University of St Andrews DEPARTMENT OF FILM STUDIES

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Student MATRIC #: 110000010 Assignment: Essay 1 Date: 5 November 2012

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University of St Andrews DEPARTMENT OF FILM STUDIES

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Students MATRICULATION Number: 110000010 Module Number: FM2001 Module Title: Modern World Cinema Module Convener (Tutor): Dr Joshua Yumibe Essay Deadline: Monday 15 November 2010, 2pm Essay question:
Select two films from different weeks drawn from the module guide up to this point in the semester (from weeks 1 through 6). What specific features make these films representative for the particular cultural context and cinematic tradition they stand for? How do the films and their respective traditions compare and contrast.

DECLARATION I hereby declare that the attached piece of written work is my own work and that I have not reproduced, without acknowledgement, the work of another. All quotations, or facts and ideas, taken from printed, internet or other public sources have been explicitly acknowledged in my text, endnotes or footnotes and bibliography. I am aware of the University's Policy on Academic Fraud.

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Cultural Redefinition for Germany and Czechoslovakia post World War II Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Closely Observed Trains are both cinematic products of countries struggling to rediscover their cultural identities in the aftermath of World War II. Czechoslovakia, as a formerly Nazi occupied nation, now contended against a Socialist regime that sought to censor Czechoslovakian artistic expression in order to homogenize the population. Ji Menzels Closely Observed Trains utilizes Milos coming of age story to draw parallels between his search for manhood and Czechoslovakias search for a national identity. Germany, as a former aggressor brought low, now sought a new national identity that neither ignored nor glorified the Nazi regime. Herzogs Aguirre, the Wrath of God dealt not only with their Nazi past, but also with the contemporary issue of American neocolonialism that threatened German identity as American culture flooded Germany post World War II. The main character, Aguirre, stands not only as a dictator figure, but also as a conqueror overwhelmed and defeated by the irrepressible power of nature. These films attempt to recreate their respective national identity through the themes of exploration, the creation of self-identity, and personal interaction with government and bureaucracy. While their film style, settings and basic plot may differ greatly, these common themes and the desire to rediscover themselves is what ties these two films together. New German Cinema developed in part as a reaction against the post-war escapist films that ignored the past decade of German fascism. The films of the immediate post-war era, known as Heimatfilmes, were patriotic portrayals of simple German families, usually living in rural towns. They avoided controversial topics, such as Germanys recent past, and attempted to portray Germans in a positive, non-violent and non-threatening light. As a result, the films were typically considered uncreative and bland, although they were commercially popular with German audiences.1 At the same time, American films flooded German theaters and consequently overwhelmed the popular culture. The introduction (and admitted over-saturation) of Hollywood cinema to young German filmmakers would spark a love-hate relationship in which German directors would at once study the works of

1 Julia Knight. New German Cinema. http.cw.routledge.com/textbooks. Web. CW Routledge, 2007.

American directors while simultaneously attempt to distinguish their work from that of Hollywood. This push and pull between the old and new cinemas became a major theme in the New German Cinema movement that began in the 1960s.2 The New German Cinema sought to radically separate itself from the past decade of cinematic homogeneity, and despite state funded support (which in most countries meant heavy censorship) it managed to reinvent the national cinema. For the first time in decades, German directors attempted to contend with foreign cinema by maturing its political and social content. Gone were the days of simple country living and in came films like Aguirre, the Wrath of God.3 While this national cinema was not commercially popular in Germany, many directors drew acclaim from foreign audiences and critics. Drawing upon the French Nouvelle Vague and Italian Neo-realism for inspiration, new German directors utilized new filming techniques in order to engage with previously taboo topics. However, German directors such as Werner Herzog sought to truly differentiate German cinema from the rest. Herzogs work and career show his awareness of the necessity of international success. His strategy with Aguirre relies on a repetition of the conquistadores adventures in the actual production of the picture, recreating the spectacle that which could have been and which the film half-heartedly claims - historical reality. This strategy aims at an authenticity of the film rather than at a representational realism within it.4 With this documentary style in mind, Herzog took cinematic features such as location shooting to a whole new level. To film Aguirre, Herzog lowered his crew into the Amazon rainforest and shot entirely on location. The Amazon Basin and its imposing natural surroundings fit into the location ideal espoused by New German Cinema - the setting, not just the actors, should also inspire awe in the cinema goers. German cinema of the 1950s had also included grand shots of nature, but rather than the exotic jungle or the Andes of Herzogs film, it was the patriotic Alps.5
2 Tim Bergfelder, Erica Carter, Deniz Gtrk. The German Cinema Book. London: BFI Pub., 2002. Print. 3 Randall Halle. German Film after Germany: Toward a Transnational Aesthetic. Urbana: University of Illinois, 4 John Davidson. As Others Put Plays Upon the Stage: Aguirre, Neocolonialism and the New German Cinema.

2008. Print.

New German Critique 60 (1993): 101-30. Print.

5 Knight. New German Cinema.

Not only was it shot on location, but Herzog insisted on total authenticity. With a stolen camera and barely a script to guide them, Herzog floated his actors down the Amazon River on rafts made by natives. Directors of the New German Cinema sought fresh and unstudied reactions from their actors, preferring a naturalistic style that highly contrasted with the stale cardboard characters of the 1950s German Heimatfilmes.6 Herzog was especially demanding in this aspect. By putting his actors in an environment without safety nets, Herzog was able to get genuine reactions from his actors. It certainly explains the gravity of the actors as they look worriedly upon the raft that became stranded on the other side of the Amazon River; on authentically made rafts, the danger was quite real. In the opening sequence, another prime example of authenticity, the conquistadores pick their way down the precarious misty mountainside. Again, the actors had no special effects, no equipment, and practically no assistance during filming. This natural and reaction type acting was another strong feature of the New German Cinema,7 and everyone from Brother Gaspar de Carvajal clinging to the side of the cliff, to the elaborately dressed ladies who struggled to gracefully descend in full court dress were at its mercy. With such extreme methods it is not incredibly surprising that directors such as Herzog, Fassbinder, and Wenders became legends in the film community. Naturally, their success in foreign markets tied into the notion that auteurs dominated New German Cinema. While this is not necessarily completely true, Americans did tend to classify German films not necessarily as German but rather as a product of a certain German director. The films were therefore viewed as creative products of the director and not of the nation of Germany.8 Whether or not this is true, this lively New German Cinema had an impact upon the film community and directors; Francis Coppolas 1979 Apocalypse Now being a notable example. However, to dismiss Aguirre as a mere warning against fascism is to ignore its complexity as a film that engages with the concept of otherness and the seeming omnipresence of the
6 Thomas Elsaesser. New German Cinema: A History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1989. Print. 7 Elsaesser. New German Cinema. 8 Knight. New German Cinema.

United States post-World War II. 9 Herzog engages with these issues, past and present, through the films style, particularly by maintaining a veil of surrealism across the entire film. As Aguirres men go further down river and become more and more desperate, the more surreal the film becomes. From the opening sequence where we see ladies in full court dress in the middle of the wilderness, to the leader of the expedition, Gonzalo Pizarro, writes and signs a proclamation as if they were not in the middle of the jungle on a failing mission. Their insistence on maintaining order and government is laughable in the face of the enormous jungle, which threatens to overwhelm them physically and mentally, until it does, and the men suffer from mass hallucinations.10 Even to the very end, as the remaining men slowly die, the men try to maintain a government order that is incredibly senseless. As the rest of the men starve, Guzman feasts like a king, and his irrational orders further doom the group. Their desperation in clinging to their routine is an interesting comment on the final years of the Nazi routine; even in defeat the Germans pretended to have total control. In the midst of chaos, there are the signs of order, but in the end, a total lack of bureaucratic authority. The French Nouvelle Vague also influenced the Czechoslovak New Wave, but it maintained a strong sense of independence in the fact there was not a Czechoslovakian style of filmmaking. While it did not have a unifying approach in way of film style, it was definitely unified in its resistance to the clean and wholesome approach of the cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. 11 Stalinism had already taken hold, and films were heavily censored and controlled during this era. With the 1960s however, came a wave of liberalism that relaxed the chokehold on film. It was during this period of relative freedom in 1966 that Menzel filmed Closely Observed Trains, and he, along with many other directors, experimented with the new found liberation and pushed the boundaries as to what exactly they could show on film in terms of sexuality and explicit content. As a result, the characters in Trains sneak around and use sexual promiscuity as a form of dissidence, rather than outwardly express their feelings in violent rebellion. In perhaps one of the more memorable acts of this type of
9 Elsaesser. New German Cinema. 10 Davidson. Plays Upon the Stage. 11 John HIll. World Cinema: Critical Approaches. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. pg. 89

defiance, the local Nazi representative, Zednek, confronts the telegraphist and Hubicka about their erotic stamp games, but the pair are quite frank and open about their game with the local authorities, almost flaunting their sexual deviance (and defiance) in their faces. Unsurprisingly, when the USSR asserted total control of Czechoslovakia two years later, Closely Observed Trains was subsequently banned. Its positive message of sexual freedom did not encourage the homogenous state that Socialism required, for Stalinism, like fascism, insists on the purging of all difference.12 For a film set during in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II, Ji Menzels dark comedy, Closely Observed Trains, does not have a very Nazi-centric plot. It is primarily a coming of age story about a young boy who seeks his first sexual encounter as he works (or mainly, avoids working) at the local train depot. Set in a small rural town in Czechoslovakia, there is an emphasis on the everyday and the ordinary, but the characters themselves create a surrealistic atmosphere where promiscuity and sexual appetites take precedent over all else. The other employees are just as unambitious as Milos. They would be more than happy than to let the station run itself into the ground but the managers presence forces them to keep up appearances. Their laziness is not an act of political vandalism or resistance, but rather a statement on what they consider important in life. The cause that involves sacrifice of daily pleasures holds no appeal to them.13 Here the ethical core of the film, underpinning its positive representation of sexuality, is at its clearest: present, and tangible, pleasure are not to be renounced in the name of a future, abstractly defined happiness, nor should individual moments and lives be so thoroughly subordinated to ultimate ends.14 Because sexuality functions as a political weapon in the film, perhaps it is no surprise that the action centers around Milos, who must become a man and come to terms with his own sexuality. In a paradigm in where sexuality equates with political rebellion, his failure to perform sexually also cripples him politically. It is not until his first successful sexual encounter with a woman that Milos is able to partake in the revolutionary performance that ultimately leads to his death. Lenin himself considered sexual excess as incompatible
12 Jonathan Owen. Closely Observed Bodies. Canadian Slavonic Papers 54.4 (2009): 495-511. Print. 13 Owen. Closely Observed Bodies. 14 Ibid.

with revolution because it wasted the health and strength of young people.15 Milos becomes then, the poster youth who wasted his health and strength in pursuit of sex, and therefore the bearer of the anti-thesis to Lenins ideal. Personal explorations of sexuality and self were useless during a Socialist regime that only valued what people could produce in terms of labor. While the exploration in Aguirre is primarily physical - the search for the fabled El Dorado - once Aguirre and his men are cut loose, the physical exploration begins to run parallel to their emotional and mental struggles. As they make their way down river, the men descend into madness and Aguirre begins an exploration of his power over the others. He pushes the limits of his rule eventually into an exploration of insanity itself, when he refuses to surrender to the overpowering will of the jungle. Like Conrads novel Heart of Darkness and Francis Coppolas Apocalypse Now, Aguirre takes a Heart of Darkness river journey in search of something unattainable. Attacked by unseen natives lurking on the riverbanks, the men in both films turn increasingly hostile towards each other as they continue on their doomed missions. However, their social commentary and moral content do not necessarily equate. While both make strong arguments against colonialism, ultimately, Aguirre is the only man left standing on the brink of imminent death, while Marlow/Willard and his remaining men are able to to return from the Heart of Darkness, their mission to kill Kurtz complete. The emotional and mental exploration occurs on a greater scale in Trains. Unlike Aguirre, Menzel forces the focus inwards by physically containing the characters in a small space. There is no great journey to parallel the Milos sexual explorations and eventual actualization, until he eventually takes up the mission that leads to his death. By taking this journey Milos creates an identity for himself, and therefore Czechoslovakia. The creation of identity in Aguirre is a slow, but certain revolution in leadership and power. Aguirre slowly usurps power from Ursua and therefore controls his own destiny - he is the creator of his own disastrous fate. The documents declaring independence from Spain and the miniature coups are all marks of a man attempting to create an identity as the emperor of El Dorado.

15 Ibid.

 At first glance, Aguirre and Trains share little in common. Their film styles are completely different with Aguirre favoring an almost documentary style looseness while Trains maintains a strong sense of mise en scene. Their plot lines also suggest that the two should have nothing to do with each other as Aguirre is a grand, sweeping drama that takes place in the jungles of the Amazonian rain forest while the dark comedy Trains stays quietly at home in small town Czechoslovakia. However, despite these great differences, the cinematic endeavors of both countries ultimately reveal a desire to rediscover their cultural histories and redefine a new cultural identity for their country post-World War II, while struggling through a new set of contemporary problems, whether it be Socialism or neocolonialism. They both dealt with of exploration, the creation of a new identity, and the aftermath of World War II in a way that incorporated and engaged with their history. They differ in artistic output mainly because of their roles in the past few decades - Czechoslovakia did not have to come to terms with fascism, leadership or aggression mainly because it was an occupied nation stripped of its independence. Grand sweeping dramatic epics did not fit a country that could not even define its homeland. Germany had the opposite problem - after years of domination on the European continent, it had to come to terms with the new wave of American culture that swept the continent post-World War II. America had filled the power vacuum left by Germanys defeat and they struggled to deal with the consequences in a way that could still represent German pride. While these two countries obviously played the opposing roles of an aggressor and an occupied nation in the past, both of their artistic movements sought a way forward from that point.

Works Cited Bergfelder, Tim, Erica Carter, and Deniz Gktrk. The German Cinema Book. London: BFI Pub., 2002. Print. Davidson, John E. "As Others Put Plays Upon the Stage: Aguirre, Neocolonialism and the New German Cinema." New German Critique 60 (1993): 101-30. Print. Elsaesser, Thomas. New German Cinema: A History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1989. Print. Girelli, Elizabeth. "Subverting Space: Private, Public and Power in Three Czechoslovak Films from the 1960s and 70s." Studies in Eastern European Cinema 2.1 (2011): n. pag. Print. Halle, Randall. German Film after Germany: Toward a Transnational Aesthetic. Urbana: University of Illinois, 2008. Print. Hames, Peter. The Czechoslovak New Wave. Berkeley: University of California, 1985. Print. Hill, John, Pamela Church. Gibson, Richard Dyer, E. Ann. Kaplan, and Paul Willemen. World Cinema: Critical Approaches. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Hillman, Roger. "Closely Observed Trains." Senses of Cinema. N.p., 12 Dec. 2002. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/cteq/closely_observed/>. Knight, Julia. "New German Cinema." Http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks. CW Routledge, 2007. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. <http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415409285/resources/newgermancine ma.pdf>. Owen, Jonathan L. "Closely Observed Bodies: Corporeality, Totalitarianism and Subversion in Jiri Menzel's 1960s Adaptations of Bohumil Hrabal." Canadian Slavonic Papers 54.4 (2009): 495-511. Print. Shaviro, Steven. "The Pinocchio Theory." Closely Watched Trains . N.p., 19 Jan. 2007. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. <http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/?p=543>.

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