Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Places as faces
We talked about how the landscape in "Picnic at Hanging Rock" figured so largely in the film that it could almost be thought of as a character. Landscape was prominent in "The Last Picture Show," too (as a way of explaining character), and in "True Grit" (for character and sheer prettiness). In "Exotica," I think landscape was less important, but we still had the sweeping vistas where the search party roamed. Do you have any favorite movies where landscape played a memorable role? For me, "Out of Africa" and "Babette's Feast" and "Wuthering Heights" come to mind. (And, for Erin's sake, let's not forget "Alive").
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17 comments:
Hehe, yes, that goes without saying.
What immediately comes to mind is the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Middle Earth is a character in itself, and the various sites in New Zealand stepped into that role perfectly. I think you could also attribute great importance to the landscape in "Brokeback Mountain."
The Overlook Hotel in "The Shining." I want to visit someday.
And Manhattan in "Manhattan!"
Oh, those are all great examples. I think the landscape was probably my favorite thing in "Rings," especially in and around where the Hobbits lived. Very magical. And the animism, obviously, with the talking, walking trees. "Brokeback Mountain" definitely. The landscape — the vast wilderness — was the condition for the love affair that was so spurned by society. And Jack's earthy, bloody shirt that he has hung with Ennis' — it's a reminder of how they existed that first summer alone together and free in the wilderness. And isn't the postcard that Ennis hangs on the cabinet holding the shirts a landscape?
I haven't seen "The Shining" in ages, but it seems like I can remember every turn in that mountain road in the slow, eerie climb to the hotel. The beautiful autumn landscape invites them into the bosom of doom, and then once they are there, the snow comes and comes and comes and they are trapped. The landscape becomes this brutally indifferent, isolating force.
It's funny that you mention "Manhattan," because I was thinking of movies where a city is really a character, and this is a great example of that. But then I thought that these were different from powerful landscapes because they are manmade and say more about the nature of people than the nature of Nature. "Roman Holiday" would be another cityscape movie or Louis Malle's "Atlantic City" with the awesome Burt Lancaster.
Manmade or natural, I thought the surroundings in "The Shining" and "Manhattan" were important in that they influenced the characters' behaviors rather than just provide an elegant background to the story. The Overlook Hotel actually possesses Jack Nicholson, and the city of Manhattan motivates Woody Allen to find a career and love worthy of its setting.
Yes, it's probably splitting hairs to distinguish between landscapes and cityscapes. I guess the idea is, is the setting just sort of sitting there or is it playing a crucial role? Could the movie have been filmed a thousand other places and been just as effective?
Can you think of a movie where the setting was really remarkably unimportant and interchangeable? A lot of comedies come to mind for some reason (like every teen movie ever made).
On your first question. Landscape is often important in the films of Zhang Yimou. The two where it is most explicitly a character are “The Road Home” and “House of Flying Daggers”. I’m usually not a fan of horror movies, but I thought “The Ring” was effective in part because it made good use of the gloomy Puget Sound. I think I’d like to see “Ringu”, the movie that it is based on. And speaking of Japanese films, Kurosawa was a master at casting landscape and weather. In “Rashomon” there is the relentless rain at the broken down temple and also the small sun dappled clearing in the woods where the main events transpire. The title itself means “In the Woods”. But I think an even better example is his “Throne of Blood”. I consider that the best telling on film of Macbeth. I almost picked it for our next film.
Christopher Doyle might be the cinematographer who can best make a character out of a city like he does in “Chungking Express”.
On your second question. One of the interesting choices made in “City of God”, which is set in Rio, was to not show any of the iconic views of the city. There are a few scenes set on the beach, but mostly the movie looks like it could be from any large city in the developing world that has slums.
Oh, I saw "Ringu." Very creepy. I thought the American remake was very good also, mainly because of Naomi Watts. I hadn't really thought much about the setting for that film.
I think any treatment of "MacBeth" would have to put a premium on setting.
"Chungking Express" I have to see.
Here's a question for anyone who saw the highly touted "Lost in Translation": Do you think the Japanese setting was crucial to the film? My own opinion is that it pretends to be but that it could have been shot in any number of foreign cities. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what is so cool about that damn film (made by same director as "Virgin Suicides").
DW, good example on "The Ring." The constant gray skies and rain were menacing.
KC, I haven't watched "Lost in Translation," even though I wanted to see Bill Murray in a serious role. Either you or Susan or both warned me off.
Oh right, I had forgotten that Sofia Coppola did “The Virgin Suicides”. As for “Lost in Translation”, I think that the Japanese setting is important because it is a culture that both has a lot of personal reserve and also exuberant entrainments. So an African setting, for instance, wouldn’t work since most of those cultures are just exuberant across the board. Latin ones too. Perhaps a different Asian culture might have worked, but the Japanese was easiest in part because it could play on stereotypes we already have.
I liked it as a more popular and accessible example of the sorts of contemplative films that are among my favorites. The main analogy in the film is between the guy being lost in a foreign culture and lost in middle age. Not really subtle, but I thought it worked alright.
Umm, that might make more sense as “entertainments”.
"Stranger Than Paradise" is a good foreigner-out-of-her-element film.
No, it is an excellent foreigner-out-of-her-element film.
Would it be a stretch to call “Dead Man” a man-out-of-his-world film?
No, that wouldn't be a stretch.
I just recently watched "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai," and I noticed that the Indian ("Nobody") from "Dead Man" had a role in it.
Jim Jarmusch has crazy hair. I didn't realize what he looked like until I saw a photo just now on imdb.
I tried to find “Ghost Dog” one time but couldn’t. Now it is at my local store, so I’ll watch it soon. Did you like it?
You should see an interview with Jarmusch some time. He’s a kick.
Yes, I liked it a lot. I saw it when it first came out and thought it was really great (I have the soundtrack — it really impressed me, even though I wasn't very fond of rap music then), and when I saw it recently I was slightly less enamored — I think because I've seen a number of movies since then that have similar things going on, so it didn't seem as fresh. But it's absolutely worth seeing — the movie's premise is awesome! — I know you'll like it. Tell me either way.
Will do.
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