Riassunto esame Laboratorio lingua inglese, prof. Martinelli, libro consigliato The Euro-American Cinema, Lev

1. The Art Film

Art refers to a human produced object, text or performance which has limited immediance utility. Institutions distinguish between "high art", wich assumes a sophisticated public, or "art" and "entertainment", wich is easely accessible to a broad audience. Film are considered popular art, but certain films have been produced within the traditions and expectations of high art. For these movies is used the term "art film", and refers to the films made after World War II. These films are intended for an international audience. The art film is an international phenomenon, but depends on local exhibition history. The history in France and Britain involvees public institutions, in Usa involves private enterprise. The key event of the beginnin of art film is the Italian neorealism, which demonstrated that low-budget, artistically ambitious film can reach international audiences. Neorealist films concentrated on character and social environment rather than plot. It also can have political elements, like the film Open City (1945). It is considered two films: a story of heroism and suffering and a story of decadence and cruelty. It's success in Usa opened the door for distribution of European movies in America. There are two types of american audience: a majority still accepting the traditional american optimism, and a minority demandin a more realistic film. Beginnin about 1958, the art films began to attract a much broader audience. Also sexuality was accepted in time. In this period, European movies penetrated in the American box office, thanks to the combination of art, sexuality and economic opportunity.

2. Economic Links

With the advent of World War I, European production diminished and American expanded. At the end of the war, it established as the world leader. The interest of the American majors in Europe changed after world War II. The devastation of Europe offered American companies a striking competitive advantage. The export market became important. The American audience for film declined between 1946 and early 1960s. In Britain and France had also begun to decrease. Protectionist measures were motivated by both economic and cultural politicis. Co-productions required that one important role be played by an actor from the monority co-producing country. In 1980 co-production requirements were modified, so cast and crew could come from any European Economic Community. European production costs were much cheaper. For this reason , in 1960s American companies instead of making film in Europe, started to investing in European productions. The 1960s was a boom time for European cinemas. In 1970s American investments gradually declined because companies chose to invest in a new generation of American fllmmakers.

3. The Euro-American Art Film: Definition

The term “Euro-American art film” define films produced, promoted and distributed in Europe and Usa. The Euro-American cinema is a synthesis of European art film and American entertainment film. The characteristics of these movies are:

• The film makes prominent use of the english;
• One of the collaborators is an European director;
• The film is made in the period 1945 — present;
• The film has large budget and better production than an European filmmakers;
• Cast and crew come from two or more countries;
• The film utilizes specific qualities of the European art film (ambiguity, originality);
• It also utilizes qualities of American entertainment film (stars, spectacle, action);
• The film is a meeting of european and american cultures.

1. The Art FilmArt refers to a human produced object, text or performance which has limited immenidace utility. Institutions distinguish between "high art", wich assumes a sophisticated public, or "art" and "entertainment", wich is easely accessible to a broad audience. Film are considered popular art, but certain films have been produced within the traditions and expectations of high art. For these movies is used the term "art film", and refers to the films made after World War II. These films are intended for an international audience. The art film is an international phenomenon, but depends on local exhibition history. The history in France and Britain involvees public institutions, in Usa involves private enterprise. The key event of the beginnin of art film is the Italian neorealism, which demonstrated that low-budget, artistically ambitious film can reach international audiences. Neorealist films concentrated on character and social environment rather than plot. It also can have political elements, like the film Open City (1945). It is considered two films: a story of heroism and suffering and a story of decadence and cruelty. It's success in Usa opened the door for distribution of European movies in America. There are two types of american audience: a majority still accepting the traditional american optimism, and a minority demanding a more realistic film. Beginnin about 1958, the art films began to attract a much broader audience. Also sexuality was accepted in time. In this period, European movies penetrateed in the American box office, thanks to the combination of art, sexuality and economic opportunity.

2. Economic LinksWith the advent of World War I, European production diminished and American expanded. At the end of the war, it established as the world leader. The interest of the American majors in Europe changed after world War II. The devastation of Europe offered American companies a striking competitive advantage. The export market become important. The American audience for film declined between 1946 and early 1960s. In Britain and France had also begun to decrease. Protectionist measures were motivated by both economic and cultural politiciies. Co-productions required that one important role be played by an actor from the monority co-producing country. In 1980 co-production reqirements were modified, so cast and crew could come from any European Economic Community. European production costs were much cheaper. For this reason , in 1960s American companies instead of making film in Europe, started to investing in European productions. The 1960s was a boom time for European cinemas. In 1970s American investmets gradually declined because companies chose to invest in a new generation of American filmmakers.

3. The Euro-American Art Film: DefinitionThe term “Euro-American art film” define films produced, promoted and distributed in Europe and Usa. The Euro-American cinema is a synthesis of European art film and American entertainment film. The characteristics of these movies are:

• The film makes prominent use of the english;
• One of the collaborators is an European director;
• The film is made in the period 1945 – present;
• The film has large budget and better production than an European filmmakers;
• Cast and crew come from two or more countries;
• The film utilizes specific qualities of the European art film (ambiguity, originality);
• It also utilizes qualities of American entertainment film (stars, spectacle, action);
• The film is a meeting of european and american cultures.

4. The Euro-American Art Film: History

Many Euro-American films of the late 1960s and early 1970s do share a number of contestatory attitudes and characteristics. In 1930-1931 the standard of national films in national languages changed, and film were made in two or more languages. But multiple-language filming was too expensive, and was replaced by dubbing. Fellini's "La Strada" was released and reviewed as an italian-language art film in the Usa, but both italian-language and english-language dubbed versions were made. Filming in English was slowly becoming an option for European filmmakers in the 1950s. Soon the major Hollywood companies started investing in English-language films made by well-known European directors. The period of conflicts within American society created an opportunity for sympathetic works from European artists. In the mid-1970s had far less critical and commercial impact than the previous period. France and Italy had been the major art-film producers in continental Europe form 1945 into the 1970s. This dominance was challenged by the West German filmmakers. Today American studios are not interested in supporting European works. The large European companies are turning to English-language production.

5. Cultural Dominance or Cultural Mix

Multinational English-language cinema has been part of European and American film production for at least thirty years. In the second half of the twentieth century, English has become a worldwide language of science, technology, business, politics and entertainment. Economically, the use of the English language gives a French, Italian or German film a potential acces to the American merket. The European art film has influenced American film: the succes of European art film in the 1960s had a broad influence on how American filmmakers conceptualized cinema and on the films they produced. Euro-American films are a mix of American and European cultures, often they are critical to Americans and American cultures. To the late 1980s and early 1990s European production companies are making English-language films on their own. The Euro-American films of that period can be interpreted to some effort to imitate American models. The European art film has had an impact on American filmmaking. There has been a two-way flow of influence of the Euro-American films. This two-way flow has affected the way movies are both produced and recived in the United States and Western Europe.

Contempt

Contempt (French title: Le Mépris; Italian title: Il Disprezzo) is an Euro-American art film from 1963. The disagreements between director e producers marked the film text and the distribution. Contempt was Jean-Luc Godard's first attempt to reach the international filmmaking. He had trouble agreeing on the subject with Ponti, because of the interest of Brigitte Bardot. Ponti was an expert in Europe productions, whereas Levine was the international distribution. In this movie, we can see two concepts of cinema: for Godard the film is an expression of the artistic personality; for Levine and Ponti is a formulae of a large-scale commercial filmmaking. Godard wrote a 104-page script, but he cannot imagine the details of an action until he sees the actors and the sets or locations. For this, Ponti was frustrated, because he needed a script for budgeting and scheduling. The story is about a love story. It shows the conflict between Paul and Camille entirely in conversation, and shows the developing relationship between Camille and Prokosch. This one is a conscious attack on Ponti and Levine. The film was not shot in English, but each character speaks in his native language. It makes it easy to subtitle but difficult to dub. Ponti and Levine gave Godard a free hand during the shooting, but they were not pleased with the result. Levine requested more nude scenes with Bardot to make the movie more commercial. Ponti changed the film whit the dubbing, that destroyed the character of Francesca. The film was distributed in three different versions in the home territories of the three producers. It was 100 minutes long in France, 103 minutes long in the United States, 84 minutes long in Italy. The Italian version is different from other versions. Contempt was a success only in France.

The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales was one of the last films made by Pier Paolo Pasolini (in 1972). It is part of the "Trilogy of Life", with The Decameron (1971) and The Arabian Nights (1974). Produced by Alberto Grimaldi; his films are socially critical, with political orientation and emphasis on sexuality. The Canterbury Tales was shot in England, without live sound. English-dubbed and Italian-dubbed versions were then prepared. Only seven of Chaucer's tales and two prologues are included in the film. Paolini has eliminated most of Chaucer's elaborate structure of prologues and multiple narrators. The film does begin with a scene of the pilgrims at the Inn at Southwark, but this scene mainly serves to visually situate the story in the Middle Ages. He presents a more direct relationship between the teller and the tale. The erotic tales dominate the first half of the film, the tales of death dominate the second half. The Friar's Tale and the three tales which expose human cruelty and weakness as well as the omnipresence of death. This film can be seen as a struggle between two opposed visions: the joys of the erotic versus the terrors of cruelty and death. The film is in some instances more realistic, in some instances less realistic. It presents Chaucerian England as a strange, exotic land seen from an "Italianized" point of view. Even the mixture of dialects evokes an Italian viewpoint. In the Canterbury Tales, historically Pasolini suggests that it drives much of its appeal from the appearance of the lower classes; in contemporary terms, Pasolini's use of lower-class urban and rural non-actors to portray a peasant culture is even more subversive. The film had a strong theatrical release in Italy, but it failed in Great Britain. The success of the Canterbury Tales in Italy probably had more to do with its sexual explicitness than with its art-film qualities. In the United States, the film was kept off movie screens precisely because the distributor wanted to avoid being linked to pornography.

Blow-Up

It is a film script and directed by Antonioni, based on a story by the Argentine modernist Julio Cortazar, and with an emphasis on theme and visual imagery. Produced by Carlo Ponti and made in London at a time when that city was exporting popular culture around the world. It was also based on the article "The Modelmakers", written by Francis Wyndham for the London Sunday Times Magazine. It is an interview with three photographers which describes the milieu of British fashion photography circa 1964. Antonioni used Francis as a consultant. He cast the picture, directed it and supervised the editing.

The plot presents twenty-four hours in the life of a successful young photographer. We see him leaving a flophouse where he has spent the night taking pictures for a book. Then he goes to his studio leaving room for photo sessions with the model Verushka. He visits a park and films a tryst between a young woman and an older man. The woman is disturbed about being filmed, and appears to his apartment and ask for the film. She leaves with the wrong roll. The photographer stars developing and find in a stand of trees what appears to be a gun pointed at the lovers. In another enlargement he discovers what appears to be a body. He is interrupted by a visit of two young girls asking to have their pictures taken. He visits the park at night and sees the body. He returns home and finds his studio has been burglarized.

When he drives to meet his agent, he thinks he sees the woman of the park. Looking for her, he finds himself in a rock bar, but she has disappeared. At the party, Ron the agent passes the photographer some marijuana and both spend the evening getting high. In the morning, the photographer comes back to the park, but the body is gone. He encounters some mimes playing a tennis game, and images a tennis ball to the players. The photographer than disappears in the midframe. Blow-Up is more colorful, more rapid, more active than the gray-toned Italian films made by Antonioni in the early 1960s. For him, swinging London represents at least a possible way out of the social world in a crisis he had analyzed in his Italian films. In the course of the film, the photographer's new morality turns out to be severely limited. He is ultimately a weak character, limited by his profession and his subculture. The film contained sexually explicit scenes that had not been acceptable in a film released by a major Hollywood company. The cuts involved two scenes: the photographer's erotic tussling with the teenaged girls, and the lovemaking between the painter and his girlfriend. MGM actually did cut the film: it cut a few seconds of the lovemaking between the painter and his girlfriend to tone the implication that the girlfriend gets excited by having the photographer watch.

Antonioni engages the viewer with two fascinating puzzles: first, the identity of a protagonist who shifts roles frequently; and second, the nature and consequences of the murder revealed by the protagonist's enlargements. Blow-Up is carefully balanced between the prestige of the art film and the commercial appeals of fashion, sex and rock, and roll.