Module 2 – Reflection Paper
The questions of how art produces meaning, why it produces meaning, and for whom it produces meaning are being rethought and reargued all the time. I don’t consider all films works of art but in the most part, film is a form of art. The theoretical perspective of film is what makes a film a work of art whether it sprung from a formalist view, realist, modernist, semiological, Marxist, or neo-Freudian view.
Making a film that is considered art is not easy. It takes a lot of time to develop and conceive an “art film”. There are different viewpoints as to what an art film should be so an art film is relative to the viewer. To me, an art film is one that provokes my mind to think about not only the real world that we are currently living in but also the “unknown”. Movies like Schindler’s List or The Lover are top contenders in my list of art films because it tugs at my thoughts and emotions. Those films made me think about the realities of people that lived in that time period. Although, it was the reality of those people at the time, it is the unknown world for me. To me, art films take the “unknown” and try to captivate and depict it for the audience to understand it and see the realities of other people.
Films can you take you places you have never been before and it can enchant you to dream and fantasize about the unknown. Films can either hit you hard with reality or sweep your imagination away to a happy place.
Sometimes, films are used as propaganda in which the filmmaker’s intention is to sway the viewer’s attention to what they want them to believe in. I believe that film can be a dangerous tool when used politically because it reaches the masses and provokes the conscious and unconscious minds of its audience. I believe that films have the ability to imprison one’s mind and hypnotize the thoughts and feelings. Art films can sway a person’s judgment and affect their attitudes. After watching Schindler’s List, I was appalled at what I had seen. That film triggered many different emotional feelings out of me and it played with my unconscious.
I believe that the filmmaker has the social responsibility to make sure that their film does not incite people to do frightening and terrorizing things. I think that they have the right to voice their opinions through their films as a work of art but I don’t think they should exploit and manipulate ideas into people’s thoughts and mind. A film can be so captivating and terrorizing that sometimes, it conjures up terrible thoughts and this can ultimately induce backlash and negative repercussions as a result of the film’s message.
An example of films used as propaganda was during World War II when the Nazi’s used film to control the minds of their followers. The Nazis controlled film production in Germany and so everything that was released to the public was scrutinized by the Nazis before its release. Films that didn’t concentrate on certain issues like the greatness of Hitler was rejected and never released to the public, especially if it was against what the Nazis believed in.
The Philippines was also propagandized by the Japanese. When the Japanese went to occupy the Philippines, during that short time, they were able to develop propaganda films that focused on issues about the Japanese and Filipinos being “friends” not enemies. This was a way for the Japanese to get the Filipinos to help support their fight against the Americans and hoped that the Filipinos will take their side and won’t cause an uprising against them because that would make it more difficult for them to try and defeat the U.S.
The film we saw in class, “Ora Pro Nobis”, was very disturbing for me because it was a violent film full of drama and terror. One part that was really upsetting for me was the part when the leader of the government group raped the mother and killed the young boy all in less than a minute. It made me feel sad and hopeless to know that those kind of things actually happened in real life during those violent times at the Philippines. I was very much angry and disgusted by vulgar acts of the government officials because they were supposed to be the ones to protect the people but instead, they were the very ones imposing on their human rights.
Jimmy Cordero, the star of the film, was an activist against the government who tried to abide by the government after finally being released from prison but went back to being a rebel because of what happened to his son and the mother of his son. I believe that that was a righteous and very courageous act to revert back to being a rebel because he believed that freedom is really not free and that one must fight for their freedom.
I thought it was a great film because it opened my eyes up to a time that I never thought existed and helped me to understand the hurt and tragedy that the people went through during this time of turbulence. I was too young to even remember these violent times while growing in the Philippines so it surprised me that such sadistic and cruel exploitations were being carried out by the government under President Ferdinand Marcos.
All in all, I believe that film is a form of art but filmmakers have the social responsibility of controlling the actions and feelings of its audience. So, art films not only have to convey their message but also control the message to a certain degree of modesty so as not to produce a film that will negatively affect the people into doing “savage acts.”