The academic discourse regarding films has been a great influence on my outlook toward watching films. While previously films were more of a source of entertainment to me, I have come to understand the socio-cultural implications of films. My whole film-watching experience has transformed in the past year.
Expressions of art have to be comprehended in association with the historical and social context. Films, reflects culture, history and society and cinematically document the events in multisensory modalities. Battleship Potemkin can only be comprehended properly if it is placed in the socio-historic context of Russia. The scene depicting the rising of the lions signify the uprising of the unified mass against the oppressive stand of the state machinery. This metaphor can only be understood by the aid of linking this to the larger societal perspective. Soy Cuba, a Cuban Communist propaganda film, portrays the oppressions carried out by the American overlords and the woeful conditions of the natives of the land. Not only these kinds of films develop a social picture on-screen, but only immortalize the history of the land cinematically. In this way, films are similar to any other art form which imbibes in itself reflections of the society and time.
Propaganda films are produced for mobilizing the masses across the globe. Leni Riefenstahl’s film, Triumph of the Will (1935), portrays the character of Adolf Hitler as the messiah for the German people. When one is to delve deep into the dynamics of this film, it needs to in mind that this is essentially a German propaganda film prior to Hitler’s fall. It fabricates many of the ‘facts’ just to fulfill its ambition of holding forth the Nazis and Hitler as the invincible and transcendental power in the world.
In recent times a very controversial film was banned by the United States. This film had gone viral over the internet and was assumed to be produced by North Korean government. Propaganda, was a blatant blow on the American nation by the Communist government. It went on to criticize America’s role in the world politics and endeavored to portray North Korea in a glorified light. To understand this film one requires tracing the historical context which led the North Korean government to make this film go viral. The ideological difference and the economic policies which are at loggerheads are factors that work as the driving force behind the film’s content. Thus, such political films can never be seen dissociated from the social and historical context as that would lead to an erroneous bias in the minds of the audience.
In the past year, several attempts of documenting with the camera have become a hobby and an extra-curricular activity. I have endeavored to venture out of the boundaries of the wall to portray the lives of the older generation of the society, the belief in myths among the mass, opinion about the Eastern world and so on.
Such activities require a lot of research in the contextual field of documentation. Also, I need to work with the team which aids me in the entire process. Apart from travelling, the filming needs planning and precision. The importance of knowledge about technical aspects also comes to the forefront. The cinematography, the editing, screenplay, all require much practice and hard work.
I plan to extend these kinds of ventures in the next years of my study in the university. I wish to delve deeper into specific subjects and document them and thus portray them in front of gazillion. Thus, this not only helps me gain more knowledge about several aspects of civilization and society, but also provides me with training in filmmaking.
References
Taylor, Richard 1998, Film propaganda: Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, I.B. Tauris & Co.
Ltd., New York.
Welch, David 1983 Propaganda and the German Cinema: 1933-1945, I.B. Tauris & Co.
Ltd., New York.
