The Great Dictator

 The great Dictator a film by Charlie Chaplin whose role was a barber, it is a movie that dwells more on the Nazis and Hitler.  The humor in the movie I think is appropriate because it helped to release some tensions and emotion breakdown that people might have when watching this film. It is a sad thing to see the pain and suffering they went through during the world war, so humor in the film keeps the balance. In the first few minutes when he was asked to fire the bum which he did by pulling down the rope and falling down after that, I see that to be too funny, it was time for war and seriousness not time for jokes but as I said though people were being killed, yet still we had something to laugh on.

 And also when he gave his first speech to the people coming down off the stairs he fell down and was putting the blame on one of the soldier who was rather trying to help him, tell how they treated people even when they were not wrong, he however had to wipe his hands off after holding the baby which shows disrespect for the people.

Though the ending was not as comical as it stated but it was ok for a film of that nature and how serious the incident of the war was like. This helps to bring to light what the story was portraying about the seriousness of the issues.

My reaction to this film however, considering the scenes,  although was a serious one I think the humor in it was just perfect and appropriate for portraying the Nazis and how they behaved.

PHOTOGRAPHS’ THAT HAVE STRONG EXIBITION VALUE

Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Florence Owens Thompson, 1936

Dorothea Lange took this photograph in 1936, while she employed by the federal Farm Security Administration (FSA) to document migratory farm laborers escaping dustbowl conditions during the Great Depression. In Nipomo, California, Lange came across Florence Owens Thompson and her children in a camp. She was hungry and a desperate mother who feed on frozen vegetables and wild birds. Dorothea took. One photograph she took from that day, now known as Migrant Mother, was widely circulated to magazines and newspapers at the time and became a symbol of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression.”

This piece has a strong exhibition value because after this photograph was taken, t was widely spread in news papers and magazines for people to see and know what was going on then. Hence this piece was presented publicly that’s what bring its exhibition value.

 

 

Stanley Forman, Fire Escape Collapse, 1975

Diana Bryant and Tiare Jones fall from the collapsing fire escape and this picture was taken by Stanley Forman, in 1975. After this picture was taken it was wide spread all over the world and Stanley was recognized for his good works.

What makes to have a strong exhibition value if the fact that it was publicly exhibited and the picture won a lot of public attention.

Source List

http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/dorothea-lange-migrant-mother-nipomo-california-1936

 

 

"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence (p.220).”

INTERPRETATION OF PASSAGE

In this passage, Walter was trying to explain to us that no matter how we go about things in life nothing or nobody comes out to be too perfect. Something is always lacking in one way or the other, it could be the time or space. In the reproduction of an art work, since it was already done and they are trying to get a new copy of it, something will always be lacking because it is not the original copy of the work. Every work of art has its own uniqueness and each time a reproduction is done there is always something lacking when going about it. We can never get it to look like the original copy because it is not our own painting or work.

I chose this passage because I believe that in life nothing can be perfect and as humans we have to accept that as a challenge but yet try to do our best to bring out the best of the best off in us. In as much as we try also to copy an already produced work of someone, its not going to be that aesy to get it as it was becuase each and everyone has a unique way they do their things.

 

 

                       AN ART THAT PORTRAYS PAIN

 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Triumph of Death, 1562

This painting by Pieter shows the aftermath of war and what it brings to the people. We can see piles of dead bodies on the ground and the burns from the flames of the fire. Black smokes all over the place causing contamination of the air. All these troubles are the effect of war and the lack of peace. People have to go through this pain because they failed to live in peace with their neighbors. This is a great pain for the people and their families that is if they have anyone left after this horrible incident.

This painting should portray to people that peace is a very important toll that every country has to strive to maintain. We can see the disappointment and pain that they went through even before reaching their death. No matter how strong we believe we can be we have to live in peace for the good of all. War can cause hunger, pain and above all death. Hence we really need to live in peace.

 

 

JUNGER ON PAIN

“We find ourselves in a situation where we are still capable of grasping what is lost; we can still sense the destruction of values and how the world is becoming more shallow and superficial. New generations are growing up far removed from all our inherited traditions, and it is an amazing feeling to see these children many of whom will live to experience the year 2000. By then, the last remnants of the modern, i.e., Copernican, age will most likely have disappeared.”

INTERPRETATION OF PASSAGE

Junger was trying to explain to us the situation we had to go through in times of pain and sorrow. Even at the time we believe all is lost we still have the will to make things right and turn them around. He also talked about the new generation and how they seem lost when it comes to our traditional heritage. Every country has a tradition they follow of which they learnt from their ancestors. But to him today must of these traditions are not being practiced because they have long been lost.

I chose this passage because; I felt the truth in his massage, most of our richly blessed traditions is nowhere to be found today. And most of these traditions help to shape us morally. The society has made it to look like these traditions are bad and are colloquial to adhere to if you live in a modern world but it is the best think that we could ever think of having. There are a lot of indecent behaviors today in our societies, this is not just people are mad it’s also because we do not have a strong moral up bring that our forefathers use to have before we were born. And this explains why the society is going the way it is now. This makes it a pain and a pity for this generation, rather they embrace and practice the modern way of life wholeheartedly and with confidence.

COMPARISON OF DOCUMENTRY STYLE FILMS TO EARLIER FICTIONAL NARRATIVE FILMS

The major difference between the films we have watched are the documentary films shows more scenes of the pains that people went through and how they were maltreated and killed as if there were not humans at all. Whiles the fictional films we saw were basically on what Germans had to deal with that lead to lot problems like the dada and the Nazism.

Night and fog, is a French film produced in 1955 and the script was written by Jean Cayrol a concentration camp survivor. It shows more scenes of the Holocaust, it shows the cruelty that humans had to go through in the hands of the Nazis. Their living conditions was very bad, they had to go to detention camps where people were killed they never saw day nor night it was always darkness for them. This proves how inhuman they could be to have being treating people like that. As noted it is a very disturbing film and a wicked treatment at that.

Triumph of the will is a film that showed scenes of encouragement to the people of Germany so they will not feel the after mart of the world war so as to lower their spirits. But rather it was made to encourage them that even after everything they could still make it again and even come out as the best of the best.

The film “The blue angle talks more the attitudes and the sexual desires of the people. It was trying to bring into light the poor moral aspects of the people. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari shows scenes of disorder in societies and in what bad state the country was. The film “M”, displayed more scenes of murder which in effect is not in a normal place where children were kidnapped and killed and this is something that is really prevailing in our communities today.

Comparing the two, the first movies that we saw mostly explained to us some of the societal changes and the things that are actually happening today in our world. But the later, are scenes of the real things that was going on or happened in the Germany long ago and was documented. These acts were very inhumane and we pray we do not go back to a world like this again.

 

HITLERS FINAL SPEECH

“At one time I believed that perhaps this battle against Marxism could be carried on with the help of the government. In January, 1923, I learned that that was just not possible. The hypothesis for the victory of Marxism is not that Germany must be free, but rather Germany will only be free when Marxism is broken. At that time I did not dream that our movement would become great and cover Germany like a flood.”

INTERPRETATION OF HITLERS PASSAGE

 From the above quote from Hitler’s passage, we can tell that he was in the believe that, the government will help in the to fight against the Marxism, and he was very disappointed to know that, the government is in no way having his kind of thoughts and the time to go battle against the Marxism. He also believed that the only way Germany will be free is when the Marxism is broken. He was however overwhelmed to realize that his movement became so great that it took over all of Germany. He however has a strong believe that he will one day make Germany to be a place he wants it to be like.