6 Film Class Movies

SPOILER ALERT! Plots will be discussed.

I thought I would provide some brief comments about six out of the ten films recently studied at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. I will include observations made by other students and our instructor.

Imitation of Life

This film directed by Douglas Sirk and released in 1959 is a melodrama, but it uses the so-called “woman’s film” type of soap opera format to explore themes relating to female roles in society and racial bigotry. Widow Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) befriends an African American woman, Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore) who has a daughter, Sarah Jane, who has light skin. Annie is poor, and Lora invites her and her child to stay with her. Annie takes care of Lora’s place and looks after her daughter, Susie. Annie wanted to be an actress, but instead enables the white Lora to look for work as a model and actress. They go through life as family members, and Sarah Jane and Susie are like sisters. The film shows that when the outside world does not impose its racist sanctions, people of diverse backgrounds can live together in harmony. But, those vicious outside forces find a way to invade and poison the family’s sanctuary.

Lora encounters sexism in her attempt to forge a career, but she defies attempts by a theater agent to sexually objectify her, and rejects a marriage proposal that would have conditionally thwarted her desire to be an actress. She is forceful enough to convince a successful playwright to make changes in a play, and she becomes a Broadway star. But, she will not settle for a marriage to the playwright because she doesn't love the man.

Sarah Jane represents a character who knows that the society rewards people for being white and punishes those who are black. Even as a young girl, she shows racial self-hatred, since she can pass for being white, and thus receives the advantages of being accepted into the white culture, while viewing as an insider the hatred shown toward African Americans. When Annie shows up at school as her mother, Sarah Jane feels humiliated. Annie expresses her anger to Lora by saying, “How do you explain to your child that you were born to be hurt?” Annie is not an Uncle Tom character since she does not submerge her racial pride. She recognizes the injustice around her, and points out to Lora that even though she is grateful for Lora’s kindness, she is still viewed as a maid, even though privately the two act as equals in their friendship.

After Sarah Jane grows up, she maintains her “white” identity, and even has a white boyfriend. The film shows the danger that results from the illogical ignorance of bigotry when the boyfriend beats up Sarah Jane when he discovers that she is black. The culture is so prejudicial that at one point Sarah Jane is made to feel that she would rather die than be seen as a black person. Sarah Jane eventually runs away and gets jobs as a sexy chorus girl. When Annie finds her, she is subjected to the humiliation of her own daughter introducing Annie as her former nanny. Sarah Jane does finally seem to realize how badly she treated her mother, who loved her, but not soon enough, since Annie dies shortly thereafter.

The last scene of the film is especially meaningful. Lora stages an elaborate funeral for Annie, which, ironically, allows Annie to finally become the “star” of a theatrical-like spectacle, but only in death. Sarah Jane shows up at the funeral, and she is crying and remorseful. In the end, the three women, Lora, her daughter Susie, and Sarah Jane are together to comfort each other, without the need for any male presence.

There was a complaint by one class member that the movie perpetuated racial stereotypes. As a rebuttal, it was noted that the film was of its time, and it actually was exposing bigotry, not advocating it.

L’Argent

The title of this movie, released in 1983, and directed by Robert Bresson, means “the money.” The film seems to suggest that the upper classes, because of their elevated level of privilege, commit acts that have disastrous repercussions for those less fortunate. (This theme is at the center of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby). The characters are unemotional here, with actions clipped in an elliptical style allowing no time for human responses. It’s as if they are just parts in an elaborate mechanism, stuck in an assembly line, like Charlie Chaplin’s character in Modern Times, their humanity drained from them. There are numerous shots of doors opening and closing on people, placing individuals in figurative cells, and later, actual ones, as the monetary-obsessed society imprisons them in inescapable situations.

The plot revolves around counterfeit money passed on by two upper class youths that eventually go to a young man, by way of a photo shop manager, named Yvon (Christian Patey), who is delivering oil. When Yvon unknowingly uses the bills at a restaurant, he is arrested. He is not jailed, but loses his job. Along the way, there are scams, perjury, and bribery so that the wealthy and business people escape responsibility for their actions. In need of cash, Yvon participates in a robbery, is caught, and is incarcerated. While in prison, he learns of his daughter’s death, and that his wife is leaving him. Yvon has a failed suicide attempt. After being released, Yvon has lost his soul and murders hotel keepers, and even a kind woman, who gives him a place to live, and the people living in her house. Yvon then turns himself in and confesses to his crimes.

One could argue that Yvon’s violence is an attempt at freeing these people from their afflictions and social prisons. Another way of viewing the violence is by considering what happens in Shakespeare’s history plays, where it takes a long time, and a great deal of tragedy, to recover from the cycle of death that follows the killing of King Richard II. Here, the selfish acts of those rich boys, one might label their infractions as sins, start a train of misery that seem to require numerous sacrifices before the suffering stops.

Desert Hearts

This 1985 movie takes place in 1959 in Reno, Nevada. The film is one of the first that was made by women, and it daringly focuses on a lesbian love affair. In fact, this low-key story is in the forefront of positively presenting alternative attitudes about women and their sexuality.

Vivian (Helen Shaver), an English literature professor at Columbia University, arrives at a Reno ranch to get a divorce after twelve years of marriage. She says at one point that her husband isn’t really that upset about the divorce, which suggests that there may have been something about Vivian that hindered the marriage from being viable. She tells her lawyer that she does not seek alimony and has always supported herself, which paints her as an independent woman, which was atypical for the story’s time period. Her clothing and demeanor present her as a reserved thirty-five-year-old woman, and she doesn’t seem to relax until she is alone in her room, where she removes her confining attire.

The woman who runs the ranch is Frances (Audra Lindley), who had a relationship with a man that produced a son. In 1959, a child outside of marriage was not socially acceptable, so this is another instance of nonconformist behavior. Frances has looked after Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), her lover’s daughter, who works at a casino and lives on the ranch. She is ten years younger than Vivian, and the first time she sees Cay, the young woman is driving her car backwards, symbolically showing how she runs counter to accepted rules. At the casino, she has a friend, Silver (Andra Akers), who is soon to be married to Joe (Anthony Ponzini). However, Silver has no problem kissing Cay on the mouth, and later shares a bubble bath with her. Joe walks in on them and seems perfectly okay with what is going on, and even says he would like to know what it’s like to be a beautiful woman. With Silver and Joe we have what looks like a bisexual couple, another daring depiction, even for a 1985 movie.

When Vivian drops some mail off at Cay’s place, she sees that she has a woman in her bed. Cay is not a closeted lesbian, but courageously has let it be known about her sexual preference. The prejudice against Cay is demonstrated when Vivian learns that Cay was expelled from college for what was considered at the time to be “unnatural acts.” Cay and Vivian get to know each other, and Cay tells Vivian she is attracted to her. Vivian doesn’t want to admit even to herself that she feels the same way, but Cay has stirred Vivian’s true sexual urges. Symbolically this discovery is shown when the two are in a storm, implying that the rain is washing away the arid loneliness of Vivian’s world, and allowing loving emotions to flow. Vivian, unsure of her feelings, gets into the car, placing a barrier between her and Cay. But, she opens the window of the vehicle, figuratively giving Cay a window of opportunity, and Cay reaches in and kisses Vivian.

They soon become lovers. Cay seems secure to be herself in the desert community, detached from any large populated area, even though she still is negatively judged, according to Frances, in this less sophisticated rural setting. When Vivian gets her divorce and must head back east, she asks Cay to come with her, relocating their “desert hearts” to New York. Cay, the supposedly courageous one, is hesitant to leave the safety of her comfort zone. It is now the once conservative Vivian who is defiantly willing to pursue her gay relationship in the open on her turf, possibly hoping that the liberal world back home will tolerate her choice. The film ends with Vivian asking Cay to ride with her to the next station. She reaches out, Cay takes her hand, and they ride off. The ending is not conclusive, but there is the hope that they will try and make a life together.

A Brief History of Time

The title of this 1991 documentary by renowned filmmaker Errol Morris is taken from the acclaimed book written by physicist Stephen Hawking, who defied all odds and lived until the age of 76 despite having ALS. The movie addresses Hawking’s studies concerning the Big Bang theory which attempts to address the origins of the universe. Hawking discusses associated topics involving time and its relationship to the Theory of Relativity and black holes.

Morris recreated Hawking’s study, including the poster of Marilyn Monroe on the wall, depicting the woman who was revered for her physical appearance contrasting with the man whose body was decimated, but whose mind was universally admired. Morris interviews Hawking’s family members who relate that before he was stricken by the paralyzing effects of the disease which rendered him immobile and confined to a wheelchair, Hawking was physically adventurous, finding all sorts of ways to enter his family home, which others did not know of, including climbing up its facade to enter through upper story windows. These stories, and others, besides showing how much ALS reversed his life, also show how Hawking was solving problems at an early age, coming up with answers that others could not. The irony of Hawking’s story is that he had the intellect and drive to explore an infinite, expanding universe while a disease imploded his body, attempting to convert him into a human version of a dense black hole.

Paradise Now

This 2005 movie was the first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Oscar. The movie does not attempt to present a balanced view concerning Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints. It does not depict any oppressive acts by Israel, but clearly blames that country for creating an intolerable situation. There is no consideration as to Israel’s position that it is fighting for its existence in the region. What the film does do is objectively present opposing views as to how the Palestinians should fight for what they want.

Said (Kais Nashif) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) are lifelong friends who work as auto mechanics in the West Bank. The area contains a great deal of rubble, and generally looks like a war zone that has been bombed. So, the impression is one of continuing conflict and devastation. A significant scene shows an argument with an automobile owner over whether a repaired car bumper is crooked or not. Even after a level is used, the owner insists that the bumper is not straight. The incident illustrates how entrenched views which leave no room for any other viewpoint will eventually lead to a confrontational situation.

Said and Khaled sit above their town on a hill, looking down on the community below. The feeling one gets is that they wish to rise above their situation, to escape their sad lives and do something meaningful. They have decided to achieve this end by volunteering for a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. Said was born in a refugee camp and was only allowed to leave the West Bank once for a surgery when he was very young. His father was executed. He says, “The worst crime of all is to exploit the people’s weaknesses and turn them into collaborators.” This statement may be a reference to how the Nazis exploited the fears of the Jews. Said initially has reservations and disagrees with Khaled about using violence to accomplish their goals.

Khaled argues with a more affluent Palestinian woman who Said is attracted to, named Suha (Lubna Azabal). She had been traveling overseas and perhaps that has given her a distanced, objective perspective on the situation. However, when we first see her entering the West Bank, the Israeli soldier checking her credentials shows contempt for her with just his looks and hand movements, which are dismissive. Khaled says, trying to justify violent action, “If we can’t live as equals, at least we’ll die as equals.” Suha counters with “you should be able to find a way to be equal in life.” She argues that killing Israelis will justify more killing of Palestinians. Khaled sounds like anyone trying to throw off tyranny when he says, “There can be no freedom without struggle. As long as there is injustice, someone must make a sacrifice.” But what he is proposing is killing innocent people, and Suha accuses him of wanting “revenge.” She says when one turns into a killer, that person adopts the attributes of the enemy, and then, “there’s no difference between victim and occupier.”

The two men prepare for their suicide mission, making video recorded statements that are to be shown after the explosions take place. The operation runs into a snag when the person who was to transport them does not show up. Said becomes separated from Khaled, who eventually changes his position when he sees how the Palestinian terrorist leaders are quickly ready to blame their own man, Said, for the failure of the mission, and assume he has become a traitor. Also, he learns that the videos made of the suicide bombers are sold for profit, which further angers Khaled.

Said eventually concludes that peaceful ways have not worked. For him, “A life without dignity is worthless. Especially when it reminds you day after day of humiliation and weakness.” The movie ends with a chill as Said travels on a bus in Tel Aviv, wearing the suicide vest, ready to set off the bombs. When Khaled was arguing with Suha he said that at least by sacrificing himself he still had paradise to look forward to. She says that there is no paradise, and that it only exists in his head. His response is that he would rather exist in that idea of paradise in his head than live in a world that he considered to be hell. Even without the hope of that heaven that the radicals promise as a result of martyrdom, the film seems to be saying that for some, the freedom that comes from that feeling of “paradise now,” as opposed to later, sustains them.

I expected a somewhat heated discussion over this film choice because a number of the class students are Jewish. However, only one said that the movie was one-sided in only showing the Palestinian view of the issue. Our instructor reminded us that it was made by a Palestinian film crew and its focus was on the problems of the people living in the West Bank. One member who comes from the Middle East thought that the film fell short in not showing the harshness of Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.

A Serious Man

Whether or not you like this 2009 film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, you have to admit the brothers take on the big question of whether life makes any sense. Since it is the Coens making the movie, the answer is pretty much that the human condition is absurd, and cinematically they convey this view by taking average situations and satirically exaggerating them until events appear surrealistic.

The Coens drew on their own Jewish, Minnesota background, so the movie is steeped in the Jewish American experience. One person in our class hated the film because she felt that it reduced characters to offensive Jewish stereotypes. However, many with Jewish backgrounds felt the picture resonated with their own experiences. Even if one is not Jewish, a person who knows world history has learned that Jews have undergone a great deal of suffering. I believe that is why this film owes a great deal to the bible’s “Book of Job.” There, a man undergoes a great deal of unjust suffering, but is somehow required to keep his faith in a deity who definitely “works in mysterious ways.”

The movie has an odd opening which seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the story. It is set in the past in a rustic European Jewish shtetl with a husband (Allen Lewis Rickman) bringing home a villager (Fyvush Finkel) for dinner as thanks for helping him repair the wheel on the husband’s cart. However his wife (Yelena Shmulenson) tells him the man died, so the creature who helped him is a dybbuk (a sort of evil spirit). The guest says he recovered from his bout with death. The wife is convinced that he is a dybbuk and stabs him in the chest with a knife. He begins to bleed and stumbles out. We then hear “Somebody to Love” by the Jefferson Airplane as the camera takes us through a narrow tunnel that turns into the wire connected to the air plug through which young Danny Gopnick (Aaron Wolff) is listening to the song in his bar mitzvah class in the 1960’s. His teacher confiscates the boy’s tape player.

Our film instructor theorized that the movie is told from the boy’s point of view, and we are sort of in his head as the audience. I’m not sure about that. I think the tunnel-wire is just a visual device that connected the opening to the rest of the story. The opening is like the theme of the film in miniature, as it shows that despite all good intentions, sometimes bad things happen, and there are no definite answers as to why things occur.

The main character of the movie is Larry Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg), but even though he may be the Job figure, there are other characters who suffer in the story. Larry is a mathematics professor, and, professionally and personally, he wants solutions to problems. However, even though he has certainty in his equations, he does not get that element in his life (and that frustration even invades the sanctuary of his job in a scene where he fills a huge blackboard with calculations that lead not to some revelation but instead to the Uncertainty Principle). Larry doesn’t seem to have a grip on what goes on around him. A student and his father try to extort a passing grade from him. His bigoted, gun-toting neighbor infringes on his property line. He seems to know little about what is happening with his daughter, Sarah (Jessica McManus), son Danny, and his wife, Judith (Sari Lennick). Judith quickly announces that their marriage isn’t working, that he should talk to a lawyer, and he should move out. The other man in his wife’s life is Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), an overbearing, pretentious guy, who claims to be “a serious man,” a type of person Larry wants to truly be. Despite his fake shows of congeniality toward Larry, Sy probably is sending negative letters to the college where Larry teaches, undermining his chance at getting tenure.

Uncle Arthur, who was living with the Gopnick family, and goes with Larry to stay at the ironically named Jolly Roger motel, is afflicted with a cyst on his neck, which he constantly drains with a suction machine. Arthur engages in illegal gambling and is arrested. He is another suffering figure who tries to beat the odds against him with his gambling, but he suffers physically and mentally here. A friend at a picnic (Katherine Borowitz) tries to comfort Larry following his marriage separation by annunciating the Job theme by saying, “It’s not always easy, deciphering what God is trying to tell you.” But, she assures him that he is not alone in trying to understand cosmic workings. Jews can help each other because, “we have that well of tradition to draw on, to help us understand. When we’re puzzled, we have all the stories that have been handed down from people who had the same problems.” She should know about God’s confusing ways, since we see that she is a nice lady who has braces on her legs, trying to deal with why she was incomprehensibly afflicted. (One class member, who recently saw a version of Fiddler on the Roof, wondered if that story also influenced the Coens since it deals with drawing on, as one song says, “Tradition” to deal with the precariousness of life. In this film there is a shot of Larry on the roof of his house, though he is fixing his TV antenna so his son can get better reception to watch “F Troop, which sadly I remember, and peek at his naked neighbor as she sunbathes).

Larry goes to a couple of rabbis for philosophical help after his wife’s lover, Sy, is killed in a car crash. He wonders if the fact that he was in a car accident at the same time as was Sy, who was killed in the incident, has any significance. He says to Rabbi Natchner (George Wyner) that he wonders if God is saying, “Sy Ableman is me? Or that we are all one, or something?” He is trying to make sense out of something that may just be a sad coincidence. Natchner tells him this long story about a dentist who found Hebrew markings on the insides of a goy patient’s teeth which translated to “Help me, save me.” Larry’s normal reaction is he wants a solution to this mystery. But he is frustrated when the rabbi tells him that the dentist, after not finding any markings on anybody else’s teeth, just went on with his life. When Larry asks what happened to the goy, Natchner says, “Who cares?” The Coens are poking fun at those who immerse themselves in attempting to try to make sense out some things that are just senseless.

Larry’s son, Danny, after his bar mitzvah, meets with the old and learned senior Rabbi Marshak (Allan Mandell) supposedly for some traditional religious counseling. In the rabbi’s office we see a painting of the sacrifice of Isaac and one of teeth (reminding us of Natchner’s crazy story), both pointing to questionable stories relating to God’s intent. But instead of offering ancient wisdom, the rabbi quotes from the Jefferson Airplane song, saying, “When the truth is found to be lies/And all the hope within you dies.” He changes “joy” to “hope” but whatever the deprivation, the song urges then to “find somebody to love,” which Danny can relate to, instead of some cliched attempt at justifying God’s ways to man. The rabbi returns the tape player to Danny, and gives the best advice of all in a cruel world: “Be a good boy.”

After Larry and his wife are happy following their son’s bar mitzvah and may reconcile, and he learns he will be granted tenure, then God, the universe, or just life in general drops the other shoe on Larry. He gets a phone call from his physician, who had told him his annual examination was fine, and which gave him a false sense of peace. Now the doctor says Larry must come into the office right away to talk about his x-ray results. The obvious implication is that it will not be good news. Danny’s school is evacuated as a tornado approaches. In “Job,” God appears out of a whirlwind, demonstrating his power and obscurity. Facing life’s horrors, what is one to do? The film ends with the song from the beginning, urging us that the only refuge is to “find somebody to love.”

The next film is The Fisher King.