Compare a film from the 1950s and another from the 2010s, and one would know that so much has changed. The graphics have become better, the camera more stable, and indeed the plot more modern. The most typical of the 1950s films may be Seven Samurai, featuring black and white shots, very limited camera movements, and few available props. By contrast, a quintassential modern film would be Captain America: The First Avenger, which contains profuse high-tech machinery, special effects, and almost mind-boggling camera angles. While the appearances and forms of films have drastically changed since the 1950s, films remain groups of motion pictures facilitated by sounds. And so are the reasons why they are made. One of the purposes is that films show reality in ways that people do not anticipate under normal circumstances, which is why they can be described using the word “subversive”—anything that changes or undermines previous ways of thinking and feeling (Vogel and MacDonald 11). While the social, political, and artistic purposes of films have always been relevant, the theaters have nonetheless been bombarded with countless junk films driven by mere desires for capital, which essentially provide nothing nutritious but endless visual spectacles or only plots that make the viewers cry. By analyzing and compraing Breathless (1960) by Godard, The Shining (1980) by Kubrick, Pulp Fiction (1994) by Tarantino, and Avatar (2009) by Cameron, this blog article seeks to peek into the subtle and yet definite changes in films and the mechanisms behind such changes. It seems that culture, society, politics, technology, and the economy all have contributed to varies degrees.

  

The “old” Seven Samurai and the “new” The Avengers

       Films are made differently nowadays. Cinematographic techniques seem to receive less attention today, for many have become fixed, standard industrial practices. Breathless by Godard is a clever attempt to cater to the taste of the audience who had long become accustomed to American films while at the same time shock them with something French. It was not merely about snatching the market share or treating films as merchandise but also about French filmmakers rebelling against oppression and fighting for room of expression and survival (Turner 50).

The most acclaimed technique that Breathless first employed is perhaps jump cutting where pieces are carved out from a single shot to place emphasis on certain elements, save time, and of course, impress the audience. It may appear jarring, unexpected, or even confusing but it sure shows Godard’s determination to try something different. This spirit of fearlessness in innovation matters much more than the technique itself. It may be a desparate measure invented to win back the audience but it has indeed become the guiding ideology for future films that they should break rules for filmmaking, which stems from figuring out what works well in conveying a specific concept to an audience (Knudsen).

The Shining (1980) by Kubrick has witnessed the masterful, innovative use of Steadicam. In scenes such as the one where Danny was riding his car and the one where he was running away from his father, the camera was placed on a special device that allowed the camera operator to finish a tracking shot without being shaky. Pulp Fiction (1994) by Tarantino, for instance, is still rather innovative in terms of editting, connecting different lines of stories together, and the gore-filled realism. There were indeed very good examples of innovation but most were bland productions, which would forever remain the case. But the frequency of innovation in cinematographic skills may have decreased.

Avatar (2009) is certainly innovative in employing special effects and camera movement but it is based more on computer-generated imagery (CGI) than the artistic use of the camera. There are other animated films that are created purely in studios instead of in the real world. Although these films are trailblazing in creating a new genre and in impressing the audience with spectacles impossible to create before, they “displace a technique that analog filmmakers had for enhancing audiences’ responses to a film’s narrative events” (Dromm 156). Furthermore, there is also the risk of an audience accustomed to this simpler mode of storytelling and this more direct way of psychological stimulation, which could result in an industry-scale tilt towards this preference for primal expression. The worst case scenario is that CGI films and bland films featuring nothing but hot-shot celebrities are extremely effective in occupying large shares of the market and making people feel that they are what films should be like. If that becomes a fact, there would be hardly any room for cinematographic innovation. Films as a form of art would soon lose their charm and become nothing more than just motion pictures. Films should be made with a certain level of depth but they seem to have been simplified.

JIANG ZIYA：Legend of Deification—a Chinese CGI film made with a budget of 500 million Yuan but generated thrice that number in return.

 

Films have always served as effective tools for political expression, and thus what, how, and why issues they address have changed. Breathless (1960) by Godard was “based on a newspaper article that Godard had found in The News in Brief” (Garrigues). Rich themes are contained in the film, including existential dilemma experienced by Patricia, identity, romance, and betrayal. Perhaps the quintessential of all is Michel’s death. He was confused about his identity, trying to be something he was not. Perhaps he was also the embodiment of conventions and poor imitations of classics, and Godard murdered him. In a way, he was criticizing French cinema and the general industry environment, much like what Kurosawa did with his Seven Samurai (Lind). The Shining (1980) by Kubrick addresses taboo subjects such as child abuse, indigenous peoples, social classes, and more. Pulp Fiction (1994) by Tarantino mainly addresses the transition experienced by Jules. And it teaches a lesson. The man was immersed fully in violence, through which “questions of morality and social order are made made to surface in the film (Kirsch 33). The audience is presented with repulsive scenes of gore, crime, and deviance but can still find some solace in Jules who decided to give it all up. Avatar (2009) by Cameron also teaches a lesson that we should serve justice and refrain from selfishness. But the topics it addresses are different this time. Instead of violence and social order, it draws attention to the environment, extraterrestrial life, and borderline DNA technology. Thanks to CGI, Cameron was able to make all of these elements compelling and believeable.

The most obvious difference between the films of today and those of the past is perhaps their appearance, and signifiant cultural, social, political, economical, and technological changes underlie such a difference. Modern remakes of Seven Samurai could feature shiny swords and armor. And they could include themes such as the lamentation of the demise of the swordsman culture. Michel in Breathless could mean something else in today’s context but he was who he was because of the time. Having an American girlfriend was like “living the dream” and so was leading a life of a desperado like his idol. It is such a sentiment that inspired Godard and it was the gangster culture that made the film a reality. Gangster films have dwindled in number nowadays because the gangster culture has waned in modern times. The theme of ghosts is still relevant today and so are other issues discussed in The Shining. But modern-day technology could achieve more vivid graphics and more horrifying background music. Pulp Fiction can still be violent and gory if a remake is to be made, but people might find it hard to believe the plot because we are now living in times of law and order. Gangs still exist but it is doubtful that people could harm and kill each other like that. Films resembling Avatar, heavily embellished with 3-D special effects, have proven extremely successful. They are always the winners of the box office and they are not possible without technology and the lust for profit. Capitalism is inextricably connected with the film industry, and in some countries that is what really matters. As long as money is made, no one really cares what cinematographic techniques are used. Grabbing eyeballs has become the ultimate goal in some theaters.

Culture, society, politics, technology, and the economy all have contributed to varies degrees. And films, as products of culture, directly engage in a never-ending conversation with all of these factors behind the scene. The French New Wave was influenced by American gangster films and French noirs, and in turn was one of the principle influences on the New Hollywood or Hollywood renaissance, the uniquely creative period of American filmmaking running approximately from 1967–1980 (Miller). What makes a film successful is usually highly contingent upon whether the audience appreciates it. In other words, the audience should be the one shaping the cinema. But as many can see, the cinema is shaping the audience instead. Good films from the past can still be appreciated, which probably means that how a meaningful story is told lies at the core of a good film.

 

 

Works Cited

Dromm, Keith. “CGI and Affective Responses to Narrative Films.” Films and Philosophy, vol. 24, 2020, pp. 156-174.

Garrigues, Par Manon. “Why Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless” should be on your watch list.” Vogue.fr, 24 Mar. 2020, www.vogue.fr/fashion-culture/article/french-cinema-why-                             jean-luc-godards-new-wave-classic-breathless-with-jean-seberg-is-a-must-watch. Accessed 26 Nov. 2020.

Knudsen, Tyler. “WILFW EP. 4 : BREATHLESS (1960).” Cinematyler.com, cinematyler.com/archives/433. Accessed 25 Nov. 2020.

Kirsch, Scott. “Spectacular violence, hypergeography, and the question of alienation in Pulp Fiction.” Engaging film: geographies of mobility and identity, edited by Tim Cresswell

and Deborah Dixon, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002, pp. 32-47.

Lind, Andrew J. “Seven Samurai.” Collaboratex, 27 Sep. 2020,

collaboratex.com/2020/09/seven-samurai/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2020.

Miller, Jacqui. “The French New Wave and the New Hollywood: Le Samourai and its American legacy.” Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Film and Media Studies, no. 3, 2010, pp. 109-                        120.

Vogel, Amos, and Scott MacDonald. Film as a subversive art. New York: Random House, 1974.

Turner, Dennis. “Breathless: Mirror Stage of the Nouvelle Vague.” SubStance, vol. 12, no. 5, 1983, pp. 50-63.