The film Before Sunset (2004) dwells upon a story of two people who meet after a long parting in one of the most romantic cities of the world. The movie is about love and it is but natural that it is set in Paris. Notably, a variety of films reveal the romantic facet of the French capital and Richard Linklater’s film also highlights some of the most romantic parts of Paris.
Some people may say that the city is an ordinary urban settlement which is no different from the rest of the cities in the world, but such film as Before Sunset proves that there is something special about the very planning of the city. The two people are trying to figure out whether they can be together and their dialogue is hardly interrupted by other people.
The people in love are in the heart of the urban city but they are still in their own intimate shell as Paris suggests such intimate venues as narrow streets, cozy cafes, picturesque parks and boats which help people enjoy the intriguing views of Paris.
One of the most remarkable features of Paris is that it has so many narrow streets which create a really special intimate atmosphere. Thus, the two people need privacy as they want to spend time together. It could be really difficult in the majority of urban areas of the world, but Paris is a special place. There have been many attempts to zone the city to adjust it to the changing needs of the changing society (Gordon 19).
However, the narrow streets are still there and they form a really amazing network. This specific planning can be regarded as a certain heritage of the Middle Ages when European civilized urban areas were much alike (Macionis & Parrillo 232). However, Parisians decided to keep this aspect of their medieval civilized past, but transformed it into a bit different concept.
The tiny streets of the medieval city which are associated with poverty and insanitary conditions are now symbols of intimacy. The main characters are strolling about the streets and discussing quite intimate things and it is impossible to be dishonest and Jesse unveils his trip to Vienne (Before Sunset).
The two people are also getting closer as if the tiny streets make them bend to each other and they feel they are as close as they were in Vienne.
Another stage of the couple’s meeting takes place in a cozy Parisian café where the conversation is getting even more intimate. There can be no surprise that the main characters choose this setting for their conversation as they want to learn more about each other’s life.
They avoid crowded and noisy places like shops to be able to talk (Before Sunset). Admittedly, small cafes are famous for their special romantic atmosphere where people can reveal their secrets and their true feelings. The French capital is full of such tiny cafes where couples in love spend their time.
Zukin stresses that urban areas are cultural centers where theatres, concert halls, museums provide people with entertainment and other joys of civilization (132). Of course, cafes can be easily put in the same array as these places have often been venues for cultural development as the majority of artistic people have found their inspiration there.
Block notes that “cafes are the setting for passing connections between strangers” (8). This concept is also addressed in the film in question, but the connection between the main characters is proved to be strong and lasting.
Remarkably, the two people strive for talking and strolling and they choose an enjoyable root through the park. Being an urban city, in many cases, means that people are imprisoned in a concrete cell. Of course, major metros have solved this problem and created numerous recreational parks within their boundaries. Paris is no exception and the city has lots of really beautiful parks.
However, all Parisian parks are somewhat different. Of course, the abundance of a variety of tinges of green creates a marvelous setting. The parks are full of numerous places to sit and contemplate or talk. It is possible to state that every park is a picturesque projection of the Parisian narrow street.
Again, people are not closed in their shells and they are ready to share the most intimate emotions. Nature and urban characteristics tessellate into a majestic mosaic which encourages people to be romantic and sincere.
The main characters start talking about really intimate things while sitting in one of secluded places of the park (Before Sunset). This conversation proves that Paris is one of the most romantic urban places in the world.
Finally, the film also reveals another aspect of the city, i.e. splendid time on a boat creates really special atmosphere and helps people feel the very essence of the French capital. Though, Jesse is in a hurry, he does not want to lose an opportunity to enjoy the views while exploring Seine’s banks (Before Sunset).
These moments are somewhat poisoned by the necessity to think about the plane and the new parting. However, they soon forget about everything and just keep sharing their most intimate secrets and emotions. Again, though the boat is a public place and there are other people, the main characters have certain intimacy.
Remarkably, Seine is associated with romance and Parisians as well as numerous tourists leave their traces there. The bridges across the Seine have become a place for making promises of the eternal love as people adjust ‘love locks’ to the bridges (Agence France Presse n.p.). Clearly, the city’s layout helps people remain romantic and bring meaning to seemingly simple things and places.
On balance, it is possible to state that Paris is one of the most remarkable capitals as it is saturated with romance and sincerity. Narrow streets, cozy cafes, numerous parks and the main river of the city are parts of the whole picture. The layout of the city is very specific as it is an urban city which is sometimes overcrowded. Nonetheless, it also offers a variety of places to hide and share the deepest emotions.
Paris is certain evidence that impossible is manageable and urban areas can have plenty of places for privacy. The film in question reveals this facet of the French capital and the story of the two people becomes a symbol of the most characteristic features of the city.
The filmmakers managed to reveal a part of the city planning with a focus on romance and privacy. Therefore, it is clear that urban areas are not necessarily crowded concrete cells for millions, but they can have numerous places for joys of life and love.
Works Cited
Agence France Presse. “Love Locks in Paris Beat All, Even City Hall.” Arab News 16 August 2012. Web.
Before Sunset. Ex. Prod. Richard Linklater. Burbank, CA.: Warner Independent Pictures. 2004. DVD.
Block, Marcelline. World Film Locations: Paris. Chicago, IL: Intellect Books, 2011. Print.
Gordon, David L. Planning 20th Century Capital Cities. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Macionis, John J. and Vincent N. Parrillo. Cities and Urban Life. New York, NY: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
Zukin, Sharon. “Whose Culture? Whose City?” The City Reader. Ed. R.T. LeGates and F. Stout. London: Routledge, 1995. 131-142. Print.
“Woyzeck” is a beautiful ensemble of genius writing, a talented cast, and a perfectly manicured stage. This play is reminiscent of a Greek tragedy in its purest form. The main character in the play succumbs to the jaws of poverty and the burden placed upon him by the society.
The social issues covered by the play still resonate with most of its audience even though the play is almost two centuries old. This fact of life was recently brought to life at the Shotgun Players in Berkeley. The performances by a majority of the cast under the directions of a veteran director were particularly riveting.
The actor in charge of reliving the trials and tribulations of Woyzeck does not disappoint. Alex Crowther presents to the audience a gentle, handsome, and innocent looking main character. His performance helps illuminate the rest of the players. The rest of the outrageous characters represent the vices that plague this society.
Crowther’s Woyzeck makes the gap between the social classes more pronounced. This is because the main character is able to present to the audience the “model human being”. Crowther works with the tempo of the play until its climax when blood flows at the stage.
Woyzeck’s main antagonist is his captain, played by Anthony Nemirovsky. The comical captain was well represented in the stage. His ridiculous demands act as regulators of the temperature in the stage. The audience can count on him to raise the temperature when the stage is about to go cold. In this same way, he was able to diffuse any stage tension with ease and even adjust the mood at the stage when it was necessary.
The actor was able to maintain his authoritative stance and still manage to connect with his audience on a comical level. The blend of his traits is somehow difficult to deliver but the captain still manages to achieve an above average performance. His character is originally meant to be shifty. This portrayal is usually a challenge even for seasoned actors.
For instance, his character is supposed to act as a Woyzeck’s sympathizer. At the same time, he is supposed to periodically torture and belittle him whenever he gets the chance. During such shifts in performance, there were disconnects that were noticeable to the audience.
Kevin Clark plays the role of the doctor who performs unimaginable experiments on Woyzeck. Clark brings this bizarre character to the stage with recognizable success. The playwright most likely created this character with the sole intention of highlighting Woyzeck’s life situation. This is why the interaction between him and Woyzeck is important.
This is because the interaction is one of the tools that bring out the central themes of misery and tragedy. Misery is indeed “the river of the world”. This character acts as a source of this misery. Woyzeck has no choice but to drink from this river. The interaction between these two is a source of amazement for the audience. The theatre becomes grave silent when their scene comes up. The audience members do not want to miss this unbelievable exchange.
The relationship between Marie and Woyzeck is presented to the stage in a very realistic way. This is made possible by the artistic prowess of the two performers. Neither of them engages the other in a direct or intimate manner. For instance, the two actors avoid engaging each other in a direct manner whenever they are on the stage.
They instead chose to highlight the rift between them, a concept that is effectively passed on to the audience. To achieve this, Crowther is always casting his eyes into the unknown beyond. This distance and neglect eventually leads to infidelity on Marie’s part.
The music that graced the show featured genres such as ballads and hard rock. In between scenes, the director chose to experiment with disturbing music choices such as circus music. However, the music might have been necessary to compliment the beautiful singing of Waits and Brennan. “All the World is Green” is sung with the sole purpose of illuminating the man Woyzeck used to be.
The narrator manages to blend in with the rest of the singing and with beautiful results. Her voice becomes like an instrument amidst all that beautiful singing. The set design manages to highlight the theme of oppression in a very vivid manner. The diagonal designs make the Woyzeck’s family home seem tiny and squeezed. The audience cannot help but feel sorry for this hardworking man and his family.
The professional ability of both the cast and director of “Woyzeck” is evident throughout the play. The director achieved a great deal of clarity when telling this Georg Buchner’s classic. The ensemble of the play is particularly unforgettable. The two singers are timely in their delivery and it is likely that “Woyzeck” is their best work.
The music is laced with beautiful melodies, catchy lyrics, and it possesses honest emotions. The overall performance in this play is quite splendid. Nothing that is involved in this production falls short of the acceptable standards. When the curtain falls on this haunting narrative, no hint of disappointment can be heard.
Whenever someone sits down to watch a play that has such a controversial title, one does so expecting anything. The performances in “The Mother Fxxker with the Hat” live up to this expectation. The play is mostly a high-octane shouting match that has the actors’ foaming mouths showering the front row audience with spit.
The shouting matches aside, the comedy rich play is still a beautiful ensemble of talent. The title of the play should not lead anyone into thinking that the performance in this play is reckless.
“The Mother Fxxker with the Hat” was scripted by Stephen Adly Guirgis and it is now showing at the San Francisco Playhouse. The staging at Playhouse marks the West coast’s premiere of Guirgis’ play. The play premiered on Broadway in 2011 featuring a star-studded cast. The production is done under the direction of Bill English.
In the production’s program, the director notes that Guirgis’ characters are always meant to be on the path of discovering their spirituality. English makes references to actors in another of Guirgis’ production known as “Judas Iscariot”. In this latest production, the supposedly spiritual characters are struggling addicts who are embroiled in a fusion of jealousy, love, and addiction.
The performances in this play are supposed to be comical all through save for some moments near the end of the play. The cast of this play is magnificent to say the least. The actors bring out Guirgis’ comedy with starling prowess.
The main character is Jackie a former drug dealer who is being released from prison after a two-year sentence. Gabriel Marin presents a very likeable Jackie who is determined to finish his parole without incident. To accomplish this, Jackie joins a twelve-step rehabilitation program.
Gabriel Marin is able to shift his performance from the calm Jackie we first meet to the out of control Jackie who suspects his girlfriend of cheating. The shifts in his emotions are seamless and he is able to carry his audience through a journey of emotions, anger, and raw comedy. As the performer who has to interact with most of the other characters, the success of other performers depends a lot on his performance.
In this play, Marin the main performer is taking a comically charged and adventurous journey. He is on a quest to look for the “mother fxxker” left a hat at his girlfriend’s house after a probable illicit liaison. The lovable Marin’s first lively performance is witnessed when he goes to see his addiction sponsor about this matter. When he gets to Ralph’s place, he discloses to him that Veronica has been having an affair behind his back.
Even though Veronica is still the one doing drugs, her overall composure seems better than that of both Jackie and Ralph. Marin and Lumbly’s performances are top notch as far as their explosiveness is concerned. Jackie is going to seek his sponsor’s help because he suspects that a shock like this is enough to make him relapse. However, when Jackie gets to Ralph’s place, Lumbly delivers a very mixed performance.
On one side, he presents the audience with a caring sponsor who has his life in order. On the other hand, he is still able to communicate his innermost struggles to the audience. When this play premiered, Ralph’s role was assigned to Chris Rock, a very seasoned actor. This initial casting might have been by chance or by design. However, it is clear that this role is very important to the play. Ralph is by all means the epicenter of all the themes in this play.
For instance, through Lumbly’s Ralph the audience is able to grasp the two-sided nature of addiction. Ralph exemplifies those people that do not get into drugs because of their under achievement. His performance also shows that addiction is mostly as a result of inner struggles as opposed to outer struggles. Through this scene, it is also clear that although both Lumbly and Jackie are on the right path, their battle is far from over.
Carl Lumbly’s Ralph is one of the people who interacts with Jackie the most. As Marin’s sponsor, Lumbly has to tune his performance with that of Marin. Ralph’s character is akin to the play’s success. When the play premiered, Chris Rock took up this role and it has remained popular since then.
The expletive-filled conversations between Jackie and Ralph are supposed to be both emotional and comically vulgar. The actors portraying these emotions try their best to maintain this balance but eventually their performances end up being more vulgar than comical.
The supporting cast in this play does a good job that warrants a nod of approval from the audience. In most productions, the performances of the supporting cast are easily overshadowed by those of the main players. “The Mother Fxxker with the Hat” features a supporting cast that bears striking resemblances with the main cast. Julio is the only supporting actor whose performance stands out.
One of the supporting performers in this production is Isabella Ortega who assumes the role of Veronica, Jackie’s long time girlfriend. Veronica and Jackie have been on a journey of love since the eighth grade. When Jackie is arrested for selling drugs from their New York apartment, Veronica waits for him to serve his two-year sentence. Ortega’s performance is good enough to confuse even those who are keen among the audience. She is able to exemplify a loyal and faithful girlfriend until the hat incident.
This is where she is able to deliver a confusing performance. Half of the audience believes her performance as a faithful girlfriend while the other half questions her faithfulness. Her foul-mouthing techniques are also hard to forget. The most notable performance by a supporting actor is by Ruddy Guerrero who plays Julio. He is able to deliver a macho performance and at the same time deliver the play’s funniest performance.
The scene with Jackie and Ralph seeking his help when they are hiding a gun is exceptionally funny. His performance is basically the “other type of performance” in this play. Margo Hall who plays Victoria, Ralph’s wife was billed as one of the most seasoned actors in the play. However, her performance did not have a lasting impression on me. It is mostly lukewarm and a bit too procedural.
The director of this play is blessed with a huge stage that can make any stage-designing dreams a reality. English does not let this advantage slip through his fingers. Instead, he makes use of the huge stage by putting together three different scenes. All three scenes are at different places. One is a bedroom, the other is a living room, and the third one is the scene of a balcony.
The stage is designed to depict New York in the most realistic way possible. The exterior brick-wall design on either side of the stage makes it feel like a real city. The difference between Ralph’s middle class apartment and Veronica’s colorful low-income house is emphasized by the stage’s design.
Although these two live in different worlds financially, they both have to deal with the demons of addiction. The placement of Julio’s apartment is meant to liken him to Jackie’s guardian angel. This is because Julio is always prepared to offer his help to Jackie.
“The Mother Fxxker with a Hat” is a play that focuses on the addiction theme. Guirgis meant to portray addiction as the unifying factor in this play. Jackie paints the picture of a lovable under achiever while Ralph is a diligent man who has accomplished a lot. Both men are judged differently from the outside but they still have to fight similar battles.
The playwright does not wish to engage the audience in an emotional roller coaster. Instead, he knows that after all the laughter dies down, deep thoughts will inadvertently take over. This play is like one of those movies that have you laughing at one moment, and then have you depressed the next.
This production is almost like a comedy marathon because its emotional bits are very few. During the entire show, the performers use gestures, loud voices, and physical expressions of emotions. The elegant nature of this stage makes this production seem elegant. The wideness of the stage and the height of the ceilings seem to be the only things protecting the audience from the type of language being exchanged at the stage.
English’s superb directing is mixed with accurate portrayals of Veronica’s highs, Victoria’s repressed anger, Jackie’s controlling nature, Ralph’s slyness, and Julio’s good nature to make this play a success.
The film “The Constant Gardener” explores the unethical practices of a company named “Big Pharma” in Kenya. The protagonist of the film eventually realizes that the drug corporation uses Kenya’s population to test the efficacy of its “questionable” drug. The name of the drug is “dypraxa”. The drug also has numerous side effects thus making it questionable.
The corporation also disregards the wellbeing of the people. Justin Quayle is killed while attempting to uncover the company’s unethical practices (Channing-Williams, 2005). Justin’s wife also died while trying to uncover the company’s “unethical drug tests”.
From a personal perspective, I strongly believe this kind of study could happen anywhere across the world. For instance, the Nigerian Government sued Pfizer Company for using an experimental drug that left many children disabled and others dead (Britton, 2007).
With such allegations, it becomes clear that these studies can happen in different countries and societies thus affecting the lives of the people.
The other important consideration is to have appropriate measures in order to prevent such practices from taking place. To begin with, governments in the developing world should work together with different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international agencies in order to monitor the practices of various companies.
As well, there should laws and regulations to govern the practices of different companies. “Companies and drug corporations should also adopt the best ethical standards in order to prevent such situations (Pozgar, 2010)”.
A healthcare study should be ethical in order to address the health needs of the population. This is the best way to ensure the people get the best care and reduce instances of death. However, it is acceptable that numerous unethical studies have taken place in different parts of the world.
A good example is that of Pfizer Company. The company used an “experimental antibiotic” for treating meningitis. However, it did so without addressing the ethical and health issues affecting the population. This resulted in “unacceptable” deaths (Britton, 2007). The practice resulted in a lawsuit whereby the Nigerian Government sued Pfizer Company for $7.0 billion over the drug tests.
Whenever such a situation occurs, “it is necessary for nurses to become advocates for ethical practices and healthcare (Sullivan, 2013)”. This is the case because there are “code of ethics” that require nurses to continue promoting the welfare of their patients. As well, different ethical theories such as “utilitarianism” support the practice in order to maximize human happiness.
Nurses and other caregivers should become advocates for quality practices and healthcare. In this kind of situation, nurses will report any unacceptable behavior thus promoting the welfare of the greatest majority (Sullivan, 2013).
The use of different ethical considerations can help nurses and caregivers promote the best healthcare practices. It is necessary to embrace the best practices because it is the only way to protect people’s lives.
It is agreeable that such practices continue to take place in different parts of the world today. The film “The Constant Gardener” explains the need for governments and international agencies to work together in order to prevent such practices from taking place especially in the developing world (Channing-Williams, 2005).
Such studies can be beneficial if conducted in an ethical manner. However, the same studies can be damaging especially when conducted in an unethical manner. Nurses, caregivers, and health practitioners should therefore be involved in these studies in order to prevent such situations from taking place.
Reference List
Britton, A. (2007). The Constant Gardener. The Changing Landscape of Development Education, 5(1), 1-3. Web.
Channing-Williams, S. (Executive Producer). (2005). The Constant Gardener [DVD]. London, United Kingdom: Focus Features.
Pozgar, G. D. (2010). Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Sullivan, E. J. (2013). Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.
In examining the painting “Planting Chrysanthemums” by Lu Zhi, it can be seen that it possesses stylistic elements found in the types of hanging scroll paintings during the Ming Dynasty. It is interesting to note that this particular painting was a gift to Lu Zhi’s friend Tao Yuanming (considered one of the greatest Chinese poets) who, at the time, had recently gone into seclusion/retirement when this painting was given.
The reason behind this, as indicated by historical accounts and his own poems, was his aversion towards his career in the military and the sordid politics of the Jin dynasty.
The painting was thus meant as a means of reinvigorating the mind of Yuanming by show casing a calming and ethereally peaceful scene. Lu Zhi’s “Planting Chrysanthemums” invokes a sense of openness through the depiction of a vast clam space in which the viewer observes a land devoid of conflict where peace and calmness reign.
Sense of Space
When examining the painting, one cannot help but see the disparity between the clustered trees, rocks and objects at the bottom to the huge expanse of open space on the top. I believe that this stylistic element was intentional on the part of the artist to enhance the feeling of openness and space within the work wherein the viewer cannot help but attempt to imagine what lies beyond the open expanse that has been showcased.
The result of such introspection is a feeling of insignificance wherein one things that the problems that they have experienced through their life is insignificant compared to the vastness of the world in front of them.
Delicateness of the Lines
In the case of “Planting Chrysanthemums” a heavier shading style on the lines of the painting is eschewed in favor of a lighter and more delicate appearance in the formation of the lines and the shading of the mountains and trees. As it can be seen, a considerable degree of detailing was done in the foreground (i.e. the rocks and trees) and fades as one looks up and to the clouds.
This is of course a recurring element in a large percentage of ancient and modern artwork that depicts vast landscapes, however, in the case of Planting Chrysanthemums” this helps to expand on the feeling of calm openness that the painter was attempting to accentuate. Another facet of the work that should be pointed out is the level of detail that went into trees and rocks.
Even though the painting is supposed to merely depict a landscape and such level of detail is not necessarily, the fact that it is there helps to accentuate the work as a whole by making it seem like a faded picture rather than a mere painting. It was likely the artist’s intent to make the painting seem as a realistic as possible to further enhance the sense of openness as the viewers eye’s shift from the detailed bottom to the open sky and mountains on top.
Shading and Coloring
The painting primarily uses tones of brown and green to help enhance the realism of the trees and mountains, however, these colors are applied in a very light and soft manner thereby creating a more surreal image which does not force its realism onto the viewer but rather transitions them into an appreciation of the quiet nature of the both the painting and the scene it is trying to depict.
The different levels of light tones and shading which grow considerably less pronounced as one views up the scroll is, I believe, an intentional aspect of this painting wherein the rubbed out and light shading effect was meant to depict some form of mist like setting in the foreground and background of the painting.
This helps to accentuate the ethereal quality of the work which many art scholars apparently relate to Lu Zhi’s interpretation of an ever distant utopia that is eternally peaceful.
Depiction of Land, River and Sky
Another facet of the painting that should be explored is the apparent transitory nature of land to river. In the very middle of the painting we can see what appears to be the home of Lu Zhi yet as you look up it seems to take on the characteristics of a river. In fact, from a top down perspective it even seems to be a river from the mountains flowing down.
This can actually be considered as an abstract concept being incorporated into an early Chinese work of art wherein the normal boundaries depicting a separation between land, river and sky is removed. I believe this is an intentional aspect of the work since based on the inscription of the author the home of his friend is near the sea.
As such, the seemingly combined nature of land, river and sky can be considered a subtle message saying that despite the distance between them they will always be connected.
Conclusion
” Lu Zhi’s “Planting Chrysanthemums” invokes a sense of openness through the depiction of a vast clam space in which the viewer observes a land devoid of conflict where peace and calmness reign. This, I believe, is one of the reasons why “Planting Chrysanthemums” is a more celebrated work of Chinese art from this time period as compared to other examples since its is both different, in the sense that it uses a lighter style of outlining and shading, but familiar due to the thematic elements seen within which were prevalent in the Ming Dynasty.
Interpretations rarely happen to be exciting, mostly because they render the source material that has already been well trodden by at least one author. The given rule, however, does not apply to Faust, seeing how the timeless classic story has become an inspiration for a number of amazing works of literature.
Speaking of the latter, Los Faustinos must be the least remembered of them, which is truly a shame, since the play offers a very interesting social commentary on the present-day political structure of most states. By using a unique methodology and incorporating the elements of a community-based theater, the author of the play managed to make the idea of the government assuming the role of Methesto, or Mephistopheles.
First and most obvious, Solano mixes the elements of two cultures in order to capture the specifics of the Los Angeles reality and trick the audience into paying attention: “Lucha constante y dolorosa./Pain and struggle burning through the night” (Solano, 1994, p. 2).
Although, much like the plot and the concept of the play, the given approach is not new, it works relatively well in the play, since it does not turn the atmosphere into something out of the ordinary and, therefore, does not shift the emphasis from the focus of the play, i.e., the social issues and the conflict between the authorities and the citizens.
Solano’s symbolism is also a strikingly simple yet very efficient method of conveying the key idea of the play. For example, the price that the Faustinos clan pays for the soul of each member is embarrassingly consumerist. Methesto buys the souls of the family members at quite a bargain by offering them a computer, a TV-set, etc.: “I’m going to give you this computer” (Solano, 1994, p. 28).
Another method used by Solano that can be defined as very efficient, though hardly subtle, is the use of the so called community theater, or community-based theater. Despite the fact that the given means of getting the message across makes it too on-the-nose, it still helps enhance the key concern to the point where the latter cannot be ignored anymore.
For example, the fact that Solano often mentions the threats of living in the Los Angeles community is worth bringing up as the basic means of persuasion: “It’s just that, no se, I get tired of being looked at funny because of where I live. Just saying the words East Los Angeles makes people think you’ve got a gun in your pocket” (Solano, 1994, p. 8).
While Solano often exaggerates in order to create the surreal, postmodern atmosphere in his play, he still succumbs to depicting the flaws of society as the laws of satire demand – and, much to his credit, he clearly succeeds in this task.
While the idea of basing a play on the interactions between a representative of the netherworld and a human being is not new and was, in fact, started way before Goethe came up with his Faust, updating the play and adding a touch of social topicality to it by making the government play the role of Mephistopheles is admittedly clever.
By using an entirely new method of getting his message across, i.e., reinventing Faust to represent the concerns of the modern society, Bernardo Solano has definitely creates something new and exciting. More to the point, Solano should be given credit for using the elements of a community-based theater in his work. An overall well-written play and a very smart concept, los Faustinos is definitely worth being given a check.
Reference
Solano, B. (1994). Los Faustinos (Juliette Carrillo, Ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Community Theater.
Art is constantly changing to accommodate the occurrences of the modern worlds. Even though art is often understood as an apolitical issue, the events of the 1960s compelled artists to take up political concerns in their works.1
Source 1: Art and communism in Romania
Preda, C 2012, ‘Art and politics in post-communist Romania: changes and continuities’, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, vol. 42 no. 1, pp. 116–127.
In this article, Preda posits that the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union was not the end of communism in Europe.2 Artists and their works of art expressed their support or condemnation of this form of leadership throughout the struggle.
One nation that underwent democratic reconstruction is Romania and its journey through communism was expressed in several works of art.3 Preda looks at the post-communist Romania coupled with how art was expressed and it is still being expressed in this part of the world.
In the works of art in Romania during this period, the author expresses tension that existed between nostalgia and legacies. The country was going through democratisation after the end of communism and the use of art was prominent in support and critique of the process and its leaders.
The state of Romania played a central role in politics and art and art discourses of the time questioned the role of the state and art in the years after 1990. Before this period, the country was under dictatorial rule and art was suppressed, and thus it was only being used for its aesthetic value.
The state has continued to fund art in this country and Preda states that politicians fund art to ensure that they facilitate movement from the painful past to a more democratic future.
The artists in Romania demonstrated continued dependence from political leaders in the 90s after the collapse of communism, and Preda states that this assisted mentality made the artists subjective to the political will.
Source 2: Art and politics in New Zealand
Grierson, E 2007, ‘Difference: A critical investigation of the creative arts with attention to art as a site of knowledge’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 39 no. 5, pp. 533-542.
Elisabeth Grierson is another author who looks at the relationship between art and politics in her article. She uses New Zealand to investigate the contribution of art to knowledge and political change. In the article, Grierson examines the contemporary use of art in New Zealand to correct the political elite and increase the knowledge of society on its rights.4
New Zealand has experienced several transformations since its independence and authors together with artists were instrumental in driving the masses to ensure that they realise self-governance5. In the article, Grierson explains how the contemporary artists use images, drawings, and music to criticise the authorities and their actions.
The article focuses on the politics of difference in the work of art and it is stated that the project grew since colonialism and gained popularity during the post-colonial era.6 Grierson gives the example of Griselda Pollock’s works, which happened in the years between 1988 and 1999.
Grierson states that the ‘way Pollock situates art history into a broad field of social, cultural, and political enquiry is pertinent when a postmodern context is sought in art as an educational procedure’7. The article displays how works of art can be politically influential in the post-modern era.
Source3: Art and Politics in general
Sartwell, C 2010, ‘Art and Politics’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, pp. 1-4.
Artistic works and politics coupled with their interactions have been the subject of many studies such as those discussed above. Crispin Sartwell is one of the writers who investigate the use of art in politics and how this usage has transformed over the last few decades.
Sartwell states that in the period before 1991, most works of arts and especially dance performances had incorporated the politics of racism or the global HIV/AIDs pandemic.8 This aspect led many researchers to think that all works of art were meant to take political paths and bear political messages.
The use of art for propaganda reasons has been largely applied in many parts of the world. According to Sartwell, this move is a means of shaping the consciousness of the populace.9 Sartwell cites the Shepard Fairey’s Obama-Hope poster as being used to shape people’s consciousness as work of art.
The article focuses on the role of art in the determination of political outcomes in his article, After the Gold Rush. Politics and art have become inseparable for a long period and the contemporary artists are increasingly having politics as the main agenda in the works of art.10
The publicity of works of art that have political meanings is also stated to be greater than other forms of art and this assertion means that artists are becoming attracted to the idea of political expressionism.11
The religious works of art are also important to consider and the politics of religion has been a crucial aspect for artists with many of them expressing themselves in ways that have drawn both criticism and praise.
Comparison of main sources
The sources discussed above illustrate the relationship between art and politics over the last few decades. The authors show the different areas in the world where works of art have been used to make political statements and influence the masses.
The first article shows how the use of art can be used for positive change politically in a nation that previously experienced poor leadership. In the article, the author shows the changes that art has been in a position to achieve in Romania after the fall of communism.12
However, one shortcoming for this move is the dependence that art has developed on sate support in the country. In contrast to this article, the second article by Grierson shows how art could be used to criticise the political class and ensure that the masses have their say in the political system.
Grierson’s article displays the use or art to criticise the ruling class and some of the policies that are in place in New Zealand and changes have taken place due to the same. The third article by Sartwell shows how art could be used to influence the masses to vote for particular individuals into political office.
This article contrasts the previous two pieces as the author expresses both sides of the use of art in politics. Art has both positive and negative influence on political stability in a country and the article shows how the modern use of art is to deceive the public into believing the political classes and their strategies.13
Art and Politics: Part 2
Works of art have attracted attention over the centuries due to their aesthetic value. However, art has been used to express a variety of emotions including anger and love.
For a long period, artists managed to stay out of political expressionism, but with the 19th and 20th century wars and major political events, art largely became associated with politics and some works of art were banned in the process. The authorities apprehended and charged artists in courts for incitement.
These events led to a change in understanding of art as being an apolitical issue. The events of the 1960s saw artists take up political concerns in their works. This part is a research on the interaction between art and politics, specifically in the last half of a decade.
The study of the relationship between art and politics shows that artists in the contemporary age are increasingly using their works of art to influence politics or populations into the desired political pathways. Art is an important aspect of any society and pre and post colonisation periods were marked with interactions between politics and art.14
Initially thought as being non-political, art has undergone a transformation over the last century with the political era after the 60s seeing more use of art in expressionism.15
After the end of the Second World War, a number of wars were fought between the many ideologies that developed with the mainstream ones being capitalism and communism. According to Bolognani, both sides of the political divide used art as one of the avenues of outdoing each other and marketing their system as ideal.16
In the communist nations, the use of art was mainly by the state and its operatives to brainwash the people and ensure that they were obedient to the authorities.17
Art was also used to portray the rulers at the time as being more powerful than life.18 The artists at the time were required to immortalise the political figures in leadership at the time and they utilised statues and other monuments that would be hard to demolish or erase from the minds of the people.19
During the period after 1960, the galleries in the most perceived oppressed parts of the world were full of materials that were viewed as being in support of the ruling regimes.20
The materials were symbolic of the current rule and most of them portrayed the dictators and authoritarians as being the people’s saviours.21 Works of art that were perceived as being against the established rule of law were highly censured in countries with political instability and authoritarian leadership with most of them being burnt or destroyed.
Art was also used to criticise the leadership of the time and in response to this move, the authorities would arrest, deport, torture, or murder artists that were perceived to be resistant to the government and its rule of law.22 With the fall of communism in the early 90s, the works of art that represented symbols of the communist regime were among the propaganda tools that were destroyed.
The citizens brought down the monuments erected in honour of the leaders as they protested the decades of oppressive rule and many of the images available showing these revolutions show the monuments being brought down.23
The use of art in politics was not restricted to the communist nations and in the Cold War. In the capitalist nations that had been decisive in the war against the German oppression of Europe, art was still used as a political tool.24
The difference was that the artists were in a position to express themselves more freely and museums were full or works of art in praise and criticism of the political class.25 Some of the art works were also censured in these nations to prevent any revolutions from taking place in the region.
The artists used the film industry as one of the avenues of expressing criticism and praise for the ruling class. The industry was turned into a multibillion-dollar propaganda machine, which was used to influence the decisions and the outcomes of any political activities.
The contemporary political environment is marked by a strong desire to influence the ill of people since power is mainly centred on them. Most nations around the world have embraced democracy where the will of the people is respected.
For individuals to attain political office, the people must first accept them and these politicians have devised a variety of ways of winning people’s hearts and minds26. Art on the other hand is a strong tool that can be used to express oneself and politicians have realised this aspect.
Most artists have engaged in the production of art to earn a living and politicians pay very well for works of art that are working in their favour.27 Therefore, art is currently inseparable from politics and it is a big influence in politics.
According to Sartwell, politics and art are two inseparable arenas of human endeavour and have since shown important intersections.28 Some cited works of art played a critical role in the influence of political outcomes such as the American elections and Sartwell cites the Obama campaign and the Shepard Fairey’s Obama-Hope poster that played a part in the campaigns.29
Every political regime after the 1960s has used or misused art determination of political survival and authors coupled with artists have been in support and opposition to the use of art in politics. However, artists are divided on the issue of use of art in politics and many have been in support of the use of art to champion the rights and representation of special interest groups in politics.
Over the last fifty years, opposition to political rule in many countries has marked the revolutionary changes in the political fields across the world.30 War has pushed some countries to the brink of collapse with rebels fighting the authorities for political representation.
A befitting example is the Arab Spring, which started in Africa before spreading to the Middle East and Syria is still under ruins courtesy of war. The opposing sides in any war have usually resorted to the use of art as their propaganda machine and in achieving their interests.
In most instances, the government side has been out of favour with people during such instances and the resistance movement has always capitalised on this aspect.31
Artists have been approached by both sides of the political divide and according to Sartwell, the resistance movements have often used art more effectively as compared to their oppressors in the government and he describes the use of art by the government as being ‘often gigantical yet excruciatingly dull’32.
According to Robiglio and Margagliotta, politics has not only been shaped by art, but the reverse can be considered as true.33 One way in which politics has been a major influence on art is through the permission of expression through art.
The political authorities have significantly been responsible for any works of art present in any political system and by allowing some works of art that survived the great wars, the government has controlled what is available for the public to see and hear.
According to Sartwell, “the art that survives from eras past is whatever the authorities permitted to persist. The history of art is, hence, by and large the history of monuments and of artworks compatible with capitulation”34.
Works of art have not only been used to critique, question, resist, or approve the political systems, but they have been of significant influence on politics thus leading even to the development of special political systems.
Many of the special political systems that have attracted attention over the last half a decade have had works of art central to their establishment.35 Some of the political documents that could be cited as being special works of art include the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Common Sense of Republic by Plato.
The Declaration of Independence is also considered as a special work of art and has it shaped the political system in the United States. Some regimes have openly been against art and especially those that have their basis on Marxism.
Political leaderships that have engaged art to sell their policies or they that have been elected to power have promoted and popularised the art that they used. Therefore, politics has contributed significantly to spread and international acclaim of works of art.36
Many nations around the world have a special part symbols that are works of art in themselves. Association with the symbols has been a great influence on the popularity of works of art. In New Zealand, the political system borrows form the English system and the ideologies on art have been similar, in a way.
Like any other contemporary democracy, the will of the people is a great influence on the leaders that are elected into office. Legislators have adopted the use of art in their political campaigns, manifestos, and other political machinery to polarise their agendas.37
Politics have also influenced art through the development of special institutions sponsoring art on the political front. In major political parties around the world, there are large departments that are charged with the duty of propaganda and popularity of a party.38
These special departments contract artists who advise them on the appropriate design messages and methods of art that they can use to gain political advantage over their rivals through stronger influence of the people.
The high demand for the works of art to be used in on the political arena has led to the development of special institutions that are dedicated to the teaching art. Universities around the world have also adopted the teaching of art in their institutions and a large number of students are currently undertaking these art related courses.39
The large market for works of art that has resulted from the political exposure has led to the transformation of the art industry as one of the financial sectors in many economies. Currently, artists can use their skills to earn a living and support their families as opposed to other periods in history when art was less financially attractive and productive.40
However, this political-led financial transformation of the art industry has led to the attraction of artists who are more concerned about making money, as opposed to producing masterpieces with deeper meaning, which in most cases may not be popular.
The result of this trend is the development of poor works of art in the place of traditionally rich art works. However, the output has increased over the past century with millions of works of art being produced every single year due to the growth.41
The current trend where technological innovations have contributed to the field of art has also ensured that politicians are ahead of the people via art.
Online campaigns are a present day reality and the creation of masterpieces has shifted from the traditional hardcopy materials to the softcopies that are cheaper to produce and market. Additionally, online campaigns can reach out to many people, and this it is an effective way of promoting art.
Politics exposed art to some of the factors that were not traditionally part of the industry. An example of such assertion is the wide criticism that the industry is associated with in several parts across the world.
Due to the political messages inherent in some artworks, the general population has opted to shun the works of art and even destroy them. Some critics even associate the act of destroying the works of art with freedom, which was traditionally abominable.
Some people also associate works of art with favoured political interests, and in some cases, the acquisition of an artwork is for political reasons as opposed to its aesthetic value.
This aspect undervalues art, as the realised function is inferior to the intended one of representing beauty and ingenuity. The other effect of politics on art in the contemporary times is the application of art in indoctrination of different groups around the world.
Art has been associated with special powers that people use to control some individuals in society. This aspect forms the basis of the association between some forms of art and certain movements associated with Satanism. Therefore, politicians use the perceived special powers of art to influence the thinking of their supporters.
Conclusion
Art is a central part of any culture and it has undergone a transformation since the Middle Ages to the current times. This essay looked into some of the articles showing the relationship between art and politics. It showed the use of art to criticise, support, and to bring down political ideologies in the past half century.
The end of the Second World War and the onset of other wars such as the Cold War led to the high use of art mainly to criticise political systems and authorities with these authorities using art to influence the masses and win their trust.
Politics have also played a role in the shaping of political ideologies as seen in the essay. Art has developed significantly over this period and most efforts can be attributed to the political systems. Therefore, this essay shows that there is a strong relationship between politics and art.
Reference List
Alessi, V 2012, ‘The grey space between art and politics’, Artlink, vol.32 no.3, pp. 32-33.
Bolognani, M 2011, ‘Communities, audiences, and multi-functions: British cultural politics and the showcasing of South Asian art’, South Asian Popular Culture, vol.9 no.1, pp. 71-80.
Christopoulou, M 2013, ‘Exploring the Socio-Politics of the Greek Debt Crisis in a Primary Art Classroom: A Political Cartooning Project’, International Journal of Art & Design Education, vol. 32 no. 1, pp. 44-54.
Grierson, E 2007, ‘Difference: A critical investigation of the creative arts with attention to art as a site of knowledge’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 39 no. 5, pp. 533-542.
Kardux, J, Fischer-Hornung, D & Davis, R 2011, Aesthetic Practices and Politics in Media, Music, and Art: Performing Migration, Routledge New York.
Kenning, D & Kern, M 2013, ‘Art & Politics’, Art Monthly, vol. 369, pp. 1-4
Mortimer, K & Sathre, C 2007, The art and politics of academic governance: relations among boards, presidents, and faculty, Praeger Publishers, Westport.
Preda, C 2012, ‘Art and politics in post-communist Romania: changes and continuities’, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, vol. 42 no. 1, pp. 116–127.
Robiglio, A & Margagliotta, G 2013, Art, Intellect and Politics: A Diachronic Perspective, Brill, Leiden.
Sartwell, C 2010, ‘Art and Politics’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, pp. 1-4.
Smith, P 2014, ‘American Politics and the Liberal Arts College’, Polity, vol. 46 no.1, pp. 122-130.
Wang, P 2013, ‘Art Critics as Middlemen: Navigating State and Market in Contemporary Chinese Art, 1980s-1990s’, Art Journal, vol. 72 no.1, pp. 6-19.
Winegar, J 2006, Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Beyme, K 2014, On political culture, cultural policy, art, and politics, Springer, New York.
Bolognani, M 2011, ‘Communities, audiences, and multi-functions: British cultural politics and the showcasing of South Asian art’, South Asian Popular Culture, vol.9 no.1, pp. 71-80.
Chantal, M 1999, ‘Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism’, Social Research, vol. 66, no.3, pp. 1-5.
Ernesto, L & Chantal, M 2001, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, Verso, London.
Grierson, E 2007, ‘Difference: A critical investigation of the creative arts with attention to art as a site of knowledge’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 39 no. 5, pp. 533-542.
Hite, K 2011, Politics and the Art of Commemoration: Memorials to Struggle in Latin America and Spain, Routledge, New York.
Markussen, T 2013, ‘The disruptive aesthetics of design activism: enacting design between art and politics’, Design Issues, vol. 29 no. 1, pp. 39-50.
Mattick, P 2010, ‘After the Gold Rush’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, pp. 4-7.
Preda, C 2012, ‘Art and politics in post-communist Romania: changes and continuities’, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, vol. 42 no. 1, pp. 116–127.
Sartwell, C 2010, ‘Art and Politics’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, pp. 1-4.
Footnotes
1M Chantal, 1999, ‘Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism’, Social Research, vol. 66, no.3, p. 4.
2C Preda, 2012, ‘Art and politics in post-communist Romania: changes and continuities’, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, vol. 42 no. 1, p. 119.
3L Ernesto & M Chantal, 2001, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, Verso, London, p. 82.
4E Grierson, 2007, ‘Difference: A critical investigation of the creative arts with attention to art as a site of knowledge’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 39 no. 5, pp. 533-542.
5K Beyme, 2014, On political culture, cultural policy, art and politics, Springer, New York, p. 73.
6K Hite, 2011, Politics and the Art of Commemoration: Memorials to Struggle in Latin America and Spain, Routledge, New York, p.106.
7Grierson, p. 539.
8C Sartwell, 2010, ‘Art and Politics’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, p. 1.
9Ibid, p. 2.
10P Mattick, 2010, ‘After the Gold Rush’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, p. 6.
11T Markussen, 2013, ‘The disruptive aesthetics of design activism: enacting design between art and politics’, Design Issues, vol. 29 no. 1, p. 45.
12Preda, p. 120.
13M Bolognani, 2011, ‘Communities, audiences, and multi-functions: British cultural politics and the showcasing of South Asian art’, South Asian Popular Culture, vol.9 no.1, p.78.
14K Mortimer & C Sathre, 2007, The art and politics of academic governance: relations among boards, presidents, and faculty, Praeger Publishers, Westport, p.86.
15V Alessi, 2012, ‘The grey space between art and politics’, Artlink, vol.32 no.3, p.32.
16M Bolognani, 2011, ‘Communities, audiences, and multi-functions: British cultural politics and the showcasing of South Asian art’, South Asian Popular Culture, vol.9 no.1, p78.
17J Kardux, D Fischer-Hornung & R Davis, 2011, Aesthetic Practices and Politics in Media, Music, and Art: Performing Migration, Routledge New York, p.111.
18 J Winegar, 2006, Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt, Stanford University Press, Stanford, p. 90.
19D Kenning & M Kern 2013, ‘Art & Politics’, Art Monthly, vol. 369, p. 3.
20P Smith, 2014, ‘American Politics and the Liberal Arts College’, Polity, vol. 46 no.1, p. 123.
21M Christopoulou, 2013, ‘Exploring the Socio-Politics of the Greek Debt Crisis in a Primary Art Classroom: A Political Cartooning Project’, International Journal of Art & Design Education, vol. 32 no. 1, p. 45.
22P Wang, 2013, ‘Art Critics as Middlemen: Navigating State and Market in Contemporary Chinese Art, 1980s-1990s’, Art Journal, vol. 72 no.1, p. 11.
23A Robiglio& G Margagliotta, 2013, Art, Intellect and Politics: A Diachronic Perspective, Brill, Leiden, p.128.
24Christopoulou, p.49.
25Robiglio and Margagliotta, p. 130.
26Christopoulou, p.50.
27Robiglio and Margagliotta, p. 117.
28C Sartwell, 2010, ‘Art and Politics’, American Society for aesthetics An Association for Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory of the Arts, vol. 30 no.3, p. 2.
29Ibid, p.2.
30Robiglio and Margagliotta, p. 119.
31Winegar, p. 121.
32Sartwell, p. 3.
33Robiglio and Margagliotta, p. 102.
34Sartwell, p.1.
35Winegar, p. 112.
36C Preda, ‘Art and politics in post-communist Romania: changes and continuities’, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, vol. 42 no. 1, p. 124.
37E Grierson, 2007, ‘Difference: A critical investigation of the creative arts with attention to art as a site of knowledge’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 39 no. 5, p. 533.
This work gives an analysis of a small part of the film Nibiru 2032-The End of the World. The work has four parts; the first part is a summary of the storyline of the film; the second part is an analysis of important signs used in the film and their effectiveness in the meaning of the whole film. The third part is a reflection on the target audience, the film’s production and reception context.
The production team of this film effectively created an entertaining, yet horrifying film from the recent scientific debate about a meteor, Nibiru, which is slowly moving towards the Earth. Scientists project that this meteor will hit the Earth in the year 2032. The preparedness of the human race for such disasters is what the film mainly questions.
The Storyline
This scene captures images that show the possible state of affairs in case of a meteor hitting the world. This film begins by showing the image of the meteor moving towards the Earth. It then shows a news anchor announcing the news of this meteor to the people. He says, “Citizens of the world, I bring you news that will be difficult to comprehend”. The director prevents the news anchor from giving details of this news.
The news anchor, thus, shifts focus to the city where people unexpectedly see strange things falling from the sky. The falling objects are magma-like substances from the meteor. Everything comes to a stand-still. Cars do not move, and people raise their heads to the sky to see the falling objects. The meteor hits the Earth, bringing down buildings in the cities. People run for their lives, but the magma-like substances drop all over making it impossible to find a place to hide.
The hot materials drop like bombshells. They fall in the sea, displacing water towards the land. The displaced water, together with the hot materials, sweeps everything on the ground. The materials bring buildings and every erect thing, including the Statue of Liberty in New York, to the ground.
The displaced water goes up to the mountains, covering them everywhere. The hot material also flows and burns everything to ashes. The hot magma and the water destroy everything leaving the Earth bare and lifeless.
Analysis of important signs used in the film
This film talks about the end of the world as the title suggests. The world ends because of a sudden collision between the Earth and a meteor, Nibiru. The meteor produces hot substances that burn down everything on earth, leaving it lifeless.
The writer of the film applies scientific knowledge. He reminds his audience that things that science teachers teach in schools are not just for learning purposes, but can also happen in real life. He uses the on-going scientific discussion about the possibility of planet X, Nibiru, hitting the earth in the year 2032. Meteors are celestial objects that human beings usually hear about, but never imagine them causing harm.
The writer of this film suggests that human beings need to prepare for disaster, rather than just engaging in merry making and assuming that things will always be okay. The director, on the other hand, uses sub-titles that ask the audience where they will be at the time the world will be ending.
The director creates a foreboding when he uses solemn soundtracks in the background. The solemn sound intertwines with a bombing sound hinting to viewers that something bad will happen soon. This foreboding, in turn, creates suspense in the audience. It prepares the audience for serious scenes that follow. The foreboding intensifies when the news anchor does not finish his presentation. The director allows him to announce that he has bad news, but does not allow him give details of the news.
The director’s use of sub-titles helps the audience to engage their imagination. The subtitles ask viewers to imagine that they have only three hours to live. They further ask the audience to imagine what they could do, and the closures they could seek.
The questions asked by the sub-titles are rhetorical and do not need answers. Rhetorical questions serve the purpose of aiding the viewers’ imagination. Other sub-titles are in the form of television headlines. One of the headlines seen on the television screen declares that there is a meteor headed towards the Earth. This sub-title helps viewers to know that the cause of the end of the world is a meteor that hits the Earth.
Reflecting on the Audience, Production and Reception Context
The film is a commercial film but does not appeal to everybody. It only appeals to adults and learned members of the audience. This is because the theme it handles is too difficult for children and adults who are illiterate to understand. Children will either not see sense in this film, or may be too terrified to watch it.
Their little scientific knowledge may also make them think that this film is baseless. This is the same problem the illiterate audience will face. Religious people, on the other hand, will not want to watch it because they will see this as trying to compete with God in determining the end of the world.
The first two categories of people may not know the meaning of a meteor. They may also be unaware of the scientific fact that there are other planets and bodies around the Earth. This film, therefore, does not target children, illiterate people and religious people. The film can, however, be used by parents and teachers in teaching their children about the solar system.
The production of this film is one of the best. The film required a lot of scientific knowledge during its production. It creates a pictorial presentation of knowledge that has always been theoretical. The production team went to the extent of giving pictures of what look like the real Earth and other heavenly bodies.
The sound tracks that accompany these images fit the scenes appropriately. All the sounds used in the film from the beginning to the end are solemn. It is, therefore, possible to understand what the film is about even with minimal human sounds as it is in the film. The sounds communicate the gravity of the catastrophe to the audience without the need for verbal explanation.
When this film first appeared in 2012, it led to a lot of controversies. Some critics argued that this film had no basis because Nibiru existed only in the myths of Mesopotamians, but has no scientific backing. Other scholars, however, argued that Nibiru had indeed appeared and even caused the Earth to tilt.
Sam Peckinpah was an American director who is famous for his innovative perspective on the Western film genre. Whereas for many other directors, Western films were the means of depicting heroism and adventure, Peckinpah offered a different view of the traditional Western plot. In his films, he explored serious topics and social conflicts that had a strong autobiographical element to them1. This essay will explore the defining characteristics of Peckinpah’s films that affected the development of the Western genre in the future.
Life and Career
Sam Peckinpah was born in 1925 in California. Although he is most famous for his work as a director, he was also an actor and a screenwriter. Peckinpah’s career in Hollywood began in 1950 when he was appointed a dialogue director to Don Siegel2. While working closely with Siegel, Peckinpah was able to improve his understanding of directing styles and techniques, which influenced the quality of his further work (Prince 4 1999). Between 1955 and 1960, Peckinpah worked for television, where he wrote and directed series. Despite being a recognized and successful writer and director, Peckinpah had a lot of conflicts with producers and studios throughout his career3. His unique vision of a contemporary society, as well as his determination to convey this vision to the audience, have largely shaped his pictures and their production process. Some of Peckinpah’s most famous films include The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, Cross of Iron, and others. Despite the variety of plots and stories explored in Peckinpah’s films, several defining characteristics distinguish them from other films in the Western genre.
Defining Characteristics
Peckinpah’s contribution to the Western genre can be measured in terms of the defining characteristics of his films, which were later adopted by later works in the genre. Indeed, Peckinpah’s works were notable in their interpretation of the genre, as well as in their portrayal of serious social conflicts. The defining characteristics of Peckinpah’s films are violence, autobiographical elements, the conflict between heroism and heroics, morality, tension, and future outlook. It is also important to note Peckinpah’s use of camera techniques, particularly in depicting violence.
Violence
Explicit violence was among the key characteristics that Peckinpah has introduced into the genre. The vast majority of his films, including The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs, were full of violent and bloody images, found disturbing both by the audience and by the critics. Welsh states that Peckinpah attempted to test the limits of on-screen violence. However, the inclusion of violence in his work served a unique purpose, highlighting the events and conflicts existing in the films4. Contrary to some other Western directors, Peckinpah refrained from romanticizing Western stories and plot; instead, his films presented a depiction of life in the Wild West in a violent yet realistic way, stressing the moral conflicts that he attempted to explore in great detail.
Peckinpah’s portrayal of violence was also unique in its justification, or lack thereof. Whereas in other Western films, characters engage in violent acts out of necessity, Peckinpah’s characters are rather unpredictable in their acts of violence. There is no distinction between heroes and villains in their use of violence; in fact, violence serves to blur the lines between good and bad, thus also enhancing the conflict between heroism and heroics, which is evident in most of Peckinpah’s works.
As noted by Prince, the use of camera and montage that characterized Peckinpah’s filming of violent episodes was also revolutionary5. Most of the Western films before Peckinpah refrained from depicting graphic violence not only due to moral concerns but also due to the lack of an effective filming technique to portray violence and bloodshed realistically and powerfully. After The Wild Bunch, “Peckinpah’s use of multiple cameras, montage editing, and slow-motion quickly became the normative style for rendering screen violence”6.
Autobiographical Elements
Most of Peckinpah’s main characters are broken and damaged, caught in the fast-changing environment of the new American world, and unable to adjust to it. For instance, in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, “the rumpled, broken protagonist and his insidiously smooth, well-heeled employers bring to mind Peckinpah’s plight in Hollywood”7. With a history of drug and alcohol abuse and strained relationship with producers, Peckinpah’s protagonists were all somewhat autobiographical. Through exploring their fate in his films, Peckinpah attempted to present a personal interpretation of his struggles. Such an autobiographical element was not common among Western film directors of the time. By including it in his work, Peckinpah showed that fictional characters could be used to represent real-life issues and conflicts that are about the society of the time.
Another important aspect of Peckinpah’s autobiographical elements is that they enhance the director’s involvement in the film. Callenbach explains that the autobiographical aspects of Peckinpah’s works serve to underline the importance of the issues and conflicts depicted to him, such as social injustice, lack of future perspectives, and moral ambiguity8. The fact that Peckinpah included autobiographical elements in his works and characters signify his involvement in the subjects explored in films. This contradicts the norms of the genre that existed before Peckinpah, as most other directors were more invested in the plot than in its meaning and relevance to the modern world.
Heroism vs. Heroics
The conflict between heroism and heroics was a persistent theme of Peckinpah’s work. However, one of the most prominent examples of this conflict can be observed in The Wild Bunch. Where other Western directors emphasized the character’s heroic qualities and actions, praising them for resisting injustice and restoring order, Peckinpah presents a more realistic look at the outlaws’ life and principles. Despite the seemingly strong focus on loyalty, ethics, and friendship that is evident in The Wild Bunch, as well as in many other films by Peckinpah9, the director portrays these values in a way that implies that they do not apply to the outlaws’ lifestyle. The characters depicted by Peckinpah represent these values in a way that is disturbing for the audience (e.g., the scene where Bishop kills a wounded gang member), yet representative of the society he chooses to portray.
The actions of the characters are filled with heroics, yet the fundamental question that Peckinpah asks the audience is whether or not they are heroes. Moving away from romanticizing the Western lifestyle and values, Peckinpah wants to show the audience what such lifestyle meant, including violence, injustice, and immorality. The stark contrast between Peckinpah’s portrayal of the West and the romanticized image presented in works of other directors is, perhaps, among the key reasons for the critical acclaim and the persistent interest in his films.
The exploration of heroism in the context of outlaws’ lifestyle that is evident in Peckinpah’s films is prominent in future Western films. In particular, a darker image presented by Peckinpah has influenced the revisionist Western works, which, similarly to Peckinpah, are somewhat critical of the traditional Western genre norms. The lack of idealization of the characters has also affected the audience’s perception of some of the other Western films, which might appear too light-hearted and unrealistic when compared to Peckinpah’s works.
Society
Social issues, including oppression and cruelty, are also among the key themes explored by Peckinpah in his films10. For instance, in The Wild Bunch, the director addresses the conflict between Americans and Mexicans and its influence on the lives of civilians trapped between two forces. However, even more, prominent is the indifference of people to the struggles faced by others. In the opening scene, the shooting kills many civilians, including women and children. Yet, this appears to be normalcy rather than a significant event. By Peckinpah, society is not violent or brutal, but indifferent and ignorant. Arguably, these are the characteristics of the contemporary society that Peckinpah wanted to recreate in his work.
One of the most famous scenes depicting indifference and ignorance as the society’s key failures can be observed in the opening titles of The Wild Bunch when Pike and his team pass by a group of children who are watching a scorpion burn. The portrayal of children, who are the symbol of the rising generation, is rather brutal and unprecedented for the film of the time. As noted by Prince, “these are not the typical children, icons of sentimentality and innocence, that were so prominent in earlier generations of the film”11 The image of children watching the dying scorpion with impatience and excitement on their faces signifies the brutality of the society in which the action takes place. As the scene precedes the shooting at the beginning of the film, it also conveys the director’s view that the fault is not on the outlaws, but on the cruel and ignorant society that raised them so.
Conflict and Tension
The escalated drama of Peckinpah’s films is also one of the innovations that he brought into the Western genre. Peckinpah introduced a multi-level conflict, where each of the main characters is at war with himself, his enemies, and the society in general. Peckinpah does not internalize the conflicts experienced by the characters; instead, he makes them more prominent and apparent to the audience, thus adding more tension to the story. Although the characters lack development and remain roughly unchanged throughout the film, externalization of the conflict allows the director to explore significant social issues that would normally drive character development. For instance, he recognized the failure of contemporary society but chose to present it rather indifferently, as a permanent feature of American society.
By opting not to resolve secondary conflicts, Peckinpah questioned the society’s capacity for change while at the same time urging people to see similar issues in modern society. Peckinpah also erased the differences between the civilians, the law enforcement, and the outlaws in the majority of his works, implying that each group possesses similar character failures and weaknesses. Such a scheme distinguishes Peckinpah’s films from other Western works, where there are distinctive borders between good and evil. Therefore, Peckinpah’s portrayal of conflicts that exist both on the internal and external levels adds tension to his works by improving their accuracy and relevance.
Future Outlook
Finally, despite the critical portrayal of society and its defects, Peckinpah’s films offer no positive resolution or hope for a change. Most of his films can be characterized by a sense of finality. Throughout the films, it is acknowledged that the characters have neither hope for a better future nor a desire to change their ways. Similarly, the society portrayed by Peckinpah is incapable of changing. Both the primary and the secondary characters remain unchanged throughout the story. However, this does not necessarily indicate the author’s belief that the society cannot be changed; on the contrary, some argue that the stability and fatality depicted by Peckinpah serve to highlight the need for change, thus attracting the audience’s attention to pertaining social issues12.
Conclusion
Overall, Sam Peckinpah was a talented director that has made a significant contribution to the development of the Western film genre by offering a different perspective on traditional Western plots and themes. The innovations brought by Peckinpah were both technical and thematic. For instance, he was the first among Western film directors to depict explicit violence using montage editing and slow motion. Also, he also explored important themes of hope, social failures, and heroism in his work. By refusing to romanticize the Western plots and stories, Peckinpah contributed to the development of the genre, while at the same time attracting the attention of filmmakers and critics to the darker side of the Western films.
Bibliography
Briley, Ron. “Peckinpah Today: New Essays on the Films of Sam Peckinpah.” Film & History 44, no.1 (2014): 87-89.
Callenbach, Ernest. “Peckinpah: The Western Films by Paul Seydor.” Film Quarterly 33, no. 4 (1980): 21.
Miller, Mark Crispin. “In Defense of Sam Peckinpah.” Film Quarterly 28, no. 3 (1975): 2-17.
Prince, Stephen, ed. Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Welsh, James M. “Peckinpah Today: New Essays on the Films of Sam Peckinpah – Book Review.” The Journal of American Culture 35, no. 4 (2012): 376-377.
Footnotes
Miller, Mark Crispin, “In Defense of Sam Peckinpah,” Film Quarterly 28, no. 3 (1975): 2.
Prince, Stephen, ed., Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 4.
Ibid.
Welsh, James M., “Peckinpah Today: New Essays on the Films of Sam Peckinpah – Book Review,” The Journal of American Culture 35, no. 4 (2012): 376.
Prince, The Wild Bunch, 2.
Ibid.
Miller, “In Defense of Sam Peckinpah”, 2.
Callenbach, Ernest, “Peckinpah: The Western Films by Paul Seydor,” Film Quarterly 33, no. 4 (1980): 21.
Briley, Ron, “Peckinpah Today: New Essays on the Films of Sam Peckinpah,” Film & History 44, no.1 (2014): 87.
Father and daughter relationships have always been a complicated and intricate due to major differences and mutual love. The given assessment will focus on A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, where the central characters are Catherine and Eddie. Although the girl is technically an orphaned niece of Eddie, he still treats her as a daughter. The relationship is dysfunctional, because the uncle does not respect the fact that Catherine is an adult. There is no consideration for her choices, and Eddie’s high level of protectionism towards his niece hinders his ability guide her, which is his main goal. For example, he states: “just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away” (Miller, 2010, p. 16). However, this relationship impacts Rodolfo, where Eddie wants hurt him by faking an accident during boxing practice. The protagonist admits that all these attempts were due to his unpreparedness for Catherine becoming an adult, where he states: “that you would ever grow up” (Miller, 2010, p. 17). Therefore, the relationship dysfunctionality is mostly due to Eddie’s attitude towards his niece.
In the future, the main characters’ relationship will reach the normal range as soon as Eddie accepts Catherine as an adult. The key reason lies in the girl’s independence, because she will eventually leave the house and will have to rely on herself financially. Therefore, the suggestion is addressed towards Catherine, because she needs to become self-reliant and independent in order to remove the protectionism of Eddie. It is stated that father-daughter communication can be significantly hindered by the lack of emotional availability and paternal warmth (Demidenko et al., 2015). In other words, Eddie needs to accept his niece’s freedom and allow her make her own mistakes. Thus, one can observe that being excessively attached can also lead to dysfunctionality in a relationship.
References
Demidenko, N., Manion, I., & Lee, C. M. (2015). Father–daughter attachment and communication in depressed and nondepressed adolescent girls. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(6), 1727-1734. Web.
Miller, A. (2010). A view from the bridge. Penguin Books.