Gurinder Chadha - a british director

I am doing an auteur approach on Gurinder Chadha. I am providing a link to the Allocine website which is a website dedicated to the history of British film and television.

From this website I learned a lot more about Chadha's previous work as well as a little about where she grew up and how she became a director. We learn that she was orginally born in Kenya and that she moved to England at the age of one. In addition, I find out that Bend it Like Beckham was not one of her first films. Instead, it turns out that that was the most successful ones and that she has done quite a few films before that with her first one releasing in 1990 . These include Nice Arrangement, Acting Our Age and Bhaji on the Beach. Although, Bend it Like Beckham was the most successful, we find out that Chadha has a common theme in all of her films, the theme being cultural diversity. She tends to focus on the British Asian scene and incorporates this idea in many of her films, especially in Bend it Like Beckham. It turns out that the main character, Jasminder, was aimed to reflect Chadha and the difficulties she faced while being an Indian and growing up in England.

Finally, the website also provides links to more information and reviews of all the films she has directed.

The Hero sends the wrong message to its viewers

I am providing a link to an article titled, "Hero, a distortion of history," which is written by Sophia Beach. It was found on the China Digital Times website.
This article discusses the political message depicted in the film. Beach criticizes the film by suggesting that the film displayed a more "politically correct," version of Chinese history. To a certain extent she feels the film is insulting the history of China and claims that it depicts the idea that the emperor was the most heroic of them all; yet, this notion was from the reality of the situation. Beach also quotes The New Republic Review to strengthen her argument.
Here is a quote that sums up the article

Director Zhang provides a revisionist reworking of history that is an insult to the collective intelligence of historians

The Chinese Influence

This is a short article found on the BBC website which covers an interview with Yimou. The author of this article is not revealed. However, the focal point of this article is that due to such directors as Yimou, the Chinese culture is changing hollywood. The concept of martial arts influencing other films is discussed especially in terms of action portrayal. The author then continues to discuss Yimou's two most successful films and how they give an insight into the Chinese culture.
Here are a few quotes

Western audiences can gain an impression of China from my films. This is an excellent channel for promoting China's culture

"Because of the influence of Chinese martial arts films, Hollywood movies are changing," Zhang told the BBC's The Culture Show

Yimou, a woman's man

I found this article on the IMDiversity website. The author of this article is Lynda Lin and she is giving us an overview of her interview with Yimou. The most interesting concept of this article is the fact that Lin discusses Yimou and women. According to Lin, before Hero's success, Yimou was known as a "female director," because of the women he casts in his film. I thought it was humorous that the author refers to these women as "muses."
Aside from disussing Yimou's choice of women, Lin gives a brief filmography as well as touches upon film marketing and what that means to a director and Yimou's success as a director.
In general, I found it to be very interesting and insightful. Here are a few quotes

He picks his muses carefully and then has an extended love affair with his muses by framing them exquisitely in all his films.

Returning to the discussion on his affinity to film women, he says: “I’m always interested in female stories. Maybe it’s because it’s very easy for me to capture female depression and how they fight adversity.”

The New York Times tells all on Zhang Yimou

I am providing a link to the Arts section in New York Times which is devoted to Zhang Yimou. This article includes a biography, filmography and an awards section. According to the article Yimou is a huge successful director within the Chinese film industry. We find out about where he was born and what his childhood was like and more importanly how he became a successful director. Within, the filmography section we find out that over the years he has not only directed, but he has also done screen writing, producing, and in the film Keep Cool he has also done some acting.

While this is the main page, the same page provides further links to more detailed versions of his filmography, biography and awards section.

The War in Three Kings

This is a link to a critical article discussing the Gulf War and how it was depicted in Three Kings. It was published in the Montreal Film Journal but I wasn't able to locate the authors name.
According to the author, the Gulf War was depicted in the same way the Vietnam War was depicted in the Climino. However, he feels this film was very successful in revealing what really went on at the time of the Gulf War. While doing so, the author manages to discuss ideology, nationalism and formalism.
Here is a quote

Three Kings" is a movie in a league of its own. Before you can see similarities with another film, it takes you somewhere else unexpected. There's some smart-ass humor, action scenes as exciting as any non-"Matrix" film you saw this year,politics... Russell (best known for indie gems like "Spanking the Monkey" and "Flirting with Disaster") gives it all a stylish look, with a camera that barely ever stops moving to keep us right where the action is

Violence in Three Kings

The following link is to an article published in Flak magazine. The article is divided up into four different section each focusing on formalism, nationalism, and ideological analysis of particular aspects of the film. I have chosen the link which looks at the concept of shooting, violence and its meaning in the film. The author looks at a few key scenes, one of them being where Barlow is being tortured by the Iraqui's. The author suggests that while being tortured, idea of reducing the torture to oil was a reductionnist action by the Iraqi's due to the history behind oil.

Here are a few quotes

To reduce the argument solely to oil is reductionist, but the persuasiveness of this viewpoint must be considered when dealing with the Iraqi people. The Bush administration has done little to dissuade this view, which is why movies like Three Kings are essential to the public consciousness

In the language of Three Kings, how can American liberation be sincere when the country is being looted?

Formalism and ideology analysis

The provided link is to a critical article published in the New York times and was found in the Arts section. It was written in the year of the films release by Janet Maslin.
The artilce discusses the fact that the director has taken a different approach with this film compared to his previous films, in terms of formalism. According to the author, this time the director David O Russell has concentrated on his camera techniques especially his use of music-video camera styles. In addition, the author discusses Three Kings with an ideological analysis and highlights the films key principals. Here are a few quotes

The Pandora's box of camera tricks that is opened here must surely have been intended to capture the speed and disorientation of wartime experience, and the jittery atmosphere in which soldiers' snap judgments are made

The filmmaker's strong implicit criticism of the Bush administration's wartime policy, in which Iraqi rebels were encouraged to challenge Saddam Hussein and then left to the mercy of his army, did not need jazzing up. It comes through most clearly in the increasingly intense and single-minded performances of the film's leading men.

Three Kings, success that was not recognized

The link provided gives the reader a critical insight into the film Three Kings as well as information about the success of the film and the director David O Russell. A notable point of this link is that the writer claims the film as being one of the best in the year it was released, yet the academy awards failed to recognize it. The writer argues that the director David O Russell took a different approach from his usual comedy films and his end result was a film with a brain and a heart behind it. He further argues that while Three Kings is serious anti war film that makes you think, the director successfully manages to intertwine aspects of comedy to it. The writer ends the article with a small DVD review and a TV Guide review.
Here are some quotes

Russell never shies away from making us confront such ugly aspects of war, even going so far as taking the camera into the human body to show what happens
when someone is shot.

But as entertaining as the witty dialogue and edge-of-your-seat action sequences are, Three Kings expects you do something you may not be accustomed to doing while watching your average Hollywood film. It expects you to think.

Zemeckis's successful approach with animation

This is a link to a film directed by Robert Zemeckis called Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I decided to provide this link because it gave me an insight into another extraordinary film directed by Zemeckis. However, with this film, according to the review, the director took a comedy/thriller approach. I found this to be a very interesting combination of genres. In addition, it made me realize that Zemeckis does not necessarily depict only one type of genre in his films, instead it is common for him to take a more combined approach. Nonetheless, he took a combined approach in Forrest Gump.
While the author gives us a review and summarizes the plot of the film, he also suggests that Zemeckis is a very successful director with a creative mind. Throughout the review, he continuously praises the film and director, and refers to it as a "milestone in animation history."

Here are a few quotes

The film was a milestone in animation history... received four AcademyAwards, one of which was a Special Achievement Award for Animation Direction (Richard Williams). Director Robert Zemeckis must be credited for piecing together the production that involved hundreds of animators, and the special visual effects of George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic...

Earlier efforts to combine humans and ink-and-paint cartoon characters side-by side in a film [Disney's Song of the South and Mary Poppins, for example] are considered primitive next to this film.

Films by Robert Zemeckis

I am providing a link for information on the director of my chosen film, Robert Zemeckis. Although, this is a short article, it gives the audience some basic facts him. These include personal facts and comments on other films that he has produced. When commenting on Forrest Gump, the author points out that he took an unusual approach with it. This is because, aside from the audience expecting special effects, he managed to pull of a drama, interwined with romance and other genres.

The basics of ideology

I am providing a link to an article titled "Film and Ideology." I found this article published on the Washington State University website by M.Hughes. The author starts off with a basic definition of the term, while simplifying it to the notion of " a systematic worldview" of the way we define ourselves and the way we define our relationships with others. The author then continues with looking at ideology in terms of its relation to films. He discusses the film Casablanca and how it portrayed the importance of nationalism. He then takes an interesting approach and discusses how ideology in films has changed with time e.g. in the 1960's films were based on cowboy stories; and when women gained rights, films were reflected on feminist views. He then concludes his article by braking up the term into three categories: neutral; implicit; and explicit and provides definitions for all three.
Here is a quote

Neutral ideology is found in escapist films and light entertainment with emphasis on action, pleasure, and entertainment values for their own sake. Superficial treatment of right and wrong: Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989). These films in themselves reflect a value system where fun and entertainment are forms of consumerism.

Formalism Theory

This is a link to a the Wikipedia website which defines the theory of formalism in terms of its use in film. It provides a basic definition, however, it also goes into a little more detail by looking at ideological formalism as well as formalism in auteur theory. It particularly looks at the work of Alfred Hicthcock. I have provided some interesting quotes below.

Formalism, at its most general, considers the synthesis (or lack of synthesis) of the multiple elements of film production, and the effects, emotional and intellectual, of that synthesis and of the individual elements

Hitchcock is more or less universally lauded, his films dissected shot-by-shot, his work celebrated as being that of a master. And the study of this style, his variations, and obsessions all falls quite neatly under the umbrella of formalist film theory

Is Forrest Gump sending out the right message?

The article titled "The Forrest Gump Morality Massacre," is written by Gregory Dorr, a web developer and video editor. In his article, he discusses and criticizes the film using a comparative approach. He compare the films lead character Gump, to the lead character of, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Leatherface. He focuses on the morality message sent out by each character and generally argues that Leatherface is morally superior to Gump. In addition, he discusses how the American society is wrong for viewing Gump as highly moral and gives reasons for why he thinks Leatherface should be considered a better person. The following is a quote that gives an insight into the article.

The two figures actually share much in common: both were raised in rural surroundings, dutifully obeying the instruction of attentive parents. Yet one is the object of mass affection; the other reviled as a monster.

Is it love actually?

David Essex, an author for a British magazine called Flak Magazine, discusses a somewhat recent British film called, "Love Actually." In his article he points out that while Richard Curtis has written scripts for previous successful movies, "Love Actually," is his directorial debut. He continues with his notion of what he feels is a good film and whether, "Love Actually" meets those requirements. Essex somewhat criticises the nine love stories with the notion that they were not developed fully within the film. However, at the same time he compliments the films sound, dialogue and setting. He then moves on to the major theme of the film; love; and discusses how each love story highlights the theme in different ways. In addition, he discusses, with a negative attitude, how women are portrayed in the film. In conclusion, he takes on a critical approach and provides the reader with an indepth analysis of the film.
I have added a few quotes that I felt were of importance.

A great movie is often much more like a poem or an opera than a novel. It
relies on music, rhythm, image and thematic repetition and variation much more
than on logically developed narrative.

This story fails to engage sympathy, intellect or the eye and its failure
exposes the apparatus of manipulation.

Monsoon Wedding - a critical look

The author of this article, Rose Capp, discusses Mira Nairs film called Monsoon Wedding. According to the article Rose Capp is a lecturer in cinema studies and a freelance writer on film.

In this particular article, while providing a review, she discusses Nairs' repetitive, yet successful, approach to producing a film revolved around the Eastern Culture. She discusses the major concept of the film; a wedding; in some detail and compares other Western films that took on a similar concept. She makes reference to Nairs' previous films with a comparative approach, and suggests that Monsoon Wedding was the most successful. According to Capp, it was most successful because of its unusual choice of setting; New Delhi. However, at the same time she does take on a critical and more objective approach and mentions what she saw as the drawbacks of the film. This includes looking at partucular characters of the film.

In conclusion, the article takes a critical look at the film itself as well as through a comparative approach. Here are some quotes that I found interesting

The film also marks something of a change in directorial perspective,
representing the filmmaker's first concerted exploration of the middle class New
Delhi milieu of which she herself is a product

With Monsoon Wedding she has produced an unlikely success— a work that
incorporates decidedly provocative themes in a culturally specific milieu, but
simultaneously a film with irresistible and universal appeal.

"Bend It Like Beckham," a unforgettable comedy.

"Bend It Like Beckham," is Gurinder Chadha's second film and actress Parminder Nagra's first film. The film is set in a town called Southall, in south-east of England. Its main focus is on Jasminer, a young Indian girl who has a passion for football but due to the demands of her culture and her parents, playing football proves to be difficult. However, this does not stop her. Instead, she secretly joins a girls football team and tells her parents that she has a summer job. As the film continues, we watch Jasminder go to any lengths to play football including lieing to her family, travelling to Germany and even missing a part of her sisters' wedding, all of which is done with a humorous tone. At the same time, Gurinder Chadha manages to carefully intertwine key concepts such as racism, homosexuality, gender and marriage and produces a unforgettable comedy. It has become a film that I can watch over and over again and still laugh every time.

I have chosen this film as a possible candidate for our final project because it's a film that has a lot to offer. Although its a "feel good," film, it has become a landmark amongst the British Indian culture. It can be analyzed with almost all of Corrigans' methods, particularly national, ideological, historical and genre. For those of you who want to find out more, I have provided a link from the BBC which provides a more detailed review about the film.