A2 FILM STUDIES FM4 SECTION A: WORLD CINEMA URBAN STORIES REVISION OVERVIEW Focus Production context AS TEARS GO BY Hong

ng Kong 1988 Wong Kar Wai Kowloon & Lantau Island Hong Kong, late 1980s Wah / Fly / Ngor Triad life and honour / relationship come and go with the passing of time the city always stays Seedy / dark / rundown / neon / 24 hour / nocturnal Entrapment & addiction to environment / continual cycle of consequence / can never escape it LA HAINE France 1995 Matthieu Kassovitz Paris, mid 1990s Said, Vincent, Hubert Xenophobia, unemployment & class struggle / youth culture facing ruling ideology & authority High rise blocks / enclosed / graffiti / dirty Entrapment but with a sense of community & belonging / apart from the beauty of the city / tied to the city and their place in it due their social class and ethnic status. GEGEN DIE WAND Germany / Turkey 2004 Fatih Akin Hamburg / Istanbul, 2000s Cahit, Sibel Multiculturalism and the difficulties this can bring LILYA 4-EVER Estonia / Sweden 2003 Lukas Moodysoon Estonia / Sweden, 2000s Lilya, Volodya Sex slavery / Christianity life can be hell for some people why? Dark / dreary / high rise blocks / decaying Entrapment & despair / banality of lives / limited choice of opportunity or employment / only one real way to escape.

Director Time and place set Characters Main themes

Representation of the City Influence of city on the characters

Empty / dark / rundown / bocks of flats / graffiti / nocturnal Entrapment & addiction to the environment the city helps them to escape reality / they use the urban environment rather than it using them so they can escape at the end.

Representation of power

Gang warfare / hierarchies within gangs / male superiority & the brother hood / an underclass that gives status within the hierarchy / triad family has a powerful bond

Physical violence between youths & police / power of authority seen through police & middle classes / focus on male characters / 2nd generation working class ethnic minorities / bond between the 3 friends powerful and strong sense of duty Material possessions identify different status of the 3 characters / some sense of material poverty on Banlieu where they live / education doesnt get them anywhere so therefore isnt valued / few opportunities Hubert looses his gym, nothing for them to do in Paris etc Physical conflict between police & skin heads / emotional conflict seen through Vince he wants to avenge friends death but anger is a reflection

Representation of poverty

Wah is successful but has no obvious material wealth & Fly is driven by the need to be materially successful / poverty of education has been on the streets & in the Triad hierarchy / few opportunities offered and trapped by honour of the brotherhood when they arise Physical conflict between Triad members / Psychological conflict because Wah wants to escape but cant leave Fly / emotional conflict

Representation of conflict

Anger & aggression, physical harm offers release / sexual power to gain feeling of power / male characters appear to hold power but female characters have the power / power of family ties and cultural traditions / love and relationships as powerful, destructive & addictive. Sense of material impoverishment with Cahit chooses to live this way / Cahit emotionally impoverished, need for drink, drugs, destruction a result of inability to express emotional pain / Sibel denied opportunity to express herself by family & Cahit denies himself the opportunity to feel alive. Cahit as a physically conflicted person he is quiet but can be physically violent / psychologically his is in conflict because he wants to hate the world

Power through sexual violence & rape / limited power of social workers & teachers / women as powerless, used by men for their gratification / power of social class and material possessions / power within family hierarchy respect for and tradition of elders Abject material poverty seen in environment & lack of possessions / limited emotional response life is hard get on with it / limited opportunity for education & unlikely to lead to a job / very few opportunities high unemployment and no prospects. Conflict seen physically through the use of sexual violence and Lilyas psychological conflict she is desperate to escape form her situation but

in love for Ngor but feelings of loyalty to Triad life / material conflict as need to material objects to reflect status leads to Flys eventual downfall / social conflict in that they are the underclass & conflict is created when they try to climb the social ladder / wahs relationship with Fly & Ngor in conflict / Fly has little respect for family values other than those of the Triad brotherhood

of his own lack of voice socially / material object of the gun as a source of conflict throughout gives Vince some status but ultimately used to kill by Hubert / social unrest between rioters & police, interaction with middle classes in art gallery & conflict with skin heads & police all show socio cultural conflict / conflicting friendships of the 3 characters / little sense of conflict in the family appear to be warm, loving backgrounds.

Narrative devices

Linear but no clear time-scale fragmented through use of ellipses Omnipresent narrative Closed ending Driven by action codes

& die but ends up loving Sibel and wanting to live / Material conflict is seen through Cahit who shuns all material possessions his experience is emotional and physical he doesnt need material objects / cultural conflict is evident through Sibel whose multiculturalism means she wants to experience a western lifestyle but her parents Turkish origins forbid this / Sibel & Cahits relationship is a source of conflict film driven by their desire to be together but ultimately ends in them being apart / Sibel driven by the conflict with her family Linear over 24 hours Linear narrative but is fragmented structure ellipses through use of between time that ellipses Cahit is in jail and Sibel in Turkey and Omnipresent when the two meet narrative Omnipresent Open & closed narrative endings Open ending Driven by action

wants to be there for Volodya too / emotional conflict seen in Lilja as emotionally she has already left Estonia & escape no matter what although she loves Volodya / resorts to prostitution to afford material items and basics such as food gone against her moral / no cultural conflict as each big city is presented as the same, as is Lilyas place within it / Lilya & Volodyas friendship is in conflict when Lilya begins a relationship with Andrei / conflict with family mother & aunt Anna is key to the plot development Begins with a flashforward but follow linear narrative with some ellipses of time Restricted narrative Driven by action codes Closed ending

codes but some surreal enigma codes also

Stylistic devices

New wave, experimental style fusing popular genres Very tight frames / juxtaposition of lots of wide long shots and ecus / lots of camera movement tracking to create sense of energy / lots of handheld camera work Location & setting important to evoke energy of city / props & costume relevant to time film set in 80s / subdued & minimal lighting to create sense of criminal underworld of life in Mahjong clubs & bars etc Non-diagetic musical cues to denote characters & their emotional state / use of

Neo-realism style references to urban youth culture Spatial constraints through use of framing / choice of shot types / experimental with choice of shot types e.g. Zido Reinforce experience of urban youth culture graffiti tags / costume / banlieus

Camera

Mostly driven by action codes enigma codes of Cahits first wife and why doesnt Sibel go to meet Cahit at the end? Use of sound as important in driving themes of multiculturalism Spatial constraints through framing very tight frames with lots of borders from mise-enscene / juxtaposition of els and wide angles with ms and cus Reinforces themes of multi-culturalism & life in different cities through location & settings Hamburg & Istanbul / use of costume to reflect Cahits state of mind / Sibels appearance reflects her changing emotions in the film Use of non-diagetic soundtrack to create multi-cultural mix through Turkish &

Realism

Handheld, documentary style / juxtaposition of extreme long shots to show decaying environment with tight frames to create entrapment Location, setting, costume & props all reinforce the realism and sense of poverty where Lilya lives use of mise-en-scene to enhance idea of desperation that the people who live there feel. Use of non-diagetic sound to reinforce the realism & drama of the film / use of Russian &

Mise-en-scene

Sound

Non-diagetic musical soundtrack that juxtaposes western hiphop & rap with more

non-diagetic soundtrack to reinforce 80s setting and mix of east & west culture e.g. Cantonese version of Take My Breath Away / emphasised sound effects of action to refer to typical genre conventions during fight sequences Editing Lots of jump cuts / slow & accelerated motion / step-printing / fragmented images

traditional French songs & also uses diagetic sound in film to this effect (e.g. DJ mixing KRS One with Edith Piaf) Use of dialogue to reinforce urban youth culture Teci expressions of French youth but silenced by sub-titles Disruption of time through ellipses & jump cuts. Juxtaposition of very long takes to give feeling of boredom with very quick cuts to give moments of energy and tension

Western music. Diagetic sound in club sequences reinforces the anarchy felt by Cahit and gives sense of chaos and aggression felt by the people who live in the city- offers a sense of release Lots of jump cuts and quick pace when set in Hamburg contrasted with very long takes when set in Istanbul editing offers message about the difference in lives and traditions between the two cities & cultures.

German pop music to give effect of being hit by bulldozer / use of diagetic sound effects to reinforce realism & documentary genre like style.

Slow pace with lots of long takes / flashforward technique at beginning creates sense of confusion / jump cuts when Lilya is in Sweden with clients to show her ordeal