Representation mock (2)

How significant is representation in constructing national cinema in the 2 films you have studied?

National cinema is a significant factor in the contribution of national identity, for both home and national audiences. National cinema focuses upon cultural and social of the country in which it was made. These films are then shown around the world offering foreign audiences, their only look at a society they might never otherwise view. As a result these films have a significant impact on how we see foreign cultures. Such as, Kassovitzs’ La Haine that explores the representation of masculinity through the young immigrant boys, who are living in an assimilated country like France. They have a cold war with the government, as they fight for their equality in the country and society. The film explores the representation of the conflict between the young immigrants and the government. Similarly, Fernando Meirelles' City of God also explores the representation of masculinity, through the young gangsters of the Brazilian favelas. Both films represent masculinity through power, which is shown to be symbolised by the gun. This makes the young boys transform into "men" in both films. Both films use representation to convey their messages. National identity is also represented in both films. In City of God, the national identity is represented through the style in the film, which is shown through mise-en-scene. Where as in La Haine it is represented through ethnicity and class.

Point 1: Masculinity

La Haine explores the representation of masculinity throughout the whole film. The strong conflict between the police officers and the young immigrant boys has no end, except death. La Haine portrays masculinity through the vicious cycle in the film. The cycle of violencethat will continue to go on and on in poor areas if the cycle is never broken. The only way out from the cycle is through death. The film starts and end with violence and features the good, honest and decent men dragged down into violence and despair.

A scene that explores masculinity and the violent cycle is at the start of the film, when it is revealed that the police have beaten a young man so badly that he is in a coma. Vinz wants revenge on the police, as many of the other youths in les Banlieues do. The police hate the youths for rioting and being violent and the youths hate the police for trying to oppress them and for their own violence. The cycle is destined to repeat forever if somebody does not break it. Therefore having power through the traditional French values, which are known as liberty, fraternity and equality, but the motto is applied to the immigrants to show brotherhood between them. Kassovitzhas done this to represent the ‘power’ that the minorities have in the French society. He is possibly supporting the riots during the 1990's, attempting to make a statement that the minorities need to make a stand since they are the ones with real French values and ideas, not the oppressive middle class government.

Whereas City of God explores the representation of masculinity  through violence, destruction, corruption and killing. These fierce gangsters believe that "respect" is everything, and the only way to get the respect is through killing.  The scene that supports this is when Lil Ze brutally murders the people in the Motel, and the police chase after the wrongs guys instead of Lil Ze. This then causes Lil Ze to grow up into the leader of all crimes, which causes more destruction. The main question that arises in the film is that, where did the gangs get all these illegal arms from? The answer is simple yet complicated because it was the Military who armed these gangs with the illegal weapons. This was so then they could maintain their power over people. They way of doing that is by killing the same gangs who they had armed with the illegal weapons. That way they maintain their “power”, and become the heroes in the eyes of the normal civilians, who are oblivious to what’s going on in the deeper side of these gangs.

This is because during the 1960’s and 70’s, most people in Brazil lived in very severe and poor conditions. The only place they could shelter themselves was in the Favelas. Most poor people in Brazil did not have any work and were unemployed mainly because of their government. Which caused most of them to go the illegal way, by selling and consuming drugs or by selling arms (guns and knifes) illegally. That was the only way of their survival, which caused conflict, which made them form gangs and then destruction everywhere. The gangs were killing and shooting each other in public places and the police didn’t do anything to punish them, as they were either equally involved or corrupt.

A message that comes out to varying degrees in both City of God and La Haine is that the government, police and other institutions are inherently racist, classist and corrupt in many countries around the world. It ties into the earlier message that poor people are ‘swept under the rug’ in these areas where they can almost be forgotten about. The favelas and les banlieues are places where those who have no jobs and have often come from poorer countries can be shoved at a minimum cost to the government and kept out of the sight and minds of the wealthy. The police in both films are also represented as corrupt and racist. In La Haine they have beaten a young Arab man to death in their custody (and this was based on a true story) and later Said and Hubert are taken and tortured by some cops who are ‘training’ a younger officer in the ways to get away with abusing those in their custody without getting caught. In City of God, the police are seen shooting innocent favela dwellers, selling guns to gangs and taking money from dealers. The films seem to say that if the police are not trustworthy and good, then why would the people obey or respect them.

Point 2: Femininity

La Haine does not explore femininity or represent women.  La Haine represents phallic imagery throughout the film. The only scene with women in the film is the art gallery scene, when Sayid tries to get their attention. Even the women are shown smoking, where the cigarette creates phallic imagery. The film has no representation of femininity, not even metaphorically otherwise the women wouldn’t have been hold a cigarette. One of the women is also shown to have short hair like men, which masculinised her. This gives the audience a sense of masculinity, not femininity. La Haine also explores the idea of class and ethnicity. La Haine is critical of France during the 1990's as it subverts cultural expectations. It breaks stereotypes of French people and French culture and expresses the feelings of marginalisation that the French immigrants were experiencing in the 1990s. Kassovitz portrays the brotherhood and “bromance” between the three boys. This is clearly seen when Sayid kisses Vinz on the cheek, to wake him up. Which is a feminine act, more than manly. This was mainly shown, to portray the equality they have despite being from different ethnic backgrounds.

Women are under-represented in both films, and often portrayed in a negative light. City of God and La Haine are both very masculine stories with little time for female characters. Women are the subjects of derision in the film; the characters tease each other using ‘your mother…’ and ‘your sister…’ jokes. In City of God, however, women are a civilising influence, with two male characters expressing a desire to settle down and quit crime when in a relationship. It is argued that the male characters in these films are often emasculated and that this is the reason for their behaviour and attitude to women. They lack jobs, education or any reason to feel pride, so they resort to carrying guns and insulting women to make themselves feel like real men. Therefore women have a low place or no place in the patriarchal society. This is shown when Benny decides to leave crime and settle down with his girlfriend, Angelica. However ends up getting killed in his "farewell" party, "farewell" foreshadows Benny's accidental death.

Negative portrays of women is also shown, when Lil Ze and his gang rape Knockout Ned's girlfriend (unnamed). He rapes her because she lets him down and calls him ugly, which hurts his male ego and pride. Therefore he rapes her, in front of her boyfriend, who is de-masculinised  by the gang. The use of cinematography is very strong in that scene, as Fernando Meirelles uses low angle shot, with Knockout Ned's face leaned on the floor, and his girlfriend at the same level. This shows how Knockout Ned and his girlfriend are degraded in this scene, and how Lil Ze and his gang are dominant. The audience are also shown to be at the same level, as the low angle shot makes the audience feel connected with Knockout Ned and his girlfriend. These aspects are real, in terms of the way they are represented, as during the extreme poverty and corruption in the 1960's and 70's, the boys of the favelas had nobody to look up to. They had no father or real male role model, who could explain the right and wrong to them. Neither did they have mothers or sister, in order to understand the worth and respect of women, and how they should be treated.

Point 3:  National identity

La Haine challenges the dominant ideologies of the French society. By portraying the three main protagonists with different ethnic backgrounds, and showing their struggle and survival in the assimilated country. Kassovitz has been very biased by presenting the immigrants and their struggle. Which means that Kassovitz supports the immigrants, who fight for equality, and not the government of France, who try to be fascist. The conflict between the young immigrant boys and the police, is shown when the group of boys get into a verbal argument with the officers on the roof. The use of cinematography, with the medium angle shot, makes the audience be on the immigrant’s side. However they are shown to be equal within the same frame and angle, as the police and the boys sand opposite each other. Kassovitz has done that purposely to make the audience feel that the young immigrants are right, despite being at the same level of the officers. Also, it is the immigrants who use the French national motto more than the “real” French people, as they are shown to believe and live in liberty, equality and fraternity.

City of God's realistic depiction of Rio's slums, challenges the established 'dominant ideology' reinforced by the Brazilian working class. Favelas are small, cramped, and close together. They are found throughout Brazil in most mid-large sized cities. The favelas are shown to be ruled by drug lords, and regular shootouts between traffickers, criminals and the police in common places, as well as an assortment of other illegal activities. Throughout the film, the visual representation of the city changes in time. An example of this is the representation of the style of the film. The whole film is orange in terms of colour  and mise-en-scene. The colour becomes dull and dark during the conflict between the gangs, however the final phase of the film returns to bright day light, which is a symbolic foreshadowing of Lil Ze's death.

City of God’s focus is mainly on black youths. The favelas were initially created to house freed slaves, and therefore black people are massively over-represented in this setting. On the other hand, La Haine emphasises racial hybridity with the three protagonists being of Arab, Jewish and African descent. The characters all refer to each other with racial banter; in La Haine the three friends refer to each other’s ethnicities continually. It is argued that people from ethnic minorities often do this to celebrate their difference from the rest of society and also to give them a sense of belonging within their own sub-culture. Overall, both films portray national cinema at a deeper level. The films have strong and deep meanings behind them and within them. It is not just what our eyes can see, but a lot more. Both films represent youths and the young generation being killed by the oppression, fascism and dominance of military and government. The message through these representations, are that it is the government and military who are responsible for all the destruction in France and Brazil. It is because of them that these youths are corrupted, and are living in extreme poor conditions. It is because of them that women and children cannot survive in a patriarchal society. It is because of them, the future with the young generation is in danger. No matter which country it is.

Representation mock

How significant is representation in constructing national cinema in the 2 films you have studied?

Kassovitzs’ La Haine explores the representation of masculinity through the young immigrant boys, who are living in an assimilated country like France. They have a cold war with the government, as they fight for their equality in the country and society. In contrast to this, Del Toro’s Pans Labyrinth explores the representation of femininity through a 12-year-old girl. Who hallucinates and believes herself to be in a world of fantasy, during the Spanish civil war. The use of fantasy allows the message of the film to be portrayed through the innocent eyes of a child. Without the use of fantasy, Ofelia would have to face the harsh reality and the real men, rather than the monsters. Both films use representation to convey their messages. Pans Labyrinth also explores the representation of men, but through fascism, where as La Haine represents masculinity through power and dominance. Representation of femininity seems to be almost non-existent in the two texts due to the lack of dominant female characters in both films. However Pans Labyrinth uses metaphorical aspects to represent femininity. The church and the military, in Pans Labyrinth, represent National identity where as in La Haine it is represented through ethnicity and class.

Point 1: Masculinity

Point - La Haine explores the representation of masculinity throughout the whole film. The strong conflict between the police officers and the young immigrant boys has no end, except death. La Haine portrays masculinity through the vicious cycle in the film. The cycle of violence that will continue to go on and on in poor areas if the cycle is never broken. The only way out from the cycle is through death. The film starts and end with violence and features the good, honest and decent men dragged down into violence and despair.

A scene that explores masculinity and the violent cycle is at the start of the film, when it is revealed that the police have beaten a young man so badly that he is in a coma. Vinz wants revenge on the police, as many of the other youths in les Banlieues do. The police hate the youths for rioting and being violent and the youths hate the police for trying to oppress them and for their own violence. The cycle is destined to repeat forever if somebody does not break it. Therefore having power through the traditional French values, which are known as liberty, fraternity and equality, but the motto is applied to the immigrants to show brotherhood between them. Kassovitzhas done this to represent the ‘power’ that the minorities have in the French society. He is possibly supporting the riots during the 1990's, attempting to make a statement that the minorities need to make a stand since they are the ones with real French values and ideas, not the oppressive middle class government.

Similarly, Pans Labyrinth represents masculinity through fascism and power, and the dominance of military over Spain. An example of this is during Ofelia's death scene. It represents male dominance and power in the form of Vidal who is a tyrannical fascist officer. When Vidal kills Ofelia it represents the oppressive nature of man, dominating one of the very few female characters of the film. This could have been done to represent all men as oppressive and dominant, to women during the time of the Spanish civil war. Women were nothing more than pests in the patriarchal society. In terms of national cinema this ties in to the fact that Spain was stuck in an oppressive fascist society during that time. Del Toro attempts to appeal to the Spanish audience by saying this is something, which should be dealt with and talked about, rather than just pretending that it never happened. Del Toro dares to challenge the ideologies of Spanish men, and reflects the reality through fantasy, that men were monsters during the war.

Point 2: Femininity

La Haine does not explore femininity or represent women.  La Haine represents phallic imagery throughout the film. The only scene with women in the film is the art gallery scene, when Sayid tries to get their attention. Even the women are shown smoking, where the cigarette creates phallic imagery. The film has no representation of femininity, not even metaphorically otherwise the women wouldn’t have been hold a cigarette. One of the women is also shown to have short hair like men, which masculinized her. This gives the audience a sense of masculinity, not femininity. La Haine also explores the idea of class and ethnicity. La Haine is critical of France during the 1990's as it subverts cultural expectations. It breaks stereotypes of French people and French culture and expresses the feelings of marginalisation that the French immigrants were experiencing in the 1990s. Kassovitzportrays the brotherhood and “bromance” between the three boys. This is clearly seen when Sayid kisses Vinz on the cheek, to wake him up. Which is a feminine act, more than manly. This was mainly shown, to portray the equality they have despite being from different ethnic backgrounds.

However, Pans Labyrinth has a strong representation of femininity. Through mise-en-scene and Ofelia, femininity is highly explored and represented in Pans Labyrinth. The film shows the power of men destroying nature, which is equivalent to growth, birth and fertility. Therefore, it is compared to women, as women give birth and fertile, like nature. There aren't many female characters in the film, but there’s lots of yonic imagery through out to represent the oppressed femininity. For example the two scenes featuring the tree, the beauty decreases as the film progresses. Which suggests that men destroying nature through fascism. Thus, men destroying femininity, which is why there can’t be growth, fertility or birth. Therefore, there is no future, because nature and innocence are being destroyed. Ofelia's death represents the destruction of nature. However the uprising during the Spanish Civil War is featured at the end of the film, featuring a strong woman at the lead of the charge, defeating Vidal. Showing a woman defeating fascism could suggest a rebirth of nature and a rebirth in the Spanish society since, nationally, the ground in Spain is supposed to be broken and dead. Del Toro may be suggesting that finally talking about the Spanish Civil War may cause a rebirth in society, or a rebirth for the destroyed nature in Spain.

Point 3:  National identity

La Haine challenges the dominant ideologies of the French society. By portraying the three main protagonists with different ethic backgrounds, and showing their struggle and survival in the assimilated country. Kassovitz has been very biased by presenting the immigrants and their struggle. Which means that Kassovitz supports the immigrants, who fight for equality, and not the government of France, who try to be fascist. The conflict between the young immigrant boys and the police, is shown when the group of boys get into a verbal argument with the officers on the roof. The use of cinematography, with the medium angle shot, makes the audience be on the immigrant’s side. However they are shown to be equal with in the same frame and angle, as the police and the boys sand opposite each other. Kassovitz has done that purposely to make the audience feel that the young immigrants are right, despite being at the same level of the officers. Also, it is the immigrants who use the French national motto more than the “real” French people, as they are shown to believe and live in liberty, equality and fraternity.

The church and the military represent national identity in Pans Labyrinth. People in Spanish society were very religious due to the effects of the Spanish civil war. The military are presented as fascist, who are evil, or perhaps even demonic. An example is when the room which the pale man who is supposed to be a child eating demon is almost identical to Vidal's room where he meets with his associates. This could mean that Del Toro is attempting to portray the Spanish military during that time as demons, as Vidal kills Ofelia, later in the film. This is similar to the demon that kills children. Del Toro represents the military as destroying youth and the church as Ofelia's savior, due to her descent in to the fantasy realm with the 'king and queen' and herself who represents 'the holy trinity'. This is possibly appropriate to the negative outlook of the military during the Spanish civil war in the Spanish society and the positive outlook of the church in Spanish society during that time.

Overall, both films portray national cinema at a deeper level. The films have strong and deep meanings behind them and within them. It is not just what our eyes can see, but a lot more. It is mainly the representation of masculinity taking over femininity and destroying it. Both films represent youths and the young generation being killed by the oppression, fascism and dominance of military and government. The message through these representations, are that it is the government and military who are responsible for all the destruction in France and Spain. It is because of them that women and children cannot survive in a patriarchal society. It is because of them, the future with the young generation is in danger. No matter which country it is. 

Representation (2) - Pans Labyrinth and La Haine

Points to be included within the essay:

• Be sure when looking at the two films, La Haine and Pan's Labyrinth, that the differences are highlighted. Look at the similarities and the differences.
• Include the cultural context of the two countries (Spain and France). 
• Reference the different examples from the films, that will back up the points made to reinforce your argument. 
• From the extent of the difference --> Context. 

Relevant information to include in the exam:

• You can detect how much La Haine uses Narrative, more so than that of Pans Labyrinth, which uses style, as well as narrative. A reason for this being that Pans Labyrinth is made for an international market, and audience. 
• Pan's Labyrinth is more of a representation on the culture of Spain (Historical). Where as La Haine is more about the representation of the conflict between the young immigrants and the government/officers. 

Narrative and Representation exemplar questions:

• Narrative plays a significant role in communicating messages and values. To what extent is this evident in the films you have studied?
• To what extent are the films dependent on style and themes to communicate social and cultural meaning?

A key point in relation to the first question regarding the characters, an aspect of narrative, is that of what men in Spain during 1945 were like. - Their involvement in war and what was expected of them. 

Message: Portrays Fascism in a monstrous way, highlighting the evil deeds and monstrosities through the use of  terrifying fictional creatures. 

Answering the Question: La Haine is a more realistic and true representation of France's National Cinema, than Pans Labyrinth is to Spain. La Haine looks more realistic in terms of representation, compared to Pans Labyrinth, which uses colour (style) to make it look more realistic. 

Exemplar Essay Point: How gender is represented in relation to the nation's cinema and time period. The idea of a man during the spanish civil war (Fascism and the way they were forced to act, social pressures and stigma). 

Representation - City of God and La Haine

Points to be included within the essay:

• Be sure when looking at the two films, La Haine and City of God, that the differences are highlighted. Looked at as a contrast mainly, as opposed to finding similarities as this will be more challenging. 
• Include the cultural context of the two countries (Brazil and France). 
• Reference the different examples from the films, that will back up the points made to reinforce your argument. 
• From the extent of the difference --> Context. 

Relevant information to include in the exam:

• You can detect how much La Haine uses Narrative, more so than that of City of God, which uses style. A reason for this being that City of God is made for an international market,despite showing the poor side of Brazil, possibly not all the aspects. 
• La Haine is more of a representation on the culture of France (Historical). Where as City of God is possibly more of style over substance, along with cultural representation. 

Narrative and Representation exemplar questions:

• Narrative plays a significant role in communicating messages and values. To what extent is this evident in the films you have studied?
• To what extent are the films dependent on style and themes to communicate social and cultural meaning?

A key point in relation to the first question regarding the characters, an aspect of narrative, is that of how France was like during the 1930's. - Increase of immigrants and foreigners, and what caused the riots.  

Message: Government causes all the chaos. Riots are caused because of the government, who treat the immigrants inhuman, as they want an assimilated nation. In the desire of that, the nation seems to have forgotten their national motto (liberty, fraternity and equality). Instead of the "pure" and "real" French people, it is the immigrants who apply the national motto, amongst themselves. 

Answering the Question: La Haine and City of God, both are realistic. However, La haine is more realistic in terms of representation, compared to City of God. 

Exemplar Essay Point: How the immigrants are presented, in relation to the nations cinema, history and time period. How the immigrants were forced to act, social pressures, which led to conflict and riots. Conflict  between the young immigrants and the government officers (police).  Explore how City of God uses gender as a mean to support what people in Brazil are actually like, especially men, who are actually young boys in the film. Each character in the film, represents a certain emotion. 

City of God Analysis

City of God uses the theme of power and conflict. The message that the film conveys through the theme is that respect is everything, and the way they can receive respect is only through violence, destruction, corruption and killing. Having a gun in the hand is a symbol of their (the gangs) masculinity, which makes them feel that they’re very “manly” and have the power to overrule anyone. In that corruption the only way to survive and live, is through killing and death.

The theme of City of God supports the context behind this film. This is because during the 1960’s and 70’s, most people in Brazil lived in very severe and poor conditions. The only place they could shelter themselves was in the Favelas. Most poor people in Brazil did not have any work and were unemployed mainly because of their government. This caused most of them to go down the illegal route, by selling and consuming drugs or by selling arms (guns and knifes) illegally. That was the only way to survive, which caused conflict and made them form gangs leading to destruction everywhere. The gangs were killing and shooting each other in public places and the police did not do anything to punish them, as they were either equally involved or corrupt.

The scene that supports this is when Lil Ze brutally murders the people in the Motel, and the police chase after the wrong guys instead of Lil Ze. This then causes Lil Ze to grow up into the leader of all crimes, which causes more destruction. The main question that arises in the film is that, where did the gangs get all these illegal arms from? The answer is simple yet complicated because it was the Military who armed these gangs with the illegal weapons. This was so then they could maintain their power over people. The way of doing that is by killing the same gangs who they had armed with the illegal weapons. That way they maintain their “power”, and become the heroes in the eyes of the normal civilians, who are oblivious to what’s going on in the darker side of these gangs. 

This is similar to La Haine and Pans Labrynth, as they also explore the theme of power and conflict. In La Haine it is the conflict between immigrants and the government, who want to maintain France as an assimilated country but because of the immigrants, they somehow fail to do so. Therefore they try to oppress them, which the immigrants oppose, and then this leads to riots. This is very similar to City of God, as the only way to escape from the riots and trouble in this film, is also through death. They either have to kill or die.

The ending scene of La Haine conveys the message very clearly as to how they’re all trapped in a vicious and violent cycle. No matter what they have no escape and will eventually end up where they started from. The sidekick, Saiid is the observer, watching all this happen as he’s stuck in the middle and cannot do much. If he tries anything then he will possibly get killed after the riots, as he’s powerless without Vinz and Hubert. The French government however have forgotten their own nations motto, which is Equality, Liberty and Fraternity. It is the immigrants who use this motto amongst themselves, and the film challenges this, as well as the Todorov (CHN). Which raises the question, as to who is more French, the government or the immigrants?

In Pans Labrynth, the conflict arises because of the fascist government.  Pans Labrynth is set during the time of the Civil war in Spain. The government and military wanting power and dictating over people caused the conflict. The film sends out the message that war destroys childhood therefore the only way to escape is by hallucinating it like a fantasy, especially as a child.

The three films convey the message that government causes most of the conflict and to beware of the government. However if you interfere with the government, the only conclusion everyone ends up with is death. As all the protagonists get killed (or audience get the sense that they will get killed i.e: Saiid), this means that they have no power and no say when it comes to opposing the government.