Lev, Peter. "Blow-Up, Swinging London, and the Film Generation." Film Quarterly 17 (2). (1989): 134-137

    The central argument of Peter Lev's essay Blow-up, Swinging London, and the Film Generation attempts to show the link between culture and commercial backdrops of the film, and how that contributes to the feel of the movie.  He begins by identifying the youthful, creative energy of the film that is attributed to cultural placement of 'the swinging London', where the youth and their creativity had an impact globally.  Lev notes that the visual style of the film is influenced by this very culture, being very free.  

    An additional influence on the film was the role that the crumbling edifice of censorship in films.  Blow-Up was at the very center of this debate due to it's explicit sexual content.  With the director unwilling to make cuts to the film, a great controversy arose, generating huge amounts of press, contributing to the films success commercially.

    Essentially, his argument is a reactionary one, reacting against the comments that the film is a timeless masterpiece.  Instead, Lev insists, it is the cultural setting of the time that create the films complexity and brilliance.

Williams, Megan. "A Surface of Forgetting: The Object of History in Michaelangelo Antonioni's Blowup." Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 17 (3). (2000): 245-259

    The central argument of Meg Williams A Surface of Forgetting is that "Blow-Up allegorizes a world where the events of the Second World War can be erased and forgotten."(246)  Specifically, she suggests, it is the humanist belief in mankind's ability to alter the future based on lessons from the past that has been destroyed by the events of the Second World War, and that then (when the movie was released), characters, both inside and outside of the film, sought to break with this past.

    For example, taking Thomas as a representative of the Mod generation (the youth culture in London during the 60's), Williams points out that Thomas' interest in purchasing the antique store is a metaphor for putting the contents of the historical past in the hands of the Mod generation.  The significance of the placing history into the hands of the Mod generation is that they, as a social phenomena, lived in a perpetual present, "free from the burden of history" (250); and their possession of history would have only resulted in its immediate erasure.   Or for instance, consider the way in which Thomas easily abandons his search for the woman he met in the park--a important piece of evidence in the mystery at the park.  The interpretation Williams' offers is that this is an example of how the Mod generation readily forgoes the pursuit of knowledge in order "to understand events of the recent past." (250)

    Ultimately, William's holds that Blow-Up's allegory is one where the camera (and technology for that matter) allows us to record history, but simultaneously allow us to discard what has been recorded, essentially "[transforming] the past into an object for which we do not need to ascribe accountability." (257)

Francis, Richard. "Transcending Metaphor: Antonioni's Blow-Up." Literature Film Quarterly. 13 (1). (1985): 42-49

    In Transcending Metaphor, Richard Lee Francis sets out to examine the relationship of film to both literary fiction and theatrical drama.  The problem, as Francis notes, is that many critics don’t view film as being on the same level as either literary fiction or theatrical drama, as made clear in this quote, “traditional literature…is essentially representational, while film is presentational.” (42)  Hence, they mean to imply that approaching film as one would approach literature is a mistake.  Contrary to that notion, however, Francis’ central argument is that film, specifically that of Antonioni’s Blow-Up, transcends the generic forms of literary fiction and theatrical drama.

    The author begins by examining the issue from a theoretical standpoint, elucidating the relationship of film to both literary fiction and theatrical drama.  He notes that in actual fact film often possesses the very same elements fundamental to literary fiction and theatrical drama, such as “a point of view that affects that narrative action”(44) as found in literary fiction, and “actors engaged in action that is suspenseful”(44) as found in theatrical drama.  Moreover, film, he asserts, being a combination of both forms, transcends both literary fiction and theatrical drama simply because it is able to accomplish things, due to the synthesis, that neither could accomplish on their own.  By way of Antonioni’s Blow-Up, the author demonstrates his theoretical points. Specifically, he notes that what Blow-Up is demonstrative of is a film that “transcends our traditional metaphoric analog-making, in a way we have yet to come to terms with effectively in regard to film in general.”(49)

Wagstaff, Chris. "Sexual Noise." Sight and Sound. (1992): 32-35

    The central argument Chris Wagstaff's essay Sexual Noise is that “the love stories in ‘Blow-up’ are there to enable Antonioni to explore on what basis we make ethical choices—and how we can know and correctly interpret the world.” (32)  For Antonioni, Wagstaff notes, sex was not simply an act of love, but also a signifier of greater meaning, revealing the perception of reality of the characters and the ethical choices made upon such perception.  He notes that Antonioni films do this by inviting the viewer to watch the character on screen, watch the way he/she perceives reality, and watch the way they act in ethical situations.  

    To further explain his position on how this film works, he turns to information theory and the notion of the signal vs the noise, whereby the signal is the desired information and the noise in the interference.  He relates this to sexual relationships between men and women, stating that there is a lot of noise in a sexual relationship constituted by attraction and desire. There is also a signal in the relationship that is known as the true feelings.  Determining which is which, Wagstaff notes, is the difficulty for the character of Thomas who is found in numerous sexual situations.  The confusion between the two, signal and noise, contributes significantly, for better or worse, to the character’s perception of the world.  Furthermore, this signal/noise interpretation makes choice (i.e. ethical action) possible, “but it is also what makes that choice difficult.” (35) 

What's this?

This article is an interview with Saadi Yacef “best known to filmgoers as "El-hadi Jaffar," military chief of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) in Algiers, in the classic 1965 film, The Battle of Algiers, in which he portrayed himself.”

Riddle me this: what do you get when you combine a nifty little piece of Flash software, some backend mojo, an army of cellphone-toting teens, and one "Lazy Sunday" clip? The answer is, of course, the largest online video streaming service on the planet, YouTube.

...

Ironically enough, however, it's YouTube's philosophy of small, digestible content and their willingness to avoid copyright issues that has positioned them to answer the age-old question of “What is fair use?”

     In the preface to the book Italian film in the light of neorealism, Millicent Marcus includes an enlightening quote from Vittorio de Sica on the effects of the war on Cinema.  de Sica states that everyone involved in Italian cinema post-war felf the need to "liberate ourselves from the weight of our sins, we wanted to look ourselves in the face and tell ourselves the truth, to discover what we really were, and to seek salvation."  With this quote, Marcus sets the tone for what the book is ultimately about, which is linking neorealism to a new identity not just for Italian filmmakers, but for the nation as a whole.  The contributions of de Sica to this movement are likened to a stone that "contributed to the moral reconstruction of" Italy, specifically Italian thought.  Consquently, Marcus makes the argument that neorealism proper goes on to beget a more personalized form of realism that contributes to a culture shift that influences filmmakers as diverse as Bertolucci and Wertmuller.

     The one film that Marcus singles out one film as the premier moment of neorealism as a whole is of course Bicycle Thief, although it should be noted that Rossellini's Rome, Open City is given the distinction of being the founding of neorealism proper.  What sets Bicycle Thief apart for Marcus is the way that de Sica/Zavattini's work focused on the "banality of the stabilized postwar condition."  One line in particular ("No, nothing, just a bicycle") resonates with Marcus because it shows the total dismissal by the powers that be of the loss that Antonio faces in having his bicycle stolen.  The space that is created by de Sica is described as being "fragmented, decentered" and having no sense of cohesion which creates a maze like atmosphere for Antonio as he looks for the bicycle.   This sense of endless, fruitless searching is summed up by Marcus as an inherent pessimism on the part of de Sica that is meant to be a reflection of the disappointment of the Italian people as a whole. 

A new mailing list to discuss the future of catalogs:   http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mailing-lists/ngc4lib/

Brian Jungen
Cetology, 2002
plastic chairs
Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, purchased with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and the Vancouver Art Gallery Acquisition Fund, 2003
Photo: Trevor Mills, Vancouver Art Galler

Looks at the myth of openness in Wikipedia. Talks about how Wikipedia has really moved towards stricter group-enforced editorial policy.  He thinks the myth demeans the individual in contributing to culture.

questioning the economic model of web2.0. unbundling of everything leads to the unbundling of some really useful subsitides.

In this article, Landy discusses how with respect to films by Godard, there are two hypothesis that she proposes come into effect while studying Godard. The first hypothesis is that “cinema is not a reflection of a reality, rather a reality of a reflection”. In her second hypothesis she states that there is no “just image”, rather there is only “just an image” – a concept which she relates to her first hypothesis. On other words, her claims are that Godard’s films are not produced for the viewer to interpret the “correct meaning” of the images that add up to a sense of the truth, but the scenes put forth something that is conceptual – the theory of cinema, which is also a philosophy. The relations that his characters share are in a sense still molding with the unfolding of the film, in a fashion which is not necessarily structured. The addition of sound, particularly classical music plays a hefty and important part in Godard’s films and serves as more than just background tunes or pieces. However, in his movies, Godard does not make a special effort to make sure that a one-to-one correspondence exists between visual and sound image. Together they serve the role of provoking associations regarding character, landscape, memory and event. This is an important concept for Une femme est une femme as Godard explains that “sounds have the value of images. I have never used music otherwise”.

Thus the cinematic image that Godard offers confronts a nearly impossible task of restoring “belief in the world”, rather than offering an “illusion” of the world and thus he introduces a “reflection into the image itself”.

In this article Davit talks of the scriptwriting for Une femme est une femme, and compares it to Godard’s others works like My life to live and Breathless.  Godard refers to Une femme est une femme as “my first real film” and “the one I like best” as he moved to the radically different genre of color cinematography, while shooting this musical comedy on studio soundstages. The scriptwriting for this movie, along with other ones like My life to live and Breathless  were extremely unorthodox, as Godard would finish scenes and write some finishing touches to scenes while the actors were getting their make up done. He was able to find and weave into the story some last minute inspirations which he thought would add productively to the overall feeling the film would generate. At one point though, after the filming of Le petit soldat, Godard had decided to say no to improvisation and wished to stick strictly to the script. Soon enough he realized the impossibility of his decision, and just termed it as his “method” of working.  He also realized the potential of this “theatrical realism”, which he later termed as theatre verite. His methodology of working on a film was also very unlike contemporary directors of the time – he liked to shoot the film in sequence as it would be in the movie, take only one shot of a scene and chop out and delete any scene which he couldn’t relate to and have the final production with minimal editing. This is a very important trait that Godard was very well known and respected for, and even people who don’t know much about Godard know this fact about his films and their impact on New Wave French cinema.

In his later period Godard developed a new camera style, one that was primarily comprised of a log slow tracking shot that moved laterally in one direction across a static scene. Henderson states that this technique gives the shot the form of a 'planimetric painting'. He then goes on to contrast Godard's shot with Ophuls, saying that they are similar in their lateral nature but differ in that they are following shots. In addition he states that Ophuls tracks are 'uncritical of their subjects' while Godard’s shot is its 'critical distance from what it surveys. Godard also never interposes objects in the foreground between the character and the camera, something that Ophul does often. Next Henderson compares Godard’s shot with that of Fellini, stating that there are two main differences between the two: Fellini's camera gives life and directly affects the character it interacts with the reality it is filming, and his shots are often subjective. Godard's shot comparatively does not affect the reality and are never subjective.

After his comparisons, Henderson moves on to criticisms of Godard’s work, primarily from Andre Bazin who believes that Godard’s shots are flat and lack depth.

This essay by Solomon stresses on the stylistic movements in film during the new wave era. He starts by emphasizing that experiments in film, by various French directors have frequently found “quick acceptance” and have been followed by either strong public support, or critical acclaim. Due to the changes in the style of film and production, the American film industry began to lose out to the dominant European film market in the thirties and forties, although it became more susceptible to foreign influence. This resulted in avant-garde filming gaining familiarity with the mass audiences. Far from having any similarities to contemporary cinema, the French New Wave challenged the traditional well-made films. Rather than building characters and relationships, in order for audiences to understand the motivations of these characters, movies would just start up and get into the story, sometimes giving the audience the idea that the characters themselves may have been unaware of the reality in their own lives. For example, in Truffaut’s Breathless, the movie starts off with Michel stealing a car and progresses into him actually killing the cop who is following him. Not at any point during this scene does the audience get a sense of the main character or his motivation in terms of the way his mind works. He simply finishes this scene and then continues with his usual business. Godard likes his audience to form an image about the character based on what we have seen them do, and not on what we might interpret as their personality. While making his movies, Godard likes his audience to have a sense of imagination and does not influence every opinion that the viewer might have of the character. We feel like we are in a world where we are watching and observing the characters, who themselves might be examining their own activities. Through the movies we do not feel like we are left in the dark, rather in a space where we are allowed to judge the characters as we please, and unlike Hollywood films, can enjoy the movie thoroughly without having to develop a relationship with the characters on screen.

June 8, 2006
New Urbanism: It's in the Army Now
By WILLIAM L. HAMILTON

Fort Belvoir, Va.

ONE of the newer suburban developments in Fairfax County, Va., is the Villages at Belvoir.

Belvoir is Fort Belvoir, a military post. And the Villages, 15 New Urbanist towns, are on-post housing for soldiers and their families.

The first, Herryford Village, was occupied last year: 171 town houses and houses designed in a local Georgian Colonial style. It has a Main Street with shops and a clock tower, playgrounds, and village greens with open-air pavilions and centralized mailboxes where residents can socialize informally. There is not a tin hut or cinderblock house in sight.

... 

In this essay, Lack talks about the significance of reference to chronologically specific material like newspapers, magazines, and graffiti etc. which seem to be a theme in Godard’s first three films. He claims that reference to these nearly concealed hints of time and history, serve as a means of access to the political importance of the films. He brings to light the fact that the film was shot between November 1960 and January 1961, but was set in November 1960. A scene in the movie shows Angela (Anna Karina) looking at a calendar which shows that the date is November 10^th. This date is the ‘narrative center of the film’, the date of the 11^th is shown as while, however the scenes of that day are littered with imagery of the passage of time that is shown by the usage of old magazines, newspapers and video clips. In addition there is an elaborate football scene in the movie, one that is completely contrived, an oddity for this specific director. Godard is known for stressing the realistic elements in his movies and this scene is a somewhat contradiction to his style. A match such as this would have been played on a Wednesday not a Friday, something that would have been evident to all viewers. Godard additionally leaves a goal that is scored by Real Madrid as a goal, rather than having it disallowed by the referee which is what happened in actuality. As Lack stresses, this specific change has even further implications for Godard’s commentary on time within the film. Godard’s use of time in imagery and displacement illustrates the fact that he uses his films to afford one an escape from the constraints of time. He even omits any concurrent political events that were going on during the time of the movie, deciding instead to set it in a future time after the war of Algiers. Though the politics of the time are not made obvious in the film there are references to them as in the scene with the policeman and the possible terrorist threat.

In this article, Mesplomb brings the issue of women and sexuality in films, and women in French cinema, during the 50’s in particular. He starts off by explaining the influence of other cultures, especially Hollywood on French cinema. It was only after the Second World War that a generation of female actresses began to work their way onto the silver screen. Unfortunately, it was the over done, and patronizing image of the “female fatale”, that for most actresses seemed like the only way of hoping to make it as an actress. They had to make a decision – to seduce or to perish. It was simple. French cinema too started with that idea, but soon enough progressed to women playing roles in “reactionary and squalid melodramas”. There were two images that the audience had at that time of women in film – either they were innocent virgins or they were prostitutes. One of the main aspects of the New Wave films was that they showed the audiences a new image about sex and developed a new relationship that women on screen would have with the audiences and their characters. The New Wave also stayed away from the dominant myths of earlier French cinema – those of patriarchs and eternal feminine. Another point mentioned in his essay, was that scenes from films made in the 1960’s portrayed women and nudity in a form that it was reduced to clean eroticism, although in movies like Une Femme mariee by Godard, the audience would get a view that would be opposite to the innocent and arty nudity that most filmmakers claimed to focus on in this era. On the whole, the French New Wave did manage to break from the “sex object” reputation that women on screen had at the time, and also manages to break free from this “intrinsically male direction of relation to image”, but at the same time did not rid of  this notion of men dominating the screen and women have a certain character or style from which the actresses could not deviate.  

Godard's films in the time period of Une Femme est une femme deal with the flowering consumer culture of the time. He was concerned with what commodity culture meant for relationships and subjectivity, and how this would translate into imagery in both film and literature. This article considers that though Godard is concerned with reality, in some ways his interrogation of objects in his films becomes overkill and deconstructs meaning instead of making it more concrete. Just as advertising cites certain objects to have certain meanings (freedom, love, romance, etc.), Godard works on his own explicit citing and sometimes "over-cites," thus imbuing objects, and often connected people and relationships, with more meaning than is usually given through the homogenization which comes as a result of commodity culture.

His focus on objects and their relationship to people translates into a visual fascination, expressed in cinematic technique. He also considers gender differences in reactions to objects, in that he tries to portray whether men and women have different reactions to different objects. Though he is, in many ways, an observer in this fashion, through his conception of active filmmaking he also takes on a participant role in the definition and communication of what is real. "Realism as he practices it, however, requires a high level of artifice and manipulation on the part of the filmmaker, who is deeply mistrustful of given meanings, and of what in narrative and filmmaking is the most palatable, most reassuring to our a priori expectations and 'common sense.'" This article will inform my sense of Godard's reality, and work in conjunction with other articles in order to construct a perspective on how and why Godard reaches his often over-developed sense of reality.

Godard, in his films, combines the landscape of French culture and art, both old and new. In doing so, Godard becomes very focused on style above all else and draws on stylistic elements from artists as diverse as Rene Clair or Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo or Abel Gance, etc. He is also gives much importance to the written word, and as such is a very literary filmmaker. Also, having been widely traveled, Godard lets his experiences in ethnology and travel-filmmaking informs the nature of his work. These factors together, along with the idea that Godard is an extremely curious person who is constantly struggling with his sensibility in terms of good and reality, make his work a sort of "verbal delerium."
This, in a sense, explains and brings to light Godard's use of montage, which is driven by dialogue and meant to reflect the reality from fiction that he began to feel from reciting written works aloud. Though his works (such as Une femme est une femme) sometimes take an unrealistic, often dramatic stance on their message, this is, in fact, Godard's attempt to translate fiction into a reality that he – through his literary and theatrical perspective – can understand. He quotes Brecht, "Realism does not consist in reproducing reality, but in showing how things really are." This reality is often portrayed in a pseudo-nihilistic fashion, with Godard's apparent ambivalence towards good and bad. He often takes this reality a step further with improvisation.
Une femme est une femme is one film in which he uses a great deal of improvisation, while also using synchronous sound (direct recording) in order to develop the work. This gives the reality he is portraying in the film an all-important continuity. Two examples cited here are the scene in the apartment of Jeane-Claude Brialy and Anna Karina, where Anna cries leaning against the wall, as well as a café scene done in a long, continuous shoot. With synchronous sound and chosen music, and using improvisational camera techniques to keep it flowing, we are able to really get a feel for the emotions of the characters. Herein lies his connection to the old – his desire to flush out reality through the true expression of the attitudes and emotions of the characters. That he does so in an original fashion through the use of color, sound, and cinematography, is his connection to the new.

The director of Battle of the Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo provides insight as to why he he made this movie and speaks about its significance.

He begins by stating that the fight of oppressed people against colonialism interested him the most. He feels that our manner of thinking and culture all depend to an extent from colonization. For instance most Americans came from Europe. He also speaks about the hardships he faced while making the movie.

Pontecorvo is asked about torture depicted in the movie and asked as to why he has shown so many killings by the Algerians when in fact the French had committed much greater atrocities.  He explains himself and says that the birth of a nation happens with pain on both sides, although one side has cause and other not…. When the torture became theorized and scientific, it became an important moment of the war, and for this reason we began the film with the torture. He goes on to say that we didn’t persist in showing it because our aim wan not to put the accent on the repression, but on something more worth while, in homage to the people who fight for freedom.

It is also mentioned that the movie was a great success in Algeria. The director also speaks about the importance of the use of sound and music which enhanced his movie. According to him the music sets the tone throughout the movie. He also speaks about the importance of good photography in his movie, which was vital in making a this a great movie.

This interview provides us with the ideas that were behind the movie and the message that Pontecorvo was sending. It allows us to appreciate this movie at a different level and notice the brilliant use of sound, music and camera work. It is also startling to know that the there were no established actors in this film and that the budget was also very low. Yet the Battle of the Algiers is a powerful movie.

Christine Farley, Judging Art,79 Tulane Law Review 805 (March 2005)

In this article Farley discusses the many instances when judges confront issues where they need to make determinations concerning art. Usually these are implict judgments not informed by contemporary developments in aesthetics.  When dealing with copyright law as applied to the work of appropriation artists like Jeff Koons and Sherrie Levine, the actions of the artists will not be understood underless the underlying aesthetic theory which motivates the actions are understood.  Farley urges judges to use experts and/or to make these aware of relevant aesthetic theories as these apply to cases which come before them.

This article talks about the use of color in Godard's films, especially pertinent to “Une Femme est une femme” as it was his first color film. Primary colors, red and blue specifically, dominate the color landscape in Une Femme est une femme. Understanding the thematic implications of these color choices is important, and equating them with the major structural elements such as love triangles and the portrayal of female nudity is helpful in gauging those implications.
"Red, Blue, and Godard" compares Une Femme to Contempt and, in doing so, highlights many characteristic traits about the former, such as fragmented editing and the use of a wide variety of locations. Une Femme est une femme is an experimental work for Godard in some senses, as he had had no experience with the medium earlier. Trying to convey themes with the use of color is difficult for him, and his reliance on the presence of recurring colors is indicative of this. On page 25 of the article, there is a good discussion of different occurrences of red and blue, the main colors in the film, and the thematic implications of their use and the scenes in which they dominate. Through this section, and understanding when red is used and when blue is used, will indicate that "color is used as a leitmotif which parallels and comments upon the narrative theme."
The colors  in the film serve a structural, organizational purpose, in that they move beyond serving a strictly sensual purpose and instead move into creating a "functional" system of organization which indicates to the viewer a consistent method of association in order to establish certain emotional responses. Filtering and the juxtaposition of hues are used to this end. Much of the rest of the article is spent discussing Contempt. I plan to use the portion of this article focused on Une Femme est une femme to inform and give structure to my conceptualization of Godard's system of colors. 

Debra L. Quentel, "Bad Artists Copy. Good Artists Steal.": The Ugly Conflict Between Copyright Law and Appropriationism, 4 UCLA Entertainment Law Review 39 (Fall 1996)

This article lays out the way in which the visual arts use strategies of appropriation and how these strategies often conflict with the provisions of copyright law. Quentel discusses the most prominent case in this area, Rogers v. Koons. She also offers the idea of a statutory "fix" by means of compulsory licensing.

This article compares the situation in Iraq to the French colony of Algeria. The following sheds light on the topic: 

"If one changes the words 'settlers' and 'colonists' to 'American occupiers' and 'Algeria' to 'Iraq,' this is not a bad assessment of where the U.S. now finds itself -- or may soon find itself. Watching current TV news footage coming out of Iraq -- say, of American soldiers patting down Iraqi men at check-points (and putting hoods and plastic handcuffs on some of them) or ransacking private homes -- one cannot help but wince at the racial and religious hatreds being sown right before our eyes.

Pontecorvo ends his film with the renewal of the FLN uprising in 1960, after two years of relative calm. "Go home," the French cops yell at crowds of Moslems thronging the streets. "What is it that you want?" And the voices shout back as one: "We want our freedom."

Of course, Americans believe that freedom is precisely why we went into Iraq and why we should be loved instead of hated there -- because we are bringing it to the poor, benighted Iraqis. The French felt similarly put out because the Algerians were rejecting not merely them but also their culture, which they believed to be vastly superior to anything the Algerians might have to offer. "

This article provides us material that makes us appreciate the movie and realize the value and impact that it has. History repeats itself and we should learn from it and not repeat mistakes that were already made. This article is a real eye opener.

It also talks about resistance towards the French, especially by Abd al Qadir. “Abd al Qadir is recognized and venerated as the first hero of Algerian independence. Not without cause, his green and white standard was adopted by the Algerian liberation movement during the War of Independence and became the national flag of independent Algeria. The Algerian government brought his remains back to Algeria to be interred with much ceremony on July 5, 1966, the fourth anniversary of independence and the 136th anniversary of the French conquest. A mosque bearing his name has been constructed as a national shrine in Constantine.”

epstein writes about hollywood, diamonds and everything else.

sometimes he writes for slate 

Frank Burke attempts to explain the decline in Fellini’s reputation after the release of “8 ½” in his article “Fellini: Changing the Subject.”  Burke argues that after “8 ½” Fellini’s directorial style becomes more imaginative, dreamlike, and ultimately repetitive.  A brief history of arguments about the auteur follows.  According to Burke the idea of the creative auteur dies about the time “8 ½” is made.  As a result of this movement away from the creative auteur, Fellini changes his style of film.  While his early films deal with the idea of individuality, his later films become more confusing.  They often do not have main characters, or if there are, then the characters tend to lose their subjectivity or identity.  Burke walks through many of Fellini’s films after “8 ½,” dissecting them in order to show how Fellini changed and eventually declined.  In the middle he discusses “Fellini Satyricon” where he points out that it is a great example of the death of the character.  In “Fellini Satyricon” Fellini concentrates of the gaps of the narratives, and searches to find actors with faces that increase the spectacle he is trying to create.  In this way he places the visual aspect of the cinema over the narrative or plot driven aspect of it.  The result is a movie that is hard to follow, with fragmented characters and events. 

“Fellini Satyricon” is just one example of how Fellini moves more towards reproducing instead of creating his movies.  Burke argues that after “8 ½” Fellini tries to delve into the world of autobiographies, dreams, and remakes of novels like Satyricon.  Burke’s main point seems to be that Fellini began to decline after making “8 ½” because he tried to tweak the relationship between the author and subject.  The end product of these modifications is a decline in the quality of Fellini’s work. 

Sander L. Gilman exams Fellini’s use of religion by looking at one of his films in particular, “I Clowns.”  Before analyzing the religious intent of “I Clowns,” Gilman mentions the Erich Segal’s critique of “Fellini Satyricon.”  Segal finds “Fellini Satyricon” to be a failure because Fellini cannot create a life without Christian morals even though the characters in his movie are supposed to be pagan.  Gilman argues that Segal’s view of “Fellini Satyricon” is influenced by the fact that Segal was comparing “Fellini Satyricon” to the novel Satyricon.  Gilman instead views “Fellini Satyricon” on its own, and praises it as and imaginative and original piece of film. 

The article then continues to explain the religious content of “I Clowns” because Gilman argues that the themes found in “I Clowns” are relevant to most of Fellini’s movies.  “I Clowns” focuses on the art of spectacle.  The clowns amuse the spectators by being the opposite of what is socially acceptable.  Sometimes this verges on the oversexed or violent.  Fellini believes that the circus copies the real world.  This could be why he chooses to use the grotesque in so much of his films.  He finds honesty in the flawed aspects of people and situations.  The reason that Fellini chooses to represent the circus could also be because of his childhood obsession with it.  Fellini finds connections not only with the circus and real life, but also between the circus and the movie.  Both require rehearsals, careful thought and direction, and costumes and acting.  Another aspect of Fellini’s childhood is his attachment to the Catholic Church.  In adulthood Fellini split from the Catholic Church, but this did not stop him from harboring an obsession with morals.  Gilman points out that ignoring the religiosity of Fellini’s films does not do them justice.  Even though his main argument points towards “I Clowns” he also references other Fellini films like “La Strada” and “Fellini Satyricon” to prove that his points are true for multiple works.      

You can graph the pre-test probability and post-test probability with the calculated likelihood ratio in the Diagnostic Studies.

This new application guides clinicians through the new ATP III cholesterol guidelines.  It calculates absolute risk of\
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This software features a single-file download. All input is via checkboxes and trigger buttons. No graffiti writing is
required. This is the most intuitive and easy ATP III tool available.  It takes up less than 100K of memory.

WardWatch v. 1.2.5 is a combination database and to-do list for the PalmPilot designed primarily for medical
students and housestaff to help them organize tasks on their daily ward rounds. The product was originally
designed and tested in Australia by Torlesse Systems and registration keys can be purchased for $29.95
($19.95 for students).

As a patient tracking application, WardWatch is fairly simple and straightforward, and it was not designed to
have all the bells and whistles of commercial products such as Raphael. Its learning curve is not very steep,
and it is easy to get up and running in almost any clinical situation. It has a number of clever and useful
features, which should appeal to most PalmPilot devotees. However, I found a few inconsistencies and quirks
which tended to make the interface clumsy at times.

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Modular healthcare reference software. Modules for Emergnecy Medicine, Clinical Rotation, Clinical Nursing, pediatrics, 

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In “The Individual, the World, and the Life of Myth in ‘Fellini Satyricon’” A.J. Prats discusses how myths are used in the movie “Fellini Satyricon.”  Prats begins by quoting Joseph Campbell’s views on how movies can be the new form of the myth, in order to save the form as it is in decline.  After referencing this argument, Prats continues by delving into “Fellini Satyricon” and showing what an important part myths play in the narrative.  Prats focuses on Encolpio, one of the main characters in the film, and describes how his life, in the movie, involves interacting with different myths.  Prats further argues that in order for Encolpio to grow as a character he needs to live a life outside of the one made up of familiar myths.  Prats follows the movie through each of its uses of myths, describing how each myth effects the Encolpio.  An Encolpio travels through myth after myth, he is never able to find the freedom and direction that he finally finds in the end.  Encolpio is an observer in the mythical world that he travels through.  He is a scholar and has thus heard of these myths, and yet is unable to use this knowledge to his advantage.  When Encolpio encounters a myth it teaches him nothing about himself or his environment.  He is a passive spectator in his world until he is forced to encounter a present myth, instead of a historical one.  Here, when Encolpio finds the witch that gives him his sexual prowess back, he does not have the safety of a story to follow but instead has to make up his own.  This journey into himself allows him to begin to identify a strength of character, which he lacks throughout the rest of the movie.  This change allows him to make decisions for himself, instead of allowing the environment to force decisions upon him. 

Prats article helps to make sense of the haphazard plot of  “Fellini Satyricon.”  Even though the narrative may not make complete sense, Prats presents a different, and organized, way to look at it. 

A.J. Prats and John Pieters join together to explain Fellini’s directorial changes when he moves to color movies in their article “The Narratives of Decharacterization in Fellini’s Color Movies.”  They begin the article by defining their term “narratives of decharacterization.”  Although this definition seems broad, it can be narrowed down to mean how Fellini uses his own imagination in order to add freedom to his plots and to break away visually from his work in black-and-white films.  The characters in these movies grow in an unusual way so that by the end of the movie they do not identify with their original identity but rather with an image.

Pieters and Prats then continues by defining what a traditional hero is in order to explain Fellini’s characters.  The traditional hero acts in a particular way in order to reach their end result.  Fellini’s characters are decharacterized which means that they lose their identity in order to gain freedom in the world they live in.  Prats and Pieters continue by making the claim that Fellini’s movies also lack a main character that is the focus of the movie.  Fellini sacrifices the traditional character in order to create more powerful images.  The article then moves on to track Fellini’s directorial changes by analyzing his color movies.  His main mode of growth is the use of his imagination in terms of how characters can be used in less traditional ways.  In “Fellini Satyricon” for example, the characters are supposed to represent how hard and confusing adolescence can be.  His characters wander without a specific aim or end in sight.  In the end Pieters and Prats praise Fellini for his capacity to change throughout his directorial life and completely revamp his definition of “the character.”  Pieters and Prats lightly allude to Fellini’s critics and how they need to be more open to how movies can change, and how Fellini has accomplished this change by using his imagination. 

Bernard F. Dick reviews Peter Bondanella’s novel The Cinema of Federico Fellini here.  It is clear from this review that Bondanella is very fond of Fellini. The beginning of the review is devoted to why Fellini is regarded as great and different.  It also gives a little of Fellini’s background, as he is not only a director.  The middle of the review seems to reflect some of Dick’s own views on Fellini.  He credits Fellini as a brilliant director that evolved throughout his career.  This is illustrated perfectly with “Fellini Satyricon” because when Fellini releases this film, people think that he is a different director.  The main stylistic changes that he adopts are that he makes his film more dreamlike and fantastic.  Dick does not address whether this is a good or bad thing, but rather continues by talking about how he interpreted the movie.  Dick sees “Fellini Satyricon” as a film that works in different ways.  It not only retells Petronius’ story complete with its stylist digressions, scene changes, and gaps in the storyline, but it also does more.  It disguises itself by showing the history of Rome, when really it is showing the decadence of a particular part of his present culture, that of the 1960’s.  In this way Fellini is able to make a point about how the 1960’s culture needed to be changed.  Without knowing about 1960’s culture, at that time, it would be nearly impossible to identify this counter theme in the movie.  With this new knowledge about Fellini’s intent of the movie, “Fellini Satyricon” could be viewed differently than just as an adaptation of a novel, but rather as a social commentary of his time period.   

David I. Grossvogel inspects “Fellini Satyricon” in his article “Fellini’s Satyricon.”  He begins his article by writing about Petronius’ Satyricon so that he can make comparisons to Fellini’s work and show why Fellini may have chosen to re-make this novel.  Grossvogel finds Petronius’ novel to be fragmented, full of digressions, and conscious of being literary.  He also points out that Petronius is too fond of characters to let the novel develop the way classical satires do.  It is this interest in their characters that is a similarity between Fellini and Petronius.  Another reason that Fellini may have been drawn to Satyricon is the characters in it.  Grossvogel writes about Fellini’s attraction to characters that have to perform in their profession.  Petronius’ novel is full of such characters, which may have attracted Fellini’s interest

Grossvogel continues by writing about “Fellini Satyricon” as a film.  He posits that Fellini’s purposeful detachment from his characters in the film makes the movie suffer.  He mentions that Fellini purposefully tries to stay detached from his characters because he was trying to represent a pre-Christian era.  This time period is something that he cannot relate to, and thus lets his characters become bigger monsters than they need to be because Fellini does not have strong feelings towards them.  In essence the characters become a characterization of themselves, which is personified in their masks, which don’t really hide anything.  Grossvogel position on “Fellini Satyricon” seems puzzling at times.  He does not mind that the movie and novel are not similar contextually, yet criticizes Fellini about his characters.  He seems to say that “Fellini Satyricon” is an odd movie even for Fellini himself.

John Simon berates Fellini in his article “A Spanking For ‘Fellini Satyricon.’” From start to finish, Simon argues that “Fellini Satyricon” is Fellini’s worst film in his career that is slowly diminishing. Simon’s article is split up into three sections where he makes three different points. The first section is devoted to how Fellini’s movie is so unlike Petronius’ Satyricon. According to Simon, “Fellini Satyricon” lacks a plot and includes more of Fellini’s dreams or fantasies than the events from Petronius’ novel. Simon chastises Fellini not only for inserting his own dreams, but also for then leaving them unfinished and confusing. The images are random and do not coincide with Petronius’ well thought out plot. The second section points out a specific scene in “Fellini Satyricon” where one of Fellini’s characters is reciting a poem. Simon criticizes Fellini because the poem is not used in the proper way, and is not even read completely. Simon views the insertion of this ancient piece of writing as a way for Fellini to show of his knowledge of Classical history. The third and final section of the article deals with the fact that the film focuses on the visual instead of the aural. He claims Fellini does not care about the story that his film is telling, but rather what it looks like. Then he continues by pointing out visual continuity errors throughout the film, thus showing that it is not even that great a film visually.

Simon’s clearly disliked “Fellini Satyricon” and is not quiet about it in his article. He does not include any positive remarks about it, and instead points out every aspect of why the movie disappointed him as a viewer.

            John C. Stubbs explains what makes a Fellini film Fellini-esque in his article “The Fellini Manner: Open Form and Visual Excess.” He begins by explaining that the two things that help to identify a director is their

narrative manner, or how they choose to represent the story to the viewer, and their visual style. In this well organized article Stubbs begins by addressing Fellini’s narrative manner, which he calls “narrative form of

revelation.” Stubs writes that Fellini believes life to be mysterious and unexplainable. These beliefs influence his movies in that he does not represent life the way the average viewer would expect it but rather in a

more unfamiliar and exciting way. Stubs continues by explaining how Fellini takes an individual sequence and reveals nuances from it that would otherwise go unnoticed. Fellini is free in this aspect of his film making

because of his belief that life is diverse and cannot be repeated, so its representation does not have to be accurate and can involve digressions or vagueness.

Stubbs then moves on to discuss Fellini’s visual style, which he calls “the style of excess”, which he breaks this up into four sections. The first is called “Layered Composition.” Here he discusses Fellini’s use of deep space and multiple layers of movement on the screen. The next section entitled “Galleries of Grotesques and Pairings of Characters” discusses how Fellini loves to use ugly or grotesque characters in his film to surprise him audience by making them uncomfortable and maintaining an abnormal aspect stressed in his movies. A similar effect is accomplished when he pairs large and small actors to create an uneasy effect. The third section, “Disjunctions and the Surreal Effect,” discusses how Fellini further surprises viewers by using odd props throughout his films. The last section, “Overflowing Forms, Texture, and Color” describes how Fellini likes to use colors and fabrics to make a statement in his scenes.

Overall, Stubbs tries to break down Fellini’s style so that the viewer can understand Fellini’s movies more, and why he chooses to make them the way that he does.

            Neal Oxenhandler’s article “Satyricon” defends “Fellini Satyricon” against the negative reviews that it has received. Oxenhandler is making a rebuttal against two critics in particular, Alberto Moravia and John

Simon,who claim that “Fellini Satyricon” is too dreamlike with repetitively boring characters that make the movie unsuccessful. Oxenhandler argues that the characters in Fellini’s film are portrayed in that type of

methodical way in order to contrast the constantly changing visuals of the film. In reference to the argument about the dreamlike quality of the work, Oxenhandler makes claims against the realistic quality of the original

work written by Petronius. Oxenhandler agrees that Fellini takes certain liberties with Petronius’ original novel, referring to the plot, and the overall tone and theme of the movie. The difference between Oxenhandler,

and Moravia and Simon, is that Oxenhandler does not find this disagreeable. He is enchanted by the ridiculously strange world that Fellini creates, yet refutes that it should be called dreamlike because it does not share

the characteristics of stereotypical dream images.

Oxenhandler harks on the style of the film and even goes so far as to say that it is Fellini’s greatest achievement in style because of its continuity and how carefully it is produced. He discusses how this distinct style helps to direct the viewer to the main theme of the movie, which is the idea of the monstrous, and how beauty can overcome it. Oxenhandler deems Moravia and Simon as close-minded because they do not understand the poetic vision of the movie or the way Fellini meant it to parallel negative aspects of society today. He writes that it is okay for Fellini to use him imagination in building this fake world because the film is about the behavior of people throughout history instead of just the characters in Petronius’ Satyricon.

Erich Segal’s article “Arbitrary Satyricon Petronius & Fellini” discusses the differences between Petronius’ novel Satyricon and Fellini’s cinematic adaptation of this novel, Fellini Satyricon.  Throughout the article Segal draws out these differences by concentrating on Petronius’ novel.  Segal views Satyricon as both a work of humor and satire with an overarching message of “carpe diem.”  Petronius depicts his version of “carpe diem” by making his characters celebrate sexuality and by being self-indulgent.  While is characters are seizing the day they quickly switch from one mood to its exact opposite, yet in the end the happier mood always prevails. This reinforces the novel’s lighter tone.  Segal is also quick to point out the Petronius does not shy away from issues of female sexuality which is impressive for an author during that time period.  Segal makes it clear that he appreciates and respects Petronius’ work for the first half of the article.

The second half of the article is devoted to showing how Fellini misrepresented or misunderstood Petronius’ novel.  According to Segal, Fellini’s work concentrates more on fearing death, than on living life to the fullest.  His only explanation as to why this may have happened is that Fellini Satyricon is “Fellini’s hell on Earth.”  The characters in Satyricon are pagans, and Fellini’s Christian past inhibits his ability to truly understand his characters.  Thus he misrepresents them as being more perverse and ugly than Petronius intended them to be.  Segal writes that Fellini’s characters are Christians and thus equate sex with sin, and then sin with ugliness.  With these kinds of connections there is no way that Fellini could give an accurate portrayal of Petronius’ novel.  In the end Segal suggests that Fellini should stick with topics that he does not have any moral opposition to, because it was this that in the end stifled the movie. 

MacCabe, Colin. Godard: images, sounds, politics / Colin MacCabe [0253123844] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1980. Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1998.A3 G6239

MacCabe, Colin. "Images of Women, Images of Sexuality." Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics,  pp. 79-101. Colin MacCabe et al. eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980.

The chapter entitled, "Images of Women, Images of Sexuality," in Colin MacCabe's 1980 work, Godard: Images, Sounds, Politics, is an in-depth commentary on the often contradictory portrayals of gender and femininity in Godard's films. The chapter is particularly relevant to Le Petit Soldat, as Veronica's role, both as a woman and as a spy for the FLN, is extremely complex and difficult to comprehend. MacCabe writes how Godard's investigation of gender "is finally a masculine investigation, ignoring the complex social determination of women's position in favour of an image of women outside any social or economic context" (87). According to MacCabe, Godard's presentation of women is inherently from the masculine point of view. In Pierrot le fou, for example, Godard's thoroughly masculine view point compartmentalizes Marianne into a symbol of violence who thrives in a "fantasy based on fear and desire." Similarly, in Une Femme mariée, Charlotte, although visible physically as a "perfect image" (91), is invisible in terms of her far more complex social and economic relevance.

MacCabe's notion of the industrialization of the female throughout many of Godard's films is certainly applicable to Le Petit Soldat. One cannot ignore Veronica's immediately complicit behavior when, in a noteworthy close-up, she shakes her hair, after which, Bruno pays his colleague fifty francs as a result of succumbing to her beauty. The scene features a medium three shot of Bruno, Veronica, and the third individual, and places Veronica in between the two men, in a very removed and detached position, as the males engage in their monetary transaction over Bruno's submission to her physique. Godard's deliberate shots of Veronica admiring herself, in multiple mirrors, further illustrate what MacCabe terms is the director's industrialization of the female. The completeness of her physical beauty contrasts sharply with the sparseness of her new apartment, and her physical style clearly dominates the otherwise empty mise-en-scène. Paul's description of her as a mere "cover girl" certainly pigeonholes Veronica in a classically subordinate, feminine role, which greatly belies her character's far more profound political significance. Simultaneously, however, there is some truth to Paul's characterization insofar as Veronica's own exploitation of her feminine wiles and sexuality is consistent with MacCabe's conclusion that perhaps her portrayal is indeed that of a minor commodity in the grander scheme of the male dominated Algerian conflict. In effect, the FLN control her, and lead her to dramatically betray her legitimate lover, Bruno. Whereas Une Femme mariée and Deux ou trois choses present the "woman within a social formation, her sexuality functioning as part of an economic chain," Veronica's sexuality functions as part of a political chain. Ultimately, this dynamic interplay between sex and politics in Le Petit Soldat, further complicates Godard's visual and artistic presentation of the female in modern society, possibly paralleling the intricacies of the emerging feminist movement.   

Betts, Raymond F.. France and decolonisation : 1900-1960 / Raymond F. Betts. [0312060505] New York : St. Martin's Press, 1991. Call#: Van Pelt Library JV1818 .B48 1991

Betts, Raymond. "The Military Malcontents." France and Decolonisation 1900-1960, pp. 110  112. Raymond Betts. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.

The segment entitled, "The Military Malcontents," in Raymond Betts' 1991 book, France and Decolonisation 1900-1960, provides a key insight into the attitudes and political motivations of Jacques and Paul, Bruno's OAS superiors in Le Petit Soldat. Betts details the overwhelming sense of confusion and frustration experienced by many in the French military establishment in Algeria. By early 1960, the French army had survived, and had overcome the disastrous instability of the Fourth Republic while continuing to perform admirably in hostile terrain, and in a campaign which the French government consistently denied to be a war. The government of the Fourth Republic continued to stress that its operations in Algeria were part of a greater police action, and refused to award its highest military honor, the "croix de guerre," to its most courageous soldiers. The predicament of the French military and the prevailing uncertainty surrounding its role in Algeria, and its relations with the civilian government in Paris, was only exacerbated by the rise of De Gaulle to the presidency of the Republic, and the ensuing sense of betrayal felt by many pro-colonial French officers.

Betts' overview does not serve to justify the brutality of the French military in Algeria, or the reprehensible behavior of both Jacques and Paul throughout Le Petit Soldat. The analysis is merely meant to function as an examination of the views of such individuals regarding the French government and the Algerian rebels. The overview sheds light on the hatred of men such as Jacques and Paul, resulting from the sense of loss and marginalization experienced after France's withdrawal and political acquiescence to Algerian independence. Betrayed, the two men cling to the ideal of a French Algeria, and will murder and torture to preserve and pursue this aim. In his lengthy monologue near the conclusion of the film, Bruno rejects the blind faith of the two men, yet as an individual, he is still lost, and like Jacques and Paul, undoubtedly disillusioned from his betrayal by Veronica. Thus, while Jacques and Paul experience a form of political and national betrayal, Bruno experiences a personal treachery which transcends politics and any greater ideology.

New York times [microform]. [0362-4331] New York : Raymond, Jones & Co., 1851- Call#: Microfilm news 52. pp. 48. 21 April 1967.

Thompson, Howard. "Screen: ‘Le Petit Soldat.'" The New York Times, pp. 48. 21 April 1967.

In his April 21, 1967 article on Le Petit Soldat in the New York Times, Howard Thompson offers an interesting commentary on what he believes is the film's technical brilliance, but also its notorious shortcomings in its plot and in what he interprets to be the somewhat superficial "dead-pan stoicism" of actor Michel Subor as the film's protagonist, Bruno Forestier. Thompson writes that the "plain truth about Mr. Godard's picture is that, for all its steely glitter and knowing veneer, it is a singularly juiceless affair, peopled by cynical robots we know little and care less about" (48). Yet, in many respects, it is difficult to acquiesce to this statement, considering the thorough portrayal of Bruno as a trapped individual, physically as he struggles to evade both the OAS and the FLN, and emotionally as he grapples with the greater meaning and underlying purpose to his existence. Moreover, Thompson himself reinforces this notion of Bruno as a trapped protagonist when he writes of Bruno's equally ruthless pursuers, a characterization of which Godard would certainly approve.

Thompson notes that Godard's torture scene is "one of the most...horrendous torture sessions ever put on film" (48), and that Godard is triumphant in his effort to depict "man's inhumanity to man" (48). Indeed, as deadlock engulfs Algeria, violence has erupted across France as radio broadcasts mention random bombings and other savage acts of terrorism. Similarly, Godard presents Geneva as a city rife with struggle. As Thompson opines, Godard's camera personifies the conflict as it unfolds in the city, portraying the "warring factions tensely racing around [the city] in cars like hooded hawks" (48). It is significant that Thompson explores Godard's exportation of the Algerian conflict to the European mainland, as few artists and leading intellectuals at the time documented, in such intimate detail, the extent to which the conflict was effectively destroying France. Thompson writes that Godard "firmly proves that war is hell, even miles from the battlefield" (48), a noteworthy observation which links the political and philosophical divisions between Bruno and Veronica with the greater ruptures in the French political and social state.

Times [microform]. [0140-0460] London : Times Newspapers Ltd., 1788- Call#: Microfilm news 70. pp. 16. 27 June 1963.

"A Rebel with Too Many Causes." The Times, pp. 16. 27 June 1963. 

In this June 27, 1963 article on Le Petit Soldat in the London Times, the critic purports that Godard's film is "an acute, detached study of silly, pretentious people, or a silly, pretentious film about people its author takes to be intelligent" (16). Indeed, throughout his review, the critic continually asserts that Le Petit Soldat is detached, both chronologically, in light of its release three years after its initial production, and intellectually as Godard seems forced to parallel every major event with a symbolic literary or artistic equivalent. Specifically, the critic explores Bruno's psyche and his inability to simply accept his fate and preordained political and military role as a covert operative in the employ of the OAS. Bruno, writes the critic, is perhaps "an intellectual incapable of decisive action, a weakling in love with the idea of rebellion, [or] a coward infatuated by courage" (16). Bruno's potential similarities with the film's director are also explored, and Bruno's lengthy "intellectual rash" (16) near the conclusion of the film, writes the critic, is possibly a reflection of Godard's own views of modernity. Yet, the Times critic still notes how Godard's astute skill as a director and the fact that he "lives and breathes cinema" (16), nevertheless allows the film's plot and technically superior cinematography to overcome any sort of detachment in its intellectual philosophizing. The critic laud's Coutard's camerawork, stresses telling moments in the dialogue, and admires "the occasional Brechtian ruptures of tone which come off perfectly, notably during Bruno's escape from his Arab tormentors" (16).

The critic notes further, however, that certain technical aspects of the film, such as the prolonged shots of Veronica shaking her hair, and Bruno's apparent inability "to touch us on any level of imagination or emotion" (16) during the torture sequence, are unnecessary, and are important signs of Godard's youth as a director. Godard, and the nouvelle vague in general, have evolved from their early primitive stages, and Godard has since corrected these presumed shortcomings in later films. Ultimately, the review is significant insofar as it analyzes Godard's condensing of a breadth of intellectual themes in his film, the potential parallelization between Bruno's attitudes of his social role and Godard's own views on modernity, and of Godard's evolution as a filmmaker, even within the short span of three years.

Films of Jean-Luc Godard / [by] Charles Barr [and others.New York], Praeger, [1970, c1969].
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1998.A3 G623 1970

Winkler, Richard. "Le Petit Soldat. " The Films of Jean-Luc Godard, pp. 17-20. Charles Barr et al. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1969.   

In his essay, "Le Petit Soldat," Richard Winkler addresses the recurring tension between reality, illusion, and individual freedom in Jean-Luc Godard's second feature film. Winkler's assessment is an overwhelmingly psychological portrait of the film's two protagonists, Bruno Forestier and Veronica Dreyer. Bruno, Winkler writes, is a deeply torn individual whose only loyalty rests with truth. For Bruno, however, the notion of truth is profoundly complex as its allegiance does not rest with an ideology, but only with "freedom from all coercive ideals" (17). Photography is truth, and so is the beauty of Veronica, notes Winkler, as ethics become aesthetics when Bruno judges her. Yet, is reality truly the beauty of Veronica, or is her beauty merely an illusion which ultimately deceives and betrays Bruno? Bruno firmly believes that illusion and reality must correspond, and similarly, throughout Godard's film, the viewer struggles intensely to separate the reality of the Algerian conflict with the abstract dynamic between Bruno and Veronica.

Perhaps, as Winkler suggests, the conflict between reality and illusion throughout the film is best highlighted when Bruno escapes from the FLN. As he recounts the story of a noble resistance leader, Bruno leaps through, and shatters a glass window while the camera cuts, and quickly tilts down from Veronica's apartment building, eliciting a powerful sense of falling. Simultaneously, however, Bruno recounts how "luckily it was the first floor," and although he survives physically, Winkler suggests that he is dead "inwardly" (19), and that "the reality of continued existence becomes for him an empty illusion" (19). As Winkler explains, it is in this sequence that Godard's mise-en-scène inverts Bruno's predicament. "The ‘suicidal' tilting shot ‘lies' to us, but it conveys the truth of Veronica's betrayal and the death in Bruno's soul" (19).

The essay is also significant because it raises a host of questions relating to the conflict between the personal, and the de-personal in the film. It would initially appear that Godard's film is a thorough personalization of the Algerian conflict as it explores the love relationship of two individuals from opposing sides of the political spectrum. Still, the viewer cannot ignore the prevalence of the unfamiliar "vous" throughout the love dialogue, and Winkler's comparison of Bruno's camera with his sternly cool, "black and incorruptible" revolver.

Sorum, Paul Clay, 1943-. Intellectuals and decolonization in France / by Paul Clay Sorum. [0807812951] Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, c1977. Call#: Van Pelt Library JV1818 .S67

Sorum, Paul. "The Case of Torture." Intellectuals and Decolonization in France, pp. 122-129. Paul Sorum. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1977.

The segment, "The Case of Torture," in Paul Sorum's 1977 book, Intellectuals and Decolonization in France, analyzes the many intellectual responses to the French use of torture in Algeria. Sorum notes that the various intellectual assaults on torture, seen by "many as a legitimate...method of pacification in Algeria" (122), were overwhelmingly unsuccessful in altering French military policy, and if anything, further de-moralized French troops and the French public at large. While leading intellectuals such as Simon opposed Algerian independence, they simultaneously rejected what the French military saw to be the only effective safeguard against FLN terrorism. Yet, as Sorum writes, anti-torture intellectuals did succeed in provoking a national discourse, preventing the complete acquiescence on the part of the French public to repressive measures which had been implemented less than 20 years earlier by the Gestapo and SS during the German occupation.

It is evident that Godard himself is particularly interested in torture. Still, it is difficult to assess Godard's presentation of the issue in Le Petit Soldat in terms of absolutes, and in the context of the prevailing intellectual humanist position. His portrayal of the torture of Bruno entails rapid and erratic pans across a bathroom, confusing the viewer, and cementing a sense of delirium as Bruno slips in and out of consciousness. It is interesting to note that after Laszlo states that "sometimes you have to make your way with a dagger," the camera quickly cuts to a close-up of a Mao pamphlet entitled, "a spark can set the entire plain ablaze." This appears to be an allusion to the wide belief that the French use of torture was only inflaming Algerian hatreds and strengthening the rebel will to resist. Naturally, Bruno does not submit to his torturers, but endures, baffling Laszlo and frustrating his interrogation efforts. While Godard does not depict Veornica's torture at the hands of the OAS, his presentation of the equally reprehensible tactics of both the OAS and the FLN emphasizes his opposition to torture, not because it undermines the western humanist values of the French nation, a notion promoted by Simon, Camus and others, but because it is wrong to subject any fellow human, regardless of political and ideological allegiances, to such humiliation and dehumanization.

Godard, Jean Luc, 1930-. Godard on Godard. Critical writings by Jean-Luc Godard, edited by Jean Narboni and Tom Milne with an introduction by Richard Roud.New York, Viking Press [1972] Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1998.A3 G5613

Godard, Jean-Luc. "Towards a Political Cinema." Godard on Godard, pp. 16-17. Jean Narboni and Tom Milne eds. New York: The Viking Press, 1972.

"Towards a Political Cinema," one of the early Godard articles published in the Gazette du Cinéma in September of 1950 provides invaluable insight into Godard's complicated position regarding political cinema, which vigorously manifests itself in Le Petit Soldat. Godard assesses such dissimilar films as the Soviet Ivan the Terrible and the Nazi Der Ewige Jude, but thoroughly illustrates how both films serve a similar purpose, the mere repetition and reinforcement of a greater political philosophy. Godard writes, early in his piece, that "political cinema is always rooted in repetition: artistic creation simply repeats cosmogonic creation, being simply the double of history" (16). According to Godard, in political cinema, the actor becomes, in effect, a preacher, serving as a propagandist mouthpiece for any movement, whether communism or fascism. Political cinema, Godard writes, "in dealing constantly with birth and death...acknowledges the flesh, and metamorphoses the holy word without difficulty" (17). In other words, no matter how critical the analysis might seem, political cinema fails to question and investigate because it always serves a greater bias.

Although written nearly ten years prior to the filming of Le Petit Soldat, Godard's abhorrence for blatantly propagandist cinema, as perfected by the Nazis, cannot be ignored when examining the notion of ideological ambiguity in his second feature film. Instead of merely repeating and cementing a political philosophy, Godard's film creates an entirely new reality, and, despite the belief that Godard's neutrality is itself a political ideology, his film nevertheless strives to embrace objectivity. Perhaps a more relevant investigation of Le Petit Soldat stems from the notion of confusion, or constant oscillation between two extremes. In "Towards a Political Cinema," Godard comments that he greatly admires the prominence of oscillation, "between the cult of the Absolute and the cult of Action," in the post-war Soviet film, The Young Guard. Certainly, oscillation can describe Bruno as he struggles with his love for Veronica, his weak loyalties to the OAS, and his own identity as an individual. Godard's rejection of propagandist ideology, and simultaneous approval of intentional ambiguity, is of paramount importance in Le Petit Soldat.

McDonough, Tom. "Raymond Hains's ‘France in Shreds' and the Politics of Décollage." Representations, Vol. 90, No. 1, pp. 75-97. Mary Francis ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.   

Tom McDonough's article entitled, "Raymond Hains's ‘France in Shreds' and the Politics of Décollage," explores the significance of the late spring 1961 exhibition of a selection of torn posters, discovered throughout Paris and assembled into a highly controversial display by the contemporary artists Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé. Hains and Villeglé titled their exhibition, "La France déchirée" (France in Shreds), a reflection of the physical condition of the posters themselves and of the deeply divided ideological state of France. McDonough is particularly interested in the various intellectual depictions of the exhibit's artistic and political components. Is the exhibit, as McDonough explores, truly an innovative artistic work highlighting such abstract political questions as the relationship between the anti-colonialist and anti-Nazi intelligentsia, and the all-pervasive nature of the Algerian conflict as it effectively emerged as a civil war occurring throughout France's mainland cities? Or, is the exhibit merely a "self-reflexive" reduction of its political context to a state of indifference, ambivalence, or ambiguity?

It is the question of ambiguity which chiefly concerns McDonough, as he closely  compares Hains's exhibit to that of Godard's film, Le Petit Soldat. McDonough explains, at-length, how "La France déchirée" appears to be an anachronistic work attempting to preserve an earlier artistic neutrality, which, in effect, allows the artist to place himself above the fray of politics. Yet, to what extent does Le Petit Soldat conform to this post-1944 spirit of neutrality and political detachment? Godard himself repeatedly remarked that his intention was merely to illustrate the brutality of both extremes, the FLN and the OAS, and the extent to which both entities manipulated the same ideals. Interestingly, however, as McDonough notes, Godard consciously chose to depict only the FLN's torture of Bruno, and that it is impossible to ignore the fact that presumed neutrality inherently connotes assuming a political position. While Le Petit Soldat might perhaps appear ambiguous, especially when compared to more politically fragmented French documentaries corresponding with the rise of the Fifth Republic, like Hains's décollage, it nonetheless must be viewed as political cinema by virtue of its harsh portrayal of the conflict.

Brightman, Carol. "Montreal." Film Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 10-13. Mary Francis ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964.

In this Spring 1964 edition of the Film Quarterly, Carol Brightman presents an overview of several major films presented at the Fourth Montreal International Film Festival, and in particular, closely examines Jean-Luc Godard's Le Petit Soldat. Brightman analyzes the film, debuting for the first time in North America, in light of questions of cinematic realism and the promotion of cinema as a unique art form. Le Petit Soldat, argues Brightman, should be considered a film "bent upon exploiting the perspectives of filmed reality" (10) and approaching cinema as a medium which creates reality rather than merely reproduces it. Indeed, as Brightman underscores, it is unlikely that Bruno would have succeeded with his assassination of Palivoda in broad daylight, on a crowded Geneva boulevard. Yet, it is the "realisme du cinéma," and not the viewer's pre-conceived notion of realism, which triumphs throughout Godard's film and allows him to explore the margins of an innovative mise-en-scène (11). As Brightman notes, only when the viewer enters the universe of the film and its characters is he "prepared to accept its values" (11).

Much of the acting in Le Petit Soldat, explains Brightman, appears improvisational, and Godard intentionally allowed his actors an enormous degree of freedom in their expression and "conscious personification" (11). The realism and rawness of the film's images, coupled with Raoul Coutard's free flowing camera movements and inconsistent utilization of quick, erratic pans and long tracking shots, seem to closely parallel Bruno's own psyche, which posits that "photography is truth," and that "cinema is truth at 24 frames per second."

Morally, however, Brightman remarks that Bruno does not choose to act outside of a conventional framework. As Bruno reluctantly murders Palivoda, he detaches himself emotionally, becoming indifferent to the act, and consequently feels no guilt or sorrow. Even after learning of the death of Veronica, Bruno refuses to remain bitter, and in this way, as Brightman underscores, Godard exposes brutality, "without motive or remorse" (11). Just as Bruno endures torture at the hands of the FLN "with the same stoic indifference with which he finally murders" (11), so does a disinterested Godard highlight the seething tensions in the contemporary French political, military, and social structure.

Camera Obscura-from EBSCO MegaFILE Holdings: 1997-

Lack, Roland- François. "The point in time: precise chronology in early Godard." Studies in French Cinema, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 101-109. Susan Hayward and Phil Powrie eds. Bristol: Intellect Press, 2003.  

Roland-François Lack's essay is a noteworthy analysis of the significance of chronology in several of Jean-Luc Godard's early films, most prominently in his 1960 political thriller, Le Petit Soldat. As Lack opines, Godard's second feature film, set in Geneva, "is one of very few films by Godard to be set formally in an earlier time" (102). Lack suggests that by 1960, Godard had "categorically rejected the idea of making films about the past" (102) when, in a June 16 interview with L'Express, he questioned the validity of considering present events as taboo, and outside the realm of film. Yet Godard states clearly, in the same interview, that a film is only dated when it fails to present a true picture of its contemporary era (102), and certainly, the reasons for the production of Le Petit Soldat stemmed chiefly from Godard's desire to portray the political, intellectual, and sociological debate over Algeria as it unfolded in the halls of government, in the Parisian brasseries, and in the streets of Muslim Algiers.

Moreover, the inherently complex chronology of the film, resulting from the unresolved presence of three viable time periods, is exacerbated by the fact that the film was initially banned and not released in France until 1963. Lack notes that the narrator's established date of May 13, 1958, is inimical with the presentation of a fictional edition of La Suisse newspaper, dated April 1960, and with a radio broadcast referring to the "week of the barricades," a January 1960 anti-Gaullist insurrection in Algiers. It is difficult to believe that the discrepancies in the chronology of the film are readily apparent to the casual viewer of Le Petit Soldat, especially considering the film's dated 1963 release, yet to the critical viewer, Godard's conscious failure to resolve his chronological dilemma only further complicates the film's series of dynamic developments.

In a perhaps more subtle manner, Lack's essay implies that Godard's film was not banned merely for its portrayal of the politics surrounding Algeria, but also for its thorough illustration of France's collaborationist past. Godard proudly displays an April 1960 issue of L'Express entitled, "Hitler: twenty years after," banned in France at the time, and highlights the close connection between the patron of Bruno's terrorist ring and the former pro-Nazi, Vichy government.

...
The growing focus on housing the chronically homeless was driven, many officials said, by a study in 1998 by Prof. Dennis P. Culhane, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Culhane showed that a vast majority of people staying in shelters did so briefly and got on with their lives and that 10 percent were in and out repeatedly for years, accounting for half of total bed use.

... 

Koepnick, Lutz P. "Colonial Forestry: Sylvan Politics in Werner Herzog's Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo," JSTOR: New German Critique: No. 60, Special Issue on German Film History, p. 133

According to Koepnik’s essay “Colonial Forestry: Sylvan Politics in Werner Herzog’s Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo,” Herzog’s films both set an encounter between the imperialist West and what he calls the “sylvan otherness of the Peruvian jungle” (134). The idea of sylvanism is that uncontrolled nature represents the negative image of civilization, and that the purpose of the colonial endeavors is to domestic the wild jungle.  Both films are said to tell the story of Western colonialist who fail in their adventures and enterprises because they cannot escape the imagination of the West, which cannot capture the complexity and treachery of the jungle. Yet while in Aguirre the protagonist cannot escape the certain death of his adventure, Fitzcarraldo shows its hero embracing opera in order to confront the abyss between the West and the other (135).  Herzog’s Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo also succeeds at avoiding become ethnological sketches of the natives, meaning that the movies keep the viewpoint of the colonialist, creating for the spectator a clear view of the limited worldview of the would-be colonialists.

The article examines one of the central themes of Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo through the central dynamics of its narrative, while at the same time examining how Herzog uses cinematic language to reinforce the theme of colonialism against the unbending power of nature. The similarity between the two films is examined by Koepnik, while examining how Fitzcarraldo is able to escape from the death circle that Aguirre and his men finally succumb to.

add netvibes models 

CHits is the new website to find and share music content under Creative Commons licenses.

http://cchits.org

 
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Amphibiologie: Ethnographic Surrealism in French Discourse on Jazz

Journal article by Matthew F. Jordan; Journal of European Studies, Vol. 31, 2001

Amphibiologie: Ethnographic Surrealism in French Discourse on Jazz

Journal article by Matthew F. Jordan; Journal of European Studies, Vol. 31, 2001

When it comes to testing and debugging sites, it seems that Firefox can’t be beaten. Not only does it have an inbuilt DOM Inspector and Javascript console to beat all others, but the plethora of useful extensions is unmatched. Everyone knows and uses Chris Pedericks Web Developer extension, along with any number other handy extras – Firebug, X-Ray, Aardvark, etc.

Other browsers have useful tools though, which gave me an idea for an ad-hoc series highlighting useful web development features, starting with Safari. While it doesn’t have an official plugin architecture like Firefox, that hasn’t stopped developers finding ways around it and providing excellent plugins.

Speedier cheap rail to N.Y.?
NJ Transit wants to extend its line north from Phila.

By Jennifer Moroz
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
Mon, Jun. 05, 2006

NJ Transit chief George Warrington is pitching a new rail service between Philadelphia and Newark, with the goal of giving central New Jerseyans a quick, cheap ride into Center City.

But the trains, which could be running within a couple of years, also would give another travel option to Philadelphians always on the lookout for a good deal into New York...

Alkan Chipperfield. "Murmurs from a Shadowless Land: Fragmentary Reflections on the Cinema of Werner Herzog," Senses of Cinema http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/15/herzog_alkan.html

This personal essay of a film curator on Herzog’s body of work states that Werner Herzog “the world is transfixed, rendered hopelessly, exquisitely weightless, ultimately diffusing beyond grasp the solid structures within which tragedy or satire can take root.” The essay examines the propensity of Herzog to examine the inscrutable and the remote landscapes of such films as Aguirre: Wrath of God and Heart of Glass. The essay uses both the poetic language of his films and Herzog’s own attempts at explaining his wondrous films.  Herzog seeks “a landscape with almost human qualities” that contains both the individual human being and the vast, inhospitable world that surrounds it. The jungle becomes for Herzog the last villain in the story of mankind, as seen in Aguirre’s story.

His films are seen by Alkan Chipperfield as laying within a Heart of Glass whose shadows they never escape from. This “heart of glass” represents a preoccupation with “states of being” rather than narrative action as in traditional Hollywood films. This focus gives his films a mythical, prophetic quality that seeks to find the interior nature of man. His films exist within a dream landscape that escapes categorization, making his films work only within a strata of myths and dreams. The author conclusively states that trying to understand Werner Herzog’s films outside of this level, say through political or historical analysis, is to capture little of the effectiveness of his films.

The essay gives a personal and emotional analysis for Herzog’s films. It helps understand the place of landscapes in Aguirre: Wrath of God and how that same element works within Herzog’s wider body of work. The essay defends Herzog’s films from attacks over its historical and/or political irresponsibility by stating that it works at a higher metaphysical plane that escapes political explanation or categorization. His films are ultimately about exploring the inscrutable in the human experience within a dangerous and mythical landscape.

Waller, Gregory A. "Aguirre: The Wrath of God: History, Theater and the Camera ," JSTOR: South Atlantic Review: Vol. 46, No. 2, p. [55]

Gregory A. Waller’s essay argues that Herzog sought to present through his film Aguirre: Wrath of God that Aguirre’s own sense of history and theater are illuminated by including into the analysis the participation of the camera within the story’s events. The use of the camera by Herzog allows the spectator to see “the camera’s relationship to the forging of history, to the producing of plays, and, finally, to the possibilities of creating cinema” (55). The telling of the story of Aguirre is fictionalized in the same measure as Shakespeare’s Richard III.  Yet the narrative seeks to argue for different conceptions of history, with the old European order of play-making conflicting with the Great-Man theory of Aguirre. Aguirre’s thunderous soliloquies speak to both the power of theater and its limitations, as in the end he is alone and has failed (though his obsession does not let him accept this). The camera’s purpose in Aguirre is as a witness, as if history is being recorded for posterity.  Whether active or passive, its purpose is to remain as part of the expedition. The author says one can argue that the final scene shows the camera’s liberation from this position as an escape from the self-defeating existence of both Aguirre and his countrymen. Yet the camera remains on the raft still part of the limits set by the will of Aguirre. Ultimately the camera cannot escape into the jungle and overcome the cruel realities of Aguirre’s wrath.

Waller’s essay on Werner Herzog’s Aguirre: The Wrath of God gives a deep study of the film’s narrative and the meaning of Herzog’s cinematic approach as embodied in his use of camera to both represent Aguirre’s bold soliloquies and the jungle’s entrapment of its would-be conquerors. The film is analyzed for its shaping of history to serve themes that both focus on and undermine the figure of Aguirre, whose unbending will to power and glory is examined for its representation of human nature. The essay further seeks to present an understanding of the connection between the historical setting of Aguirre and the filmmaker’s purpose, which has been a source of great controversy in critical circles.

wiki- about henry mercer

Henry Ford stated that the Mercer museum was the only museum worth visiting in the US and the Mercer Museum was apparently Henry Ford's inspiration for his own museum, The Henry Ford, located in Dearborn, Michigan.

from wiki

The Mercer Museum is located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

Berman, Russel A. "The Recipient as Spectator: West German Film and Poetry in the Seventies," JSTOR: German Quarterly: Vol. 55, No. 4, p. 499
    This essay seeks to explore the connection between poetry and film in West Germany during the 1970s, as both began to resurge there during that period. The author argues that the connection between the new realist poetry and the New German Cinema of Wenders and Herzog arise from the similarity in their constructions that seek a common recipient, meaning the “pure viewer” (501-502). The cinematic language of Herzog’s films work in the same way as the poetic language of Theobaldy’s poetical language. Regardless of their thematic differences, they both share a similar desire of creating images that confound the spectator, as Theobaldy attests to. Herzog denies a specific language of realism in film while creating a passive receptor of images (the spectator). Berman argues that this proves to be a corollary to the poetic realism of Theobaldy’s poems. Both converge in the production of a viewer that is transfixed by the impossibility of communication. Furthermore, the inability of communication stems from both the New German Cinema’s and the New Realist Poetry’s attempt to define themselves as oppositional forces to the status quo in Western Germany, becoming forms of counter-cultural institutions. Yet these forms of cultural resistance are themselves forces of commodified entertainment that cannot escape the commercial demands of capitalism.
    As pertains to Aguirre: Wrath of God and Herzog’s body of work the essay helps to create connections between Herzog’s work and the artistic flowering in other genres that arose in the 1970s. “The Recipient as Spectator” also helps to condense an understanding of the poetic quality that is inherent in Herzog’s image, especially in Aguirre, where the overwhelming images Herzog creates makes any attempt at a complete understanding of their meaning difficult if not impossible. The study of Herzog’s opus along with the concurrent poetry movement of the seventies help also to grasp the historical context of his films as a measurement of the wider movement for a redefinition of art across genres in West Germany.

Hedges, Inez and John Bernstein. "History, Style, Authorship: The Question of Origins in the New German Cinema,"
JSTOR: Journal of Contemporary History: Vol. 19, No. 1, Historians and Movies: The State of the Art: Part 2, p. [171]

    This article explores how notions of film criticism such as style, authorship and originality are conditioned by history and uses the films of the New German Cinema to examine its theory. Inez Hedges and John Bernstein argue that the films of the New German Cinema, including Werner Herzog’s films, are shaped by history in the following ways: in that their originality stems from literary precedents, that its cinematic style arises from anxiety over origins, and that giving the films an authorial understanding is misplaced. The essay rests its case largely by analyzing Andre Bazin’s seemingly contradictory belief in both a cinema of realism and a cinema of auteurs. They argue that this contradiction between authors and realism can be resolved by understanding that both reside in the phenomenology of perception, namely that the spectator decides what is realistic and what is shaped by the auteur’s vision.
    The New German cinema sought to partake of a radical new expansion of Bazin’s vision by exploring new avenues of reality that were left unexplored by past cinematic movements. The new movement seeks to create a cinema “founded upon the impossibility of expression,” a cinema that seeks to allow Germany to create a new identity that turns away from the Nazi past. This is seen especially acutely in Aguirre: Wrath of God where Aguirre represents the madness of Germany’s Nazi past. A way away from silence can be found in Herzog’s Kaspar Hauser and Woyzeck where the protagonist seeks to communicate with the world even as he is becoming an anachronism. Their stories can be found in the literature that has influenced them, and thus deny the overarching auteurism that seem to dominate one’s understanding of Herzog’s films. Yet after the destructive ends of these characters the only image left for the spectator is those conjured up by Herzog’s style. As pertains to Aguirre the essay helps clarify what many critics consider is Herzog’s historical attempt to create a new German identity that creates in 1945 a “Year Zero” event where Germany is reborn from its destructive past.