Rob Martine Dekalogue


Episode 1:
Do any of the visuals of the films work as symbols that bridge the gap of understanding? How? Be specific in noting these visuals. 

 The first episode is full of symbolism in order to portray the author's message to the audience. We see a man sitting by the pond in front of a fire from the very beginning of the episode. I believe this represents God because the father comes face to face with him when checking the ice for his son. It is almost as if God is waiting for the son to drown and take him to heaven because the man is gone after the ice breaks. Another symbol is the bottle of water that Pavel and his father set outside. When they check on it the following morning, the water turned to ice, and when Pavel asks what will happen if they keep it outside even longer, the father replies, "it will eventually thaw." This foreshadows the pond eventually thawing, leading to Pavel's death. Additionally, it emphasizes the father's complete faith in knowledge and technology over God. His faith was so strong, he was willing to let Pavel go to the pond alone. Following Pavel's tragic death, another symbol is illustrated when his father knocks over the altar and the candles spill onto the portrait of Jesus Christ. The wax is spilt where it looks like tears flowing from his face. It represents the father's complete devastation and God's sadness about the death of such a young boy, yet another reason the father has to believe in a higher power and not merely technology.

Episode 2:
How does the visual medium of film work as Midrash?  Be specific in answering this question, relating the answer to the Commandment and the way the medium works to throw you into the struggle to find meaning.

 Dekalogue translates to the Commandment. The second episode pertains to the Fifth Commandment, "Thou shall not kill." Although he kills a taxi driver in a brutal way, the state also violates this by sentencing him to death by hanging. Yes, one killing is just and the other is unjust. However, the 10 Commandments are not up for interpretation, murder is murder. This short film investigates right and wrong within different judicial systems. In another country like England, he would have spent the rest of his life in jail. In Poland, he is faced with death. This contemplates midrash and the various textual interpretations that different societies have. It is ironic how a priest comes to see him right before the killing. This brings up yet another question, have governments always had more power than religion within states? When did this shift occur?

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 12, 2020 at 7:46 PM

    To touch on your final question Rob, I feel as though Religion is a very tough topic when it come to how it pertains to affecting the governed people and the government itself. While, in the very early time of the victorian age, yes the government was, in fact, made up of religious figures, today; state and religeon are two separate things entirely. However, while people may feel as though this is something good, the question of how the two separated must come into question. It is very widely known the the abuse of such power in the religious sector is what led to the fall of religion being the prime source of rule over civilization. With this, one can concur that it was not religion itself that had such a negative impact over the governed people, but the people who chose to abuse such power. While, of course, their is still a question of which religion would hold power over the states if civilization were ever to revert back to it's wholly practice of putting religeon in their government, the positive influence of people being completely devoted to following in the rules of their religious values would be believed to be a good thing given the law would be made up of values that they are sure to agree with and respect. I guess I kind of got off topic with this response, so to conclude; the rule of religion died after those with the power to spread the word of their religion became corrupt with greed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Thin Red Line - Joseph Hancock

“The Thin Red Line” has many similar themes to “Apocalypse Now.” This makes sense, as both are war films focused on a squad of American soldiers with diverse backgrounds and personalities heading into enemy territory. However, although both films tackle similar ideas, they approach them from different perspectives. For example, “Apocalypse Now” views the natural world as a part of the sacred. Meanwhile, the arbitrary war between human countries is profane by going against nature and destroying it through bombs, napalm, and firefights. But while nature is sacred, that doesn’t mean it is friendly, as the jungle is hostile towards the main characters to the point that they only feel safe on their boat after an animal attack; even then, several squad members still die on the boat as a result from unseen attacks coming from the jungle.  Comparing these ideas to those found in “The Thin Red Line”, there is plenty of overlap. Many of the visual shots in the film focus on how nature...
Read more

Film Technique Joseph Hancock

Bunny The level of violence in the film really did not shock me that much when I saw it. It came off to me as very slapstick-like, which is a common theme in animation going as far back as early Warner Bros and Disney films. When watching it, the actual dirtiness of the bunny and her house was the most surprising aspect of the film. The animators made the house feel cramped and dirty through the set design, despite there being only one person living there. I got the feeling that this bunny was just tired of life without even needing to see the shot of her viewing the photo of her husband. However, I will say that her climbing into the oven to reach the afterlife was also something I didn’t expect, but I can see why it got the film banned. I do like the imagery of this bunny going through her final transformation into something new via the oven, much like the pie she was trying to make. Harold and Maud The single closeup shot between the mother and her son told the entire stor...
Read more

Rob Martine Film Technique

Bunny: Bunny is an animated short film about an elderly bunny who is trying to get rid of an irritating moth. Once the bunny captures the moth, she angrily mixes it with the cake she is making and bakes it in the oven. Tired from chasing the moth around, the bunny falls asleep and has a vivid dream about following the moth into the lit up oven. The audience then finds out that the bunny actually died instead of falling sleep. The bunny then reunites with her already deceased husband. This has an interesting irony showing that moths naturally are attracted to lights whereas "going towards the light" symbolizes death. Personally, I would be horrified of this if I watched it as a child. However, it is a creative film. Harold and Maude: Harold and Maude is full of symbolism and life lessons. Harold merely wants her mother's care instead of her trying to set him up with a girl. He constantly fakes suicides to get rid of the girls and finds pleasure in it. His grim outlook ...
Read more