- Space/Time in 'Offside' (2006) by Jafar Panahi
The structure of this film reflects its topic; football. We discover how as the viewers we follow each character (like players would follow a ball) and are only allowed to follow the next character once the two of them have interacted (been 'passed'). It is all to do with proximity and is an interesting technique used by Panahi. This rule is broken half way through the film at 45 mins in before continuing, which reflects half time in a football match (which also occurs half way through the 90 minutes at 45). We 'switch sides' from being with one character in one location to another character in another location, without them interacting, just like how opposing teams swap sides in a match. I find this such a clever idea and structure which complements other use of space during the film; the girls banned from seeing the football match are placed 'offside' of the stadium in a small pen. It is such a juxtaposition in terms of size and space which I find very unique.
- Ambiguity in 'Millennium Mambo' (2001) by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
I really enjoyed this film despite there being elements hard to comprehend. The film is told with a voiceover which is said to be Vicky, the main character, retelling bits of her life in 2001 referring to herself in the third person. However weather it is past/present is debatable. Everything about the film is in the present of 2001 and was released in 2001, and so opposes quite a confusing time scale for the audience. The scenes themselves are not in chronological order and some do not make sense, but a notable thing is contrast between locations (such as in the city or not etc) and the characters act during these settings. Another main point about this film is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's use of the long take which is used in every shot, the effect of this being for us to really observe how the characters act with one another and notice hidden meanings. Overall I find the film to be quite abstract but really enjoyable - I also like the song used (see clip above) which is sort of a motif for Vicky's happiness.
- Artifice vs Reality in 'Une Femme est une femme' (1961) by Jean-Luc Godard
This was my favourite of the bunch. This film is very unconventional as it is a classic New Wave film. As you can see from the editing and sound, it is very different to what we are used to. Godard wants to remind us we are indeed watching a film and so uses jump-cuts and sound effects/songs that do not match what we are seeing on screen. Throughout this film he also includes mistakes by Anna Karina as well as elaborate aspects of performance and the characters breaking the fourth wall (again to show reality). He displays an interesting colour scheme of red, white and blue like the French flag and an interesting and unique relationship between the characters. Notable scenes include when Angela is frying an egg and tosses it up in the air, leaves the room and returns to catch it, where Angela & Emile fight using book titles, Angelia making the bed, Angela walking through a magical device at Zodiac (the club where she works) and changing her outfit, her and Alfred 'performing', Angela and Alfred in the restaurant, and many more.
