Crime Never Pays?

Michel Poiccard is petty criminal who steals cars like some people speed on the highway.  He lies and cheats people close to him, including a girlfriend.  He is dangerous when cornered and has murdered a police officer.  Yet, at the same time, he is young and glamorous, faithful in his way to Patricia, and in the end willing to pay for his crimes. The film follows some of the rules of a film noir or gangster film.  Yet, the film also plays around with those conventions: the police, for example, are incompetent and there is not much tension or excitement in the chase scenes.  So what is going on?   Is this film saying anything about crime and punishment?  Or is it just messing with us?

What's New About the New Wave?

French New wave auteurs like Godard envisioned their films as a radical re-visoning of the static filmmaking of the French studio system. What experimental ideas or techniques did you notice in Breathless (could you explain in some detail)? How do these experiments change the way we enjoy a film? Are they engaging or annoying? Do they bring meaning to the film? Do they make fun of the whole idea of bringing meaning to film?

Love in the Time of the Beatles

One interpretation of Breathless is that it is a film about love in the modern world, where lovers know little about each others' past, have trouble communicating, follow their impulsive longings, only to end up betrayed at the end. Is there more to this take on modern romance? Is there something deeper in Michel and Patricia's relationship? Or is there something less? Is love even possible in the shadow of the atomic bomb and the Cold War? (Don't forget that Michel has other girlfriends and Patricia spent the evening -- and might have slept with -- her editor).

Mono No Aware

Mono no aware is the Japanese idea of the awareness of the transience of beauty and the ultimate sadness of life. After watching Early Summer can you better understand this concept? Where there scenes that evoked both feelings of joy and sadness, moment of beauty and tears?  What were your emotionas at the end of the film?  What did you think about some of the images we discussed in class: the waves, the caged bird, the child's balloon?  Are there moments when you felt the sadness and the beauty of life?

Sushi and Baseball

Early Summer depicts a Japan in transition.  Defeated and occupied by the Americans, the Japanese both cling to their traditional ways and embrace new ideas from their occupiers.  How does the movie show this transition?  Does this movie make a judgment about the new American influence?  Is there a political slant, however subtle, in this film?  What does this movie think about baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie?

All in the Family

Early Summer shows the relationship between two aged parents, their grown children and their grandchildren. The young children are rebellious and demanding.  The grandparents try to buy their grandchildren's affection.  The parents and brother try to manage the younger sister's life.  Choices about everything from buying an expensive cake to choosing to marry (and to whom one marries) have implications for everyone.  Eventually the family so painstakingly captured in a photograph breaks up, as Noriko marries and moves to the provinces and her parents move near the great uncle.  How accurate is this portrayal of family life? Is this a "slice of life" (and part of the reason it feels as if "nothing happens")? Does this remind you of your family? Is this how families work? Focus on one scene or character and discuss what it tells us about the dynamics of family life.

Jigsaw Narrative

Multiple narrators tell he story of Charles Foster Kane's life.  We see his life in a newsreel format, in Thatcher's memoirs, and as told by Bernstein, Leland, Susan Alexander, and even Raymond, the butler.  What is the point of telling the story in this way?  Does each narrator give a specific "spin" or have a particular bias?  Does each see a distinctive aspect of Kane's personality?  Is each section told in a different way, utilizing different techniques of filming (such as camera angles, deep focus, lighting, or even choice of music)?  What" bang for our buck" do we get from this jigsaw narration?  Is it equal to or greater than the sum of its parts?