Week 6. Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Daren and Alexander Hammid.

Associative Organization.

“Associative Organizations explore psychological or formal resonances, either through metaphoric imager of symbolic concepts, and give many films a dreamlike quality that engages viewer’s emotions and curiosity.” (Corrigan and White p. 131.)

Meshes Of The Afternoon.


                                                                  Source:

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S03Aw5HULU

 The Dreamlike quality of The Meshes of the Afternoon 1943, by Maya Daren, is compelling and puzzling. It explores anxiety and subconscious thought. I feel though the film is intended to carry out a strong feminist message. It is about a woman’s secret desires to escape the feeling of suppression in a male-dominated society. The metaphors and symbolism in The Meshes of the Afternoon are easy to identify with because of the familiarity of the element used to express them.

Symbolism in The Meshes of the Afternoon:

·      A knife is shown as both, a household item and a potential weapon, it suggests the presence of violence in the household.

·      Found broken mirror shards also suggests that the given household contains violence. And the shapes of the shards are intended to look similar to a knife.

·      A flower symbolizes femininity and fragility in the beginning of the film. As the flower is being placed on the bed, the viewer relates the given gesture to a flower being placed on a grave, bringing death onto the equation. And as that exact flower is turned into a knife, it becomes an indicator that femininity can either be harmed or become harmful. Perhaps it is a clue to the actuality of events. The main heroine’s way of self-destructing as appose being murdered.

·      The introduction of a key in the beginning of the film is used to demonstrate the act of entering the unconscious. It also symbolizes a pathway from actuality and to dream state. As the key is turned into a knife it becomes an indicator that perhaps in the heroine’s case, death is the only possible way to escape her situation.

·      The window in the film is a symbol of containment, and the feeling of being tied down or domesticated. It could also be an indicator that she inflicts the containment upon her own self, as though she is mentally disturbed.

·      The concept of chasing own death is introduced as the main character repeatedly follows a figure, which later on is revealed as Grip Reaper. And the idea of suicide or any form of self-inflicted violence is proposed as the viewer sees a mirror in the place of Grim Reapers face.

·      Multiples and Repetition are used to describe the heroine as someone that is overwhelmed with suspicious. She is torn, and has developed multiple perspectives on a single situation, and is unable to figure out which scenario is real.

·      As she approaches her sleeping self with a dagger, you see her footsteps land on four different surfaces; such as the sand, the water, the grass and that pavement. None but the very last footstep take place indoors. That suggests that she is eager to escape her containment. Ready to release herself into the wild.




                                                 Work Cited

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film experience: an introduction. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.

"Google Images." Google. 21 Mar. 2011 <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d1L1Bv9iPwY/TZyHpd4dR4I/AAAAAAAAAEE/-oEMsOaZ2iY/s1600/Maya-Deren-Meshes-of-the-Afternoon-film-stills.jpg>.

"YouTube - Maya Deren - Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) ‏." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 23 Mar. 2011 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S03Aw5HULU>.

Week 5 Restrepo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvUdruvbdmI&feature=player_embedded

Social, Historical and Political Documentary

         Restrepo is a documentary film by Tim Hethringtin and Sebastian Junger that is shot in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. The film focuses on a group of American soldiers that spend fifteen month in the deadliest posting in the United States military.  The documentary has an absurdly realistic feel to it. It is shot from the perspective of the soldiers, and it follows their narration. The viewer feels though he/she is a part of the ongoing combat, death, fear, despair, and pain that the Restrepo platoon has to live through everyday.

   Personally, I find it to be very difficult to identify the genre of this documentary. The only way that I can ever come close to doing so, is by breaking it down into three different categories: social, historical, and political.

   The Social aspect of Rertrepo comes out as the viewer is introduced to the natives of the region, where he/she receives an inside look into their styles of living. The viewer becomes familiarized with the mountain landscape of the region, the traditional clothing of the natives, the Islamic practices, the poverty and the hostile situations that the natives live in.  The film provides a fantastic description of the negotiation process between the Afghani civilians and the American soldiers, where the two opposite cultures meet to try to work out their differences and to discuss the ways in which they can either hurt or benefit one another.

    The Historical aspect of the documentary lies within the undeniable connection of Afghanistan War to the even of September 11. Though it is not verbally discussed in the film, the weight of 9/11 lies heavy upon this nation. The viewer of this documentary should already be familiar with the history of American War on Terrorism following the al Qaida attack on the Unites States in 2001.

     Though the film never provides any information on the political officials that stand behind the Afghanistan War, or does is discuss the American standpoint at all, Restrepo without a doubt is a political film. The Afghanistan War, as well as the Iraq War, is the making of American diplomats; however they are not the ones who put their lives on the line to fight for this nation. What the viewer sees in the film is the aftermath of political decision-making. The chaos, the death and the killings are all the aftermath of diplomacy.

    Seeing Restrepo is an unbelievable, mind-expanding experience. The film provides the kind of insight on military life that I have never had the chance to witness before. It describes with honestly the hardships of American soldier. It paints a portrait of human beings both emotional and emotionless, in a situation of life or death during a period of fifteen-month deployment. You cannot help it but feel troubled by this film. It raises questions such as: What is it all for? And what is it all worth? Can this war even be won? And whose is there to blame for it? Thought the film never provides the answers, it raises a great deal of awareness and hope that someday these questions will get answered.