Entry No 8

 

Transformation in Film

 

In my first 5 entries I wrote about the following 5 films that showed transformation in one or more characters:

·         The Godfather (1972);

·         Return to Paradise (1998);

·         Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001);

·         The Four Feathers (2002);

·         Ray (2004).

I have now carried out some more research regarding the directors of the above films with the hope of finding out what or who influenced them in their work.  I managed to find the following information.

 

I found out that Francis Ford Coppola who directed “The Godfather” was influenced by the film "Blow Up" (1966) of Michelangelo Antonioni.  It was the best film of 1966 and it was Antonioni’s first English-language film. The writers of the screenplay were Antonioni and Tonino Guerra, whereas British playwright Edward Bond was responsible for the English dialogue. The producer was Carlo Ponti. This film is about a photographer, played by David Hemmings, who believes that he may have witnessed a murder and unintentionally taken photographs of what happened.  Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle, Jane Birkin, Tsai Chin and Gillian Hills, as well as the model of the 1960’s Veruschka, also star in this film.

CINEVIEW1. (2010). BLOW UP - Official Trailer (1966) . [Online Video]. 03 December. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrJ9U75OZOw.

[Accessed: 13 December 2012].

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain” was influenced by the film “Once upon a Time in the West” (1968), directed by Sergio Leone.   Famous stars in this film include Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale.  The screenplay, written by Leone and Sergio Donati, was taken from an Italian story by Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento.  The story is about a young woman named Mrs McBain, who finds her husband and family killed when she arrives in Utah after moving there from New Orleans.  A prime suspect become friends with her and starts his quest to find the real killer …….  Following is a trailer from the film and also an interesting interview with Jean-Pierre Jeunet about his life as a director of films.

 

 

Danios12345. (2007). Once Upon a Time in The West Trailer. [Online Video]. 17 December. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNGQ1hUyx-k.

[Accessed: 13 December 2012].

 

 Baftaonline. (2010). Jean-Pierre Jeunet - BAFTA A Life in Pictures . [Online Video]. 12 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HndWfBhvQrk.

[Accessed: 13 December 2012].

 

I think that for my artwork I might consider taking 5 objects connected to the transformation that took place in the characters involved in each film that I wrote about in my first 5 entries, and include them in a sculpture or else produce an abstract artwork out of the objects. The objects can be: “a feather” which reminds me of The Four Feathers that were given to Harry to make him realize about his cowardice and to do something about it; “a gun”which transformed Michael from a quiet to a violent person in The Godfather; “a heart” in the case of Amélie in Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, “a noose” which ended the life of Lewis in Return to Paradise, even though he was transformed into a better person; and “a piano” that made Ray Charles famous.