please help me flesh out this idea that i don't even have a title for yet
critiques/revisions are welcome company:
I’ve been trying to catch up on my film watching these past couple weekends. Ended up getting a bit bogged down last year, so thank you rentals and a movie room to make the experience worth while. Just finished The Constant Gardener, a beautifully austere work that visually dissects action while the disjointed narrative reconfigures letters, lost lives, and libidos. Director Fernando Meirelles (City of God) creates a rustic motion picture reminiscent of a Cubist deconstruction with bits and pieces of understanding juxtaposed cryptic images that demand viewer reflection.
On a grander scale, Meirelles, along with several other directors, seems to be part of an fascinating shift in art, more specifically the motion picture. Recent films have displayed wide audience appeal despite their shocking or non-bourgeoisie subject matter like Born into Brothels, Syriana, and Motorcycle Diaries. The films seem to follow a single character and parts of his family as drawn into an increasing web social injustices. As the character becomes extracted from his family and drawn outside his typical stomping grounds, the plot thickens, yada yada yada and he becomes a hero and at times even a martyr. Besides the fact that some really decent films from the margins critique areas of modern culture, capitalism, and caste culture; many times these films are being distributed and consumed by the “bad guys” in their movies.
The Man vs. the System (that man has created) has become a dominant theme among filmmakers ready to stand on behalf of the exploited The struggle between man, nature, himself, etc. still exists, but like the rising depictions of everyday workers in everyday situations during the Middle Ages – the critique of the System gains strength as the art ceases to ignore the oppressive elephant in the room. Since the advent of the motion picture at the turn of the last century, the divide between richer and poorer has never been greater or as closer as it is at the turn of the 21st century. America the great has never been more feared or hated or power-hungry throughout the world. But where there is power, there is a critique of power.
As the classical Hollywood system continues to grow (see King Kong) so does the independent film circuit. The smaller and more marginalized now have more film festivals, websites, and small theaters for distribution than ever before. We as the audience (and increasingly – the art patrons) become caught in a very complex economic web similar to those portrayed on screen every time we watch a film. Does the latest propensity towards films with a distinct message imply a shift or simply a “shutter” in the film scene. With the world shifting towards more and more Western ideals (and thus problems), the increasing rates of change, and limitless artistic expression; the reality seems to be greater that we are riding an swelling wave of change away from traditional hegemonic American Capitalism towards localized united tribalism. Despite plenty of boom before a bust, the art of film has truly delivered a well-informed critique to a vastly uninformed, but listening audience.
Is the art of “Indihood” enough to move viewers to take real action in their world? Or will the Hollywood regime continue to numb audiences from their seats to their cars to their homes to their jobs successfully enough to dissociate them from the systemic problems of their week long enough to capture them next Friday night with the new release?
posted by mcblogington @ 6:52 PM
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