Since the time when moving pictures first become a reality, things have changed in the more than one hundred years. From the silent era to the first talkies, it was really the Sixties when things started to be close to how we know it now. In the fifty years since then, while things like the structure for movies has stayed the same, changes in style and technology have redefined film into something that can be more than just to entertain.
This change wasn’t a sudden thing that took place, but rather slowly took hold as directors influenced the world with their work, and changed the way things were done. An example would be with the Film Breathless from 1960 by Jean-Luc Godard. Released during the New French Wave, this is at the start of when things started to change. Unlike other films of the time, this one doesn’t have a clear soundtrack or a clear story. The use of jump cuts makes the story feel incomplete compared to the other films of the time. According to an article by Rodger Ebert, the use of jump cuts was not planned. He states, “The technique “was a little more accidental than political,” writes the Australian critic Jonathan Dawson. The finished film was 30 minutes too long, and “rather than cut out whole scenes or sequences, Godard elected to trim within the scene, creating the jagged cutting style still so beloved of action filmmakers. Godard just went to the film with the scissors, cutting out anything he thought boring.” Even though it was something unplanned, the jump cut ended up becoming something that is used to this day.
Tales from the Crypt, made in 1972 was based on a series of comic books from the sixties and was made in Britain. The style is set up so that there are five smaller stories in one larger story. Not quite as spooky as horror films that became popular later on, it still has an air of uneasiness. For a limited budget, the film does make very good use of what it was able to. The special effects mixed with The use of jump cuts, sound and what isn’t seen helps pull it all together. The sound of the kid upstairs while the mother kills her husband, the fact we can see the insurance policy in her hand. It all gives us clues to a greater picture, and when that story is done it leads to another. In Tim’s short blog post, he states “And so forth for each character, until the final twist is revealed that they were all brought to the crypts as their entryway into Hell. Granted, the messages are not particularly complex as they are all centered around the concept of karma, but they are still quite effective at issuing a warning while being simultaneously entertaining.” It shows how connected everything is, and how each deed was paid in full using the idea of karma.
For a blockbuster movie made to return money, it is interesting to see that there are a few things left undefined in Alien from 1979. For one, it is never revealed what the monster chasing them is. In most horror films to that point, it was always clear and set out. In this, it keeps changing and growing, until finally, it is a tall faceless humanoid. During the film I kept asking why the ship had stopped, why this had happened, only to find it was apart of something bigger. That feeling was exciting, thrilling, and made me wanting more. Keeping these things unclear while providing smaller clues really helps get the viewer thinking, and adds to the overall fear. Ivy points out in her short essay that, “Since Scott used much of his efforts to slow down the film in order to build suspense, the role of the protagonist is not yet made clear until it nearly comes to a close.” This style of storytelling made an impact and help set the bar for horror movies after this. The building of tension is something now used in other movies besides just horror. Another thing was how the monster was created. Using a tall human and shadows, it made the monster more alive then it actually was. In the light when one can see it, it is not as scary as one might think. By skillfully using lighting, it helps make the beast hard to see, hard to discern, and much more terrifying.
As for social changes, Alien was a huge leap for its time. The main protagonist is Ripley, Third in command and officer on the ship. She is treated like an equal throughout the whole film, something that was not common in film and modern culture. She proves she can hold her own at the end of the movie when she blows up the ship. As she places the cat in the sleep pod and gets ready to sleep herself, she realizes it came with her. In a space suit, she fights the monster. As the alien is sucked out into space, she shoots it with a grappling hook, and lets it get cooked by the engine. She the lone human survivor, besides the cat. Like the character from Breathless, both can hold their own and are shrouded in mystery. The main difference is that Ripley proves she doesn’t need anyone else to take care of her, that she isn’t a damsel.
The most recent movie out of the four, Inception from 2010 shows off both how style can use technology and story to create something great while still having a social impact. Stephen A. Diamond from Phyogolgy today states “We see precisely such a pathologically disoriented state in the character of Mal, Cobb’s wife, who, not unlike some psychotic patients, fatally confuses inner and outer reality to the point of self-destructive behavior. Reasoning (wrongly) that we never die in our dreams, always waking first, Mal commits suicide trying to extricate herself from what she mistakenly believes to be a dream.” Not only do we see disorder in Mal but in Cobb as well. He blames himself for the death of his wife, and because of this, he can not let her go. She tries to butt in and ruin things for him in the dream world, yet she doesn’t even exist. We see her over again until finally, he comes to terms and lets her go. Up until this point, mental illnesses were known but not widely talked about. The way that this story depends on this, yet it is in a way that can be understood is just part of what makes it great.
The technology used in Inception helps enhance the idea that the main characters travel to the world of dreams. The sets are elaborate, the attention to detail is there, In an article for the UK Telegraph, Tim Robey says, “Nolan has a vast budget to play with, and play with it he does, folding Parisian streets back on themselves just because he can. The real novelty of the concept is the layering of dreams within dreams, yielding addictively vertiginous sequences of parallel action. The physics of each level get destabilized by what’s happening above: when Cobb is dunked in a bath to wake him up, a flash-flood hits him in his dream world.” The way the action is done in this movie and how the outside world of the dream in a dream effects everything is interesting and beautiful. There are fights in zero gravity and cites built up tall on the beach. It puts what technology is there to use and shows off what it can do, simply to make a point, simply a choice of style. According to Rebecca on her blog post, she states “Thus, not only did the filmmakers use extensive technology so as to film the scenes, but a groundbreaking technology was a major part of the plot of the movie.” The tie in between the film and the effects used to make it happen is an important part of film making today, and simalr films have followed suit since then.
Even though these films are years apart, and of different genres, we can use them to see how far we have progressed stylistically and socially. From the black and white Breathless to the horror of alien, and the effects of Tales from the Crypt and Inception, we have come a long way since 1965. While many things have changed, at least we can still go to the movies, and enjoy a film like always.