# 2 Homosexuality and cinema's golden age of Hollywood to today
The fifties were, especially the United States, the era of perfection at all costs, the realization of the dreams of a clean and quiet life after the war. Often, this obsession with the high (pseudo-) moral values led, naturally for the era of small all'insabbiamento fact that it was better not to show. Since the cinema is the mirror of society in all its forms, even Hollywood has followed this wave of respectability. screen men were always perfectly combed and dressed, elegant and polite, and all ended up getting married. There was something different from marriage between men and women. At this juncture we can start by placing the film "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958). Against the backdrop of the classic Tennessee Williams melodrama familiar to move the characters of Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) and her husband Brick (Paul Newman). Brick is a former football player who resists the attentions of his wife and drinks. E 'in a constant depression over the death of his friend and former teammate Skipper. At least, that's what was shown in the film. Since the Thirty, in Hollywood, there was a code of regulations, the Hays Code, which literally prevented the producers, directors and screenwriters to stage sexuality. Let alone a "sexual perversion" as homosexuality. In Williams' original play the character of Brick is depressed because the man he loved is dead. Also in drama Skipper tries to seduce the wife of Brick for the latter to take care of him. These two focal points have been altered, literally: Skipper is no longer the object of desire but a "friend" and the attempt at seduction is no longer a disturbance of a sexual nature but a disappointment with Friend's myth. Version film, although it is nice to look at and very well interpreted, it is ridiculous. The first film to speak directly about homosexuality was done, oddly enough, a year after the aforementioned film with Paul Newman in 1959. This time the film was directed by Joseph L. Mankievicz, one of the greatest directors in Hollywood "alternative" and strangely social engagement, and based on a play of Tennessee Williams always great. The homosexual person, the fulcrum of the story, the film was never shown, if not behind, no voice, and the story begins after his mysterious death. Concerned about the mental health of ex-girlfriend of her son, who by chance is called Sebastian (San Sebastian often appears in religious representations as an effeminate boy), his mother Violet decides to call a doctor to bring the girl to a lobotomy. The reality is that the mother wants to prevent the girl child on the face of uncomfortable revelations died. Sebastian is described by Violet as a poet, a lover of fine clothes and always in the company "of young men." While the film is merely reiterating the established stereotype of homosexuality (oppressive mother, absent father, solicitation of children) on the other enters into a social context where the terrible secret is not so much homosexuality in itself, but in mother-child relationship and the crowds non-acceptance of Violet's sexuality Sebastian. E 'curious see how Sebastian died in a similar manner (though much more chilling) to Pier Paolo Pasolini. In the sixties there is little interesting topic on the world. Also in Hollywood was shot in 1960 "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock in which the murderess has not mentioned homosexual tendencies. Hitchcock had some recurrence in placing side by a veiled homosexuality to crime and murder. This can be seen in the interesting "Rope" in 1948 (filmed in pianosequenza) and the beautiful "Rebecca's first wife" of 1940.
From the seventies onwards we are witnessing a growing interest in the cinema towards this topic. One can not quote the film masterpiece "Death in Venice "by Luchino Visconti in 1970. In this movie, which consists of a collection of images and music of the highest possible lyricism, the composer Gustav von Aschenbach falls in love with the beautiful (and young) Tadzio. More than a kind of carnal desire the composer is a love of beauty in general and then for the art. Also in Italy, in the late seventies, the film is "The vice" historical demonstration of what the Italian company believed (and some still think) of homosexuality. The 1978 film shows a highly effeminate and flamboyant homosexual according to the dictates of popular culture of the South (Naples, for example, effeminate gay men are called "femminiello). In the eighties, the only relevant example is "The Law of Desire" (1986) by Pedro Almodovar. The film told in a masterly fashion, fun, very dramatic but also a gay love story. Always remaining on the register of melodrama that was later made famous extremely Almodovar, the film is the greatest example of love story between two men. The remainder of this decade, there has been a kind of oblivion on the subject. This is probably due to the spread of AIDS virus that has not only led to disastrous consequences, but also a major step backwards socially. Were consolidated in the nineties the gay and lesbian liberation movements. In conjunction with this it is interesting to highlight the case of "The Silence of the Lambs "(1991, Jonathan Demme). The film was accused by gay and lesbian associations (GLBT) to be homophobic because it kills the murderess of the girls to dress as a woman. In fact in the film itself is clearly expressed through the character Hannibal Lecter, the murderess is not homosexual. To prove this you can bring Lecter's quip: "He thinks he's a transsexual. He probably believed to be many things in his life ...". The director Jonathan Demme was deeply impressed by this vicious attack on the film, so in 1993 turned "Philadelphia" a decidedly pro-gay movie and very touching that the souls of riapacificò all. Since the nineties onwards, the situation Film (And of course the company) has led to increased production of films in full or in part in homosexual theme. The progress made by the company may also notice the amount of gay characters in the most popular way in the world: TV. In 1994 it was the film "Heavenly Creatures," directed by Peter Jackson. It 'a very poetic film and cruel. It 's the story of two girls and their love thwarted by overprotective parents and conservatives. The ending, as in all cases of frustration of the passions, can only be tragic. It 'a movie to watch not only for the history and the director, Peter Jackson, but also for a new, mature, poised between the splatter films that have made known and the consecration of "The Lord of the Rings." Among the nineties and early twenty-first century have produced countless films with mixed results. 2004 is the year of the masterpiece "Mysterious Skin" by Gregg Araki. It 's the story of two boys in search of the truth about their past. It 's a cruel film, visceral, sometimes a bit' too much in the psychological and physical violence, but written and directed masterfully. In 2005 came out the movie "Brokeback Mountain", acclaimed by critics, and an amended title and itchy in Italian. It was wrongly considered a "masterpiece" for the following reason: if you want to tell a story of love must also work if you change the characteristics of the characters. It must be universal. In this case, if the characters involved were a man and a woman would not have even a tenth of that was hype. And that stinks terribly of business strategy. It 's a film for the people, as well as in literature can be found in the corresponding series of romance novels "Harmony", but probably these are written much better. The main flaw is therefore to be scripted and badly missing. The film takes place in a period of twenty years and the maximum physical aging of the protagonists are a mustache and sideburns hairpieces. This goes to show how Hollywood is not serious in regard to the physical sacrifices of the protagonists in favor of a more serious characterization of the story and characters. "Brokeback Mountain" is also a sincere little movie because it seeks to overturn the stereoticpo cowboy macho, when in reality is a recurrent fantasy erotic gay imagery from the seventies, a story in favor of empty and inconclusive. Not to mention some jokes that frankly painful and can be easily interpreted as a double meaning, making spring the hilarity of everyone (for example, "You've never taken a fish!"). Moving on to better films like "Transamerica," you may end up talking about the wonderful film "Crazy" in 2005 by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film is the long history of acceptance of Zachary, and is the one perfect example of how a boy in the sixties passes through the various periods of frustration through music. You can then divide the film into four parts corresponding to four kinds of music: the discovery of sexuality (glam-rock), sexual confusion (punk), depression (dark), promiscuity (disco music). If there had been a fifth would have been: alienation (electronic). In any case, the film ends in the best way, helped by an amazing director, and sometimes are full of visionary.
It 'good to conclude stating that you are talking about homosexuality in the cinema and not "gay cinema". The movie is gay ghetto, addressed to a limited audience and does not want to be known outside. E 'self as well as anticinematografico not disclose and does not show anything new, does not give any occasion for anyone. To demonstrate the existence of this type of film just look in stores that sell DVDs, many of them there to "queer."
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Friday, December 1, 2006
Birthday Wishes On Cartoon Network
# 1 Phenomenology of the dark lady
Brief introduction / justification
If I did not write for a long time it was for "technical" reasons, which unfortunately does not depend on me. In any case I think it is appropriate to apologize to the people who read / read this blog.
Until some time ago I wrote the movie reviews every Friday, I think. Well, the review does not form- satisfies me more. Nevertheless, not abandoned, nor writing, nor is the argument that, in a sense, my faith: the cinema. So, since I love challenges, I decided that I begin to write "essays". This is my new way of writing is so presumptuous, but it gives me more satisfaction because I can certainly talk about things more and more movies at once. This type of "form" has a negative which is a bit 'long-winded and even more boring then I will surely have less "later." But I am a selfish person, and not the author of a best-seller. I write for me. Of course I will take a little 'more time to write, and then it is said that every week I write something.
Regarding the proposed text below confess to have written long ago and have already published. I only slightly revised where needed. In short: it is "heated soup." But here it is.
dark lady dark lady of the concept is, as the term itself, which is inseparable from the dark. Obviously you are not speaking of either 'dark' in a literal sense nor in the modern sense. Lately we tend to confuse the dark lady with the dark, which are, in fact, girls who dress and makeup with dark shades and listening to a type of music that evokes the dark atmosphere (like the Cure, for example). But then, what exactly is a dark lady?
We can identify the character of Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare as a prototype of this 'species'. It has well-defined characteristics that tend to become the standard of the characters that will follow in his footsteps. E 'first woman with a strong personality, devious and unscrupulous. Its function in the story is to encourage your spouse, to confirm and exacerbate the ambition to power. Although his body is female, her attitude makes me think of the opposite sex. Saying your prayer to the spirits "That Tend on mortal thoughts," she sacrifices her femininity by giving up two women who typically Breast and breast milk:
I suck, and know the sweetness of
love you baby sucks the breast
and yet, as he had steadfastly
the smiley face on my face, I would have torn by force
my nipple from his bare
keep gums,
and I would splash the brain,
if ever I had taken an oath,
as thou hast sworn to do this!
(I, VII)
Lady Macbeth wants her husband to become king, even though there is nothing selfish in that desire. Macbeth comes as a son reassures him, scolds him when he lacks the will, encouraged him when you feel lost, just like a mother. This
dualism lover / husband / child is now almost commonplace in more or less evident in the film. Let's see how.
The birth of the dark lady film coincides with the birth of noir. The noir had its heyday between 1941 and 1955. This type of film is difficult to describe because of the mix of genres it contains. However, we can identify the applicants / Special offers: photography rather than contrast, muddy textures and sometimes fatal presence of women, the dark lady, indeed.
In "Double Indemnity" (1944, Billy Wilder), Barbara Stanwyck is Phyllis Dietrichson, a woman convinces her lover to kill husband for insurance and then collect the insurance. The character Stanwyck is one of the most successful: it represents pure evil without escape. The first appearance in the scene is in a bathrobe, her hair blond and flirtatious but never vulgar expression. Ankle wearing a bracelet, considered scandalous by the conformists of the time. Not only is it beautiful, it's also intelligent and unprejudiced. Phillis is that her lover were excluded from the personal fulfillment requires that the American dream, were crushed, one by marriage, the other from work. The
Elsa Bannister of "The Lady from Shanghai" (1947, Orson Welles) is a woman oppressed by the rich husband and a cripple, who keeps to himself through blackmail. The ingenuous sailor who falls in love her will be embedded in a complex case of murder, orchestrated, needless to say from her own. This film has several characteristics: first, Rita Hayworth in the role of Elsa and sporting a short blonde hair. Her blond hair is often associated with corrupt woman, both in film and in common places (default = woman wife, mother / blond woman = prostitute), and it is a recurrent element in the shape of the dark lady. The same Marilyn has benefited enormously from this image. The lack of femininity of Rita Hayworth is given by the actions taken by the woman. In one scene we see even dressed as a sailor, pilot boat. This film also has another special feature: Welles kills his dark lady of broken glass, slumped to the ground, wounded and pleading, left to itself without the possibility of redemption. This fact differs from the canon Hollywood stars who wanted to keep a certain grace, even in the moment of death. Take for example, "Double Indemnity": Phyllis dies with a gunshot in the arms of her lover.
In "The Woman Who Lived Twice" (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) is the object of desire, that will be lost and then found another woman in the form of strangely identical to the first player from James Stewart . The erotic component is strong in this film through a subjective viewer identifies with the character Men looking for women. In many films of Hitchcock's character resolves his Oedipus syndrome punishing the woman, in this case the man not only solve his psychological problems, but punishes the woman for her sins, like a reinterpretation of original sin.
With "The Damned" (1969, Luchino Visconti), the dark lady becomes mature, and aging also increases the wickedness. Visconti staged a sort of revival of "Macbeth" in a German family and powerful just before the Second World War. Sophie Von Essenbeck is the Lady Macbeth of the film that pushes her man to "go all the way along" in a sort of megalomania that alliance will lead to more narrow and suffocating with the Nazi regime. Sophie also has a son who will solve his problems with his mother possessing carnally. She does not seem to be disgusted, indeed, sexual pleasure is mixed into a sort of return to the womb where you can check your child even better.
In recent years the figure of the dark lady has changed a lot: on the one hand there are those who slightly modified the classic woman's beautiful and cruel, the other people in the most unexpected twists. In the first case we can put the two films of David Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997) and "Mulholland Drive" (2001). In "Lost Highway" the dark lady is half real and half invented. When the imaginary part takes over the main character reveals itself in the most dark and dangerous. In "Mulholland Drive" the dark lady is such only in the latter part of the film. The first part is only a representation due to guilt. The dark lady is not blonde but rather payments, and the whole plot is fitted to the frustration of a lesbian love with devastating consequences. The ill-fated love is not the only theme of the film, there is also a strong critic of the Hollywood star system in the world who use and enjoyment of people in permanent damage, especially women.
Some people, like Almodóvar, has upset the rules of film noir and the same characterization of the dark lady. In "Bad Education" (2004) everything revolves around a character who is not who he claims to be and, hiding this terrible secret, he manipulates those around him and gets what he wants. It 's a perfect dark lady ... man. The character in question is in fact a she but a he. Angel and Enrique, the two protagonists, dig deeper and deeper into the abyss of their education, finding only death. As in all Almodovar films, the passion is the main theme. In this case it is the sick passion of Father Manolo for the small Ignacio that will generate a future of desolation.
Through the centuries, the dark lady had a kind of evolution has gone from being a man woman who wants to become more cruel (Lady Macbeth) to man (Angel). It almost seems that she was able to fulfill his wishes. Absorbing the male is able to become more cruel and reached its murky purposes. In fact, woman or man who is the dark lady will always be an outcast, a 'soul in torment that has been stolen a few liberties, a being who is stuck in mediocrity for a life too ordinary. Where were placed in the wrong context, the dark lady will do anything to get out, but he would always make the wrong way, thereby meeting inexorably to its tragic fate.
Brief introduction / justification
If I did not write for a long time it was for "technical" reasons, which unfortunately does not depend on me. In any case I think it is appropriate to apologize to the people who read / read this blog.
Until some time ago I wrote the movie reviews every Friday, I think. Well, the review does not form- satisfies me more. Nevertheless, not abandoned, nor writing, nor is the argument that, in a sense, my faith: the cinema. So, since I love challenges, I decided that I begin to write "essays". This is my new way of writing is so presumptuous, but it gives me more satisfaction because I can certainly talk about things more and more movies at once. This type of "form" has a negative which is a bit 'long-winded and even more boring then I will surely have less "later." But I am a selfish person, and not the author of a best-seller. I write for me. Of course I will take a little 'more time to write, and then it is said that every week I write something.
Regarding the proposed text below confess to have written long ago and have already published. I only slightly revised where needed. In short: it is "heated soup." But here it is.
Phenomenology of
dark lady dark lady of the concept is, as the term itself, which is inseparable from the dark. Obviously you are not speaking of either 'dark' in a literal sense nor in the modern sense. Lately we tend to confuse the dark lady with the dark, which are, in fact, girls who dress and makeup with dark shades and listening to a type of music that evokes the dark atmosphere (like the Cure, for example). But then, what exactly is a dark lady?
We can identify the character of Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare as a prototype of this 'species'. It has well-defined characteristics that tend to become the standard of the characters that will follow in his footsteps. E 'first woman with a strong personality, devious and unscrupulous. Its function in the story is to encourage your spouse, to confirm and exacerbate the ambition to power. Although his body is female, her attitude makes me think of the opposite sex. Saying your prayer to the spirits "That Tend on mortal thoughts," she sacrifices her femininity by giving up two women who typically Breast and breast milk:
I suck, and know the sweetness of
love you baby sucks the breast
and yet, as he had steadfastly
the smiley face on my face, I would have torn by force
my nipple from his bare
keep gums,
and I would splash the brain,
if ever I had taken an oath,
as thou hast sworn to do this!
(I, VII)
Lady Macbeth wants her husband to become king, even though there is nothing selfish in that desire. Macbeth comes as a son reassures him, scolds him when he lacks the will, encouraged him when you feel lost, just like a mother. This
dualism lover / husband / child is now almost commonplace in more or less evident in the film. Let's see how.
The birth of the dark lady film coincides with the birth of noir. The noir had its heyday between 1941 and 1955. This type of film is difficult to describe because of the mix of genres it contains. However, we can identify the applicants / Special offers: photography rather than contrast, muddy textures and sometimes fatal presence of women, the dark lady, indeed.
In "Double Indemnity" (1944, Billy Wilder), Barbara Stanwyck is Phyllis Dietrichson, a woman convinces her lover to kill husband for insurance and then collect the insurance. The character Stanwyck is one of the most successful: it represents pure evil without escape. The first appearance in the scene is in a bathrobe, her hair blond and flirtatious but never vulgar expression. Ankle wearing a bracelet, considered scandalous by the conformists of the time. Not only is it beautiful, it's also intelligent and unprejudiced. Phillis is that her lover were excluded from the personal fulfillment requires that the American dream, were crushed, one by marriage, the other from work. The
Elsa Bannister of "The Lady from Shanghai" (1947, Orson Welles) is a woman oppressed by the rich husband and a cripple, who keeps to himself through blackmail. The ingenuous sailor who falls in love her will be embedded in a complex case of murder, orchestrated, needless to say from her own. This film has several characteristics: first, Rita Hayworth in the role of Elsa and sporting a short blonde hair. Her blond hair is often associated with corrupt woman, both in film and in common places (default = woman wife, mother / blond woman = prostitute), and it is a recurrent element in the shape of the dark lady. The same Marilyn has benefited enormously from this image. The lack of femininity of Rita Hayworth is given by the actions taken by the woman. In one scene we see even dressed as a sailor, pilot boat. This film also has another special feature: Welles kills his dark lady of broken glass, slumped to the ground, wounded and pleading, left to itself without the possibility of redemption. This fact differs from the canon Hollywood stars who wanted to keep a certain grace, even in the moment of death. Take for example, "Double Indemnity": Phyllis dies with a gunshot in the arms of her lover.
In "The Woman Who Lived Twice" (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) is the object of desire, that will be lost and then found another woman in the form of strangely identical to the first player from James Stewart . The erotic component is strong in this film through a subjective viewer identifies with the character Men looking for women. In many films of Hitchcock's character resolves his Oedipus syndrome punishing the woman, in this case the man not only solve his psychological problems, but punishes the woman for her sins, like a reinterpretation of original sin.
With "The Damned" (1969, Luchino Visconti), the dark lady becomes mature, and aging also increases the wickedness. Visconti staged a sort of revival of "Macbeth" in a German family and powerful just before the Second World War. Sophie Von Essenbeck is the Lady Macbeth of the film that pushes her man to "go all the way along" in a sort of megalomania that alliance will lead to more narrow and suffocating with the Nazi regime. Sophie also has a son who will solve his problems with his mother possessing carnally. She does not seem to be disgusted, indeed, sexual pleasure is mixed into a sort of return to the womb where you can check your child even better.
In recent years the figure of the dark lady has changed a lot: on the one hand there are those who slightly modified the classic woman's beautiful and cruel, the other people in the most unexpected twists. In the first case we can put the two films of David Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997) and "Mulholland Drive" (2001). In "Lost Highway" the dark lady is half real and half invented. When the imaginary part takes over the main character reveals itself in the most dark and dangerous. In "Mulholland Drive" the dark lady is such only in the latter part of the film. The first part is only a representation due to guilt. The dark lady is not blonde but rather payments, and the whole plot is fitted to the frustration of a lesbian love with devastating consequences. The ill-fated love is not the only theme of the film, there is also a strong critic of the Hollywood star system in the world who use and enjoyment of people in permanent damage, especially women.
Some people, like Almodóvar, has upset the rules of film noir and the same characterization of the dark lady. In "Bad Education" (2004) everything revolves around a character who is not who he claims to be and, hiding this terrible secret, he manipulates those around him and gets what he wants. It 's a perfect dark lady ... man. The character in question is in fact a she but a he. Angel and Enrique, the two protagonists, dig deeper and deeper into the abyss of their education, finding only death. As in all Almodovar films, the passion is the main theme. In this case it is the sick passion of Father Manolo for the small Ignacio that will generate a future of desolation.
Through the centuries, the dark lady had a kind of evolution has gone from being a man woman who wants to become more cruel (Lady Macbeth) to man (Angel). It almost seems that she was able to fulfill his wishes. Absorbing the male is able to become more cruel and reached its murky purposes. In fact, woman or man who is the dark lady will always be an outcast, a 'soul in torment that has been stolen a few liberties, a being who is stuck in mediocrity for a life too ordinary. Where were placed in the wrong context, the dark lady will do anything to get out, but he would always make the wrong way, thereby meeting inexorably to its tragic fate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)