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Film Appreciation:
Some memorable films of the past
K S Sivakumaran
Students of cinema would recall some memorable films that they had
seen during the last century. Young people born after the 1970s or so
might not have heard of these films. Although they may find fault with
such classics in terms of contemporary films made with hi-fi technology,
yet they will be astonished in seeing the old films for their content
and the art of film making.
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A scene
from Bicycle Thieves |
One such film was the Italian film Bicycle Thieves directed by the
actor and director Vittorio De Sica. Made in 1948, it opened a new genre
in film-making and came under the category of neo-realism. The aftermath
of World War II in Italy is the background to the film. It is a simple
story of the solidarity between a father and son. A poor man with no job
and a wife and son finds a job where he has to travel on a bicycle. But
on the first day of his job, his bicycle is stolen.
Rest of the story is of human interest where the man, his and his
friends search for the stolen bicycle. But it is not the searches itself
that make us watch the film, but the search presents the wretched life
in Rome after the destruction of war. The reality strikes hard on the
face. The man not finding his own bicycle, attempts to steal similar
bicycle from somewhere. But he fails. However, his wife traces the
bicycle in a pawn shop and recovers it by trading some linen.
Visually the film is exciting with the scenes on roads as the father
and son search for the bicycle.
Another classic made in Bangla (Bengali) in 1955 was Pother
Paanchaali by Satyajit Rai, one of the Asian giants in Cinema and one of
best 10 directors in the world of cinema. Some of you might have seen
this film shown during the Tagore Film Festival held recently in
Colombo. Innumerable material and critical comments are available in
magazines and the Internet.
Gold Rush was another classic. This was made in 1925. The indomitable
Charles Chaplin wrote the screenplay and also directed it. Although he
was born British, he is identified as an American film-maker.
The theme of the film is that a man’s attempt to create civilization
out of wilderness is the bottom line. It is a parable of rags to riches
story. We must remember that Chaplin had to struggle to become noticed
by others. He shot his film in an unfavourable atmosphere in Nevada. To
know more about Charles Chaplin, we can read a few books like David
Robinson’s “Chaplin: His Life and Art”, His own, “My Autobiography” and
Peter Haining’s “The Legend of Charlie Chaplin”.
Maybe what Andre Bazin wrote as “What is Cinema?” can also be of much
use in understanding the early cinema?
Man with a movie camera made in 1928 is supposed to be on the art and
craft of movie making. I have not seen the film, but my lecturers
explained that: “it has many movements, captured from life, captured by
the camera. The vision of Russian poet and film-maker Dziga Vertov finds
many forms, simultaneous and multi planner. There is a continuous flow
between the personality behind the camera and the personality in front
of the camera. The eye of the camera and the eye in the camera. From the
spectator to actor and actor to spectator. From our film to their film
and back again. It is a documentary, it is a poem.”
We understand that the director experimented with the nature of the
medium itself, capturing the true spirit of the cultural atmosphere of
the then Soviet Union of the period. He uses all his resources of
editing: he uses trick photography, slow and speed-up motion and
animation. He had selected his brother to play the man with the movie
camera.”
Books relating to this film were also recommended:
“Constructivism in Film” by Vlada Petric., “Kino Eye: The Writings of
Dziga Vertov”, “Kino: A History of Russian and Soviet Film” by Jay Leda
and” Documentary” by Erik Barnow.
Talking of Documentary Films, we must also talk about one of the
notable Indian filmmaker- Anand Patawardhan. He was also one of my
lecturers. One of his films was called In Memory of Friends. This was a
documentary about violence and terror in Punjab in India in the 1980s.
There was dissension and calamity between the Hindus and the Sikhs.
Another documentary was titled Bombay- Our City. This was depiction of
the unauthorized demolition of some huts in Mumbai. It speaks about the
right to life and its denial to some section of the people in the
metropolis by the callousness of those who are in power.
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