‘Sic transit gloria’ is the tacit mantric slogan of Rushmore, upheld and implied time after time in Wes Anderson’s 1998 comedy-drama feature. The maxim, defined by Rushmore’s protagonist Max Fisher as ‘glory fades’, actually comes from the Latin religious expression ‘sic transit gloria mundi’, translated literally in the Collins English Dictionary as ‘thus passes the glory of the world’ (2017), a concept which epitomises more universally the ephemeral character of all mundane things. This interpretation of Rushmore’s motto makes it particularly relevant in relation to the film’s conventional reading as a postmodern œuvre: a cinematic text produced under the influence of what French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard simplified in 1979 as ‘incredulity towards metanarratives’ (Lyotard 1984: XXIV), intended as a polemic rejection of all-comprehensive truths or ideologies, such as Social Progress and Marxism. ‘Sic transit gloria mundi’: faced with postmodern scepticism, not even these unifying Weltanschauungen, which had dominated Western society across the 19th and 20th century, can stand the test of time, to the point that late 20th century postmodern cultural productions challenged and abandoned modernist grand narratives, parading instead a shallow fragmentation into pluralist and often relativist ontologies. In this regard, Rushmore is particularly relevant as a case study of postmodern thought and art, as it successfully illustrates many of the movement’s themes and its
The exotification of women of color through the introduction of sound technology in films in the 1920s and 1930s drastically influenced Dolores del Rio and her career. Because the sound of a language in films could now be heard on screen, cultural diversity in the English language and its use in the United States was acknowledged through different accents and slang. Cultural diversity in the United States was only allowed if it was through ethnic European accents. The rise of sound films in the 1930s challenged Mexican star Dolores del Rio’s ability to conform to public demands and Hollywood’s expectations through the hypersexualition of Latinx women and her involvement in transnational affairs.
One of the film’s on this course was ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ an adaption of the Pulitzer- Prize nominated play by John Guare. Two theories that we studied that applied to this film are; Post- Modernism and Structuralism and the concepts; pastiche and collage, genre and intertextuality. I will be analysing the movie while applying these two theoretical concepts and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each in the conclusion. Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is connected by six or fewer steps from any other person in the world. Frigyes Kerinthy originally came up with the theory but it became popularized by Guare in ‘Six Degrees of Separation.’
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can convey emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” The written word and the moving image have always had their entwining roots deeply entrenched in similar narrative codes, both functioning at the level of implication, connotation and referentiality. But ever since the advent of cinema, they have been pitted against each other over formal and cultural peculiarities – hence engaging in a relationship deemed “overtly compatible, secretly hostile” (Bluestone 2).
Oftentimes, people read their favorite books or watch popular movies and they are completely oblivious to the origin of the theme(s). In fact, a collection of recent movies, books and paintings include themes dating back to mid-19th century. Indeed, the 19th century transcendentalists inspired many of today’s influential artists. For instance, mainstream movies like the “Star Wars” saga, best selling books such as the Hunger Games series, and distinguished artwork like Dispersion all suggest transcendentalist themes. Even though humanity moved farther away from simple lifestyle, some ideas from transcendentalists remain prominent in modern movies, books, and paintings.
A Raisin in the Sun PBA Unit 2 Cinematography and filmmaking are art forms completely open to interpretation in many ways such lighting, the camera as angles, tone, expressions, etc. By using cinematic techniques a filmmaker can make a film communicate to the viewer on different levels including emotional and social. Play writes include some stage direction and instruction regarding the visual aspect of the story. In this sense, the filmmaker has the strong basis for adapting a play to the big screen. “A Raisin in the Sun” is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959.
While exploring this topic, I intend to consult Edward Said’s Orientalism, debates about “otherness,” scholarly interpretations of Apocalypse Now, historical evidence about Americans’ attitudes toward the Vietnam War, and biographical information about Francis Ford Coppola.
The film 13th directed by Ava DuVernay targets an intended audience of the Media and the three branches of the United States government with an emphasis that mass incarceration is an extension of slavery. It is intended to inform viewers about the criminalization of African Americans and the United States prison boom. 13th uses rhetorical devices in its claim to persuade the viewers by using exemplum in the opening seconds of the film. President Barack Obama presents statistics, saying “the United States is home to 5% of the world’s population but is home to 25% of the world’s prisoners.” Also the film uses a hyperbole in talking about the movie Birth of a Nation produced in 1915 which portrays a black man as a violent savage who will kill white women.
Every now and then the art world is struck by a wave of change that leaves a strong impression, which can last for a long time. Visual arts saw the rise of impressionism and cubism, surrealism and realism took literature to an opposite direction, and film has evolved over the years through cultural and artistic development such as expressionism, auteurism and film noir (House, p.61). The 1940s and post World War II gave rise to a new style of American film, these films appeared pessimistic and dark in mood, theme, and subject. The world created within these films were portrayed as corrupt, hopeless, lacked human sympathy, and “a world where women with a past and men with no future spent eternal nights in one-room walk-ups surrounded by the
This essay will discuss how the film uses these two techniques, in reference to the film, and to what ideological and political ends are the techniques used in the films with specific references from the film to support the argument. A Man with a Movie Camera is based around one man who travels around the city to capture various moments and everyday
During the 1920s, American society began to adopt values that threatened the traditional values that remained from the 1800s. Many of these changes were a direct result of the youth culture of the time and how their uncertainty of who they were helped contribute to these changes in values. Throughout the decade, the struggle between modern and anti-modern values was exemplified in literature, drama and silent film of the American culture. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” represents the conflicting modernist and anti-modernist sentiments of the time through its use of cinematography and characterization. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”, the 1927 film by F.W. Murnau, is a shining example of the struggle between modern and anti-modern values that
In “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
The movement that I decided to work with is Postmodernism in Fashion .In the following essay I will be analyzing the styles, characteristics and examples. Postmodernism basically means to the blending of styles, ideas, materials, and so forth in a way that breaks guidelines or set principles in the Art field. On account of form this could mean to a blending of prints or textures in many ways. It could also mean putting together and mixing styles altogether. I would say that male/female unique apparel would likewise fall into the class of postmodernism.
It is a text of great passion and recurrent obscurity, in line with Paul Valéry’s poetic style. It’s a cry of modernity against modernity, hypercritical of contemporary times and naturally partial, often irrational and not analytical in the least and this also because it is not meant to be a rational analysis. It starts with heavy words, dense of meaning, and opens up the reader’s eyes to a world in decline, a world that is witnessing the imminent death of an epoch. The “long nineteenth century” was Europe’s peak, the moment when Europe’s “pre-eminence in all fields” expressed itself to a higher level, when Europe was leading world history, in a positivistic conception of it. The Great War had the ignominious task of waking Europe and the rest of the world up from the dream of progress.
Wes Anderson is a very well-known and established director in his field. Over the years, Anderson has developed a unique style of film and a basic formula for how each film will look in the end. The film The Grand Budapest Hotel showcases a lot of Anderson quirks from the vibrant colors to the tiny miniatures that he used to show the landscape. The Grand Budapest Hotel is uniquely Wes Andersons and really showcases his style.