I still enjoy a good kung-fu movie from time to time, and I know the cartoon violence of big-budget action flicks can be fun. For me, however, the portrayal of violence is much more interesting when the violence is an unpleasant experience for the audience. Violence is horrible in real life. So, when art portrays violence as horrible, I find that engaging. I find this rings even more true when the audience is expecting the more cartoonish variety of violence.
Don't get me wrong, I like the over-the-top stuff. When I mentioned kung-fu movies as a source of exaggerated and exciting violence, I was thinking of classics like this:
No doubt, that's a great scene. Many would argue it's one of the highlights of Chan's career. But there's something 'Three Stooges' about it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when the audience gets excited because a guy is on fire, then the audience has cut yet another connection between themselves and the fictional world on the screen (I hope). And I think those connections - the uncut connections - help us experience fiction in a more interesting and more engaging way.
Staying within the kung-fu genre, here's one of the best fight scenes of all time:
While it maintains the excitement of an old Jackie Chan film, that scene is infused with the pain and dread of both inflicting receiving bodily harm. And I think the fight has more of an impact on the audience as a result.
This is the issue I'm currently exploring in my fantasy story. I'm dealing with a lot of violence: ranged attacks, massive flooding, soldier-eating beasts, and other forms of violence that are common in fantasy fiction. My aim is to bring those fictional moments as close as possible to a reader's experience with real violence - I want cringe-inducing violence, like the end of that Bruce Lee fight when he kills Bob Wall's character.
I think I'm going to re-read "The Iliad." I remember a lot of battle sequences that seemed awful in that.
My question for today is this: What else should I see or read to get a sense of how to portray violence in a less-than-romantic way?
9 comments:
What about "no country for old men"?
I'll have to think of some specifics examples, but a graphic rape scene and child abuse always makes me cringe and have nightmares.
I haven't been brave enough to watch it yet -- Funny Games, either the original in German, or the recent shot-by-shot remake in English -- but I've read it has caused audience members to stand up and give the bird to the screen.
I was really, really disturbed by the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. I could appreciate the excellent movie-making that went into it but I was in tears as we left the theater because Heath Ledger's performance had me so rattled. The acting was excellent and I NEVER want to watch that movie again. I'm not sure if that was a reaction to violence or just the general evil of the character, but don't they kind of go hand-in-hand?
Although I don't watch many movies that would even remotely be considered violent, so maybe I'm more sensitive than your average reader/viewer?
Here we go:
The Wrestler
Deliverance
Prince of Tides
for a start...
I like these answers.
"No Country..." is a good suggestion in both book and film form.
I haven't seen "Funny Games" yet either, but I've heard its premise revolves around this question. I'll have to try and get through it.
And yeah, TDK was unpleasant, wasn't it? That's a really good one, because it is totally one of those movies where many audience members expect cartoon violence. Huh.
And, Dora, will you watch Prince of Tides with me soon, even if it's unpleasant?
I actually did not find TDK among what you describe, Hogan. It was too over the top for me to feel the reality of the violence. I mean, the guy had a cellphone bomb sewn into his stomach--cant really take that seriously.
But I guess this is one of those questions where different scenes evoke different feelings from different people.
I'm with Dorika on TDK. I stopped watching the movie, not because the violence was unsettling or difficult, but because it was gratuitous/pornographic. I could imagine the screenwriter pacing his cramped Hollywood apartment, trying to dream up an inventive way to kill someone. And though I turned the movie off shortly after that scene, I didn't see anything in TDK to rival HL's performance in Brokeback.
For violence in cinema, Haneke is definitely the best in my opinion. Another one to keep in mind is Kronenberg. I have to admit that I don't go to most of the big blockbusters so I don't have much to say about the big "cartoon violence" movies. In mainstream cinema, I always was more impressed by suspense than with violence. Vertigo is one of my favorites that comes to mind. But there are too many great movies in that genre.
I guess that violence on the screen is just not very easily done well. And therefore, the "cartoon violence" has necessarily come to exist because plot lines and tag lines need "violence." Unfortunately, it makes the viewers have the misperception that they are in touch with true violence when they are very far from it. Take your experience with hunting, for example. I've hunted most my life, and have killed many wild animals based entirely on my abilities as a hunter and luck (naturally). The experiences that I've had hunting and the emotions that that activity has given me are nothing at all like the emotions provoked by movie violence. And, I'd venture to say that my real-life hunting experiences are much closer to what true violence actually provokes. An actual awareness of death here and now, caused by my actions/ability, and thus a more in depth awareness of life.
But back to violence in cinema, I'm thinking, now that as difficult as creating good suspense in cinema must be, I think that doing violence well must be much much more difficult. "Funny Games" is great because it really combines suspense with violence. And also has some great cinematic tricks that force you to realize that it is indeed a spectacle and not real. But only after Haneke has you and your emotions completely under his control. Then he plays with you a little bit. When I saw it, I was very impressed.
Maria's favorite is Cache which is also an incredible Haneke film. We're talking about it right now and have decided it is possibly more suspense than violence, but our friend Patri says that what it has is psychological violence, not necessarily physical violence. As for flipping the bird at the screen, it seems a bit childish to me. Why would you go to the movies if you didn't want to be impacted by a movie? But I will tell that when Haneke's the pianist came out, Patri was working in a movie theater and said that lots and lots of people fainted during the movie. I saw it and enjoyed it quite a bit less than other Haneke movies. Although, maybe I'd feel differently if I had female genitalia. One thing is for certain. Haneke does know how to get into your head. Definitely one of my favorite movie-makers.
Post a Comment