9. April the 9th: Cinéma Pur/Semiotics
- Watched: The Return (2003) Andrey Zvyagintsev
Cinéma Pur
- Little Post production, independent, no C.G, real locations, no professional or A list actors… (Finding actors on the street belongs to the neo-realist or French wave).
- Avant-guarde film movement
- Term coined by Henri Chomette.
- Focuses on filming pure elements such as motion, visual composition and rhythm.
- Key filmmakers are: Rene Clair, Fernand Leger, Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling…
- Films include: Ballet Mecanique, Symphony Diagonale…
- More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_pur
- Semiotic: Study of symbols and signs. “The (1)sign is composed of a (2)signifier — the material form of the sign — and (3)the signified — the concept it represents.” (Fernand de Saussure)
- Allegory: using characters to represent something other and larger than what is on the screen. (Microcosm)
- Iconic: 1 to 1. “Pertaining to, or consisting of, images, pictures, or representations of any kind” and “a sign which resembles the signified (portrait, photo, diagram, map)” Also used metaphorically as a quality of high representativity.
- Indexical: pointing to. “a sign which is inherently connected in some way (existentially or causally) to the signified (e.g. smoke signifies fire; and all the little symbols you see on web pages — mailboxes, envelopes, arrows).”
- Symbolic: arbitrary. 1&2 become symbolic. “a sign which does not resemble the signified but which is purely conventional (the word stop, a red traffic light, or a national flag)”
- Epic: goal is to pass on the knowledge/tradition/legend and engage the audience in a wide scope entire story. They already know the end. vs. novelic. Telling a new story.
- Quest film: journey, discovery, and boy going through right of passage, coming of age… the German Bildungsromans.
The Return, Andrey Zvyagintsev (2003)
The Return is a movie by Andrey Zvyagintsev (2003) and is considered a work of cinema pur. In film, the study of semiotic is important because it is a technique which allows directors to convey their message through concrete objects. Emotions, connections, relations, tensions… can be translated through signs and symbols, for example Hitchcock’s famous close-ups of doorknobs. The Return is packed with symbolism, metaphors, and is an allegorical story between father and son. There are many different ways to interpret the director’s choices in terms of the mise-en-scene, starting with a religious approach. In class, we had discussed some of the symbols and what they meant. Here are some more symbols that weren’t brought up, and that may be of note.
Symbolisms:
- Eagles: there were some scenes where eagles were flying. When the two kids and father stopped on an island, there were no other creatures other than the three. While walking around this desolated place, Ivan finds a dead bird on the ground. Birds are a concrete image of hope; the dead bird can foreshadow the ending. It can represent what will happen if they stay on the island for too long. Several meanings can be derived from just this one symbol.
- Fish: The whole concept of fishing is a stereotypical activity that is seen as father and son bonding. The father didn’t care much for fishing, but taught the kids how to become more independent (finding a restaurant, paying the bill, getting the car our of mud…). The fish can also be a symbol of the two children. The two kids are trapped and don’t know what will happen like the fish.
- Worms
- Watch: Time and punishment seem to be important in this movie. The watch evokes some kind of punishment/consequence if what the father requires is not completed in time. The first moment when the watch appeared was when Ivan didn’t want to eat his soup. The father gave him two minutes to eat it. Also, when the kids were going to get some fish, the father said to be back by 3:30. When they didn’t come back, the Dad started hitting Andrei. It’s as though time is more significant to the father than it is to the kids.
- Jump: The jump can be interpreted as the right of passage. The transition between child to adult.
- Island
- Water (rain, body of water)
- Fire, Wind, Water and Earth.
- Numbers: 3 and 12.
- Shoes
- Journey: The journey is what transforms the kids into the mature stage of life. Not only do they learn certain things/skills, but they also witnessed death. This journey ended their innocence and threw them in the reality of life, just like the opening scene, when the kid jumps in the water. That effect parallels the transitional period. Another point about this journey is that they made it halfway with their father, and now that he’s dead, they must do the other half without his help. In order to survive and get out of this island, they have to do what their father told them. Follow his command.
This movie is very rich in symbolism, seeing it once isn’t enough to catch all of them. Semiotic understanding may requires viewing a movie more than once.
Themes: desolation, isolation, loss and abandoned, independence…