In May 1975, George Lucas founded Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a motion picture visual effects company. ILM was originally created when Lucas wanted to include special effects in his film Star Wars (1977) which had not yet been used in film. ILM started up in a warehouse in Van Nuys, California, where a collective of college students, artists and engineers came together to start a team which revolutionized film, and moulded it into what we know it as today.
Lucas made ILM’s services available to production companies all over, and this greatly benefited the film industry. In fact, Jar Jar Binks was the first CGI generated character in the history of film to fully interact with other characters played by live actors. ILM went on to work on major projects, such as Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981), Dragonslayer (1981), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and more recently, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Bird Box (2018).
Next, we learnt about the French cinema movement, Cinema du Look. Cinema du Look was prominent in the ‘80s. The directors who were prominent during the Cinema du Look movement—Luc Besson, Jean-Jaques Beineix and Leos Carax—were said to focus more on style, as opposed to substance. What this movement gets criticized for in hard-to-follow, or two-dimensional plots, it makes up for in gorgeous visual style.
On Wednesday, we watched the movie that launched the Cinema du Look movement—Diva (1981). Diva follows the story of a young postman, Jules, with a passion for classical music, and an obsession for opera singer Cynthia Hawkins. Jules soon finds himself in the midst of a messy police investigation revolving around drug trafficking and prostitution. With the help of his new found friends—a mysterious man named Serge and his muse Alba—he evades the impending doom that follows him throughout the movie. The film is thrilling, it is romantic, and it is beautiful in both cinematography, and musical score.
I think that the plot of the story got lost in the translation of captions. At the end of the screening, a few people mentioned that the plot was difficult to follow, but taking it in in French, I was immediately pulled into the story. I think it flowed seamlessly.
Diva is a feast to the eyes. I had goosebumps throughout the screening—the shots were gorgeous, the colors were electric, and the overall aesthetic was to die for. The film was drenched in french class and groove. The musical score was heartbreakingly beautiful, it’s not hard to see why it’s such a cult score.
I really enjoyed learning about Cinema de Look this week, it’s definitely my favorite content we’ve covered in class so far. Diva conquered my heart, and has definitely made it onto my favorites list. I look forward to watching many more films from the Cinema du Look era in the future.
History of the Motion Picture 
I found it crazy that Jar Jar is so important to the film world and as a character he is so hated. I would never have thought of Jar Jar as a stepping stone for the film world. I always saw him as a poor excuse for comic relief. I mean I do enjoy some of his lines and have chuckled, but he can be annoying. I guess we all need to try something out as a stepping stone before we advance into bigger and better thing.
After seeing the accomplishments of George Lucas and his film career, I never even thought about what got him to all the effects in his movies. To go out and make a company that does all the effect, is just a great move. Also, the fact that Lucas is ready and willing to help other directors with their films is sweet. He easily could have kept it for himself and his studio, but he was above that and helped other directors.
I have to say, that the language barrier in this class has been the largest issue for me to enjoy films. I feel like I spend more time trying to read the subtitles and I end up missing the plot or what’s happening on the screen. I felt it with Wild Strawberries and now with Diva.
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I’m so incredibly jealous that French is a primary language for you, as watching a movie in it’s native language is almost always the best way to experience film. I was blown away by the visuals of Diva and loved how strong the overall direction for cinematography went. It really got what makes a film stylish and stuck to it. Things can be difficult to understand in a foreign film, and I’m glad that not only did I not really need to understand the plot, it was almost encouraged to forget about it and be transported by the film.
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