Film Persona

  Lloyd Bacon's "42nd Street" " 42nd Street " is one of many Hollywood musicals to come out of the first wave of sound pictures. However, it is perhaps one of the most well-regarded Hollywood musicals from the 1930s. In fact, it is the first notable Hollywood musical that Busby Berkeley choreographed the musical numbers for. That being said, I felt as though the musical numbers at the end of the film are a flash-in-the-pan type of moment. I could have used far more of them and more extensively. I felt as though Berkely's next film, " Gold Diggers of 1933 ," was a more extensive (not by much) dance and visual sequence.  Comparing this film to " Gold Diggers of 1933 ," I find myself preferring " 42nd Street "'s story and " Gold Diggers of 1933 "'s musical numbers a lot more. 

  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on

  Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" I wasn't sure what to expect going into Francois Truffaut's debut masterwork " The 400 Blows ." I was aware that it ignited the French nouvelle vague movement and is considered one of the greatest films ever made. I had never seen a Francois Truffaut film before and I wasn't sure if there was a specific style he operated in. I also was aware that Jean Vigo's 1933 short film " Zero de Conduit " was a major influence on " The 400 Blows ." Sufficive to say, I could tell that it was. I could also tell that " The 400 Blows " was a major influence on films to come for decades afterwards.  " The 400 Blows " tells the story of a 12-year-old boy named Antoine as he navigates growing up in Paris. He is constantly getting in trouble at school and constantly underappreciated by his mother and step-father. In fact, it seems as though all the adults around him act as both authoritari

  Luchino Visconti's "La Terra Trema" Although not as monumental as Luchino Visconti's 1943 breakout " Ossessione ," his 1948 neo-realist film " La Terra Trema " was a major work of vast significance. Visconti was originally hired by the Communist party to make a documentary feature about the fishermen of Aci Trezza. Instead, Visconti opted out of the documentary, while still choosing to shot on location and use the real life fishermen as actors. With this new film, he tells the story of a fisherman who attempts to go against the wholesalers that take advantage of them. In doing so, he ruins his family's chance at economic prosperity and everyone's life disintegrates in the process. " La Terra Trema " is a film about oppression, dealing with an attempt at trying to break out of the capitalist structure that has latched ahold of Italy. In doing so, Visconti demonstrates how attempting to break free of it only leads to further damna

  Jean Cocteau's "The Blood of a Poet" When I started to watch Jean Cocteau's 1932 short film " The Blood of a Poet ," the surrealist nature of the film drew in my wife's attention, as she is one of prefer surrealist cinema to more straightforward pieces of art or entertainment. As we watched, my wife and I began to interpret the images we were seeing. Our interpretations came down to: the life of an artist who feels he has the ability to speak through his work. However, as he travels through the mirror, he confronts his own demons and misunderstanding of things. We he gets back on the other side, he realizes that his duty is to speak the truth. This truth is that he is privileged and a member of the bourgeois class he's meant to be taking aim at through his art. His position in his class compromises him as an artist and as a human.  Is this the correct interpretation of " The Blood of a Poet ?" My guess is....probably not! Despite this, th

  Roberto Rossellini's "Rome, Open City" Written during the Nazi occupation of Italy and filmed after Rome's liberation, Robert Rossellini's " Rome Open City " is one of the most staggering achievements in Italian cinema. During its filming, only Rome was liberated while the rest of Italy was under siege. It's openness and blatant manner, along with its stark realism, helped pave the way for Italian neorealist cinema and provided one of the most important documents of World War II ever put to film.  When watching the film, I was utterly struck by the starkness of subject matter, themes, and visual photography. The film tackles fictional events of a group of Italian citizens trying to hide and move Francesco, a resistance fighter. Despite the tragic consequences of their journey, these characters must splay themselves open for the viewer to witness their true character. In the difficulty of their traumatic circumstances, these characters demonstrate w