signed up for more film courses as the semesters went on. This then lead me to take a video production course which I also loved (which is also really fun and you should take if offered again!). In this course you get to do hands on work, with equipment and editing. You learn about the processes in video production, basic techniques of digital production, how to edit your videos, how to set up lighting, how interviews typically work, the two types of editing, and you create your own original works with your classmates. Since I loved filming in that class, I even decided to do an independent study called Dance for Camera where I choreograph a dance piece and set it up to be shot on camera. This was amazing to me because I was able to combine the two things I am passionate about, my minor and major in one class. Where I am going with this is.. taking these film courses have opened my eyes to new passions I didn’t even know I had. Although I am sad I won’t be able to take more film classes in Alfred, I definitely plan to continue to expand my knowledge on film and video outside of school and continue to explore the two mediums of dance and film. Thank you Dr. Schlegel for all the semesters full of great films and great lectures!

The Journey Ends

This week we watched Run Lola Run.  Run Lola Run is an riveting, heart beating epic pick your very own experience. Composed and directed by Tom Tykwer, Run Lola Run is the tale of a young lady, Lola, who gets a terrified telephone call from her long-lasting boyfriend, Manni. Manni owes a mobster 100,000 stamps and doesn’t have any idea of what to do. Lola, desperate to spare his life, consoles him that she can get the cash to him by early afternoon, when he should meet the mobster or else Manni would rob a supermarket. From that minute on, the movie  takes us through three trials of Lola’s preliminaries attempting to get Manni’s cash in 20 minutes. With each individual she comes into contact with, their lives take on totally various structures, as appeared by 30-second photograph flash montages. the film attempts to use a wide range of filmmaking techniques to help get the director’s meaning and vision across to the audience. Some of these include speed-up, instant replay, black and white, and even animation in some parts. The ideas are basic. How do our activities influence our very own lives, just as those whom we contact? What part do shot and irregular occasions play in deciding a result? Would we be able to choose an alternate outcome by settling on various decisions? To put it plainly, what is reality? In a compact ninety minutes consolidating cuts of movement, film verité, particular characters, circumstances and discourse, and a pace that makes most music recordings seem as though they’ve been shot in moderate movement, three adaptations of a similar story grouping unfurl, and each time close with a shocking completion that opposes show, and keeps the watcher speculating until the last casing. I really enjoyed this film for its quick pace, creative style and logic. The film is an intriguing idea, with little occasions impacting the ensuing chain of occasions in a huge way. There are philosophical and mystical feelings, as Lola appears to remember components from past runs of life. This forms a commentary on the idea of free will and fate, or more specifically, determinism. Covering this is possibility, or powers of nature outside our ability to control. This should then lead you to address whether Lola winning that huge amount of cash was simply chance shot or maybe a deterministic result. It was well shot and the music was fitting. I like that it was a film that endeavored to investigate conceivable outcomes and how various choices open up that aren’t constantly anticipated. I know it doesn’t make too much sense logistically, however I don’t get the feeling that it attempts to. It’s straightforward and to the point and I truly have fun while watching it. This is one of those uncommon artistic occasions that is engaging, fulfilling, and retaining, just as perfectly acted, organized, altered, delivered and coordinated. I imagined that Lola ran her race with energy and style, and left all others route behind in the dust.

Kosta, Barbara. Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Runand TheUsual Suspects: The Avant-Garde,Popular Culture, and History. http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/0472113844-ch11.pdf.

ScreenPrism. “ScreenPrism.” In “Run Lola Run,” What Is the Meaning of Lola’s Screaming, screenprism.com/insights/article/in-run-lola-run-what-is-the-meaning-of-lolas-screaming.

As we approach the end of semester, I have to say I really enjoyed this class and feel like I learned a lot. I am always watching current movies so I feel like this class was great for showing us 90’s babies which films were actually influential to that time period. We started with films in the 1900’s all the way to the 1990’s. Even though I might have heard of some of these films, I have never got the chance to actually watch them myself. With this being said, there were definitely certain movies that I enjoyed so much that I might just have to watch a second time.

I was more into 90s movies more than everything else so such motion pictures like The Fly truly impacted my preference for drama sci-fi films. I really appreciated this film so much that I watched it a second time alone. The beautifying agents upgrades and gross outs are top notch, yet what is most amazing about The Fly is that it winds up being an inside and out acted and excited sentimental story. Jeff Goldblum is such an incredible character in this movie as he progressively changes into an epic fly. The change is gross in explicit spots, and verifiably horrible to watch. Such an outstanding film.

I can’t compose a blog about my preferred films for the semester without referencing Bonnie And Clyde. It was simply by and large an extraordinary film. From dreams of acclaim to wrongdoing binges, this film is simply activity stuffed. I simply feel like this film enlivened an age of movie producers just as the audience to take a look at film from an alternate perspective. Bonnie And Clyde had a major influence in my life as I would dependably find out about the dynamic team and stories however viewing the movie out of the blue was amazing and gloom, for the straightforward certainty that I didn’t anticipate that it would finish in such a terrible manner. This film is amazing to the point that I could go on about it forever Unquestionably a film worth watching once more, even with the tragic ending that it had.

I was never really a fan of the black and white films but I have to say The Bride of Frankenstein is a classic masterpiece of 1930s horror films. A terrific, peculiar, high-camp, over the top, entertaining, absurd and surrealistic film. Not so much scary for us watching it in the generation but I really feel like this movie had a great message to give and I will always remember this part of the film, when the monster having survived the fire in the mill which had supposedly killed him is taken in by a blind man say the man was not blind, he would have feared the monster for his looks  just as everyone else in the town did. It goes to show that the loner genuinely saw a good enough being in the monster to give him a place to stay. The Bride of Frankenstein is the true definition of ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’.

I can honestly go on for days about my time and the fun I had in this class. With such a great professor who is always enthusiastic about each and every single screening of the week making us hyped up about it is just such great energy between Professor Schlegel and the class. Every journey has to unfortunately come to an end, so until next time.

Run Lola Run

In class on Wednesday, we watched the 1998 German film Run Lola Run by Tom Tykwer. The film follows Lola and Manny, Manny did some sort of deal that included delivering 100,000 dollars to a man, when he loses the money on a train and a homeless man takes it he needs to figure out a way to get that money fast or who knows what will happen, this begins the story which the rest of the film will revolve around. He calls his girlfriend the redheaded Lola to ask for help, she begins to run as she figures out what move to make next.

The film then changes, it shows us their story and then it restarts. This plays out 3 times overall in which we see the same 20-minute story with the same characters, even the pedestrians but see how time and chance change the outcomes of the story/stories. This is a super complex film which plays with a lot of ideas, mainly the idea of theme and chance. Fatalism (turns out from the reading the director was a philosophy major which makes sense if you watch the film) is the theme for one part, the car that gets into a car accident, it doesn’t matter the situation as we see, there is no way to get around the man crashing his car into the other one with 3 men. Although the last story makes him completely avoid the said be a crash, later he still ends up doing it. This is one example of how much is packed into this film. The reading Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run and the Unusual Suspects: The Avant-Garde, Popular Culture, and History by Barbara Kosta go way more in-depth about it, it starts with a quote which sums up the film well “Brings Hollywood pizzazz to the European art movie”. The first thing this reading points out is that it really embraces pop culture rather than criticize it, unlike many other new German filmmakers. You can see this in the aesthetics throughout the film. It brings all forms of German culture together and rebels against what was being made at the time, the all too familiar narratives we saw in film at the time while spontaneously including the mainstream.  As the reading continues I found out a lot of super interesting things, you were right, there really is a lot to it and it is super interesting to read! The back of the woman’s head is a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, (one of the directors favorite films) something I would have not noticed myself but found very wild once it was pointed out. The painting in Run Lola Run (left) reflects Madeleine looking at a painting of Carlotta in vertigo. (right)

Also from the painting in run Lola run, you can see a spiral in the hair, a common visual occurrence throughout the film (a reference to Fritz Langs M). Another thing that made me geek out a little was when the author of the reading talked about all of the other influences that went into this film, there is a framed Man Ray photo framed in Lola’s apartment, one of my personal artistic influences, a photographer and painter, its just so cool to hear that the influences expand as far as the futurists, so much went into this film which makes you appreciate it more.

the Man Ray photograph that is hanging in lolas apartment. I have seen this film before many times, its one of my favorite movies along with the other option for this previous weeks screening In The Mood For Love are so good so i had a ball watching it in class and then reading about it learning more than I thought id ever know (in a good way). The reading was super good as well, makes me want to read something like that after every filmi watch.

Which brings me to the next part of the blog, a reflection on this past semester. First, I love these classes and plan on taking more in the spring, I enjoyed this semester very much, probably more than last semester taking intro to film (and that class was fun too). I find film to be such an interesting medium, it is a combination of it all to just take you elsewhere for a little bit, to transport you into a different story, I have found that the things we learn, discuss, and watch in this class have influenced me in my artistic practice so much, they have helped me think more about my work in terms of narrative and mood and I appreciate that a lot. This class truly has helped me a lot. Watching the first silent films and getting to where we are now is just a crazy and amazing transition, thinking of all of the advancements (ideologically and technically) but also how they’re very similar in plot and other things. I watched many films I have not seen before which I continuously go back to like Casablanca (an Honestly amazing film that I hadn’t seen but adore ever since seeing it) Bonnie And Clyde and Pink Flamingos. I have found out so much new information, I watch movies a lot by myself and weirdly enough what I was watching on my own synced up with our classes and it was always fun when that happened, noticing the things I am learning about in class in the films I am watching. Overall I enjoyed this class and will truly miss it, I wish I could take it over again. I enjoyed writing about films as it made me understand them better. Thank you for a great semester full of great films and enthusiastic lectures, it is always fun watching a film and hearing everyone’s reactions. I look forward to exploring more movies and hopefully taking more film classes.

Running and Reflecting

This week’s screening was Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998), a German thriller, starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibrteu as Manni. The plot takes off when Lola recieves a call from her distressed boyfriend Manni, who needs to find a way to get 100,000 Deutsche Marks. Lola tells Manni to wait for her, and that she will come up with the 100,000 Deutsche Marks in the next twenty minutes. These twenty minutes are repeated three times, each with a different outcome.

It was my first time watching Run Lola Run, and I absolutely loved it. I really enjoyed the prominent themes of time and fate in the film—as well as chaos theory’s butterfly effect. I often think about how crazy it is that every single choice that I have made has lead me to a specific point in my life, no matter how insignificant the choice—or moment—is. Similar to how, in Run Lola Run, the story gets replayed three times, each time with a slight altering, which result in different outcomes.

I am a huge fan of techno music, so the soundtrack of Run Lola Run was a real treat for me. The techno soundtrack solidifies the elements of rhythm—Lola’s running to the beat—and repetition—the replaying of the story in sync with the repetition of the vocals of the music at the start of each sequence—in the film.

Tykwer makes use of bricolage throughout the film, a trip into the future of cinema. Bricolage refers to the creation of a work which uses mixed media—in this case a medley of live action and animation. As Kosta writes in his essay Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run and the Usual Suspects: The Avant-Garde, Popular Culture, and History, “The film’s visual playfulness and its copious allusions to game (roulette and video games) and risk taking emphasize a wild and reckless pleasure in experimenting with cinema’s recently discovered possibilities.” Tykwer’s use of bricolage gives the film the contemporary air that was booming in New German cinema.

Despite being contemporary and experimental, Run Lola Run is drenched in references to its cinematic ancestors. The use of spiral movements in the films references Fritz Lang’s M, and the painting of a woman’s head in the casino is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

The film breaks boundaries—it plays with time and fate—and with the addition of the animations, a fantasy is created and everything and anything becomes possible. The illusion that anything is possible is further fortified by the setting of the film—scattered locations over Berlin with no real spatial unity.

Frank Potente did a phenomenal job at captivating an audience in her role as Lola, as well as being the embodiment of new Germany. Tykwer writes, “I imagined a woman with red hair and her hair had to blow and she had to project desperation and passion.” Potente did just that. Lola is the new Germany—she is determined and powerful; he is aggressive and she is tenacious.

I could not agree more with Kosta’s description of the ending of the movie in Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run and the Usual Suspects: The Avant-Garde, Popular Culture, and History. Kosta describes the ending of the movie as, “A self-conscious reenactment of a Hollywood convention.” I must admit, as much as I loved this film, I was left longing for a series of photographs giving insight into Lola and Manni’s life with the extra 100,000 Marks—much like the photographic sequences which followed minor characters throughout the film.

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I really enjoyed this course. In these contemporary times, movies are one of the most prominent entertainment industries. While I have always known that I am particularly drawn to cinema, this film course has opened me up to things I previously had no perceptions of.

Before taking this course, I had never truly enjoyed a film produced before 1950–perhaps with the exception of William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights (1939). This course made me realize the value that knowing about films of the past can bring to my perception on more contemporary cinema, such as the references of classics which appear throughout films.

I can proudly say that, because of this course, my friends have grown sick of me gushing over the screenings. In all honesty, I really looked forward to the Wednesday night screenings as a specific time during an otherwise chaotic week to indulge in, and enjoy cinema.

This was my first ever film course, and it opened my eyes to the world of cinema. The lectures and the readings taught me about the birth of the motion picture, Germany and the Weimer Era, the Hollywood studio system, the Hollywood Production Code, Hollywood in the ‘40s, Italian Neorealism and the Exploitation era. As well as the French New wave, the Midnight Movie phenomenon, the birth of the blockbuster, Cinema du look, and New German Cinema.

What really made this course special for me, however, was watching the screenings with insight on the film movements and cinematic techniques. If you asked me what my favorite screening was, I would not be able to tell you. I thoroughly enjoyed most of them, but the films that stood out to me the most, were Bonnie and Clyde, The Fly, and Diva. I would also like to mention that watching films and knowing little random facts and quirks about the production, or having specific things to look for in a film, makes the viewing so much more enjoyable.

This course gave me an appreciation and much more thorough understanding of films that I grew up watching because of my parents, notably films from the French New Wave. The highlight of this semester was learning about French cinematic movements—namely the French New Wave and Cinema du Look. I found myself captivated by the lectures, readings, and screenings that gave me insight into an era of film which my parents grew up on.

If we’re being completely honest, and I know that this is no secret to Dr. Schlegel, these Friday night deadlines—including this one—loomed over my head every week and were the very bane of my existence this semester (a slight exaggeration, yes). I am, however, very happy that these blogposts gave me a platform where I could gush about films, and further my knowledge about film movements that I find fascinating.

All-in-all, I look forward to taking much more film courses throughout my studies, and learning more about the different aspects of film. Thank you Dr. Schlegel, and thank you classmates.

Mega Blog

This week in class, we watched a few films. The screening we had for this week was Run Lola Run. Run Lola Run is a 1998 German thriller film. It was written and directed by Tom Tykwer. The budget was $1.75 million and box office was $22.9 million.This film was about a woman who needs to find 100,000 Deutsche Mark in  twenty minutes to save her boyfriend’s life. Run Lola Run was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion. It was nominated as Best film at the Seattle International Film Festival and seven awards at the German Film Awards. Run Lola Run was also selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, even though it was not nominated.

The movie starts off with a call made by Lola’s boyfriend, Manny. He was responsible for delivering 100,000 Deutsche Mark. While Manni was on the subway to drop off the bag with money, he panicked when he saw the ticket inspectors and left the money bag on the train while he got off. The last thing he saw was a homeless man examining the money bag as the train departed. Manni told Lola that he will be killed if he doesn’t get that money in twenty minutes and he was talking about robbing a nearby supermarket to secure the funds. Lola told Manni to wait for her. She will find a way to get the money to him within 20 minutes. Lola hangs up the phone and ran all the way to her bank manager father for help. When she gets to the bank, she interrupted a conversation her father was having with his mistress, who informs him that she is pregnant. Her father kicked her out and told her she wasn’t his daughter and he did not help her.  Lola ran to meet Manni, and it was too late. She saw him enter the supermarket with a gun. She helped him rob the market. After leaving the supermarket, they got caught by the cops, Manni throws the money bag in the air, which startles a police officer who shoots Lola in the chest.

I thought the movie ended at that point, but then they showed a flashback and then the events of the film restarted from the moment Lola leaves her house. This time it had a different turn out. Manni had gotten ran over by a speeding ambulance. The film restarted one more time. This time, Lola wanders into a casino where she acquires a 100-mark chip she successfully bets on a game of roulette. She bets all of her earnings on the same number and wins the game, getting well over 100,000 marks. Manni then spots the homeless man passing with the money bag, and was able to retrieve it. Lola arrives on time and witnesses Manni handing over the money. Manni joins Lola, and asks her what is in the bag. I was happy that he film had a happy ending.

Also for the reading this week in the World Cinema book,  Chapter 22 speaks on New German Cinema. The New German Cinema is a collective term used to describe a group of young film-makers who, under the leadership of Alexander Kluge, signed the Oberhausen Manifesto in 1962. In the manifesto they declared that the conventional German film industry was dead, and that a new German film was about to be born. The decline of the old film industry was in part brought about by the rapid rise of television during the 1960’s in West Germany and the loss of film distribution in Germany to American companies during the 1950s. With the loss of audiences to television and American films, the hope of the young filmmakers was to set out to emulate the French New Wave directors and find new methods of financing, producing and exhibiting their films.

I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this class. It’s a bittersweet moment that this has came to an end. I have learned a lot from this course. I do not watch old films on a regular. The only film that I knew that we watched was Bonnie and Clyde. I’ve heard  people talking about this a lot and one day I decided to watch it on my own. I wanted to see for myself what this was about. It tells a story about a couple who was down for each other since the day that they met. Even though Clyde was a criminal, Bonnie followed him and turned into one. They did everything together after they met. Down to the day that they died together. I loved this movie because this is the kind of relationship that I would like to be in, excluding the criminal activities. I also love that we have screenings every Wednesday. This gave us a chance to see the kinds of things regarding film industry has been doing.  We started watching films from the 1920s , such as A Trip To The Moon to Sunrise. Then to the 1930s where we watched Grand Hotel. When we got to the 1970s, we watched a movie called, The Poseidon Adventure. That was also another good film that I enjoyed. The class had took a vote on that one. The professor told us to choose the film that we haven’t yet watched. I wanted to vote for Jaws because I have seen it and I love Shark movies but I said The Poseidon Adventure. We picked a good choice because we all loved it at the end. Even though there were events that happened that we did not want to happen. We went through all the 90s up to the 21st century, which we will get to next week.  

I am happy that I had the chance to take this class. It has opened my eyes to watched things that I’m not really used to watching. I am more caught up with current movies that are showing. I see the previews on television ahead of time and I would think to myself, “I want to see that.”

Lola & the History of Film

This week’s screening of Run Lola Run, a Tom Tykwer film from 1998, was my favorite of the whole semester. As a matter of fact, right after class ended on the night we watched it, I went online and ordered a copy in my mom’s name, because that’s how much I want her to watch it, and because that’s how confident I am the she will say “I have to own this movie” immediately after seeing it. She absolutely loves movies like Mr. Nobody and The Butterfly Effect, so this film is sure to engage her mind, as well as anyone else in the room who’s paying attention.
The film is all about the illusion of free will and how every move we make effects the path we choose. Even the smallest little things are enough to distract us, or maybe point us further towards our goal, but we would never know unless we were able to see all of the different possible outcomes, like we can with Lola. The film also delves deep into the seeming relationship between chance and purposeful action when Lola is able to overcome almost every obstacle in her way due to the driving force of love for her boyfriend Manni.

Manni, needing one hundred thousand German marks in twenty minutes to pay off a mob debt, is in the worst situation imaginable, and without Lola’s intuition for weighing out her options, Manni would be dead in all realities instead of just the one. The film obviously places a particular focus on time and how it is either spent or wasted, but the imagery of clocks throughout the film does a fantastic job of keeping the audience on the edge of their seat as they try to connect the dots between different timelines.
Run Lola Run is representative of a new type of Germany, one that wishes to re-brand itself and find new ways of expressing it’s values. Barbara Kosta said in her article Run Lola Run and the Usual Suspects: The Avant-Garde, Popular Culture, and History that Tykwer’s film had a different aura to it. She raised the point that it seemed like a German art film made with all the “pizzazz” that you would find in a Hollywood production. The movie is full of fast cuts, fun cinematography tricks, and a story structure that locks in attention and doesn’t give you time for questions. In this article, Kosta quotes an interview with Tykwer in which he says “I did not want one moment in the film that was motivated by dramaturgy, but rather directness and spontaneity”, and I strongly agree that he has achieved this goal. The plot is actually not a huge part of the film, and only serves as an outline to explain why the characters are doing what they are doing and why we as an audience should care. By giving context to the characters actions, it makes the audience more likely to empathize with a character, and ultimately feel some sort of emotion when something happens to that character within the story.

Widening the focus and expanding upon that concept, that is what has made the history of film such a long and rich one throughout the entirety of the twentieth century, and now continuing nineteen years into the twenty first century. As we wrap up this course and review how far we have come as an intelligent global society, it is impossible to not be amazed by the decades upon decades of continuous and ever-changing technological advancements.
Starting with the silent era of the twenties and before during week one, we learned that some of the best stories to ever be told were produced for the big screen in the very formative years of film-making. The best of the best were able to rely on the sheer physical talent of their actors, being that the introduction of sound had yet to weigh down the production crew, more effort went into the showmanship of gestures and physically demanding routines. We watched Sunrise that week, an F.W. Murnau classic, in which we focused more heavily on things like the mise-en-scene, the lighting techniques, and the personalities of the characters.

Later in the semester, we moved on to talk about the “Golden Age of Hollywood”, from the twenties to the sixties, when studio systems dominated all means of production and distribution. We were taught about the big five vertically integrated studios, Fox, MGM, Paramount, RKO, and Warner Bros, and then about the three smaller studios in the minor leagues, Universal, Columbia, and United Artists. This is another example of a time when artistic boundaries were constantly being pushed and cinematic culture on a global scale was forced to evolve.
Subsequent to the golden age of Hollywood, was the aptly named “Post-studio era” which falls into place during the sixties and effectively morphed Hollywood into the monster it is today. The fresh atmosphere of film-making had enough magnitude to be dubbed “The American New Wave” and ostensibly provided the world of cinema with a transformation it had not seen since the decade of its birth. At this point in recent American history, we had seen Vietnam, two world wars, and a lifetime of progress for the civil rights movement. I don’t doubt for a second that one of the best ways to voice our angst as well as praise was through a medium like theater.

Before we know it, the seventies film culture of midnight movies and exploitation films have the entire nation in their pockets. Movies like Jaws, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Superman gave audiences everywhere exactly what they craved, escapism.

Cult films grabbed people’s attention with taboo subject matter and characters that challenged societal norm, spectacle driven films packed movie theaters night after night with action you couldn’t get anywhere else, and best of all, foreign markets were in full swing for all the scholarly film-addicts not satisfied with their own countries output.
Overall, I can say that after taking this class, my perception of movies has forever been changed. I have learned to appreciate every shot I see for the time that went into it, the themes that were made present, and the vision sought out by the director.

Run to Cinema!

This week marks our last and largest blog. To me, it is really bitter sweet. If I am being honest, this weeks’ screening was one of my favorites. The reading on “Run Lola Run” really cemented the movie for me and gave me a deeper understanding of this film. Many critics point to Franka’s “mythic charisma” as magnetic quality that is very much the reason for the film’s success. I agree with this; however, I also agree with the critics that look at the films “Germanness” applauding its use of time and chance and their philosophical implementations. I think that the use of chance and a “re-do” really makes this whole movie become dream-like in the sense that everyone has moments that they wish to go back and do differently.

My favorite part of the “re-do” is the way they captured it. It feels much more like art in motion than just a blunt selfish series of events. Lola tried to do the most efficient thing to save Manni each time she was granted the chance to do so. When Barbara Kosta begins her summary of the film, I was drawn to her observations of the heavy presence of clocks, and the filmmaker’s embrace of the “pop” culture that as she wrote “was the key to the present.” I failed to key on to the rebellious elements in this film, though as Ms. Kosta points out, “Lola’s” scream was very “non-conformist” and in fact, rebellious.

The editing throughout this film caught my attention immediately, but I couldn’t have put it any better once again than Barbara, as she writes “the fast pace editing coupled with Lola’s resiliency” created a new identity for the “post-wall” Germany.

One element to this film that I looked back on as amusing is the fact that Lola’s moped was stolen. I kept thinking that the outcome for many of these events would have been totally different, had she still had her moped. Although I think this portion of the story would have changed everything, I don’t believe that it would have been for the best. The whole theme running through this piece of cinema is Lola’s undying determination.

Lola never ran any slower (even though a lot of the clips were duplicated). She always pushed herself to the limit in her attempts to gather the 100,000 marks and save Manni’s life. Her actions were always as motivated as the first time she got the call from Manni telling her that he needed her and the money by noon, or he would be killed.

The funniest part of this entire film in my opinion was when Lola decided to rob the bank that her father worked for (well step father). When she finally exits the bank with all 100,000 marks in a garbage bag, she is greeted by what seems to be the entire city’s police force. At first, I thought “well she’s done for”, but when they all said, “get out of the way, you don’t want to get killed do you?” I lost it in my seat. The police officers had their robber in their sights, and they willingly helped her escape.

My thoughts on this class over the last semester are primarily gratitude. If my advisor hadn’t given this course to me as an option to fill my last required elective, I don’t think that I would have ever taken it. to be frank, this course has changed the way I will look at cinema in any context, forever. We have covered so many eras in film history, and that has made it so easy to fall in love with each and every decade. Knowing that we’d only be able to study each one for one week really made me delve into each era as we came upon it, and really try to digest what caused it, the people that were involved, and what would come out of it.

The week we covered American International Pictures was my favorite. The exploitation era in my opinion brought us some of the most memorable films and titles that will certainly withstand the test of time.

The way that the Paramount decision opened a door for AIP and many other small studios to put out movies that the big 5 had been blocking for years. For the first time in history, small studios became a big deal, and were able to grab their share of Hollywood.

The most influential person I encountered during this class was hands down, Roger Corman. When Professor Schlegel first talked about Roger, I knew he would become a figure that I looked forward to learning about. I could not have been more right in looking forward to our continuing interaction with him and his films. I was astonished at the work that Corman was able to produce with the budget he worked with, and the cooperation of all the moving parts that come with making a movie.

Another trait of Corman’s that I was especially impressed with was the impact that he had on people. Nearly everyone who worked under Corman and was Corman trained, rose to the top of whatever field they decided to enter after their time with Corman came to an end.

One of my favorite things in this class, was the presentation that we all gave in groups of four. Being able to choose a movie and present its contents to the class was really fun, and something I’ll remember for a long time. We all were able to dissect our films with the knowledge we had acquired from the weeks prior. I have always appreciated “Pit and the Pendulum,” but during the process of researching and re-watching the movie, I grew to understand elements of it that I had simply missed before.

With the completion of this class, I know that without a doubt that every movie I go to see from hence forward, I possess more knowledge, and frankly power. I now have the power and knowledge to look at films through so many lenses that I had not been privy to before. I fully appreciate this opportunity, and the knowledge that has been bestowed upon me.

Run Lola Run and The Best of the History of Film

This week we focused on New German Cinema, lasting from the late 1960’s into the 1980’s. Beginning with the Oberhausen manifesto in 1962 when 26 young filmmakers got together and stated they were tired of “papa’s cinema”. It was a call to arms to establish a “new german feature film”. Common themes in this movement were criticizing the bourgeoisie, attempting to reconcile a brutal past, marginalized groups, alienated youth, the limits of a liberal democracy, and journalistic integrity. Many, if not all, of these themes are still relevant today, more than 50 years after the signing of the Oberhausen manifesto. Three very popular genres in Germany in the 1950’s and 1960’s were krimis, sauerkraut westerns, and the sex comedy. The first krimi of this era, produced by Preben Philipsen, was  Der Frosch mit der Maske which was based on The Fellowship of the Frog. this film was very successful and began a trend of crime films known generally as the krimi, an abbreviation for the German term “Kriminalfilm” or “Kriminalroman”. Some examples of a krimi are: The Terrible People (1960), An Alibi for Death (1963), and Angels of Terror (1971). Sauerkraut westerns were basically movies with a low budget about the old west that were filmed, produced, and created by germans. These types of films made Germany relevant in this period of filmmaking. Some key directors of this era were Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Wim Wenders. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), and Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) are some key films from this era. Rainer Werner Fassbinder influenced Richard Linklater and Quentin Tarantino. Richard Linklater was involved in movies such as Boyhood (2014), and Dazed and Confused (1993). Quentin Tarantino directed some very famous movies such as Pulp Fiction (1994) and, my personal favorites of his, the Kill Bill duo (2003 and 2004).

This weeks screening of Run Lola Run was very intriguing. The reading said that there is something for everyone: romantics, rave enthusiasts, chaos theorists, adrenaline freaks, film critics, and scholars. I definitely have a wide variety of  interests and this movie certainly kept me engaged the whole time. This film is definitely meant to be not only for Germany, but also for international consumption. I was honestly quite confused when Lola got shot in the first round of trying to save Manni. I really loved the slight differences that occurred each time to produce a different outcome until Lola finally got it right. The fast pace of the editing was definitely a representation of the fast pace of the new Berlin. Lola represents not only visual pleasure and fantasy but she is athletic, powerful and determined. Lola’s greatest strength in the film is her determination. She is able to will away death (Manni’s and her own) and she managed to get the money needed to save Manni each time. One very interesting thing the reading brought up was the gender roles in the film. Manni is in the same spot for basically the whole movie, infantilizing him and making him basically helpless throughout the entire film. Lola is running around and trying to get the money to  save Manni the whole time while he is stuck in the phone booth, switching the gender roles.

This course has covered everything from the invention of the moving picture with Thomas Edison and the Lumiere bros. all the way to the 1990’s with Run Lola Run. I really loved learning about Charlie Chaplin. I really wish we would have watched more of the 1992 movie about him. I definitely related to him in the way that he took his pain and suffering and turned it into something funny and accessible.

The first full length film we watched in class was Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927). This film really stuck with me because of the plot twists and sweet moments in it. The whole time, I thought the man was going to kill his wife and run away with the woman. I absolutely loved when he decides not to kill her and takes her on a nice day in the city.

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was a surprisingly relatable film. I completely agree with the fact that this film was deemed the “crown jewel of universal”. I was truly touched when the monster made friends with the old blind man in the forest. I was however disappointed that you don’t really meet the bride until the very end of the movie.

In my opinion, Grand Hotel (1932) was the epitome of 1930’s glamor. Both Joan Crawford and Gretta Garbo were fabulous and gorgeous throughout the entire film, although i do agree with professor Schlegel that Gretta Garbo completely stole the show. I also feel that this film definitely romanticised Berlin for me. The overall vibe of this film was elegant and, as stated in the title, grand.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) was an eye opening viewing for me. This film is an honest look at what soldiers deal with when returning from war. Although the whole class didn’t have to watch this film, I think everyone definitely should. Granted this movie is about soldiers returning home from war, I think there is something that everyone can relate to in this film. Whether it’s being afraid someone won’t love you for your flaws, or being anxious to return home after a long time, there’s something just about everyone can relate to.

By far one of my favorite things we covered in this class is the phenomenon of cult and midnight movies. The major economic distress in the late 1960’s paired with a shift of taste in the american population brought midnight movies to the spotlight. Midnight movies started as late night showings of older movies such as Reefer Madness (1936), Freaks (1932), and Night of the Living Dead (1968). This evolved into movies such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), El Topo (1970), and Pink Flamingos (1972). A large part of these midnight and cult movies was participatory culture. The best example of this participatory culture is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. There was a call and response when seeing this movie in theaters that resembled a church setting, hence the term cult. I think this is why I love cult movies, specifically The Rocky Horror Picture Show, there is a sense of belonging, even in a theater of complete strangers. Having been in a production of Rocky horror, it really is a bonding experience with cast members and the audience.

Overall, I absolutely loved this class and all of the material covered in it. This class exposed me to things i probably would have never sought out on my own.