Sunday, February 28, 2010

Audio-visual Aspects of ‘The Graduate’

I like paying attention to sound in films. I guess sound is the key element for me to immerse myself in films and therefore, I like seeing movies at the movie theatres because I can experience sound better. In this paper mainly two scenes- the opening and the ending scene- from The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols in 1967, will be analysed in terms of their sounds. It will be focussed on the functions of the sound in the selected scenes.

The graduate‘s screenplay was written by Calder Willinghom and Buck Henry. As I mentioned before it was directed by Mike Nichols in 1967. Larsen also discusses this movie in his book Film Music. Actually he is the reason why I grew interest in this movie. I haven’t seen the movie till I read about it in Larsen’s book. I found the discussion interesting and decided to watch and then write about the movie. I wondered about my observations. The movie is based on Ban Braddok or Benjamin’s experiences after he is back from collage with a bachelor’s degree. He is twenty one years old, insecure and very confused about his future. The opening scene must be analysed briefly because it is important for the analysis of the sound of the movie in general and also in the ending scene. It starts with a close up view to Benjamin’s face. His face looks expressionless and motionless. At the same time, we hear the engine sounds or noise and then a man talks and informs people that they are about to land to Los Angeles so the audience understands that he is on the plane and arriving at Los Angeles. As the man continues to talk the camera zooms out and allows us to see Benjamin among the other passengers. It is kind of surprising to see the other people all of a sudden because in the opening seen he looks so isolated and alone. This feeling was created by both the close up shot and his empty expression and also the white cover of the seat. The cover of the seat gives the spectator no clue about the environment and supports the neuter empty look. It looks like just a white background to a photograph. So you never expect to see many other people surrounding him in the following scene. Whole scene combined with the following one, gives the impression of his alienation. He looks so lonely and isolated although, he is sitting with many other people in a plane. There seems to be no communication among them. The man welcomes the passenger to LA and we move to another seen, where Benjamin is seen walking, so the spectator assumes that he is walking in the airport trying to leave the airport. As this scene starts also a song, ‘the Sound of Silence’ written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon and Garfunkel, starts to accompany. He then takes the speedwalk, stands very still. Meanwhile the song is still playing and sort of it associates itself with Benjamin. The whole opening scene introduces us Benjamin. He is always alone in the scenes (other than a bit of plane scene) and very much in the focus. All background is very plain supporting him as a focal point and the song has a clear association with him. The viewer thinks that this is his song. The song could refer to his inner thoughts or it may refer to his situation or his mood and in this sense, the song may be an external comment. But no matter what, the song has some sort of association with him. During that scene the title of the movie, the director’s and crew’s names appear on the scene. What I find interesting is the appearance of the song writer’s and performers’ name in this scene very clearly as if they really want the audience to notice the song writer and the performers. This could be related to marketing of the movie because promoting the movie by pop and rock songs of the time was common in 1960s (Larsen, 146). At this point, to give some information about the developments in the film industry in 1950s and 1960s is necessary to understand the character of The Graduate’s music. In 1950s, TV gained great popularity and became a rival to cinema (Larsen, 150, Wierzbicki, 160, 161). People preferred to stay home and watched their TV instead of going to the cinemas. As a result of this, the movie industry tried to regain the audience by new technological innovations or big productions. But the industry couldn’t bring the audience back to the movie theatres but it took youngsters’ attention this time (Larsen, 150). So, to have them, movie makers started to use pop and rock songs in the movies. This became extremely popular in 1960s and even Hitchcock wanted to try this and fired his previous composer Herrmann (Larsen, 146). So, one can say that 1960s Hollywood films targeted teenagers and youth culture (Larsen, 149, 150). Also related to these developments in this period sound tracks became important and were started to be considered as independent products as well. They can both promote the movie and also be sold out separately. The graduate was made in 1967 and the soundtrack was released in 1968 and topped the lists. The Graduate is obviously part of this trend of 60s film industry and it must be analysed having these information in mind.

Having said all these, I will return to the opening scene. Then he leaves the airport and the scene changes but the song continues and combines the scenes, so the music has a formal function here. When the song ends with the words; ‘…. the sound of silence’ at the same time the viewer sees his face close up and again alone and frozen in front of an aquarium. So in this scene are there any associations between the words and Benjamin’s silent, worried and frozen look? I am not sure and I think no one is sure. Larsen before discussing the song’s relation to the movie he gives the following title; ‘Difficult Songs: The Graduate, 1967’ (Larsen, 151). The reason for that is the song is not originally composed by this movie. The director wants to hire Simon and Garfunkel. But the songs written by Simon are rejected by the director and Simon can’t compose new songs on time. Therefore, the director uses the old songs as temp track during the editing process. He likes it and decides to keep it. So other than ‘Mrs. Robinsson’, none of the songs were written for the movie. Also, the reason, the director hired Simon and Garfunkel, was he imagined Benjamin character as someone who listens to Simon and Garfunkel (Larsen, 152). Larsen calls this song as a problem because it is crucial in the discussion about the use of music with lyrics in the movie. Many questions can be raised for the sake of this discussion such as; are the lyrics relevant to the images or what is going on in the scene?, or do they refer to character’s inner thoughts?, are they adding something to the scene or narration in general?... While theorists are already struggling with these questions they are facing this song which is sort of accidently selected or if it is put in another way, they weren’t written with this movie in mind. Larsen also mentions that the only song written for this movie is Mrs. Robinson and the only common feature between the song and the character is the name. I will continue to this discussion after analysing the final scene. Also I want to repeat that the reason I additionally discussed the opening scene is, the same song, which is very much associated with Benjamin, appears in several scenes as well as in the ending scene. This association is introduced in the beginning.

In the final scene he leaves the car. As the cars stops the music stops as well. But diegetic sounds still can be heard such as the sounds of the passing cars and the sounds produced by him. He starts to run. We hear the sound of his steps and the traffic and so on. As he arrives to the church we hear a chord played by a guitar. The chord is nervous in terms of character. It is a dominant chord which creates excitement and asks a question; what happened in the church or what will happen? Then the second chord comes as he arrives at the door and tries to get in. In terms of character it is similar to the first one. Then the third chord is heard as he decides to find another way to get in to the church and takes the stairs. The forth chord comes when he finally gets in through a door and then we hear the fifth one when he arrives at a big glass wall, where he can see the bride and the groom who are about to kiss. The first chord is really intense as he goes into the church, the chords get softer and resolve but still they all sound sad not happy. He sees them already married and kissing each other. He fails. He says ‘oh Jessus…’ Then the church organ player starts to play the wedding march. It sounds very annoying, irritating, and camera shows him standing against the enormous glass wall, disappointed and miserable. To me he looks sacrificed or crucified like Jesus especially with the annoying and in a way scary church music. In these scenes guitar is associated with Benjamin and humanistic feelings such as love and especially their love. It is also associated with being naïve, being young. Benjamin and Elaine are not like their parents and they don’t fit to the society that their parents belong, which is pretty fake. On the other hand, the church organ and church music is associated with that fake society and evil. Elaine’s father, Mrs. Robinson, and their pretentious friends they are all in the church and act like they are all so decent. They witness Elaine’s wedding ceremony. Elaine is like a sacrificial animal as well. So, on the aisles there are fake and evil people. On the altar Elaine captured by those people and the church and the church music. Benjamin is across Elaine facing her from the behind but outside of the church. They don’t listen to what Benjamin listens. But on the other hand, Benjamin is outside of the church and the music associated with his adventures is played by a guitar. So guitar music is outside of the church. Guitar music is not scary and not irritating. It is naïve. Then he screams her name dramatically and hits the glass, while the church music is still playing. He takes the attention from both Elaine and the others. When the camera shows her we hear Benjamin’s voice from the distance because he is outside and also we hear the other people talking, mumbling. Then camera shows her parent’s reaction and the sound focuses on what they are saying. She walks towards him in the church. As she walks the viewer sees her close up and the talking sounds become blurring, turn into mumbles. Then she looks around, surrounded by angry people who are all saying something, yelling but they are not heard. We see these form her point of view. They are muted but Benjamin can be heard he still screams her name and hits the glass. So, he is the one for her that’s why he is not muted. Finally, she screams his name very dramatically as well. As soon as he hears her, he starts running to meet her. He is stopped by her father. They start to fight. Then the crowd arrives and joins the fight. We don’t hear any songs any more but diegetic sounds such as screams, steps, mumbles and clear dialogues, the sound of the fight and so on. It makes the scene more dramatic I think. Finally, Benjamin grabs the cross and avoids the crowd, rescues Elaine and they together leave the church. He locks everyone in the church with the cross, creates an ironic scene. They together run away and again all we hear is diegetic sound of the steps and the sound of the crowd fading away at the background, the traffic and so on. A bus arrives immediately and they get in the buss. The passengers are surprised by the couple’s entrance. They move to the back, while the sound of the engine is really so dominant, which creates a space. It really locates us in the buss. They sit down on the back seat, look back out the window, turn back and settle down. He laughs. They look each other and smile and look towards us. The close up shot to their faces is very similar to the ones previously done through the movie to Benjamin when he is alone. But now he is with this woman. He doesn’t look that much alienated or I can say now they are together alienated from the rest. But they are together. There is a slight smile on their faces. The expression of Benjamin’s is not as empty as before. And again the same song; ‘The Sound of Silence’, which always plays when he is alone, starts but this time he is not alone. But when we hear the music the characters’ expressions change slightly. They keep smiling and stop smiling for a while but finally the smile vanishes and is replaced by a bit worried or confused expression. Benjamin always looks toward us as he always does when this song plays. But she looks at around and especially at him. Again alienation, even between the lovers, can be observed. Scene changes and we see the bus form outside; from the behind. We watch them leave but the music continues and combines the scenes-again. It has a formal function as it has before several times through the movie. The film ends, the main characters’ names are appeared on a black background but the song still continues.

So Larsen thinks since the music is not composed for the movie there is no real connection between the lyrics and the narration. He also discusses in chapter 10 that when we see images with music even though there is no relation we want to create some sort of relation or we search for it and usually we create a meaning. He says we find metaphors (Larsen, Chapter 10*). I think he is right and Cook, in his book Analysing Musical Media, suggests using metaphor model to analyze audio-visual culture. Actually I read the lyrics and try to understand the relevance to Benjamin character to understand the function of the song. Is the song represent Benjamin’s thought or is it an external comment to him or to the scene in general? Actually I couldn’t find a very direct relation with the narration or his mind. According to Berliner’s and Furia’s theory, which claims, the song represents Benjamin’s thoughts and it always functions like that through the movie (Larsen, 154). I disagree so as Larsen. The lyrics are more critical to the society then Benjamin character. Benjamin is 21 year old and very confused young man. Although, he feels alienated and naïve and in a way decent than the people he is surrounded by, I don’t think he is as intellectual or mature as to make those critics done by the song. In my opinion, the song refers to his alienation and his loneliness, his confusion. So, yes, it has an emotional function. But also it makes a general and external comment both to the specific scene and the movie in general. I think the song is not in his mind. He can’t hear the song; he is far away from the song. Larsen also discusses the lyrics, its association with the narration and Benjamin’s mind. Other than couple of tiny instances, which are like coincidences there is no direct connection, he thinks, which I agree (Larsen, 154, 155, 156, 157). But on the other hand, in terms of external comment that the song made, I can say it fits nicely to the film in general. Such as the critic of the society or Benjamin’s and people’s alienation, his emotions, the critics of the church, etc. In addition to these, the song has a formal function; it perfectly combines different scenes.

Bibliography

Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin, Film Art; An Introduction. NY: Mc Grow Hill, 2008.
Cook, Nicholas, Analyzing Musical Multimedia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
James Eugene Wirezbicki, Film Music: A History. NY: Routledge, 2009.
Larsen, Peter, Film Music. London: Reaktion, 2007.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

La Jetée… On Moving and Still Images

In films, throughout its history, moving images and still images, slow and fast motions, super impositions, freeze frames and other visual manipulations have been used together. Each of these manipulations and their use collectively has different effects on viewer and create different experiences. Also in theories, they are associated with life or death. In this paper, the film La Jetée will be discussed in terms of its use of these visual manipulations. It will mainly be focussed on the still and moving images’ effects and their associations with life and death. Since La Jetée is formed by still images, except one scene, first it will be focussed on some thoughts about still and moving image, and the relationship between photography and film. Then La Jetée will be discussed in terms of these issues.

Laura Mulvey, in her book, Death 24x a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image, mentions that photography and film are considered to be related to reality (Mulvey, 18). She says, ‘the technological drive towards photography and film had always been animated by the aspiration to preserve the fleeting instability of reality and passing time in a fixed image’ (Mulvey, 18). Both photography and film has technological aspects which relate them to objectivity and science. It can be said that photography is an element in film and also film is invented thanks to photography. Although, they are in that sense strongly related, still, they have different essence. On the one hand, photography has the ability to catch a moment in time but on the other hand, film captures movement in passing time. Although they are both considered to be related to reality due to their technological aspects, both photography and film are associated with magic or capability to overcome death as well (Mulvey, 18). For some, photographs are associated with life and for others it is associated with death. These associations were made based on the use of movement in photography and film. Photography freezes moments and saves the objects from corruption and their faiths, which is death. So people can associate frozen, still images with life or overcoming death because you resist to passing time and its outcomes (Mulvey, 22). So, one might say that stillness is symbol of life but by saying life it is more meant eternity or immortality, because actual life includes death as well. From this perspective then, movement is the symbol of death or real mortal life, because movement takes place in time and movement in time is something lifelike and as it is mentioned before, life has death at the end. So moving images of film signal that time is passing and this movement will come to an end which is death. When time passes things eventually die. So films, although they use series of still images, they capture movement in time, so everything in the film comes to an end as well. Then, one might suggest that, films are representations of mortal life which includes death at the end.

But on the other hand, for some it is the reverse. For example, for Barthes and Bazin, photography is associated with death (Mulvey, 60). According to Barthes, even tough photography captures moment, that shouldn’t be considered as immortality but rather just a reminder of death. You know that no matter how beautiful or alive that person looks on that photo she/he will die. Mulvey also talks about Freud’s concept of ‘Uncunny’; confusion, between natural and supernatural, animate and inanimate, regarding photography’s early association with death (Mulvey, 60, 61, 62). Related to that, she also talks about Barthes’ concept of punctum and studium. She says;
‘Barthes’s punctum….provokes a sudden and involuntary emotional response, differentiating it from the studium, the term he uses to describe the presence of social, cultural or other meanings that have been consciously invested in the image. The studium belongs to the photographer; the punctum to the viewer. Barthes also associates the phootgrapher’s punctum with a sudden and overwhelming consciousness of death’ (Mulvey, 61, 62).
She continues with an example; the photo of Lewis Payne who was photographed by Alexander Gardner before his execution. The guy in the photograph is the studium and the knowledge, which is the fact that he will die, of the viewer, is the punctum (Mulvey, 62).

Shobchack, on the other hand, disagrees with Bazin and its idea that photography is like mummification (Shobchack, 146). Sobschack says;
‘the cinema presents us with quite a different perceptual technology and mode of representation. Through it subjectively visible specialization of a frozen point of view into dynamic and intentional trajectories of self-displaying vision and through its subjectively experienced temporalization of an essential moment into lived momentum, the cinematic radically constitutes the photographic’ (Shobshack, 145).

According to Shobshack, photographic ‘functions to fix a ‘being-that-has-been’ (a presence in a present that is always past)’ (Shobchack, 146). So she thinks photographic has something to do with death. But it must be said that this is not so much different what Bazin thinks, although she thinks she disagrees with him. In addition to this, she thinks that cinematic and moving image has something to do with life (Shobchack, 146). She says ‘the moving picture is a visible representation not of activity finished or past but of activity coming into being and being. Furthermore, and even more significant, the moving picture not only visibly represents moving objects but also-and simultaneously –presents the very movement of vision itself’ (Shobchack, 146).

At this point it is useful to start looking at La Jatee, which was made by Chris Marker in 1962. It is a film about a World War III survivor, who is sent back and forth to the past for the sake of helping out humanity by this scientific experiment. Although the film is formed by still images, the audience sees them in certain flow, while they are moving. This is very much like what Shobchack tries to say. The spectator sees the ‘very movement of vision itself’. So the even though the images are still, the vision on the screen moves (Shobchack, 148). So the striking feature of Shobchack’s discussion is, she focuses on moving image instead of film or cinema and so on because the still images flowing on the screen is also a moving image and when one looks at the photography and cinema relation from this aspect the discussion can change its direction.

She also talks about how photography is controlled and can be considered as a thing while moving image is not either possessed or controlled (Shobchack, 148). These ideas can be related to Mulvey’s ideas about time. She makes a focus on time. She says ‘the problem of time, its passing, and how it is represented or preserved’ (Mulvey, 22). The arrangement of the scenes and images in passing time plays crucial role in terms of effects and the ability to control your experience. She also discusses how the control of the audience over the film changed thanks to the invention of video and then later recent technologies (Mulvey, 22). But in La Jetée, since the year was 1962, the audience has no control over the time, which creates a big difference in terms of experience because the temporal flow of the images makes the vision move.

She focuses on the scene that the woman blinks her eyes and starts to move while she was lying in the bed. She claims that the woman started to move she lost her immortality and her image as an object of desire (Shobchack, 146). So these thoughts support the idea that still images and photography has something to do with immortality and eternal life. But previously she said photography has something to do with death and past and loss. On the other hand, in the movie the protagonist travels back to prewar times and sees her in the park sleeping or sunbathing. He stares at her and says she is death because he is travelling to the past. So this can be a good reference to Barthes’ theory. The protagonist, although he is in the same frame with her and also stilled like her he looks like an outsider and he is an outsider and he looks like he is looking at a photo of her not her. So this is quite related to Bathes’s concept of punctum; the audience see her as beautiful and in a way living in that frozen moment, which is stadium, but on the other hand, they and the protagonist know that she will die or she is death by now-punctum. Also the idea that he is travelling to his own past, which is illustrated thorough photographs, looks like the director inspired by Barthes’ theory on photography’s relation to death. The main character even sees his own death through photographs.

In La Jetée, when woman blinks she loses her immortality of being an object of desire says Shobchack (Shobchack, 146). So by saying this she supports the idea that stilled image is immortal and moving image, which gives her a body, makes her mortal.

On the other hand, in the screenplay when the protagonist goes back in time and meets her, stares at her while she was sort of sleeping in the park he says she is dead. And this can be considered as a reference to Barthes’ theory on photography. Although the image in front of him is frozen in time he knows that she is already dead because he is travelling in time. This emphasizes the delay of viewing in photography and its relation to past as well.

In La Jetée there are complex relations with stilled and moving images or photography and cinema and their relation to death. It seems like the director refers Barthes’ theory on photography and death relation by using still images but on the other hand, he moves still images in a temporal flow and creates moving images. He makes them cinematic and again it ends up with death. By moving them he gives them mortal life which is, this time, different from what Barthes says. So it seems like the director relates both still images and moving images to death. Especially the scene, where the woman blinks, again emphasises her immortality. It takes her from fantasy world and makes her ‘real’.

So to sum up in La Jetée, very complex relations and effects between and of still images and moving images, reality and unreality, mortal and immortal, life and death, photography and cinema can be observed. In addition to this, many references to different theories can be traced. It is easy to relate it to thoughts which claim still images has immortal effects but also the movie can be easily associated with ideas of Barthes about death in the photograph. The use of one moving image in the movie; the scene with the blinking woman makes the audience question what is going on. But on the other hand, based on my experiences and small survey among the audience that I have seen the movie together, it could be suggested that it doesn’t have a very strong or different effect after all those other still images flowed through the film. So this supports the idea that even though they are still images since they moved on the screen as visions, they don’t create a very different effect than the actual moving images. But on the other hand, it would be said that the moving woman image is more mortal then still woman image. So La Jetée is such a nice example to analyse the effects of movement and stillness on the screen and the effects of time.

Bibliography

Mulvey, Laura, Death 24x a Second; Stillness and the Moving Image. Reaktion Books, 2009.
Shobchack, Vivian, Carnal of Thoughts; Embodiment and Moving Image Culture. University of California Press, 2004.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hable Con Ella: In regard to Embodied Spectatorship



̏ The material elements that present themselves in films directly stimulate the material layers of the human being: his nerves, his senses, his entire physiological substance ̋.
(Kracauer, cited by Sobchack, 55)

̏…although, I do have the capacity to fully-and literally- feel the specific texture and weight of the silk blouse I am wearing, my tactile desire is located elsewhere, in the onscreen taffeta and wool, and so, intending elsewhere, I feel the specificity of the silk on my skin only partially and diffusely ̋.
(Sobchack,78).

‘During the earlier periods in the history of film theory there were various attempts to understand the meaningful relation between cinema and our sensate bodies’ (Sobchack, 54). But Sobchack also adds that until recent years this topic was ignored by the film theorists. This paper will focus on embodied film spectatorship. This issue will be discussed through an analysis of the film; Hable Con Ella, (Talk to Her) (2002), made by Pedro Almadóvar. The film is selected because as a spectator, I was impressed to see how strongly I experienced the film bodily.

The film focuses on the relationship of both among two men protagonists Benigno and Marco and also their relationships with two women Alicia and Lydia. Benigno is a nurse looking after Alicia, who is in coma and Marco is sort of a boyfriend to Lydia, who is a bullfighter and who is also in coma after the accident occurred in the bullfight. Benigno and Marco become friends as a result of this shared experience and the time spent in the same hospital.

The first scene it will be focussed on is the dressing up scene of Lydia because in terms of embodied spectatorship experience it is quite strong. In the scene, she enters the room while the other characters were having a conversation. While they are still talking, one of the men takes the garment so that he could help her dressing up. This is how the spectator is introduced to the matador garment. Then the pieces of the costume are shown in detail. The camera focuses on her legs and the pink, very tight socks. Special care has been given to the sound in the scene. The conversation at the back ground is either ended or just ignored on purpose by the director. So other than the sound of the clothes the viewer is left in silence. But the sound of the clothes can be heard so clearly and it dominates the scene. All the sounds are produced by the touch of the garment to the body of the women and also the man. The viewer feels the heavy and very elaborate decorations of the garments due to the sound and the close up view. In addition to that, the device he uses to do the buttons contributes to convey this feeling. The dress is too tight that he cannot use his fingers to button it. Other than sound, also the vision makes the spectator realize this feeling. Although her body is very tight, fit and slim, she can still hardly fit into the dress. Camera shows the whole dressing up process closely. There is no tiniest bit of space between her skin and the garment. As a spectator I felt the heaviness and tightness of the dress and felt suffocated. I felt myself inside of the costume and my body has become her body. The scene ends with him standing in front of her, grabbing the jacket of the garment on both neckbands and pulling harshly as a final touch. Once again based on the strong sound resulted by the harsh move and the vision of the move of his body and her body joggled by his move make the spectator feel that the dress is too heavy, elaborately decorated and too tight, which doesn’t allow you to even move.

As it is mentioned previously the scene illustrates a good example to haptic vision. The term ‘haptic visuality’ is used by Laura Marks and basically refers to our experiencing the vision on the screen sensually, in other words, to perceive the scene bodily (Sobchack, 56). If more explanation is needed, haptic visuality gives you the sense of touch, sense of smell and so on. For example, in the scene that is discussed above, even tough the viewer can not touch to the matador garment literally, still she/he can feel the texture, the decorations and the tightness of the costume. Although as Sobchack mentions this aspect of visioning is ignored by the theorists, still some works and studies have been done focussing on this. Deleuze writes that Eisenstein ̏continually reminds us that ‘intellectual cinema’ has as correlate ‘sensory thought’ or ‘emotional intelligence,’ and is worthless without it ̋ (Sobchack, 55). She mentions about a study which took place in Unites States in 1930s and focussed on the ‘galvanic responses’ and blood pressure of the spectators. Also she reminds Walter Benjamin’s ideas about cinema (Sobchack, 56). Benjamin, in his article ̏ The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction ̋ (1935), also talks about tactile appropriation and experiencing the movie in distraction, meaning; the spectator also experiences the film through senses and bodily without really thinking about it (Benjamin, 14, Sobchack, 65).

According to Kraucauer, cinema has the power to ̏ stimulate us physiologically and sensually ̋ (Sobchack, 55). He also sees spectator as a ‘corporal material being’ and he thinks cinema touches on this corporal material being. This being touched by the cinema would be called embodied spectatorship (Sobchack, 55, 56). To explain embodied spectatorship more in detail it would be useful to discuss two related terms which are synaesthesia and coenaesthesia (Sobchack, 67).

Synaesthesia can be defined as ‘involuntary experience’ (Sobchack, 67). Synaesthesia experience is immediate, direct, and concrete and the meaning is clear. It is more like being and living it (Sobchack , 68). Also synaesthesiatic perception makes the viewer to receive the sound as colour, shape and taste (Sobchack, 67). So this explains why the sound is so important and why just ordinary diagetic sounds are so exaggerated in the films. Also in the scene that is discussed in this paper the diagetic sounds are so dominant. The other term coenaesthesia refers to the whole sensorial being (Sobchack, 67). So when the spectator sees a film these two work together and make him/her experience the film bodily.

It would be useful at this point to look at another scene which can illustrate all these explanations of the terms and the concepts. So the next scene it will be focussed is the cleaning of Alicia’s body by Benigno and another nurse. In the scene, basically, two nurses are cleaning Alicia’s body with sponge, cloth, some cleaneser product, and talking. Again the sound is very dominant. It makes the viewer experience the scene. You feel how the sponge and foam touches on the skin. This is not just because of the sound in the scene but also because of the knowledge and lived experience of yours. You know how it feels because you experienced it bodily for many times (Sobchack, 60, 71, 73). As a spectator you relate your body to the characters’ body on the scene. You feel the scene on your body through seeing the body or bodies on the screen. Sobchack calls this bodily reflexivity (Sobchack, 79). Also by looking at Alicia’s body you can feel that she is lifeless. You reach to this judgement by looking at her movements and reactions when the nurses are touching her. So all the images and the whole mise-en-scène in the scene communicate both with your knowledge and also with your senses and make you experience the scene bodily and make sense of the scene. Sobchack says ̏… cinema uses ‘lived modes’ of perceptual and sensory experience (seeing, movement, and hearing the most dominant) as ‘sign-vehicles’ of representation ̋ (Sobchack, 74). She continues; ̏…the cinema simultaneously represents experience through dynamic presentation and it also presents experience as representation ̋ (Sobchack, 74).

To sum up, Hable con Ella is a good example for embodied spectatorship. It uses sound and body very dominantly which allows the spectator to experience the film bodily even more. As a viewer I was so impressed with my bodily reactions. I felt the film on my whole body so strongly which is why I decided to focus on this film. In the scenes which have been focussed in this paper, the sound was very dominant and as it is mentioned before this was one of the key elements which trigger synaesthetic perception. Cinema by using both lived bodily knowledge and the relation of sound and vision to touch and other senses such as taste, communicates with the spectator not just mentally and not just on the screen but also bodily and more three dimensionally and literally.

Bibliography

Walter Benjamin, ̏ The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction ̋, 1935.
Vivian Sobchack, Carnal of Thougths: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture, University of California Press, 2004.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Diaspora and The Namesake


Foucault’s objective “has been to create a history of the different modes by which in our culture, human beings are made subjects” (Rabinow, p.7). This line reiterates the basis of films, where characters or human bodies are also made into subjects within framed context, propagating a histography of culture through the different genres of horror, comedy amongst others, but more forcefully through Third World Cinema. In this respect The Namesake, undeniably sheds some light on how culture affects the dislocated body but also moulds an identity and thereby creating the sentiment of empathy with its spectators. This is a film “culturally rooted” in Third Cinema which dwells amidst the complexities of the intermingling of two cultures and a search for identity which eventually culminates in the triumph of knowing, who you are.

The Namesake has been directed by Mira Nair and is based on the novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri of the same title. The film would be categorised as Third Cinema which as per its definition, involves “a wider circle of the cinematic productions of Third World people (retroactively defined as such), whether or not the films adhere to the principles of Third Cinema and irrespective of the period of their making” (Shohat and Stam, p.28) but at the same time it would also be called a diasporic film “…which both build on and interrogates the convention of Third Cinema” (Shohat and Stam, p.28). Diasporic films lead to “Third World” cinema being made and supported financially in the “First World”. In this sense we can say that there has been an acceptance with regards to diasporic films, even if on a rather minute scale. Initially though, post-colonial films like “Road of Life (1980), Hour of the Furnaces (1968)”( Shohat and Stam, p.29) among many others dealt mainly with political issues but The Namesake deals with the issues of the dislocated body as a result of those same post-colonial effect of race and identity. The film revolves around a Bengali family but Mira Nair takes a polycentric multiculturalist approach, rather than targeting a particular group of people or a segment of society. The film tries to bind people together and speaks to everyone irrespective of their cultural background within a reality that exists. We can say that The Namesake is an experiential piece of work since it embodies the reality of Mira Nair and Jhumpa Lahiri’s lives, of also being part of a diaspora.

The story of The Namesake is set for the most part in America. Ashoke Ganguli who has been studying in America for the past two years goes back to his hometown, Calcutta, India, and marries a Bengali girl, Ashima. Together they head back to the USA and embark on their new journey there. They eventually have a son Gogol and a daughter Sonia. The plot revolves around this family and the intricacies that come with being first generation migrant bound so much to their tradition and bringing up second generation American-Indians perpetually conflicted by identity crisis. The Namesake’s opening credit shifts continuously from Bengali script to English presenting the ambiguous nature of the film’s theme which is that of cultural identity. This could either be seen as a crisis between east and west or a harmonizing nature depicted through the mélange of both languages.

A large number of diasporic films “explore the identitary complexities of exile- from one’s own geography, from one’s own history, from one’s own body- within innovative narrative strategies” (Shohat and Stam, p.318). The Namesake does not deal with forced exile in the literal sense but an existentialist choice that Ashoke and Ashima made, which nonetheless depicts the same sentiments of being in exile which is strewn about all over the film through the experience of isolation. In the beginning of the film, a contrast has been made between India which has been shot in a very colourful décor with a crowd of family at the airport bidding Ashima and Ashoke farewell and the consecutive scene portraying an almost deserted like, snowy and grey America. The wintery atmosphere outside is reflected in the couple’s room which also seems very gloomy. This creates a stark difference setting the tone for the film that Mira Nair has tried to create inorder to enhance this feeling of loneliness one feels in a foreign land through strategic use of a fitting colour palette. It grips the viewer and everybody can easily identify to this scene of loneliness which Walter Benjamin had rightly said regarding “…cinematic intelligibility in terms of ‘tactile appropriation’ and elsewhere he speaks to the viewer’s ‘mimetic faculty’ a sensuous and bodily form of perception” (Sobchack, p.55), which is so true since one feels the loneliness through the body, where you feel like just curling up your body in a cocoon to protect yourself against the slicing loneliness while watching this scene. As we go through this scene and relating back to Ashima’s traditional ways, there is a part where she prepares some cornflakes which is traditionally a very American food, but instead of pouring milk in it, she puts chilli powder, this can come as a bit of surprise to the western audience. Having the cornflakes this way is part of her cultural background and identity, for it is the only way she has learnt to eat it. This scene on the other hand also reveals her first experience of being in a new country to which she would have to adapt and learn certain rules of the road in order to build her niche and fit in. Globally, very little is known about other cultures outside of the western context, where most people naturally would not know that India has a dish which is quite like cornflakes but is called chivda or chaat eaten with spice or massala . Ashima would simply be seen here as defying what is accepted as “normal”. Another way of translating this scene could be through the dependency theory, where there is an unacceptance of the Eurocentric ways. The west blamed Third World nation’s underdevelopment due to the fact that they kept to their cultural traditions rather than following in the latter’s footsteps . Ashima also wearing her sari throughout the film shows her firm relationship in keeping with her tradition and at the same time evolving and learning what is best from her new environment.

Another equally important character in the film is that of Gogol, and as the name of the film implies, The Namesake, Gogol has been named after the Russian, Nikolai Gogol, who was Ashoke’s favourite author. The story of Gogol Ganguli is that of an American-Indian boy and his struggle in situating himself in between these two worlds where he is bound to a hyphenated identity . He situates himself within a present culture but brings on the luggage of another, where one is always more obvious then the other, for if Gogol is based simply on the appearance, he would be termed as an Indian but if by his accent an American. It is tautological but whereby any meaning leads to that same individual. Gogol’s case is complex, for he is American-Indian but has a funny Russian name which makes him the centre of taunts. The Namesake tries to evade from that usual conflict of a person from any diaspora who faces having a traditional name, which becomes hard to pronounce and therefore the name is westernised. In the film Gogol’s name is changed to Nikhil to make it easier on the boy, but as one family friend in the film rightly remarks that the name would be regressed as Nick, and that obviously happens later on. The actor playing Gogol in The Namesake is known internationally as Kal Penn but his real name is actually Kalpen Suresh Modi, who is American born like his character, and it seems in order to survive and be more acceptable in Hollywood, he had to change his name as well. There is pun intended in the closing credit of the film as well, through the list of the cast next to Gogol, Kal Penn is written and next to Nikhil you have Kalpen Modi. As Gogol grows up and taking the name of Nikhil, there is a distance that has been formed between his parents and himself. He is living his own life, which at times is difficult for Ashima but she is constantly reminded by Ashoke that “this is America” and children do as they please. Amongst these conflicting cultures at times, it becomes difficult for children to situate themselves. Nikhil ultimately ends up dating a white American girl, Maxine, and feels closer with her family than his own. Her family represents the mass and the culture he has been trying to emulate while growing up. Even though he is very much accepted by them, he is introduced as the Indian Architect to their friends and his name instead of being Nikhil is pronounced as Nikool. Analysing this, there comes the issue of “denial of difference and the denial of sameness” (Shohat and Stam, p.24). Here Maxine’s family denies he is different but at the same time denies he is similar to them. When Gogol takes Maxine home to meet his parents, he tells her not to hold hands or touch him infront of his parents, because they are not used to these public displays. It reflects his obeisance to the culture that he is trying hard to escape, which could be seen as an unconscious acceptance of it as well and here his own denial of difference and sameness. Quite often it happens that minority groups are so under scrutiny that it makes them feel that being part of that minoritarian group is wrong, they are therefore in a continuous rebellion with themselves in trying to prove they can be the “other”.

Althusser argued that ideology which asserts itself through cultural and social institutions and practices “hails or “interpellates” us. Individuals do not exist prior to or apart from systems of ideology-they are produced as effects of it . The recurrent theme of The Namesake is about asserting ideology while building and assuming your identity without refuting any aspect that makes you that unique individual person. When Ashoke passes away in the film, it brings on a transformation in Gogol, he is guilt ridden for not always being present for his parents and never quite understanding them or his culture. The scene where he learns of his father’s death is heart-wrenching, Gogol goes to a barber shop and gets his hair shaved something that he saw his father do when he was younger, at the time of death in the family. As he sits in the chair getting his hair cut, the scene goes in slow motion, with a loud rap music in the background which adds to the weight of the scene. It is two opposite things happening, sadness and a fast beat song which greatly impacts viewer where we feel the loss, where we feel the emptiness. Just as Sobchack relates to The Piano, we can say the same for this particular scene which carries on in the rituals being performed for the funeral from The Namesake, we are “… able to touch and be touched by the substance and texture of images; to feel a visual atmosphere envelope us; to experience weight, suffocation, and the need for air; to take flight in kinetic exhilaration and freedom even though we are relatively bound to our theatre seats; to be knocked backward by a sound to sometimes even taste and smell the world we see on the screen” (Sobchack, p.65). Gogol goes through a meditative period in his life and so do we as viewers with this scene; he comes to the realisation that he has to make peace with his cultural identity and accept that fact that he is a product of neo-colonialism: striking a balance and not rejecting any bit that makes him who he is.

The Namesake, is not a film that tries to be partial to any culture, in situating cultural identity but it builds on what is presently the situation and presents it to viewers. People unconsciously do impose oppressive misconceptions on societies that they do not know, whether it be of the west or the east. This film is bathed in polycentric multiculralism, it constantly praises American society and towards the end of the film, you see Ashima also being broad minded about her daughter marrying a non-Indian guy. We are taught to see further beyond groups and categories we identify to and just accept it and move forward. She opened up to the country and accepted the way of life there but also never forgetting her traditions and roots just as Gogol who was finally able to culturally situate himself.

Bibliography
- Nair, Mira, dir. The Namesake. Perfs. Irfaan Khan, Tabu, Kal Penn, Sahira Nair. Fox Searchlight Picture, 2006.
- Rabinow, Paul, (ed), Michel Foucault, The Foucault Reader.
- Shohat, Ella, and, Stam, Robert, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media, 1994.
- Curran, Angela, and, Donelan, Carol, ‘Gender’ in The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film, 2008, Ebook Library.
- Sobchack Vivian, ‘What My Fingers Knew’ in Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture, 2004.
- Biography in Mirabhai Films, Accessed on 09.11.21, http://mirabaifilms.com/bio.html.
- About the Author in Jhumpa Lahiri, Accessed on 09.11.21 http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/jhumpalahiri/bio.php.